Want to make me happy? Tell me about your experiences but not your objects

Evidence indicates that experiences bring greater benefits to consumers than objects. Extending this research beyond the actual purchaser, this work examines individuals who experience the purchase only indirectly via a conversation—listeners. It explores how conversations about experiential versus material purchases affect listeners socially and emotionally. Results show that hearing about others' experiences (vs. objects) advances listeners' happiness more. This finding shows that the scope of experiential purchases' advantage is wider than previously known. Further, this work identifies a sequential mechanism: Conversations about experiences (vs. objects) are more substantive, allowing listeners to build stronger social connections with tellers and, in turn, gain more happiness from the interaction. Critically, this mechanism explains the effect above and beyond a previously-advanced mechanism via perceived motivation. Additionally, this work identifies a boundary of the model: purchase valence. Theoretical and practical implications for managers, consumers, and policymakers are discussed.     

Feeling grateful versus happy? The effects of emotional appeals in advertisements on self-made products

Increasingly, researchers are putting their efforts into understanding more about self-made products (e.g. reasons for purchasing these type of products). Nevertheless, it remains poorly understood as to how to effectively promote such products. Understanding whether using emotions (e.g. gratitude) in an advertisement may increase the effectiveness of advertising is still open to debate. Based on the cognitive theory of emotions, in the present study, the effect of emotional appeals on purchase intentions is explored through three experiments. Study 1 examines the effect of gratitude (vs. no-appeal) on consumer's click through behavior for self-made products. The results show that gratitude appeal poses a stronger effect on consumers' click through behavior for self-made products as opposed to no appeal. Study 2 provides further evidence of the gratitude effect (versus happiness, no-appeal) on purchase intention for self-made products in comparison to pre-made ones. Finally, Study 3 establishes desire to put in more effort as an underpinning mechanism for gratitude appeal and adds level of effort as a moderator. The findings suggest that marketers should incorporate gratitude appeal into their advertisements to increase consumers' purchase intentions by stimulating the desire to put in more effort.     

Has Mumsnet changed me? SNS influence on identity adaptation and consumption

Abstract

This paper seeks to assess how one SNS network may support ongoing processes of identity adaptation and explore the role of consumption references in identity negotiation on the site. Drawing on theories of the liminality of motherhood, and the identity reconstruction processes that emerge in online communities, this paper traces the complexity of identity adaptation on SNS. With focus on SNS as a platform that may enable different phases of liminality, the transition to reincorporation phase is explored, revealing how members may experience support for ongoing identity renewal. Adopting a qualitative approach and direct observation method, posts from 12 extensive mumsnet.com discussion threads were screened and analysed using qualitative content analysis. Findings show how the functionality of this SNS site may facilitate some identity reconstruction.     

The effect of pre-flight attendants’ emotional intelligence,emotional labor,and emotional exhaustion on commitment to customer service

Previous studies have shown that the success of airlines depends heavily on the quality of in-flight services provided by flight attendants. The performance of flight attendants is primarily based on their emotional intelligence (EI). Thus, airlines endeavor to recruit flight attendants with high EI and also conduct continuous EI training even after their recruitment. To meet the demand of excellent flight attendants, a number of universities and colleges have established airline service programs. This study examines the relationships among EI, emotional labor (EL), emotional exhaustion (EE), and commitment to customer service (CCS) among pre-flight attendants in the undergraduate airline service programs. The results of the study revealed that the better pre-flight attendants understand their emotions and use them appropriately, the more they display their true emotions and modify their bad feelings to desirable emotions required for effective in-flight customer services. Also, the more pre-flight attendants employ EL, the more exhausted they are emotionally. As the first study on pre-flight attendants’ EI, this study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on EI, EL, EE, and CCS. The findings of the study also provide practical implications that effective assessment and education of EI by university-based airline service programs can contribute to service excellence of airlines.     

See What We Want to See? The Effects of Managerial Experience on Corporate Green Investments

How impartial are managerial decisions? This question is particularly concerning when it comes to making green investment decisions in the face of stakeholder pressures. When managers respond to stakeholder pressures, their personal cognition, judgment, and past experiences play a role in determining their responses. The salience of particular stakeholder claims may be determined by deeply rooted individual preferences. This research investigates how a manager’s past experiences can influence green investments. Data are gathered from 247 managers about their past experience and their employer’s performance data. These data are combined with managerial responses to a vignette-based experiment, which required managers to make green investments based on a decision scenario where they are exposed to different types and strength of stakeholder pressure (from consumers and the community). Results suggest that managers’ years of experience, their employers’ financial performance, and their employers’ market performance influence investment decisions even when making decisions under new and different set of circumstances. While the employers’ financial performance influences managers to invest more, the employers’ market performance only influences managers’ investment in the presence of either high consumer or high community pressure. Compared to less-experienced managers, experienced managers invest more in response to consumer pressure but less in response to community pressure. Practical and theoretical implications of these findings in green management are explored.     

Only the lonely? The influence of the spouse on the transition to self-employment

Previous research showed that married individuals are overrepresented among the self-employed. Few studies proposed skill-spillover between the spouses within the marriage as an explanation. This paper deviates from the previous research by exploring different relationship contexts (e.g., cohabitation, being married or divorced, a widow(er) or single) and the role of partner influences under these contexts. It argues that the interaction between gender and relationship status implies variation in not only resources but also constraints, and hence sorts individuals into two different types of self-employment: entrepreneurial self-employment (i.e., incorporated business) and unincorporated self-employment. Using “Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) 1965–2005” data, results of the competing risk models show that marital status contributes to both types of self-employment transitions, especially for men, but also for women. Cohabitation is a less supportive context for entrepreneurship and a partner’s self-employment experience increases only women’s likelihood of entering into entrepreneurship. These results suggest that skill-spillover between partners might be context dependent and only in one direction (from men to women).     

Do green packages lead to misperceptions? The influence of package colors on consumers’ perceptions of brands with environmental claims

Consumers need accurate information about brands’ environmental impacts to guide their purchase decisions. Researchers have studied consumers’ perceptions of green products and marketers’ environmental claims. Policy makers provide guidelines to minimize deceptiveness of environmental claims. Yet, little attention has been paid to what contextual cues can influence consumers’ judgments of environmental claims and green products. Drawing on conceptual fluency theory, the current research proposes that a color that matches the content of a message makes the information easier to process, thereby increasing the appeal of the message. The authors demonstrate that using the color green on a product’s package can enhance consumers’ perceptions of the brand’s environmental impact. Ironically, this positive effect of green can also lead to consumers’ misperceptions of the brand’s environmental impact if green is used for brands that are not environmentally superior. Implications and suggestions for policy makers, marketers, and consumers are provided.     

The influence of Islamic Work Ethic on employees’ responses to change in Kuwaiti Islamic banks

Significant attention has been paid recently to Islamic Work Ethic (IWE) particularly in organizational change literature. However, the nature of the relationship remains ambiguous. Research studies attempting to uncover IWE’s influence on characteristics of employees’ responses are still in its infancy. To tackle this gap, this study contributes to knowledge by developing a possible conceptual model identifying IWE’s influence on employees’ responses towards change in the shape of their commitment to change and organizational deviance. The testing of these relationships took place in the ever-developing Kuwaiti Islamic banking sector. Data was collected from 398 employees by distributing self-administered questionnaires. Outcomes revealed that the extent of IWE’s influence on employee commitment to change varied across different components. This result offers a unique understanding into IWE’s affiliation with employee attitudes to change, especially in the Islamic banking sector. Moreover, IWE was found to negatively influence employee engagement in organizational deviance. As such, this finding has not been established within the context of change previously. Due to such findings, several implications and future research directions emerge.     

Can corporate codes of ethics influence behavior?

There is increasing public interest in understanding the nature of corporate ethics due to the knowledge that unethical decisions and activities frequently undermine the performance and abilities of many organizations. Of the current literature found on the topic of ways organizations can influence ethical behavior, a majority is found on the issue of corporate codes of ethics.Most discussions on codes of ethics evaluate the contents of the codes and offer opinions on their wording, content, and/or value. Unfortunately, very little research has been devoted towards discovering whether they are effective in promoting ethical decision-making behavior. Thus, due to the lack of empirical research on this particular topic, this paper attempts to further address this issue.Data was obtained through the use of a fifteen-item questionnaire, in which seven of the items were scenarios on the topic of ethical behavior, and the remaining eight questions were concerned with demographic information. The survey was administered to 150 business students at a large university.The results indicated that corporate codes of ethics are not influential in determining a person's ethical decision-making behavior.     

The influence of age on SMEs’ growth determinants: empirical evidence

This paper seeks to investigate whether age is a fundamental characteristic of the relationships between determinants and growth. The empirical evidence obtained allows us to conclude that: (1) age and size are restrictive factors of the growth of young SMEs, but they are not important for the growth of old SMEs; (2) cash flow and debt are of greater relative importance for growth in young SMEs than for growth in old SMEs; (3) R&D intensity and labour productivity are of greater relative importance for growth in old SMEs than for growth in young SMEs; (4) interest on debt is of greater relative importance for diminished growth in young SMEs than for diminished growth in old SMEs; and (5) R&D intensity in situations of financial deficit is of greater relative importance for diminished growth in young SMEs than for diminished growth in old SMEs, but only in context of high-tech SMEs.     

The effects of emotional display rules on flight attendants’ emotional labor strategy,job burnout and performance

Service Business - This study investigates the effects of emotional display rules of an airline on the emotional labor strategies of flight attendants (i.e., deep acting, surface acting), job...     

The power of positivity? The influence of positive psychological capital language on crowdfunding performance

We extend the entrepreneurship literature to include positive psychological capital — an individual or organization's level of psychological resources consisting of hope, optimism, resilience, and confidence — as a salient signal in crowdfunding. We draw from the costless signaling literature to argue that positive psychological capital language usage enhances crowdfunding performance. We examine 1726 crowdfunding campaigns from Kickstarter, finding that entrepreneurs conveying positive psychological capital experience superior fundraising performance. Human capital moderates this relationship while social capital does not, suggesting that costly signals may, at times, enhance the influence of costless signals. Post hoc analyses suggest findings generalize across crowdfunding types, but not to IPOs.     

Millennials’ ethical ideology effects on responses to alcohol advertisements: The role of strength of ethnic identification and ethical appraisal of the ad

Abstract

In an extension of generational theory, the present research argues that ethical ideology (i.e. idealism vs. relativism) impacts attitude toward the ad (A_ad), attitude toward the brand (A_brand), and purchase intention (PI). Additionally, this research examines how this relationship is mediated by the ethical appraisal of the ad and moderated by the level of ethnic identification (i.e. high vs. low). The results of this experiment provide additional evidence in support of generational theory which states that each generational cohort holds distinct ethical ideologies. Furthermore, this study identifies differences in the participants’ responses to alcohol ads resulting from their personal values (i.e. in this study we focus on strength of ethnic identification).     

Social media or shopping websites? The influence of eWOM on consumers’ online purchase intentions

This study empirically tests and compares the influence of friends’ recommendations on social media and anonymous reviews on shopping websites in the context of online purchase intention. For this purpose, we analyse the impacts of these two platforms based on the components of information adoption model (IAM) which are borrowed as information quality, information credibility, information usefulness and information adoption. We conduct a survey and find anonymous reviews as more influential on consumer’ online purchase intentions than friends’ recommendations on social media. However, as this result was contrary to that expected, we conduct another study through in-depth interviews in order to enlighten our results found in the first study. In Study 2, we find the reasons why consumers prefer anonymous reviews rather than friends’ recommendations. Information quantity, information readiness, detailed information and dedicated information are factors which make shopping websites superior than social media in terms of the impact of electronic word of mouth (eWOM). Academic and managerial implications are discussed.     

Does transparency influence the ethical behavior of salespeople?

This study introduces the concept of perceived salesperson transparency to the sales literature. It addresses how recent technological developments impact traditional agency theory concerns, while simultaneously creating a conceptual definition of perceived transparency for application on an individual level. Salesperson perceptions regarding managerial use of behavioral information obtained through technological means are empirically found to have a mediating effect on the relationship between managerial access to such information and the likelihood of unethical salesperson behavior. It concludes that salesperson ethical behavior is not influenced by management's ability to obtain behaviorally relevant information, but rather by the use of this information. Further, it is found that the mediating influence of use of information accessed via technology is itself moderated by the salesperson's job performance.     

The effect of sensation seeking and emotional brand attachment on consumers’ intention to consume risky foods in restaurants

Sensation seeking and emotional brand attachment have been studied extensively, but limited research has been conducted on “risky foods.” This study explored how sensation seeking, emotional brand attachment, and risky food consumption varies demographically, and the relationships among those variables. Approximately 300 responses were collected from a restaurant serving “risky” and “nonrisky” foods. Significant differences included that consumption of raw/undercooked fish/eggs was higher in younger groups. Females showed more affection toward emotionally attached restaurants. The hypotheses testing showed the positive relationship from sensation seeking and emotional attachment to risky food consumption. Results offer information about marketing to different demographic groups.     

Rejoinder to Hunt’s ‘The bases of power approach to channel relationships’

Abstract

The critique of Blois and Hopkinson presented by Hunt is examined. Hunt argues that Blois and Hopkinson: make criticisms of the power-base approach in channels of distribution research; that these criticisms can be categorised under five headings; and, that each of these criticisms is suspect. This rejoinder examines each of Hunt’s claims and argues that they are not fully convincing.     

Why display motion on packaging? The effect of implied motion on consumer behavior

Visual packaging elements play a crucial role in influencing consumer behavior in stores. Front of pack (FOP) formats frequently present images of the product in motion (i.e., implied motion), especially in food categories. Despite the popularity of implied motion in real-world business, little research has been done to understand its effect on consumer behavior. To fill this gap, the present study adopts an evolutionary lens to investigate the impact of implied motion as a packaging design technique on consumers’ attention, product evaluation, purchase intention and choice. We carried out two experiments using realistic milk and orange juice packaging. Specifically, Experiment 1 was conducted in a lab using an eye tracking method to provide an objective measure of attention. The findings show that implied motion significantly increases visual attention and consequently generates more frequent choices. Using an online experimental design and declarative measures, Experiment 2 indicates that implied motion also enhances freshness, which translates into greater tastiness, product attractiveness and, ultimately, purchase intention. The study provides marketers with an inexpensive yet efficient way to enhance in-store marketing performance by incorporating implied motion into the FOP design.     

The moderation influence of warranty on customer satisfaction’s antecedents: an empirical evidence from automotive dealerships

The purpose of this article is to investigate the differential influence of product quality and service quality on customer satisfaction (CS) along with the interaction role of warranty presence in the context of automotive dealerships. Survey-based research methodology is adopted in which the population are the car owners who perform repair and maintenance jobs in authorized service centres. It is found that the warranty moderation role is supported wherein the relationship between service quality and CS is strengthened by the warranty presence, contrary to the insignificant relationship between product quality and CS influenced by the warranty moderator; besides, the empirical results provide an evidence that the CS value relies on metrics comprising operational measures for service quality and product quality. The outcome of this study contributes to sensitizing the decision makers from manufacturing and service disciplines to the interdependencies and the prerequisite for overall collaborative development. This study presents the first systematic approach that differentiates the influence of product quality and service quality on CS, wherein the warranty service is primarily introduced as a moderator affecting the antecedent relationship in the context of automotive dealerships.