The role of consumer-consumer interaction and consumer-brand interaction in driving consumer-brand engagement and behavioral intentions

Grounded on service-dominant logic (S-D logic), a vital issue for marketers is to understand how the multiple approaches encouraging consumer participation (CP), as manifested by consumer-consumer interaction (CCI) and consumer-brand interaction (CBI), reflect on the extent of consumer-brand engagement (CBE). This study examines the role of CCI and CBI in driving the CBE's cognitive, emotional and behavioral dimensions, and their effect on consumers' behavioral intentions based on repurchase intention and ongoing search behavior. Data collected from 316 Malaysian consumers using a self-administrated online survey was analyzed using Partial Least Square – Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings demonstrate the importance of the two forms of CP in strengthening the CBE dimensions, revealing that the cognitive engagement is an influential driver of consumers' ongoing search behavior, while emotional engagement and behavioral engagement are significant predictors of consumers' repurchase intention. We provide meaningful implications for marketers to manage CP on social-media platforms.     

Customers’ intention to adopt smart lockers in last-mile delivery service: A multi-theory perspective

Many logistics service providers are now adjusting their business service strategies to satisfy consumers' higher demands and expectations. An automated parcel locker for self-pickup is one of the options; however, there is currently no smart locker service available in Thailand. This study integrates resource matching theory, innovation diffusion theory, and theory of planned behavior to clarify Thai consumers' intention to utilize smart lockers. The data for this study were received from 302 participants living in Thailand. Convenience, reliability, privacy security, compatibility, relative advantage, complexity, perceived behavioral control, and attitude were included in the questionnaire to test if they were significant determinants of consumers' intention to use smart lockers. The results reveal that convenience, reliability, privacy security, compatibility, relative advantage, complexity, perceived behavioral control, and attitude influence Thai consumers’ intention to use smart lockers. This study contributes to the literature on combining resource matching theory, innovation diffusion theory, and theory of planned behavior; this enriches theoretical research on self-service technologies in last-mile logistics delivery, and also provides insights for consumer behavioral research.     

The effect of product touch information and sale proneness on consumers' responses to price discounts

Since price discounts are costly and can negatively affect consumers' perceptions of quality, it is crucial to identify the factors that make them effective in stimulating purchase behavior. Drawing on cue utilization theory, we examine price discount effectiveness in affecting consumers' reliance on the sale cue based on the provided product touch information as an intrinsic cue and individual consumer differences in sale proneness. Two experimental studies indicate that price discount information, product touch information, and sale proneness interact to determine consumers' responses. Perceived quality is the underlying mechanism behind the observed effects. For nonsale-prone consumers, product touch information favorably influences responses to large price discounts by addressing product quality concerns and enhancing purchase confidence, but has no effect for regularly priced or low discounted products. For sale-prone consumers, product touch information is not effective in increasing their responses regardless of the discount size. A qualitative study provides support for these results and highlights the role of perceived quality and purchase confidence. The research contributes to behavioral pricing, cue utilization theory, and sensory marketing and suggests that marketing managers should provide consumers with product touch information when implementing high discounts for products for which prepurchase touch is important.     

How language abstractness affects service referral persuasiveness

Due to the inherent risk and uncertainty characterizing pre-purchase service evaluation, consumers tend to rely on referrals from other consumers who already have experiences with that service. Thus, companies are eager to stimulate such referrals and improve their effectiveness. To this end, this research investigates how consumers' linguistic framing of service recommendations influences recipients' attitudes and behavioral intentions. Specifically, this study focuses on one key dimension of language—its abstractness (vs. concreteness)—and hypothesizes that the effect of language abstractness on referral persuasiveness depends on recipients' prior knowledge about the service in question. The results of two experiments in the context of financial and medical services demonstrate that abstract language is more effective than concrete language for recipients with high prior knowledge. Moreover, this research shows that recipients' engagement in mental imagery processing is that makes abstract language more effective for those with high prior knowledge. This articles ends with a discussion of the study's implications for academic research, social communication and service management, along with its limitations and future research directions.     

Leaving the Home Turf: How Brands Can Use Webcare on Consumer-generated Platforms to Increase Positive Consumer Engagement

The level of brand-related consumer engagement is considered to be a key determinant of successful social media activities. However, due to the commonly high levels of consumers who merely consume instead of being actively engaged, companies seek strategies to increase consumer engagement. Additionally, a large part of consumers' engagement does not occur on platforms controlled by the brand, but on consumer-generated platforms. Based on social learning theory we propose webcare as a reaction to positive engagement to be an effective marketing tool for reinforcing observing consumers' engagement intentions, especially on consumer-generated platforms. In an experimental online study we reveal that webcare can be used to increase engagement intentions on consumer-generated platforms, and that consumers' surprise explains this reinforcing effect. Moreover, we show that in these consumer-dominated spaces, personal webcare is more effective in driving consumer engagement intentions than impersonal webcare, and that this effect is explained by consumers' perceptions of a brand's conversational communication style. The results indicate that brand managers should leave their home turf and use webcare on consumer-generated social media platforms outside of their direct control.     

Vulnerable consumer engagement: How corporate social media can facilitate the replenishment of depleted resources

Technology may facilitate health and wellbeing consumer engagement. When there is scant public health provision and socio-cultural norms marginalize consumers stigmatized from cancer, we reveal how a brand’s corporate social media campaign can support vulnerable consumers with resource constraints. Drawing from a transformative consumer research lens, we investigate five years of computer-mediated communications facilitated by the Indian brand Dabur Vatika. Through a grounded theory and an abductive reasoning approach, we unveil how vulnerable consumers directly or indirectly affected by cancer leverage brand's social media to replenish resources. First, we identify how vulnerable consumers engage to replenish depleted emotional and social support resources. We further expand consumer engagement scholarship by offering a preliminary definition of “vulnerable consumer engagement”. Second, we provide a nascent classification of vulnerable consumers in a consumer-producer role, Principal Vulnerable Consumers and Associate Vulnerable Consumers, distinguished by their proximity to the vulnerable context. Lastly, we reveal how brands may perform a transformative role, to replenish social, emotional and operant resources at the micro level through the engagement of vulnerable consumers with corporate social media. This insight is informative for policymakers, advertising practitioners and transformative consumer research academics.     

Restrained by resources: The effect of scarcity cues and childhood socioeconomic status (SES) on consumer preference for feasibility

Scarcity cues are ubiquitous in our everyday lives and thus attract great attention in consumer research. However, little attention has been devoted to examining whether exposure to scarcity cues influences consumers' trade-off between feasibility and desirability in product choices. The present research argues that the impact of scarcity cues on consumers' preference for products that offer more feasible or more desirable features depends on consumers' childhood socioeconomic status (childhood SES). The findings consistently show that consumers with low childhood SES who were reminded of resource scarcity seek more feasibility in product choices than consumers in other conditions. We trace this effect to the fact that scarcity cues cause consumers with low childhood SES to process information at a low construal level. By presenting this conceptualization and evidence, the present study contributes to research on childhood SES, resource scarcity, and construal level theory (CLT).     

Quality‐of‐life as chronotopefication and futurization: Subsistence consumer experiences in India

In the poverty‐ridden settings in neo‐liberal India, we explore how subsistence consumers construct their quality‐of‐life (QOL). Drawing on the concepts of chronotope and futurization, we posit two additional dimensions of subsistence consumers' construction of QOL namely, chronotopefication and futurization. Our findings suggest that chronotopefication and futurization are defining processes of subsistence consumers' construction of QOL perceptions; their sacrifices, efforts, and costs, however painful they may be, would be perceived as QOL enhancing from the prism of chronotopefication and futurization; and subsistence consumers chronotopize and futurize QOL for the whole extended household within the intergenerational temporal space by focusing on stable input–outcome pathways. Based on the evidence, we propose QOL as chronotopefication and futurization framework (QOL‐CFF). The framework suggests that subsistence consumers construct QOL as chronotope building, futurized and having a symbolic effect. They consider current agonies as a foundation for future building.     

An empirical study on anthropomorphism and engagement with disembodied AIs and consumers' re‐use behavior

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the human race has gradually become a norm. AI entails technology assemblages such as machine learning, natural language processing, and reasoning. The influence of AI systems has intensified in consumers' daily lives. Many consumers have interacted with the notions of AI through advertisements or having personal experiences. Many consumers are curious about the use of AI. This paper reports three studies conducted to determine whether anthropomorphism (ANTH) and engagement play a role in consumers' intention to re‐use a voice assistant (VA; a machine‐learning AI). The second study will determine if ANTH and engagement play a role when consumers are using the VAs for different activities (task completion vs. information gathering). In addition, in Study 2, actual re‐use behavior was also tested in the model, which encouraged a stronger overall model fit. The results show that in general effort expectation (EE) has a strong positive impact on consumers' usage experience of the VA. However, between the two types of activities, EE has a stronger impact on consumers' usage experience for information‐gathering activities, whereas performance expectation has a stronger impact on usage experience when consumers use the VA for task‐completion purposes. The third study used internet usage experience as a moderating variable to determine the boundaries of the mediating effects in the study. The results show that the mediators yield results similar to prior studies.     

Action control,proxy control,and consumers' evaluations of the service exchange

This article adopts a consumer's point of view, and extends current literature that models the relationships between consumers' control perceptions, service providers' fair behaviors, and consumers' satisfaction with the exchange. Perceived control is disassembled into action and proxy control and their differential actions in the service exchange discussed. This article models, for the first time, the joint effects of perceived control and service provider behaviors on consumer satisfaction by explicitly connecting service‐provider fair behaviors to consumers' perceptions of control. The results from two repeated‐measures experiments provide support for the hypotheses. Specifically, a multivariate analysis of the data demonstrated main effects for the experimental manipulations on perceived control, perceived fairness, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions. An interaction effect between perceived control and perceived fairness was also evident in one experiment. Future research and managerial implications are discussed. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Price image consequences

This study investigates the consequences of price image. Two conditions, a policy of intermediate price condition and a policy of low price condition, were distinguished in an experiment. Three moderators (consumers' price conscientiousness, retailer's motives perceived by consumers and consumers' familiarity with the retailer) were considered for these two conditions. Using partial least squares analyses (PLS), we propose integrated models of the consequences of price image highlighting the direct and indirect effects of this concept on consumers' satisfaction, trust, attitude and future behavioral intentions to the retailer. This research fills a gap in the literature since previous studies have mainly focused on the antecedents of price image or have only investigated specific links between the variables considered. Finally, considering our findings, we recommend to managers to favor either a policy of intermediate or low price depending of their consumers' characteristics.     

Consumers' engagement with social media activation campaigns: Construct conceptualization and scale development

This study conceptualizes the consumers' engagement with social media activation campaigns, which are important tools in improving the interactions between brands and consumers. We offer a comprehensive definition of this construct and discuss the nature and dimensionality of it. Further, this paper reports the development and validation of a 12‐item scale for measuring the aforementioned construct. This scale development process comprises four studies. Study 1 begins by generating a pool of items and then employs both a panel of experts and some Instagram users to examine the content validity of the items. To validate the scale, this paper carries out several online surveys in subsequent studies. Study 2 uses exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to remove the problematic items and evaluate the dimensionality of the construct. In Study 3, we conduct iterative CFAs to purify the scale and reassess the psychometric properties of the scale. Study 4 uses structural equation modeling to test the nomological validity. Our analyses reveal that consumers' engagement with social media activation campaigns is a second‐order construct encompassing three first‐order dimensions (cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement). The results also support the reliability, content validity, convergent validity, discriminant validity, known group validity, and nomological validity of the engagement scale.     

Who's got my back? Comparing consumers' reactions to peer-provided and firm-provided customer support

This study demonstrates that when an individual encounters a product-related problem, fellow consumers (i.e., one's peers) have a unique advantage in providing social support to the affected consumer. Specifically, we find that social support can be a dominant driver of consumer satisfaction when the risk of customer defection is at its highest (i.e., following an unsuccessful attempt to solve the consumer's problem). Using real-world data from an online support community, a pilot study finds that if the problem that a consumer faces goes unsolved, satisfaction is greater when consumers receive peer-provided versus firm-provided support. Study 1 replicates this finding in a controlled experiment that realistically simulates an actual customer support incident in real-time. Study 2 identifies social support as the mechanism that underlies this effect and investigates whether firm employees can take steps to appear more customer-like and thereby replicate the advantage of peer-provided support. Finally, Study 3 reveals an alternative strategy (i.e., utilizing multiple employees) that firms can use to enhance social support and provides evidence that peer-provided support not only enhances satisfaction but also positively influences consumers' behavioral intentions.     

Interactivity,Inspiration, and Perceived Usefulness! How retailers’ AR-apps improve consumer engagement through flow

This study investigates the antecedents and outcomes of consumer engagement through AR apps and suggests a new conceptual model. The purpose of the paper is to examine how consumer engagement is shaped via AR apps, which eventually leads to a positive attitude towards brand and brand usage intent. To this end, a face-to-face survey instrument was administered to 350 participants in Turkey, where participants tried an AR app and then answered a questionnaire. The structural equation modeling (SEM) and Hayes' Process analyses were applied to test the hypotheses and moderated mediation relationships. Findings showed that interactivity and inspiration are two major antecedents of consumers' flow experience. The flow experience with AR can generate favorable attitudes towards AR apps and more trust in AR apps, which trigger consumer engagement with AR apps and then improve brand attitude and brand usage intent. The outcomes of flow experience with AR (i.e., attitude and trust) mediate the relationship between flow and engagement. Although perceived usefulness increases the effect of consumers' attitudes towards AR on engagement, it has no moderating effect on the relationship between trust in AR and engagement. Furthermore, the results of Hayes' Process revealed that the indirect effect of flow on consumers’ engagement with AR through attitude towards AR is moderated by perceived usefulness. So that, if AR marketers aim to strengthen the link between consumer flow experience and engagement via attitudes towards AR, they should therefore consider enhancing the perceived usefulness of AR. Surprisingly, perceived usefulness had no moderating effect on the indirect relationship between flow and engagement via trust. Finally, this paper discusses both the theoretical and managerial implications.     

Group service recovery strategies effectiveness: The moderating effects of group size and relational distance

The extant service recovery literature focuses on consumers' responses to individual failures. However, group service failures are in fact common, but they have received insufficient research attention. This study contributes to theory and practice by applying social impact theory to explain the social nature of group failures. Findings from two studies show that group size and relational distance substantially affect consumers' response to group service recovery strategies. Specifically, private economic recovery creates less consumer satisfaction as group size increases, whereas consumers with a distant social relationship are more satisfied with public recovery for both economic recovery and social recovery. However, consumers with close relationships are more satisfied with public economic recovery and private social recovery. Apart from offering practical insights, this study expands the theoretical understanding of service failures, suggesting that they occur in a complex social ecology instead of relatively simple dyadic interactions between service providers and consumers.     

Consumer well‐being and social responsibility of subsistence entrepreneurs in subsistence marketplace

Business malpractices, such as the sale of overpriced, underweight and adulterated foodstuffs and essential commodities, can pose serious threats to subsistence consumers' wellbeing, given they are more vulnerable than their affluent counterparts. Drawing on 40 interviews with subsistence entrepreneurs in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, our findings provide insights into the interplay between religiosity and social responsibility of entrepreneurs. We further explore how socio‐economic conditions and local embeddedness—two important characteristics of individuals in subsistence marketplaces—moderate the relationship between religiosity and social responsibility of entrepreneurs, providing implications for consumer welfare at the macro‐level. Our research makes a distinctive contribution to three streams of literature relating to social responsibility, subsistence marketplaces, and consumer affairs, with specific policy implications.     

Painting Your Point: The Role of Color in Firms' Strategic Responses to Product Failures via Advertising and Marketing Communications

Color plays a significant role in firms' strategic marketing communications and advertising. This research examines how color (red versus blue) in advertising and marketing communications that follow a firm's failure dynamically influences consumers' interpretations of negative firm information and sensitivity to the firm's response to the failure. We find that the color red used in postfailure advertising and firm marketing communications narrows the scope of consumers' conceptual attention on the firm failure and makes consumers less sensitive to a firm's response to the failure. In contrast, exposure to the color blue expands the scope of consumers' conceptual attention and makes them integrate the firm's response in their firm evaluations. In addition, the negative effect of red is mitigated via the use of a more benign cue, leading to the broadening of the scope of conceptual attention and integration of a firm's response that are consistent with blue cues.     

Intended brand associations: Do they really drive consumer response?

Brand managers exhibit considerable effort to define intended brand associations to anchor in consumers' minds. They follow a credo deeply rooted in branding literature: intended brand associations drive consumer response and brand equity. This article investigates the benefits of a strong overlap of actual consumer brand associations and management-intended brand associations (brand association match). The article presents results from two large-scale studies (3353 and 1201 respondents) involving one consumer goods and one service brand with multiple operationalizations of consumer response (attitudinal and behavioral). The results show that consumers with high brand association match show more positive brand response. However, after accounting for the valence of associations match does not add explanatory power. This outcome challenges a key foundation of brand management. The discussion identifies reasons why match may not be necessary to achieve response and provides arguments why the results do not imply free play for brand managers.     

Consumer Acceptance of mHealth Services: A Comparison of Behavioral Intention Models

Recent appropriation of mobile devices to deliver health services is transforming the health care landscape, offering reduced costs and increased access for service providers and consumers. This article examines factors influencing consumers' decisions to adopt mobile health (mHealth) services through a comparison of three behavioral intention models. A national web-based survey of 482 French adults indicates that the model of goal-directed behavior (MGB) more fully, though less parsimoniously, explains consumers' acceptance of mHealth services. This research provides insight into the usefulness of the MGB in improving understanding of the determinants of behavior situated at the intersection of health, service, and technology.