Mobile Marketing in the Retailing Environment: Current Insights and Future Research Avenues

Mobile marketing, which involves two- or multi-way communication and promotion of an offer between a firm and its customers using the mobile, a term that refers to the mobile medium, device, channel, or technology, is growing in importance in the retailing environment. It has the potential to change the paradigm of retailing from one based on consumers entering the retailing environment to retailers entering the consumer's environment through anytime, anywhere mobile devices. We propose a conceptual framework that comprises three key entities: the consumer, the mobile, and the retailer. The framework addresses key related issues such as mobile consumer activities, mobile consumer segments, mobile adoption enablers and inhibitors, key mobile properties, key retailer mobile marketing activities and competition. We also address successful retailer mobile marketing strategies, identify the customer-related and organizational challenges on this topic, and outline future research scenarios and avenues related to these issues.     

How (not) to market socially responsible products: A critical research evaluation

Growing awareness of their obligations towards society leads an increasing number of companies to produce socially responsible products (SRPs). In order to develop suitable marketing and communication strategies, it is essential to have a realistic picture of consumer priorities, and in the light of these findings, of the viability of classical academic marketing approaches, such as Kotler's societal marketing concept. This study provides a qualitative evaluation of the contradictory research literature on consumer interest in SRP and an assessment of the usability of classical marketing approaches. It contributes essential insights to the ongoing academic debate about a conceptualisation of SRP marketing approaches. Also, it will allow practitioners more ease of access to this debate. Findings show that a majority of consumers prioritise conventional product features and demonstrate low interest in SRP. Consumer research which states otherwise is revealed as methodologically flawed. Most classical marketing approaches are shown to be unsuitable for SRP marketing and communication since they fail to take into account the widespread lack of consumer interest and/or focus on consumer features irrelevant to marketing SRP. Directions for future research on SRP marketing and communication strategies are outlined.     

Virtual and augmented reality: Advancing research in consumer marketing

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies are having a profound impact on a variety of marketing practices and are attracting increasing attention from marketing researchers. In this article, we review developments in VR/AR applications and research in the area of consumer marketing. We propose a conceptual framework for VR/AR research in consumer marketing that centers around consumer experiences provided by VR/AR applications along the customer journey and the effectiveness of such applications, and delve into the key concepts and components of the framework. Next, we provide a comprehensive overview of VR/AR applications in current practices and extant research on VR/AR in consumer marketing. Finally, based on this framework, we offer an outlook for future developments of VR/AR technologies and applications, discuss managerial implications, and prescribe directions for research on consumer marketing.     

Customized Targeting Strategies for Category Coupons to Maximize CLV and Minimize Cost

It is standard procedure to use short-term measures for designing customized marketing campaigns and evaluating their success. We consider the integration of customer lifetime value (CLV) thinking into the category selection problem for targeted coupons. This problem involves two primary considerations: should the coupon be a category-specific one? – and, if so, should short-term or rather long-term objectives govern the choice of category? Our paper is the first to address these questions by analyzing the effects of different customized targeting strategies for category coupons on short-term marketing costs and long-term CLV using an analytical model. We develop these targeting strategies with the help of a data-driven customer segmentation framework based on the dimensions of churn, frequency, and loyalty. Using data from a German hypermarket chain, we identify four refined targeting strategies that enable multi-category retailers to exploit the full potential of customized marketing by optimizing the trade-off between marketing cost and CLV considerations. Our analysis reveals that the targeting strategy most likely to be employed by retail practice – as compared with the one most commonly used – can yield a substantially higher CLV even as it reduces wasteful marketing costs.     

Social media influencers and consumer engagement: A review and future research agenda

The rise of social media influencers (SMIs) in the recent decade garnered wide interest from academicians and marketers. Academicians try to understand the effect of influencers on consumer behaviour, while marketers use influencers as part of their strategy to achieve marketing objectives. Although, plenty of practical and conceptual research is available in this area, literature reviews in the domain of SMIs and consumer engagement are scarce as it is still developing, and most of the studies have focused on these two concepts separately. In this study, the authors attempted to combine and understand how social media influencers affect consumers engagement. This systematic review of the literature offers a comprehensive view of previous research on social media influencers and consumer engagement. The study reviewed articles published in the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC), Scopus, and Web of Science indexed journals till 5 June 2021. To understand consumers' engagement with SMIs, authors identified and theorized the antecedents, decision and outcome of such engagement. It also discusses the influencer-follower parasocial relationship on different social media platforms. The study proposes an integrated conceptual framework that can be further used to test and validate the impact of social media influencer's marketing efforts on consumer engagement. This framework also may serve as a foundation for marketers to develop effective influencer strategies for brand promotions. The review concludes the discussion by highlighting theories, methodology, and context of studies conducted by past researchers.     

Investigating the Types of Value and Cost of Green Brands: Proposition of a Conceptual Framework

This conceptual article applies the customer value (CV) concept in the context of green marketing aiming to provide insights on the factors that motivate and/or hinder the development of consumer–green brand relationships. The article draws upon existing literature on the streams of CV, relationship marketing and environmental behaviour and synthesises relevant findings to propose an integrated conceptual framework entailing all identified types of value and cost, psychographic characteristics, as well as dimensions of relationship quality (RQ) and loyalty. Furthermore, it addresses existing questions on the links among constructs and proposes several relationships that may lead to a better understanding of consumer behaviour towards green brands. Through the here-proposed conceptual model, the article initiates the process of empirically examining the consumer adoption of and relationship development with green brands. The CV framework adopted here may provide practitioners with knowledge on the value and sacrifice factors, as well as the dimensions of RQ that are the most important in targeting green consumers and designing relationship marketing strategies. The article also fulfils an identified gap in the literature, as it is the first that brings together and applies research findings from CV and relationship marketing fields in the green marketing context and proposes an integrated approach to understanding consumer–green brands relationships.     

Consumer Interests and the Ethical Implications of Marketing: A Contingency Framework

The increasing efforts by marketers to target diverse groups of consumers call for a closer examination of the ethical implications of market segmentation and differentiated marketing. Previous research suggests that marketers and consumers often differ in their perceptions of marketing ethics. Based on contingency theory, this research proposes an integrated framework—which includes the nature of the product, consumer characteristics, and market selection—to analyze the ethical complexities of the marketing exchange. Interactions among these factors lead to various contingencies with different ethical implications for marketing managers and public policy makers. Marketers should assess consumer interests and the ethics of marketing programs before their implementation     

A Framework for Understanding Corporate Social Responsibility Programs as a Continuum: An Exploratory Study

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs are increasingly popular corporate marketing strategies. This paper argues that CSR programs can fall along a continuum between two endpoints: Institutionalized programs and Promotional programs. This classification is based on an exploratory study examining the variance of four responses from the consumer stakeholder group toward these two categories of CSR. Institutionalized CSR programs are argued to be most effective at increasing customer loyalty, enhancing attitude toward the company, and decreasing consumer skepticism. Promotional CSR programs are argued to be more effective at generating purchase intent. Ethical and managerial implications of these preliminary findings are discussed. Julie Pirsch, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Villanova University. She researches in the areas of cause-related marketing, corporate social responsibility, and new product development. Shruti Gupta, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Management at The Pennsylvania State University at Abington, in Abington, Pennsylvania. Dr. Gupta’s research interests lie in the area of corporate social responsibility, cause-related marketing, environmental consumerism, and social marketing issues. Stacy Landreth, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of North Texas. She researches in the areas of cause-related marketing and social marketing alliances, as well as advertising source effects.     

Consumer response to retailer use of cause-related marketing: Is more fit better?

Although marketers increasingly rely upon cause-related marketing strategies to increase sales, controversy exists regarding whether a retailer should partner with causes offering high or low fit levels with its core business practices. The present investigation extends prior research by examining how retailer–cause fit affects consumer evaluations of retailers’ cause-related marketing strategies. The results indicate that the effects of retailer–cause fit are moderated by consumer perceptions of the retailer's motive for engaging in cause-related marketing (Study 1), by the affinity that consumers hold for the social cause component of the campaign (Study 2), as well as by the interactive effects associated with the two moderators (Study 3).     

Ethical Decision-Making by Consumers: The Roles of Product Harm and Consumer Vulnerability

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the effects of perceptions of product harm and consumer vulnerability on ethical evaluations of target marketing strategies. We first established whether subjects are able to accurately judge the harmfulness of a product through labeling alone, and whether they could differentiate consumers who were more or less vulnerable. The results suggest that without the presence of a prime, subjects who depended on implicit memory or guess were able to detect differences in “sin” and “non-sin” products and consumer vulnerability, but were far less likely to be able to distinguish among high and low levels of product harm and consumer vulnerability. The inability to accurately identify high and low levels of product harm and consumer vulnerability impacted their perceptions of the ethicality of target marketing strategies, such that only four out of 18 target marketing strategies were judged as unethical. Thus, our findings contradict previous research that found subjects judged many more of the integrated strategies as unethical [Smith and Cooper-Martin, J Market 61(1997) 1]. Our results suggest that assessing ethical evaluations of strategies varying in product harm, and consumer vulnerability may only be relevant if consumers can accurately identify product harm.     

Every ending is a new beginning: Poignancy increases consumer preferences for self-made products

Retailers and brands such as IKEA, Home Depot, and Build-a-Bear encourage consumers to ‘make’ their products rather than be passive recipients. While a growing literature explores ‘why’ consumers purchase self-made products, it is less understood ‘how’ marketers can develop effective advertising and marketing communications to promote such products. Building on the functionalist framework of emotion, the present research explores the potential of a mixed emotional appeal – poignancy – that may be useful in enhancing consumer preferences for self-made products. Notably, this effect is mediated by a fresh start mindset and openness to learning. The effect is also attenuated among consumers with a low personal control. In addition to having substantive practical implications to marketers in developing effective communication strategies, this research offers a novel perspective on the effect of poignancy on consumer decision making.     

How well do ‘off-price’ retailers satisfy consumers?

Off-price retailing is a new form of discount or low-price retailing that has become prominent in the U. S. during the past decade. In an attempt to satisfy today's quality-and price-conscious consumers, off-price retailers have utilized a marketing strategy of ‘brand and designer names for less’. Based on research assessing consumers' attitudes towards apparel offerings of off-price versus conventional retailers, we suggest that off-price retailers are not yet successful at satisfying consumers' needs and wants in their special niche of the market. We recommend several revised marketing strategies to enable off-price retailers to satisfy consumers better, and thereby maintain their niche in the ever competitive consumer market. We conclude by observing that it is important that consumer-orientated professionals take an advocacy role in encouraging retail institutions such as off-price stores to revise their marketing strategies to serve consumer interests better.     

Consumer Motivations and Buying Behavior: The Case of the Local Food System Movement

The significant attention and growth surrounding sustainable foods has created a demand for research investigating different factors that can aid in predicting and explaining consumer behavior. This article utilized an attitude-behavior framework, the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), to identify factors that might influence consumer valuation of organic, fair trade, and local labeled food. Approximately 1,000 consumers from a 2008 nationwide survey were used in data analyses. Some TPB determinants proved successful in understanding consumer motivations (behavioral control, social norms). These results can be used by a wide variety of food marketers to connect with consumers to promote effective marketing strategies of sustainable food products     

Optimising relationship marketing programmes: a holistic approach

Optimising relationship marketing programmes in terms of the mix of marketing activities represents a daunting task; however, it is crucial for the formation of successful marketing strategy. An analysis of research into optimisation of marketing programmes reveals models largely focus on the optimisation task, but fail to present a holistic view. Whilst adopting a systematic approach, this paper develops a model for judging the appropriateness of a relationship marketing programme from the optimisation standpoint. As such, relationship marketing programme optimisation is treated as a complex problem consisting of three partial problems related on a parametric basis. These are forming an optimal relationship marketing programme, measuring return on relationship marketing activities and calculating costs of such activities. The methods applied integer programming, multiple regression analysis, factor analysis and heuristic algorithms. The model was tested by using large-scale data on 40,000 SMEs provided by a bank. The results showed a dramatic increase in efficiency when optimising marketing decisions by applying the suggested model. This paper is among the first to present such a holistic approach and to offer an original framework.     

Applications of the behavioural homogeneity evaluation framework: The predictive ability of consumer involvement for international food market segmentation

Abstract

This article proposes a framework of alternative international marketing strategies, based on the evaluation of intra- and inter-cultural behavioural homogeneity for market segmentation. The framework developed in this study provides a generic structure to behavioural homogeneity, proposing consumer involvement as a construct with unique predictive ability for international marketing strategy decisions. A model-based segmentation process, using structural equation models, is implemented to illustrate the application of the framework.     

Understanding the effect of personal and social value on attitude and usage behavior of luxury cosmetic brands

The growth of the luxury market has been phenomenal in recent years, especially in the emerging markets such as India. This research studied luxury value aspects (personal and social) of luxury cosmetic brands and their impact on consumer attitudes and usage behavior, with a focus on women consumers. Data was collected in the form of a survey from 372 women luxury cosmetic users. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the framework. Hedonism and status value were found to have high significant relationship towards attitude whereas usage behavior was influenced by materialism and status value. Hence the symbolic and psychological traits among consumer will show their willingness to buy and preferences on luxury cosmetic brands. The findings of this study provide valuable insights to marketers and managers to understand consumer trends, attitudes and behavior in the luxury cosmetic market and develop marketing strategies to successfully market their products.     

Recycling consumer solid waste: A commentary on selected channel alternatives

The recycling of consumer solid waste presents special problems for reverse marketing channels. Specifically, the accumulation of bulk quantities of homogenous materials from consumer-generated sources that are highly heterogenous in nature represents a major functional problem that must be overcome through the development of appropriate reverse marketing channels. In this article, factors influencing reverse channels development are outlined, and specific marketing implications concerning the three basic channel types that primarily handle consumer solid waste are discussed.     

The friluftsliv response: Connection,drive, and contentment reactions to biophilic design in consumer environments

It is well documented that context and physical surroundings impact consumers. However, little is known about how to direct the overall design of an environment to enhance consumer experience. Evidence suggests that design principles that tap into the benefits of response to nature may serve to improve the well-being of people in the environment. While research on the implications of such design for consumer responses is growing, a conceptual framework that delineates these responses and their effects on experience has not been established. The current research develops, proposes, and tests a conceptual framework for consumer responses to environments that incorporate materials, textures, shapes, colors, and patterns that quote nature. It shows that when present in a consumer context, these biophilic design elements elicit what we label the friluftsliv response: a response characterized by a positive connection to place that elicits both drive and contentment-based affective reactions. The results indicate that consumer environments rich in biophilic design elements can positively influence important marketing variables, such as situational consumer anxiety and retailer choice.