Marketing education to international students: A systematic literature review and future research agenda

Even though numerous studies provide information on marketing education to international students, research that reviews the accrued knowledge holistically remains elusive. Accordingly, the main purpose of this study is to (1) systematically synthesize, compile and understand the existing line of empirical research on the topic of marketing education to international students and (2) outline a comprehensive future research agenda to help further advance this field. This study adopts the theory-context-characteristics-methodology (TCCM) framework proposed by Paul and Rosado-Serrano to systematically review 52 articles published in A*, A and B category journals from the ABDC Journal Quality List. This systematic review reveals that the existing studies mostly focus on consumer-specific theories and detects a need for more macro-market, and industry-related theoretical perspectives (theory); it also identifies research gaps related to international student host and home country settings (context), and the application of competition-related variables for the main relationships in this field (characteristics). Finally, the author proposes several methodological best practices (methodology) to advance findings in this field.     

Online shopping cart abandonment: A review and research agenda

The COVID-19 pandemic has put online shopping at the forefront of retailing; however, the issue related to shopping cart abandonment remains an eternal nemesis of e-retailers. To understand extant research on online shopping cart abandonment (OSCA), a framework-based systematic literature review was conducted with the purpose of gaining more insights into existing studies in this context. Specifically, this review examined the literature related to OSCA in terms of theory, context, characteristics, and methods to provide (i) a comprehensive review of the current state of research and (ii) constructive future research agenda in the area. Using scientific procedures, a total of 52 research articles were retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science databases published during the period 2003–2022. The results revealed that most research was founded by the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model and the buyer behavior theory, focused in the context of the United States and China, and appeared to use quantitative methods. As a result, this review is expected to assist researchers in better understanding the OSCA context, thus paving the way for further research and development in the area. In addition, providing practitioners with a better panorama to address the issue by expanding the literature review and highlighting the inhibiting factors of OSCA.     

Meaning-oriented consumption: A systematic review and research agenda

The quest for finding meaning in life is central to human existence. Evidence supporting consumption as a source of meaning in life is scant and lies in discrete studies across multiple disciplines. We call consumption that engenders a sense of meaning in life ‘meaning-oriented consumption’. In this paper we conduct a systematic literature review of 102 papers, using the Scientific procedures and rationales for systematic literature reviews (SPAR-4-SLR) (Paul et al. (2021). International Journal of Consumer Studies, 45(4)). We draw on the theory of meaning in life to arrive at a theoretically grounded conceptualization of meaning-oriented consumption. We discuss the antecedents and consequences of meaning-oriented consumption, categories and processes that make consumption meaningful. We gather insights into the relationship between hedonic and meaning-oriented consumption. Finally, we identify knowledge gaps in theory, context, constructs and methodology. This review identifies several consumption contexts and situations that offer potential for marketers to design meaningful offerings.     

Consumer cynicism: Interdisciplinary hybrid review and research agenda

Over the years, consumers have been questioning the intentions and actions of firms, resulting in a cynical attitude and behaviour. Due to the severity of the outcomes that cynical consumers may display, reputed journals and prolific researchers have addressed the core issue in their own unique ways. However, no single study offers a uniform, comprehensive, and contemporary review of consumer cynicism literature. Thus, we use an interdisciplinary approach to study the literature spanning 47 years (1976–2022) on cynicism in consumer research, psychology, and organizational domains through a hybrid review involving bibliometric and systematic literature reviews. Following the SPAR-4-SLR protocol, this review shows the most cited and co-cited articles, researchers, and keywords in cynicism research. We infer that the consumer cynicism construct draws heavily from the organizational behaviour area, possessing the potential to be correlated with, and extended to interdisciplinary research. Also, we offer an all-inclusive model of the predictors and predictands of consumer cynicism based on the ADO-TCM framework. We close this study with its academic contributions, practical implications, and future research directions using the ADO-TCM framework.     

Ad avoidance in the digital context: A systematic literature review and research agenda

The recent growth in digital marketing investments and revenues has attracted the attention of both marketing practitioners and scholars. However, this growth has dramatically increased users' exposure to ad messages, encouraging consumers to avoid them. Therefore, ad avoidance has become a major problem for marketing practitioners. Although researchers have become much more interested in this subject over the past two decades, the body of knowledge on ad avoidance in the digital environment remains fragmented due to the lack of a comprehensive review. Therefore, a holistic overview study is needed that focuses on the big picture and can help researchers to understand the literature comprehensively. This study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the topic using a systematic literature review approach on digital ad avoidance. To this end, we provide an in-depth content analysis of 56 relevant articles published in 31 peer-reviewed scientific journals up to December 31, 2021. Based on a theories, contexts, characteristics, and methods (TCCM) framework, the study results shed light on ‘what do we know, how do we know, and where should research about digital ad avoidance research be heading?’ Additionally, drawing on the content analysis, we have presented an integrative framework that considers antecedents, outcomes, mediators, and moderators, which can help develop the field systematically and guide future research. By doing so, we think this review meets the need to give an overview of the state-of-the-art scientific body of knowledge on digital ad avoidance and makes important and solid contributions to the literature, practical implications, and future research directions based on the findings.     

The diffusion of e-participation in public administrations: A systematic literature review

Research on e-participation has grown significantly in the last years. This review focuses on public administrations, which are central actors in the solicitation and organization of e-participation and in the process of diffusion of more democratic decision-making in government contexts. However, research indicates that public administrations often struggle with technological and organizational changes, which suggests that e-participation initiatives may fail due to barriers within public administrations. Although researchers have paid considerable attention to the diffusion of e-participation in public administrations, research so far is multi-disciplinary and fragmented. The aim of this literature review is to structure and systematize the literature regarding phases of e-participation diffusion (adoption, implementation and institutionalization) and levels of analysis (micro, meso, and macro) to map the extant field of e-participation diffusion research and to provide a starting point for future research. The analysis shows that research has concentrated on the phases of adoption and implementation, and on the external context of public administrations (macro) and the organizational (meso) level. Overall, the review identifies major research gaps and offers avenues for future research.     

Religion,spirituality, and well-being: A systematic literature review and futuristic agenda

Informed by religion and psychology literature, this study reviews the literature on religiosity, spirituality, and psychology to support existing theory development in the current emergence of “Management, Spirituality, and Religion” field of study, encourage new contextual thinking and develop a framework to guide businesses on the integration of spirituality and religiosity at work given their documented benefits in relation to personal well-being and productivity. Using the Web of Science (WoS) database, the paper reviews and synthesizes recent research in a systematic, transparent, and reproducible manner. In addition, to verify and include the state-of-the-art of high-quality scientific articles, we refer to the Chartered Association of Business Schools list leading to the adoption of the following criteria: (a) journals listed in the ABS ranking as 3- and 4-star class, (b) indexed under the field of ethics (i.e., ETHICS-CSR-MAN), (c) articles published between 2000 and 2021, and (d) topical relevance. The review extends the existing literature by developing a framework for organizations that helps in identifying possible linkages between religiosity, spirituality, and employee well-being. This was done by (1) extending the six indicators of Ryff's well-being framework, (2) highlighting potential spiritual practices for individuals and organizations and their implications, and (3) presenting a framework that is contextualized to the extent possible and that can serve as a useful guide for organizations. Insights from our review yield in turn two key propositions: (1) workplace spirituality and individual spirituality are both important for employees' well-being, and (2) individual religiosity is an important factor for personal well-being. This offers in turn reinvigorated awareness and new insights into the topic under study. The study highlights in closing an array of future possible research directions.     

Up- and down- alliances: A systematic literature review

This paper develops a systematic literature review about up- and down- alliances: vertical alliances (VAs) characterized by long term continuity between firms operating in adjacent stages of a value chain. Vertical alliances are a must for firms operating in a complex and unstable world, because they guarantee the advantages deriving from the vertical coordination of the value chain as well as the flexibility of cooperation.In spite of the copious literature on alliances, few contributions focus specifically on VAs, so a clear overview of the phenomenon is missing. Furthermore, the different terminology and definitions found in the literature are confusing. Our systematic literature review identifies the theoretical approaches which are most used to study the development, potential and dynamics of VAs. The review highlights the main theories and the most explored topics, and identifies the gaps still existing in the literature. From the review, we developed a taxonomy to determine which research stream would be most congruent to a specific research topic.     

Professionals' views of comparative advertising and the scholarly research literature: A review and synthesis

Comparative advertisements that contrast identifiable, competing products or services may be among advertising's most important tactical weapons. Despite nearly a century of use in the USA, growing use by advertisers in many other countries, and decades of scholarly research, some researchers continue to argue that the status of empirical knowledge regarding comparative advertising's effectiveness remains equivocal. This study addresses this equivocality with a review of the research literature and comparisons with the findings of a recent survey of US advertising creative executives. The findings reveal substantial agreement among the beliefs of academic researchers and advertising professionals in regard to when and how comparative advertising will likely be effective. In addition to offering confirming evidence that academic researchers and advertising professionals do sometimes arrive at the same destination in regard to their shared understandings of advertising effects, the findings also point the way toward important directions for future research on comparative advertising.     

International joint ventures research on Africa: A systematic literature review,propositions, and contextualization

This study reviewed the research on international joint ventures (IJVs) in Africa up to 2017. The authors performed a systematic search of peer‐reviewed good‐quality research using the 6W procedure and ensured the quality of the review by using the 5Cs quality criteria. The content analysis was focused on four research questions. A total of 22 relevant studies were found. Overall, only about one‐third of the lead authors were affiliated with African universities. A majority of the studies were quantitative, and 78% of the studies were done for three countries: Ghana, Morocco, and Nigeria. There was either just one or no study on trust and conflict, partner selection, and human resource management (HRM). At the contextual level, it seems the most important factor influencing IJV strategy and success is institutions. We therefore suggest a greater use of institutional theory. Finally, we present a summary of conceptual framework and four propositions to guide future research.     

Exploring online customer experience: A systematic literature review and research agenda

This review aims to examine the latest research on online customer experience (OCE), which can be defined as consumer's cognitive, emotional, and behavioral response to interactions between customer and company occurring through digital channels (e.g., websites, social media, mobile apps). To achieve this, we utilized a hybrid review approach that incorporates quantitative bibliometric analysis and qualitative systematic literature review techniques. We identified publication trends, prominent authors and outlets, and the evolution of research themes based on 141 articles published since the last systematic review 11 years ago. Our framework-based review identified frequently studied antecedents, dimensions, and outcomes of OCE, and identified new themes related to m-commerce and augmented/virtual reality. We also identified gaps in the current literature and proposed 14 areas of future research using the TCM framework.     

Children,Smoking and Advertising: The Evidence is There for Those Who Wish to See it (A Reply)

In a recent article in this journal, Colin McDonald (1993) criticized our research on cigarette advertising and children's smoking. This paper refutes each of his criticisms and shows that our research and that of others in this field provides a convincing argument that cigarette advertising does influence children's smoking. These arguments are now widely accepted, with the only prominent disagreement coming from those with most to lose—the tobacco industry.     

The evolution of service innovation research: a critical review and synthesis

The number of service innovation articles has increased dramatically in the past 25 years. By reviewing 128 articles published between 1986 and 2010, primarily in leading marketing and innovation journals, this study analyzes the progression of service innovation research according to topicality and perspective. The authors summarize prior research by clustering it into three evolutional phases and drawing parallels with the evolution of the wider services marketing field. Overall, the view of service innovation has evolved, from a complement of traditional product innovation to a multidimensional, all-encompassing notion that entails several functions, both within and outside the firm.     

Multinational firms and host country market structure: A review of empirical literature

We address the impact of multinationals on host country market structure through reviewing existing empirical literature. Our main conclusion is that the majority of studies focus on samples of manufacturing industries/firms, neglecting the service sector, despite its importance. Future research should be directed to this sector and explore the possibility of bidirectional causality between foreign presence and host country industry concentration. Studies concerning the impact of multinationals on entry, exit and survival of host country firms must use more recent data, investigate the role of vertical linkages and taking into account other control variables that may affect the exit rate. Finally, future work should take into account the mode of foreign firm establishment in the host country.     

Impulse buying: A systematic literature review and future research directions

This paper performs a comprehensive analysis of academic research on impulse buying following a systematic literature review approach. Drawing on the TCCM framework suggested by Paul and Rosado-Serrano, we synthesize the impulse buying literature and develop a future research agenda. Accordingly, this review synthesizes impulse buying research in terms of theory development, context, characteristics, and methodologies to examine the development of the literature over time. This systematic review shows that impulse buying research is fragmented and still developing due to its transition from a traditional retail environment into different online channels. Furthermore, this paper proposes a conceptual framework based on the literature synthesis, presenting antecedents and mediators of impulse buying behaviour. Finally, this review identifies overlooked areas in impulse buying literature and provides insightful directions to advance research in the domain. Overall, this research effort makes a significant contribution to consumer behaviour literature, specifically to impulse buying literature.     

Celebrity endorsements: a literature review and research agenda

This paper presents a narrative review of celebrity endorsement research. The review identifies six areas of research on celebrity endorsements (celebrity prevalence, campaign management, financial effects, celebrity persuasion, non-evaluative meaning transfer, and brand-to-celebrity transfer). A review of the research in each area identifies key findings, conflicting results, and research gaps. In addition, this paper reviews the celebrity endorsement literature with a focus on the psychological processes underlying celebrity endorsement effects that has been put forward in the literature. Based on the review an agenda for future research is offered.     

Managing service employees: literature review,expert opinions,and research directions

This article reviews the service management and marketing literature on managing people with a particular emphasis on managerial relevance. This review explores the market and financial results of managing people effectively, emphasizing that it is probably harder to duplicate high-performing human assets than any other corporate resource. The challenges inherent in boundary-spanning frontline jobs are discussed, including role conflict and emotional labor. Next, recommended human resources (HR) strategies and practices related to recruitment, training, empowerment, service delivery teams, and employee motivation are reviewed. The literature review concludes with a section on service culture, climate, and leadership. Each section is complemented with further research suggestions that emerged from interviews with eight academic and practitioner experts. The last section outlines six themes for new research opportunities with high potential managerial relevance; they relate to (1) the financial impact of HR practices and strategies, (2) motivating service employees, (3) training, (4) emotional labor, (5) dealing with rude customers, and (6) the impact of technology on managing service employees.     

Customer experience in social commerce: A systematic literature review and research agenda

Social commerce (SC) is an upcoming trend that has changed the online shopping experience by allowing e-retailers to develop long-term relationships with customers and increase sales. Empowered by Web 3.0, SC offers many-to-many interactions, enhancing the quality and quantity of social interaction related to the seller–customer, information searches, and product/service delivery. The customer experience (CEX) has been well developed both in the online and offline contexts. However, limited attention has been paid to examining CEX in the SC setting. This study aims to conduct a systematic review of the literature to develop a conceptual framework exploring both the antecedents and consequences of CEX in the SC setting. In the process, we make three significant contributions to academia and practice. First, the study contributes to our understanding of CEX in the context of SC. Second, it proposes a conceptual framework by identifying antecedents of CEX and potential consequences using the consumer culture theory. Finally, it highlights a subject relevant to academia and practice while proposing recommendations for further research.     

Device-mediated customer behaviour on the internet: A systematic literature review

The proliferation of smartphones, tablets and other digital devices in addition to traditional computers has transformed the Internet into a device-mediated environment. While these devices provide immediate access to similar Internet sources, they differ significantly in their characteristics, such as screen size, operation mode and context of use. As a consequence, behaviours on the Internet along the customer journey vary substantially depending on the device used. To summarize the fast-growing body of research on device-mediated customer behaviour, a systematic, framework-based literature review of 59 articles from the last decade was conducted. Through an examination of the antecedents, decisions and outcomes investigated in the publications, the review presents a conceptual framework that highlights the relation between device characteristics, decision processes and behavioural outcomes. The review further summarizes the theories, contexts and methods employed in the studies and sets an extensive future research agenda. We found that the extant literature lacks comprehensive theories and clear definitions of digital devices in the omnichannel environment. Furthermore, existing findings should be generalized for other contexts (e.g. industries and countries) and validated via the introduction of other research designs and methods. The understanding of device-mediated behaviour and the consequently arising marketing measures remains scarce. Thus, this review advances the comprehension of customer behaviour on the Internet and provides researchers and practitioners with information on the implications for customer experience and omnichannel management.