Fashion involvement and experiential value: Gen Y retail apparel patronage

Despite Generation Y (Gen Y) consumers' significant role as a decision maker in the market, it is increasingly challenging for retailers to understand these consumers’ behavior and psychology. To enhance an in-depth understanding of Gen Y consumers, this study examined the effect of fashion involvement (FI) and perceived experiential value (EV) on Gen Y consumers’ retail apparel patronage behavior. Based on a survey method, data were collected from USA and Taiwan Gen Y samples. The structural equation modelling technique was used to analyze 413 useable surveys. Results indicate EV directly influences retail patronage, while FI indirectly affects retail patronage through EV. Analysis further reveals two dimensions of FI; cognitive involvement and affective involvement. Cognitive involvement has a moderate direct, negative effect on escapism value, and weak, negative effect on utilitarian value, while affective involvement has a moderate direct, positive effect on aesthetic value and weak, positive effect on escapism value. This study theoretically contributes to understanding how consumer involvement affects perceived experiential shopping value. Findings also provide strategic ideas for apparel retailers in creating shopping environments that resonate with Gen Y customers, which ultimately leads these customers to be loyal to their brands and stores.     

Creating the right customer experience online: The influence of culture

The effective role of experiential marketing in the differentiation of brands has been documented in both traditional and online services. The digital context of e-retailing makes it both a suitable platform for experiential consumption and an easily accessible shopping method across cultures. In spite of this, investigation of the impacts of cultural differences on the desire for experiential benefits has been very limited in the e-retailing literature. Using Hofstede's (2001) cultural dimensions, this article studies how two student samples of North American and Chinese customers react differently to the experiential values offered on the websites of e-retailing services. The findings support our hypotheses and suggest that offering experiential values on a company's website is more influential for North American than for Chinese customers. More specifically, the influences of experiential values on site involvement and customers' patronage intentions are stronger for North Americans than for Chinese visitors. On the other hand, the impacts of site involvement on site attitudes and the influence of site attitudes on patronage intentions are stronger for Chinese compared with North American customers.     

How product representation shapes virtual experiences and re-patronage intentions: the role of mental imagery processing and experiential value

Despite the lack of physical contact, innovative technologies in online stores are able to engender compelling virtual product experiences. The primary objective of this study is to clarify the mechanisms through which these virtual product experiences occur. The study proposes and tests a model in which mental imagery processing and consumers' perceptions of experiential value function as potential mechanisms through which virtual experiences in online stores are established, thereby determining re-patronage intention. The model was tested in an experimental study investigating two versions of a fast fashion online store that varied in terms of product representations: dynamic (i.e., a mix-and-match feature allowing the creation of visual images of apparel combinations) and static (i.e., rigid pictures). A sample of 660 valid cases involving individuals of Generation Y (born in 1977–1994) was obtained. The structural equation modeling technique was used to analyze the proposed research model. The results indicate that the dynamic mix-and-match technology arouses more mental images of physical product interaction than do static pictures. Moreover, mental imagery processing can be considered an important underlying source of online experiential value, which consumers subsequently exploit with repeated visits to the online store. By introducing psychological constructs such as mental imagery and perceived value, this study augments prior research on online product experiences by proposing and validating the underlying mechanisms through which the way of representing products affect consumer responses. Finally, both theoretical and practical contributions of the findings are discussed, as well as directions for further research.     

The role of customer gratitude in relationship marketing: moderation and model validation

Relationship marketing (RM) theories often emphasize on the role of trust and commitment in affecting seller performance outcomes. We test a recently developed model in a field experiment that demonstrates that RM investments (RMI) generate feelings of gratitude depending on the different types of gratitude leveraging acts and affects purchase intentions. The results confirm the presence of previously untested relationship between trust and purchase intention. The existing model is extended by including the moderating effects of the nature of the medium of communication for the seller–customer interaction (i.e. face-to-face vs. telephonic communication), and the varying intangibility of the purchase context (i.e. product vs. service) on the above relationship. Third, evidence of the moderating influence of certain individual-level cultural value orientations (i.e. good vs. evil, changeable vs. unchangeable and doing vs. being) is found. It is also endeavoured to extend and validate the model to a new culture.     

Mobile payment apps filling value gaps: Integrating consumption values with initial trust and customer involvement

This study aims to understand the consumption values that positively influence the adoption of mobile payment apps (MPAs). The theory of consumption values and two more constructs, initial trust (INT) and customer involvement (COI) are used to create a model tested using structural equation modeling with data collected from 880 Indian consumers. The results obtained from the analysis identified functional (FUV), conditional (COV), epistemic (EPV), and emotional (EMV) values having a significant positive impact on MPA adoption intention. While INT mediated all consumption values, COI positively moderated the relationship of FUV, EPV, and EMV with adoption intention. The critical contribution is using INT and COI to test the mediating and moderating effect utilizing the theory of consumption values. It explains factors contributing directly and indirectly to MPA adoption intention. The study results demonstrate that all consumption values except social value (SOV) positively influence MPA adoption intention. The cross-sectional data was collected during the pandemic from the urban population, which may not be generalizable with other developed nations. The study suggests that promoters of MPAs must focus more on FUV, COV, EPV, and EMV. Governments can promote MPAs with an increased focus on building trust through policy measures and special drives to increase trustworthiness in MPAs. Businesses could increase efforts to involve customers when introducing MPAs and collate critical information from customer touch points for improved consumer involvement. Through greater usage of MPAs, governments can substantially reduce the cost of printing and handling currency bills, saving taxpayers’ money and diverting it to social spending.     

Small firm internationalization through experiential learning: The moderating role of socialization tactics

The importance of experiential knowledge for small firm internationalization has been emphasized in the process model of internationalization, the international new venture or born-global frameworks and the management characteristics perspective in the exporting literature. However, none examines in detail under what conditions experiential learning is more important for internationalization. We borrow insights from the socialization tactics literature to theorize how the context, content and social aspects of a foreign sojourn offer different opportunities for the acquisition of experiential knowledge to support the internationalization of small firms. We suggest that socialization tactics moderate the relationship between individual international experiential knowledge and small firm internationalization. We propose that the opportunities for international experiential learning are superior when the socialization context is individual and formal (rather than collective and non-formal), the socialization content is sequential and fixed (rather than random and variable) and when socialization involves serial and investiture (rather than disjunctive and divestiture) social aspects.     

The impact of the introduction and use of an informational website on offline customer buying behavior

Do customers increase or decrease their spending in response to the introduction of an informational website? To answer this question, this study considers the effects of the introduction and use of an informational website by a large national retailer on offline customer buying behavior. More specifically, we study a website's effects on the number of shopping trips and the amount spent per category per shopping trip. The model is calibrated through the estimation of a Poisson model (shopping trips) and a type-II tobit model (the amount spent per category per shopping trip), with effect parameters that vary across customers. For the focal retailer, an informational website creates more bad than good news; most website visitors engage in fewer shopping trips and spend less in all product categories. The authors also compare the characteristics of shoppers who exhibit negative website effects with those few shoppers who show positive effects and thus derive key implications for research and practice.     

Driving marketing outcomes through social media-based customer engagement

Firms recognize the increasing potential of digital services to enhance customer engagement behaviors. Drawing on customer engagement and user gratification theory, two studies were conducted among Chinese consumers: an online survey and a field study. The results reveal varying effects of content types on customer engagement and underline a mediating role of engagement between content types and marketing outcomes. It is worth noting that the relational content type displays greater mediating effects compared to other content types. The findings provide new insights for development of digital content marketing strategies to enhance customer engagement and thereby generate marketing outcomes.     

E-loyalty driven by website quality: The case of destination marketing organization websites

The capability of website quality management to drive tourism customer e-loyalty is the key factor to achieve superior performance of destination marketing organization (DMO) website operations. The quality management approaches that revolve around website design quality and online relationship quality have drawn intensive attention from e-loyalty researchers in recent years. Thorough empirical investigation, however, still lacks in incorporating the integrative impact generated by the two approaches into DMO website quality management. The current study introduces and validates a theoretical framework based on such impact. As the research result reveals, six facets predict tourism customer e-loyalty directly: informational usefulness, navigational effectiveness, aesthetic appeal, entertainment, social presence, and self-concept congruity embedded in the functional, emotional, and symbolic dimensions of website design quality. Online relationship quality, comprised of relationship satisfaction and relationship trust, plays a partial mediator role in amplifying the e-loyalty driving effect of website design quality in the DMO website context.     

Effect of customer involvement on co-creation of services: A moderated mediation model

The study explored the influence of customer involvement on co-creation directly and indirectly through three customer engagement dimensions, namely identification, interaction, and absorption from lens of customer-dominant logic and stimulus-organism-response framework. Data were collected from 211 Chinese service customers in Hong Kong. Results of IBM SPSS PROCESS models showed that customer involvement influenced co-creation directly and indirectly through absorption and interaction, but not identification. Customer involvement was found to exert a greater impact on co-creation of services for those with a high rather than low relation orientation. Thus, service providers should utilize mass media effectively to arouse customers’ feelings of relevance and important of services to them. They should also interact with customers continuously through social media that can be enhanced by various kinds of immersion technology.     

Please smile,the CCTV is running!

This paper examines the use of closed-circuit television (CCTV) system notices in banks. This study was designed to measure the effect of the wording of CCTV notices on customer service quality expectations and purchase intent, while also considering the customer involvement as the moderating effects. Results show that customers, in expectation of better service quality, may be more likely to purchase the service when moderately worded CCTV notices (i.e. ‘please smile, the CCTV is running!’) had been employed in the bank rather than when the negatively worded CCTV notices (i.e. ‘Taping now! All your behaviour here is monitored by the CCTV system!’) are deployed. These effects were stronger in low-involvement situations. Implications of the findings and the future research directions are also discussed.     

Evaluating the impact of service user involvement on research: a prospective case study

As service user involvement in health and social care research has become more firmly embedded in health policies, both in the UK and internationally, there is increasing interest in evaluating its potential benefits and outcomes. Impact studies have highlighted a range of different types of service user involvement, using diverse research methods, within various research topics and involving different stakeholders. Potential benefits to research, researchers and the service users actively involved in research have been identified, along with the possibility of some negative consequences. Many impact studies have been criticized for being based on informal retrospective accounts of researchers and service users working together. Few have been underpinned by conceptual models, and there is a paucity of detailed accounts of the process of involvement that would enable replication. This paper reports an account of a prospective, qualitative exploration of service user involvement within a study, where the aims of the evaluation were agreed beforehand. Reflective discussions about the process and progress of service user involvement at different stages of the study were recorded, transcribed and analysed. The qualitative analysis identified perceived benefits to research, researchers and service user researchers that endorsed previous findings. The analysis also highlighted subjective and interpersonal aspects of service user involvement that have seldom been reported. This evaluation demonstrates the benefits of allowing time for structured reflection and adds to the understanding of the process and meaning of service user involvement in research.     

Consumer involvement and marketing in Africa: some directions for future research

Despite an ongoing debate, authors agree that factors that determine consumers' involvement in any goal object are the characteristics of the object, the characteristics of the customer involved and the situational context of the decision. With this as the theoretical background, this paper advocates the need to study African‐specific contextual factors to gain a thorough understanding of consumer involvement and successful marketing practice in this society. An extensive review of the extant literature was done to provide a relevant framework for exploring consumer involvement and African‐related issues. The paper concludes that existing postulations on the subject matter could not robustly capture consumer involvement in Africa due to pertinent influences of cultural values and mores that do not apply elsewhere in the world. Hence, empirical studies to gauge the context‐specific application of the subject in relation to Africa are suggested as imperative. This paper advocates a society‐oriented consciousness for marketing activities in relation to consumer involvement with specific reference to Africa. Therefore, it cautions against undue generalization about the existing postulations on the subject, and provides directions for future research towards updating the literature.     

Employee involvement in ideation and healthcare service innovation quality

ABSTRACT

This study hypothesizes and empirically tests the influence of involvement of (1) frontline employees and (2) top managers in ideation process on healthcare service innovation quality. Based on data from 168 service innovation projects in Dutch healthcare organizations, the empirical results indicate that frontline employee involvement and top management involvement in, respectively, idea generation and idea application both improve the quality of healthcare service innovation. We find that the positive effect of frontline employee involvement is stronger under the condition of higher service innovativeness. In the direct relationship of top management involvement and healthcare service innovation quality, our data do not show such a moderating effect. The key and general managerial implication of the findings is that healthcare organizations are inspired to involve frontline employees in the idea generation processes and involve top managers in the idea application processes of service innovation projects, in order to improve innovation quality.     

Improving competitiveness through city marketing in Spanish hotels

The degree to which hotels can be competitive depends upon some very important factors, such as city promotion initiatives and city knowledge networks. The purpose of this study is to analyse and present how a city marketing procedure could become an effective tool for knowledge development and the competitiveness of Spanish hospitality hotels. Our findings support the view that in order to implement a marketing city programme oriented towards hotels, municipal managers need to provide and support knowledge creation networks. Furthermore, a hotel's size is significantly associated with levels of city promotion initiatives. Therefore, to consolidate marketing city results among small hotels, municipal managers need to reinforce the environment in which hotel managers operate and provide them with the means to survive in the context of a competitive knowledge-based economy.     

Critical service learning across two required marketing classes

Business service learning projects have the potential to be a state-of-the-art instructional laboratory to teach and apply theory and make a substantial impact on the community. In this article, the author presents a service learning project that is embedded in two consecutive required courses of the marketing major and has been conducted and expanded by consecutive marketing teams over the last four years. The project follows a critical service learning pedagogy in that it redistributes power among stakeholders, promotes the development of authentic relationships, and works for social change. Insight is provided for other business faculty engaging in service learning projects.     

Increasing hotel customer value through service quality cues in Taiwan

The purpose of this paper is to elucidate how service quality cues and customer value are related, and explores the internal composition of this relationship. Samples were collected using a questionnaire, which had assessed the quality of the researcher's measurement efforts by investigating reliability and validity. Functional value is found to be affected mainly by reliable cues and accuracy of service quality, whereas conditional value is influenced by responsiveness of service quality. Furthermore, emotional value is found to be affected mainly by empathy of service quality, whereas social value is influenced by tangible cues of service quality. Finally, epistemic value is affected by responsiveness service quality. For future research, other external cues may influence perception of customer value with extrinsic information should be discussed. In practice, hotel managers can hone the relevant cues and optimise investments to raise service quality. Finally, this study provides a new shape of ‘structural’ relationships among five service quality cues and five types of customer value.     

Influences of retail brand trust,off‐line patronage,clothing involvement and website quality on online apparel shopping intention

This study examines the influence of retail brand trust, off‐line patronage, clothing involvement, and website quality on online apparel shopping intention for young female US consumers. Data for this study were collected from 200 young female consumers who completed an online survey. Participants were asked to select one of three pre‐determined apparel retail brands that they have either had experience with or were familiar with. Respondents were then asked to keep their selected retailer in mind when completing the questionnaire and were also asked to briefly visit the retailer's website shopping for a shirt or blouse. Factor, correlation and multiple regression analyses were conducted to test our hypotheses. Retail brand trust, off‐line patronage, clothing involvement and two factors of website quality (usability and information quality, visual appeal and image) were found to significantly influence online apparel shopping intention. Off‐line patronage was the strongest predictor of online shopping intention. Implications for multi‐channel apparel retailers were discussed based on these findings.     

Temporal duration and attribution process of cause-related marketing: moderating roles of self-construal and product involvement

Applying the self-construal (SC) temporal match effect to a cause marketing context, this study investigated the conditions under which cause-related marketing campaigns generate stronger altruistic attributions of sponsor motives and subsequently purchase intention. As major factors, temporal duration (long-term vs. short-term), SC (independent vs. interdependent), and product involvement (high vs. low) were incorporated in the integrative model and the three-way interaction effect on altruistic attributions was assessed. With the use of online experimental data from 323 college students, the matching effect of temporal duration and SC was found, such that independent individuals were influenced by the message that was framed with the distant, long-term duration. Our findings further found that this matching effect was more pronounced for the high-involvement product, but not for the low-involvement product. In addition, this study discovered that altruistic attributions mediated the effect of temporal duration on purchase intention in the low-involvement product condition, but not in the high-involvement condition. Theoretical and managerial implications were discussed for researchers and practitioners.