Evaluation of Social Marketing Efforts Designed to Increase Enrollment in the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

ABSTRACT

Expanded eligibility criteria for children in the federally funded Child Health Insurance Program (CHIP) has created unique social marketing challenges because of the need to engage families that historically have not received public support. The purpose of this article is to evaluate statewide outreach strategies to increase CHIP enrollment. Quantitative research identified the outreach strategies used by Ohio counties and determined the counties that demonstrated the greatest increases in child health insurance enrollment. Qualitative research explored consumer and outreach staff perceptions of which marketing strategies led to success. Findings, implications, and application to social marketing theory are discussed.     

Why users share marketer-generated contents on social broadcasting Web sites: A cognitive–affective involvement perspective

As an emerging media platform, social broadcasting technologies provide users with a decentralized environment for producing and consuming information. This study develops a motivational model based on the cognitive and affective involvements of individuals to explore their intentions to share marketer-generated content (MGC). The model was empirically tested on 481 Sina Weibo users in a scenario-based environment. Results show that ad intrusiveness, anticipated rewards, category brand relevance, and brand attitude play important roles in facilitating cognitive and affective involvements. In turn, both types of involvement positively influence the intention of users to share MGC, but affective involvement yields a greater influence. Product types significantly moderate the relationship between the cognitive involvement of users and their intention to share MGC. Implications for research and practice are discussed.     

Scale Development and Validation for Measuring Online Engagement

Although the construct of online engagement has received considerable attention in the consumer behavior literature, academic research lacks clear conceptualization and rigorous measurement of the construct within social media. Further, a lack of consensus remains with regard to the conceptualization and operationalization of engagement in the marketing literature. This study develops and validates a 16-item online engagement scale comprising four factors: conscious attention, affection, enthused participation, and social connection. Strong evidence supports the reliability of the multidimensional conceptualization, as well as its convergent and discriminant validity. The scale offers a framework for future research investigations in an increasingly important area.     

A Model Integrating the Multidimensional Developmental Theory of Privacy and Theory of Planned Behavior to Examine Fabrication of Information Online

We investigate the antecedents behind online consumers' attempt to disguise their identities through fabrication. We first develop a general conceptual model that draws on two extant theoretical frameworks: (1) Laufer and Wolfe's Multidimensional Approach to Privacy, and (2) Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) with Perceived Moral Obligation. Next we conduct an empirical study using SEM to test the portion of the conceptual model based on the TPB framework. Results demonstrate that Attitudes, Perceived Behavioral Control, and Perceived Moral Obligation are significant drivers of fabrication, while Subjective Norms are not. Anonymity, one of the unique characteristics of the Internet compared to in-store environments, likely contributed to the intention to fabricate information. In the concluding section we discuss the implications of our empirical results, industry self-regulation and public policy considerations, and how future research can draw upon the conceptual Laufer and Wolfe framework, particularly the calculus of behavior construct, to further enrich our understanding of fabrication behavior on the Internet.     

Does Social Media Matter? Investigating the Effect of Social Media Features on Consumer Attitudes

The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of social media's features (i.e., entertainment, usefulness, informativeness and irritation) toward consumers’ attitude toward the brand. Subsequently, this study explores the impact of this attitude toward consumers’ brand loyalty, brand awareness and purchase intention. Data for this study was collected through a large public university in Australia. Paper surveys were distributed to students, their friends and members of their immediate families (N = 724). The findings show that entertainment feature has the strongest impact on consumers’ attitude toward the brand's social media use, followed by informativeness, usefulness and finally, irritation. Consumers’ attitude toward a brand's social media strongly influences consumer loyalty, awareness and purchase intention. The findings of this research provide some insights into the impact of different features of social media which will be useful for practitioners and academics interested in social media.     

The Social Network?: Nonprofit Constituent Engagement Through Social Media

Social media has become an important part of public relations for nonprofit organizations. Social media has the potential to engage stakeholders and constituents of nonprofit organizations. However, little scholarly attention has been focused on how users react to social media posts by nonprofit organizations. To enhance understanding of how organizational social media activity affects users’ engagement, this study examines Facebook and Twitter utilization and user response of nonprofit advocacy groups. The analysis reveals that users respond differently to stimuli across platforms.     

Consumer intentions to falsify personal information online: unethical or justifiable?

ABSTRACT

Companies routinely analyse the online activities of consumers to understand shopping habits and buying patterns. As the amount of personal information available online has grown, so has the potential for its misuse. When consumers believe that their personal information is being used for an unstated purpose, they may consider the firm to be acting unethically. They may then falsify their personal information online as a reaction to apparent ethical violations by companies or as an opportunistic unethical act of their own. The purpose of the present research is to propose a framework that could be used to understand consumer intentions to falsify personal information online. The research is important from both a theoretical and business perspective. From a theoretical standpoint, they add to the literature on the dark side of marketing by examining ethically questionable behaviour by consumers. The research is relevant for firms because when consumers falsify personal information their ability to target consumers with personalised offers is diminished. The research is also relevant for policymakers as they evaluate existing regulatory safeguards intended to protect consumer information online.     

Self-Disclosure and Managing Privacy: Implications for Interpersonal and Online Communication for Consumers and Marketers

In our fast-changing technological world, the line between the offline and online world has become blurred and individuals are faced with constant opportunities to divulge personal details. The process of disclosing sensitive information to others is necessary for establishing, maintaining, and building relationships, both with people and businesses; however, it also creates opportunities for misuse of the disclosed information. Consumers who are willing to disclose personal information online may often be unaware of the full implications of such disclosure. By thoroughly exploring the origins and processes of self-disclosure, and outlining its development in interpersonal and online communication, individuals will become more aware of their (sometimes competing) implicit and explicit disclosure behaviors necessary for enacting strong privacy management. Utilizing communication privacy management (CPM) theory, this article proposes a framework for ongoing consideration of how self-disclosure and privacy function online. By framing privacy in terms of the literature of communicative self-disclosure, CPM instructs the building of privacy boundaries that are functional for consumers and marketers alike, allowing people to protect themselves online while also ensuring their continued enjoyment of Internet provided benefits.