Purpose This study aims to explore how power dynamics affect research with children, focusing on how the projected and perceived role of the researcher and the use of participative techniques, can mediate power relationships between the researcher and child, and impact children’s agency. Design/methodology/approach The research formed part of a wider study on children’s digital device use, with children aged 4 to 11 in a UK school. Eight pairs of children participated in buddy interviews, completing several creative and arts-based activities using a choice of equipment and materials, including PlayDoh, LEGO and most innovatively, Minecraft. Findings The study found the researcher’s projected role, and children’s interpretation of this, impacted the power relations in the interviews. A consistent projection was challenging however, and it was necessary for the researcher to adapt their role according to children’s needs and behaviour. Offering children a choice of activities was an effective power sharing strategy, and children’s absorption in these tasks provided a wealth of data from observations and children’s on-task “chatter”. Originality/value Using Minecraft as a participative method enabled the children to use their superior technical abilities to take power in the interview, and show their own personal geographies virtually in 3D, and offers potential for other qualitative researchers in conducting research with the agentic child.
{"title":"Using participative techniques to mediate power relationships between the researcher and child participant","authors":"Cheryl Greyson, Sara Spear","doi":"10.1108/yc-10-2022-1618","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/yc-10-2022-1618","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This study aims to explore how power dynamics affect research with children, focusing on how the projected and perceived role of the researcher and the use of participative techniques, can mediate power relationships between the researcher and child, and impact children’s agency.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The research formed part of a wider study on children’s digital device use, with children aged 4 to 11 in a UK school. Eight pairs of children participated in buddy interviews, completing several creative and arts-based activities using a choice of equipment and materials, including PlayDoh, LEGO and most innovatively, Minecraft.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The study found the researcher’s projected role, and children’s interpretation of this, impacted the power relations in the interviews. A consistent projection was challenging however, and it was necessary for the researcher to adapt their role according to children’s needs and behaviour. Offering children a choice of activities was an effective power sharing strategy, and children’s absorption in these tasks provided a wealth of data from observations and children’s on-task “chatter”.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000Using Minecraft as a participative method enabled the children to use their superior technical abilities to take power in the interview, and show their own personal geographies virtually in 3D, and offers potential for other qualitative researchers in conducting research with the agentic child.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46660,"journal":{"name":"Young Consumers","volume":"185 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75139452","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Minna Kallioharju, Terhi‐Anna Wilska, Annamari Vänskä
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine mothers’ social media accounts that focus on children’s fashion. The authors probed children’s fashion photo practices as representations of the mothers’ extended self and the kind of childhood representations produced by the social media accounts. They also investigated mothers’ perceptions of children’s privacy when engaging in sharenting – the sharing of information about children or parenting online. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on 16 semi-structured interviews with Finnish mothers who had Instagram accounts focusing on children’s fashion. Findings Children’s fashion photos play a diverse role in mothers’ identity work. The photos can be used to express a mother’s taste and aesthetic skills, to express values, to fit into peer groups and to store memories of oneself and the children. Through the photos, representations of the prevailing Finnish childhood ideals, such as authenticity, naturalness and playfulness, are reproduced. The mothers perceived the children as part of their extended self and justified sharenting with mother- and child-centered arguments. Originality/value Through shedding light on the practices of social media fashion photography, this paper provides insights into how commercialism and social media shape cultural expectations for both motherhood and childhood. The paper contributes to previous research on sharenting, extending it to the context of fashion photography.
{"title":"Mothers’ self-representations and representations of childhood on social media","authors":"Minna Kallioharju, Terhi‐Anna Wilska, Annamari Vänskä","doi":"10.1108/yc-06-2022-1541","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/yc-06-2022-1541","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this paper is to examine mothers’ social media accounts that focus on children’s fashion. The authors probed children’s fashion photo practices as representations of the mothers’ extended self and the kind of childhood representations produced by the social media accounts. They also investigated mothers’ perceptions of children’s privacy when engaging in sharenting – the sharing of information about children or parenting online.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The study is based on 16 semi-structured interviews with Finnish mothers who had Instagram accounts focusing on children’s fashion.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000Children’s fashion photos play a diverse role in mothers’ identity work. The photos can be used to express a mother’s taste and aesthetic skills, to express values, to fit into peer groups and to store memories of oneself and the children. Through the photos, representations of the prevailing Finnish childhood ideals, such as authenticity, naturalness and playfulness, are reproduced. The mothers perceived the children as part of their extended self and justified sharenting with mother- and child-centered arguments.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000Through shedding light on the practices of social media fashion photography, this paper provides insights into how commercialism and social media shape cultural expectations for both motherhood and childhood. The paper contributes to previous research on sharenting, extending it to the context of fashion photography.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46660,"journal":{"name":"Young Consumers","volume":"54 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"80177975","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Purpose This study aims to gain insights into the rise of virtual social media influencers and identify the significant theories governing virtual influencers’ (VIs) interaction with followers on social media platforms. Studies on VI being scarce in marketing literature, the authors attempt to propose a theoretical model to understand the acceptance of VIs by social media users (SMUs). Design/methodology/approach Using a structured literature review and a case study approach, a conceptual model is developed and propositions are offered. Findings Parasocial interaction (PSI) between the SMU and VIs builds up source credibility, thereby leading to the acceptance of VIs. Thus, the authors establish that PSI and source credibility theory combine to explain the acceptance of VIs by SMUs. Furthermore, similarity with the VI is another added dimension of source credibility, as suggested by this study. A comparative analysis of the growth of five major VIs elucidates that the fashion, electronic, tourism and health-care industries can use them for promotions and as influencers, especially for luxury products. Research limitations/implications VIs are a potent tool to achieve improved brand awareness and to target young consumers (especially Gen Y and Gen Z – millennials). Originality/value The emergence of VIs being recent; little is comprehended about their interaction with SMUs. Hence, it becomes important to delineate the foundations of VI–SMU interaction. Thus, this study addresses the gap in identifying the theoretical background and proposes a conceptual model elucidating VI acceptance by SMUs.
{"title":"The emergence of virtual influencers: a shift in the influencer marketing paradigm","authors":"Anand Jhawar, Prashant Kumar, S. Varshney","doi":"10.1108/yc-05-2022-1529","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/yc-05-2022-1529","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This study aims to gain insights into the rise of virtual social media influencers and identify the significant theories governing virtual influencers’ (VIs) interaction with followers on social media platforms. Studies on VI being scarce in marketing literature, the authors attempt to propose a theoretical model to understand the acceptance of VIs by social media users (SMUs).\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Using a structured literature review and a case study approach, a conceptual model is developed and propositions are offered.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000Parasocial interaction (PSI) between the SMU and VIs builds up source credibility, thereby leading to the acceptance of VIs. Thus, the authors establish that PSI and source credibility theory combine to explain the acceptance of VIs by SMUs. Furthermore, similarity with the VI is another added dimension of source credibility, as suggested by this study. A comparative analysis of the growth of five major VIs elucidates that the fashion, electronic, tourism and health-care industries can use them for promotions and as influencers, especially for luxury products.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000VIs are a potent tool to achieve improved brand awareness and to target young consumers (especially Gen Y and Gen Z – millennials).\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000The emergence of VIs being recent; little is comprehended about their interaction with SMUs. Hence, it becomes important to delineate the foundations of VI–SMU interaction. Thus, this study addresses the gap in identifying the theoretical background and proposes a conceptual model elucidating VI acceptance by SMUs.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46660,"journal":{"name":"Young Consumers","volume":"62 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-05-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"90901614","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Patrícia Ianelli Rocha, Marina Lourenção, Adriano Alves Teixeira, E. G. Araújo, Janaina de Moura Engracia Giraldi, Jorge Henrique Caldeira De Oliveira
Purpose This paper aims to analyze the visual attention, transparency perception and attitude of Brazilian women from generation Z toward sponsorship disclosures with a different number of text messages used in native advertisements made by a digital influencer. Design/methodology/approach A quantitative and multi-method experiment was conducted through a within-subjects experimental design with 149 women. The eye-tracker assessed visual attention and questionnaires measured transparency perception of sponsorship and attitude toward native advertisements. To analyze eye-tracking and transparency perception data, Friedman’s analysis of variance was used. Structural equations were modeled for analyzing attitude data. Findings The quantitative results indicate that disclosures with a single textual message obtain more visual attention than multiple textual messages. However, sponsorship disclosures with multiple textual messages obtain the best transparency perception and generate a better attitude toward native advertisements. Research limitations/implications This study extends the theory by investigating the relationship between visual attention to sponsorship disclosure with a different number of textual messages and the target audience's responses to them. Practical implications The analysis of Brazilian generation Z women's responses to native ads might contribute to companies, marketing professionals and digital influencers obtaining great visual attention, transparency perception and attitude toward ethical and transparent ads to this audience. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to analyze Brazilian generation Z women's visual attention, transparency perception and attitude toward sponsorship disclosure with single and multiple textual messages in native advertisements.
{"title":"Generation Z response toward sponsorship disclosure on Instagram: Where do they look? What do they perceive? How do they act?","authors":"Patrícia Ianelli Rocha, Marina Lourenção, Adriano Alves Teixeira, E. G. Araújo, Janaina de Moura Engracia Giraldi, Jorge Henrique Caldeira De Oliveira","doi":"10.1108/yc-03-2022-1497","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/yc-03-2022-1497","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This paper aims to analyze the visual attention, transparency perception and attitude of Brazilian women from generation Z toward sponsorship disclosures with a different number of text messages used in native advertisements made by a digital influencer.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000A quantitative and multi-method experiment was conducted through a within-subjects experimental design with 149 women. The eye-tracker assessed visual attention and questionnaires measured transparency perception of sponsorship and attitude toward native advertisements. To analyze eye-tracking and transparency perception data, Friedman’s analysis of variance was used. Structural equations were modeled for analyzing attitude data.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The quantitative results indicate that disclosures with a single textual message obtain more visual attention than multiple textual messages. However, sponsorship disclosures with multiple textual messages obtain the best transparency perception and generate a better attitude toward native advertisements.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000This study extends the theory by investigating the relationship between visual attention to sponsorship disclosure with a different number of textual messages and the target audience's responses to them.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000The analysis of Brazilian generation Z women's responses to native ads might contribute to companies, marketing professionals and digital influencers obtaining great visual attention, transparency perception and attitude toward ethical and transparent ads to this audience.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to analyze Brazilian generation Z women's visual attention, transparency perception and attitude toward sponsorship disclosure with single and multiple textual messages in native advertisements.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46660,"journal":{"name":"Young Consumers","volume":"23 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"78974241","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Purpose This paper aims to investigate the attraction of cannabis-infused soft drinks beverages among young Canadian consumers in the wake of a rise in multimodal cannabis consumption. It is an area of accelerated growth potential, with little research data currently available, and findings would inform stakeholders in the soft drinks market. The research participants were all university students in Ontario province, Canada. Design/methodology/approach Random convenience sampling data collection techniques were used to gather data from the Ontario-based participants. Reliability, factors loading and multiple regression analysis were administered to understand the impact of factors towards positive attitude. Findings The results reveal that price, impulsive personality, social insecurity and social norms all have a positive influence towards positive attitude. However, energy, taste and past experience failed to show any relationship with positive attitude. The results suggest that the individual consumer’s personality and social context have greater influence than price, a useful insight into the market trends for stakeholders within the industry. Research limitations/implications The use of convenience sampling, due to the potentially sensitivity nature of the area of study, hinders the use of a sampling frame. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind to examine positive attitude with respect to cannabis-infused soft drinks among young consumers in Canada. It is of particular interest to stakeholders in the production and marketing sectors of the global beverage industry, and its findings will help inform this fledgling wing of that industry on how to move forward through the unknown territory with regard to consumer motivations.
{"title":"Cannabis infused soft drinks - buying behavior amongst Canadian students: An empirical study","authors":"M. Basha, F. Wahid, G. Hafidh","doi":"10.1108/yc-09-2021-1384","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/yc-09-2021-1384","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This paper aims to investigate the attraction of cannabis-infused soft drinks beverages among young Canadian consumers in the wake of a rise in multimodal cannabis consumption. It is an area of accelerated growth potential, with little research data currently available, and findings would inform stakeholders in the soft drinks market. The research participants were all university students in Ontario province, Canada.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Random convenience sampling data collection techniques were used to gather data from the Ontario-based participants. Reliability, factors loading and multiple regression analysis were administered to understand the impact of factors towards positive attitude.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The results reveal that price, impulsive personality, social insecurity and social norms all have a positive influence towards positive attitude. However, energy, taste and past experience failed to show any relationship with positive attitude. The results suggest that the individual consumer’s personality and social context have greater influence than price, a useful insight into the market trends for stakeholders within the industry.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000The use of convenience sampling, due to the potentially sensitivity nature of the area of study, hinders the use of a sampling frame.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind to examine positive attitude with respect to cannabis-infused soft drinks among young consumers in Canada. It is of particular interest to stakeholders in the production and marketing sectors of the global beverage industry, and its findings will help inform this fledgling wing of that industry on how to move forward through the unknown territory with regard to consumer motivations.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46660,"journal":{"name":"Young Consumers","volume":"3 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"73486218","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Purpose Though online impulsive buying emerged mostly in Western cultures, it has been widely expanded as a key pattern among online customers in emerging markets. Interestingly, while few studies suggest that engaging in unplanned purchase actions (i.e. impulsive buying) is not always associated with negative emotions among customers (i.e. postpurchase cognitive dissonance), others suggest that impulsive buying is directly associated with cognitive dissonance. This paper aims to investigate and understand the key antecedents of online impulsive buying among Moroccan Gen Z consumers, and how it contributes to postpurchase dissonance. The authors also try to gain deeper insights by investigating the disparities between males and females using mutigroup analysis. Design/methodology/approach Based on data collected from 333 Moroccan Gen Zers, the hypothesized model was empirically tested using a partial least squares estimation. Findings First, the results confirm that impulsive buying is positively associated with postpurchase dissonance. Second, while hedonic shopping motivation, fear of missing out and materialism were found to significantly impact online impulsive buying, price value and online reviews had no significant effect on online impulsive purchases. The importance–performance matrix also suggests that the fear of missing out is the most important factor leading to online impulsive buying, followed by hedonic shopping motivation and materialism. Finally, the results confirm that female shoppers are more likely to engage in impulsive buying behavior, and this was mainly due to higher fear of missing out, hedonic shopping motivation and materialism. Practical implications First, the study findings can help online merchants to construct well-designed online shopping platforms and effective e-marketing tactics to stimulate purchase intentions among Gen Z shoppers. Online merchants should also attempt to reduce the negative feelings associated with unplanned buying behavior by introducing additional incentives, effective consumer interactivity and flexible return policies. This would help online suppliers in retaining customers and transforming impulse purchases into more recurrent ones. Second, online retailers should take into consideration the differences between male and female consumers by appealing to the role of gender in purchase situations when marketing their products and services. Finally, the findings offer interesting implications to society by allowing online shoppers to make well-informed purchase decisions without being influenced by personal and products’ traits. Originality/value While prior research assessed the investigated constructs in separate models, the study suggests an integrated framework that incorporates different determinants of online impulsive shopping as well as its impact on postpurchase cognitive dissonance. Additionally, the authors explored the moderating effect of gender to gain deeper insights
{"title":"An investigation of the nexus between online impulsive buying and cognitive dissonance among Gen Z shoppers: Are female shoppers different?","authors":"Youssef Chetioui, Laila El bouzidi","doi":"10.1108/yc-06-2022-1548","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/yc-06-2022-1548","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000Though online impulsive buying emerged mostly in Western cultures, it has been widely expanded as a key pattern among online customers in emerging markets. Interestingly, while few studies suggest that engaging in unplanned purchase actions (i.e. impulsive buying) is not always associated with negative emotions among customers (i.e. postpurchase cognitive dissonance), others suggest that impulsive buying is directly associated with cognitive dissonance. This paper aims to investigate and understand the key antecedents of online impulsive buying among Moroccan Gen Z consumers, and how it contributes to postpurchase dissonance. The authors also try to gain deeper insights by investigating the disparities between males and females using mutigroup analysis.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Based on data collected from 333 Moroccan Gen Zers, the hypothesized model was empirically tested using a partial least squares estimation.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000First, the results confirm that impulsive buying is positively associated with postpurchase dissonance. Second, while hedonic shopping motivation, fear of missing out and materialism were found to significantly impact online impulsive buying, price value and online reviews had no significant effect on online impulsive purchases. The importance–performance matrix also suggests that the fear of missing out is the most important factor leading to online impulsive buying, followed by hedonic shopping motivation and materialism. Finally, the results confirm that female shoppers are more likely to engage in impulsive buying behavior, and this was mainly due to higher fear of missing out, hedonic shopping motivation and materialism.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000First, the study findings can help online merchants to construct well-designed online shopping platforms and effective e-marketing tactics to stimulate purchase intentions among Gen Z shoppers. Online merchants should also attempt to reduce the negative feelings associated with unplanned buying behavior by introducing additional incentives, effective consumer interactivity and flexible return policies. This would help online suppliers in retaining customers and transforming impulse purchases into more recurrent ones. Second, online retailers should take into consideration the differences between male and female consumers by appealing to the role of gender in purchase situations when marketing their products and services. Finally, the findings offer interesting implications to society by allowing online shoppers to make well-informed purchase decisions without being influenced by personal and products’ traits.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000While prior research assessed the investigated constructs in separate models, the study suggests an integrated framework that incorporates different determinants of online impulsive shopping as well as its impact on postpurchase cognitive dissonance. Additionally, the authors explored the moderating effect of gender to gain deeper insights ","PeriodicalId":46660,"journal":{"name":"Young Consumers","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"72603527","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Fei Fan, Kara Chan, Yan Wang, Yupeng Li, M. Prieler
Purpose Online influencers are increasingly used by brands around the globe to establish brand communication. This study aims to investigate the characteristics of social media content in terms of presentation style and brand communication among online influencers in China. The authors identified how characteristics of social media posts influence young consumers’ engagement with the posts. Design/methodology/approach The authors analyzed 1,779 posts from the Sina Weibo accounts of ten top-ranked online influencers by combining traditional content analysis with Web data crawling of audience engagement with social media posts. Findings Online influencers in China more frequently used photos than videos to communicate with their social media audience. Altogether 8% and 6% of posts carried information about promotion and event, respectively. Posts with promotional incentives as well as event information were more likely to engage audiences. Altogether 22% of the sampled social media posts mentioned brands. Posts with brand information, however, were less likely to engage audiences. Furthermore, having long text is more effective than photos/images in generating likes from social media audiences. Originality/value Combining content analysis of social media posts and engagement analytics obtained via Web data crawling, this study is, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, one of the first empirical studies to analyze influencer marketing and young consumers’ reactions to social media in China.
{"title":"How influencers’ social media posts have an influence on audience engagement among young consumers","authors":"Fei Fan, Kara Chan, Yan Wang, Yupeng Li, M. Prieler","doi":"10.1108/yc-08-2022-1588","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/yc-08-2022-1588","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000Online influencers are increasingly used by brands around the globe to establish brand communication. This study aims to investigate the characteristics of social media content in terms of presentation style and brand communication among online influencers in China. The authors identified how characteristics of social media posts influence young consumers’ engagement with the posts.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The authors analyzed 1,779 posts from the Sina Weibo accounts of ten top-ranked online influencers by combining traditional content analysis with Web data crawling of audience engagement with social media posts.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000Online influencers in China more frequently used photos than videos to communicate with their social media audience. Altogether 8% and 6% of posts carried information about promotion and event, respectively. Posts with promotional incentives as well as event information were more likely to engage audiences. Altogether 22% of the sampled social media posts mentioned brands. Posts with brand information, however, were less likely to engage audiences. Furthermore, having long text is more effective than photos/images in generating likes from social media audiences.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000Combining content analysis of social media posts and engagement analytics obtained via Web data crawling, this study is, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, one of the first empirical studies to analyze influencer marketing and young consumers’ reactions to social media in China.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46660,"journal":{"name":"Young Consumers","volume":"197 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82695075","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kirsten L. Ellison, Emily Truman, Charlene Elliott
Purpose Despite the pervasiveness of teen-targeted food advertising on social media, little is known about the persuasive elements (or power) found within those ads. This research study aims to engage with the concept of “visual style” to explore the range of visual techniques used in Instagram food marketing to teenagers. Design/methodology/approach A participatory study was conducted with 57 teenagers, who used a specially designed mobile app to capture images of the teen-targeted food marketing they encountered for seven days. A visual thematic analysis was used to assess and classify the advertisements that participants captured from Instagram and specifically tagged with “visual style”. Findings A total of 142 food advertisements from Instagram were tagged with visual style, and classified into five main styles: Bold Focus, Bespoke, Absurd, Everyday and Sensory. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to an improved understanding about how the visual is used as a marketing technique to capture teenagers’ attention, contributing to the persuasive power of marketing messages. Originality/value Food marketing is a significant part of the young consumer’s marketplace, and this study provides new insight into the sophisticated nature of such marketing – revealing the visual styles used to capture the attention of its brand-aware audience.
{"title":"Picturing food: the visual style of teen-targeted food marketing","authors":"Kirsten L. Ellison, Emily Truman, Charlene Elliott","doi":"10.1108/yc-08-2022-1577","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/yc-08-2022-1577","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000Despite the pervasiveness of teen-targeted food advertising on social media, little is known about the persuasive elements (or power) found within those ads. This research study aims to engage with the concept of “visual style” to explore the range of visual techniques used in Instagram food marketing to teenagers.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000A participatory study was conducted with 57 teenagers, who used a specially designed mobile app to capture images of the teen-targeted food marketing they encountered for seven days. A visual thematic analysis was used to assess and classify the advertisements that participants captured from Instagram and specifically tagged with “visual style”.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000A total of 142 food advertisements from Instagram were tagged with visual style, and classified into five main styles: Bold Focus, Bespoke, Absurd, Everyday and Sensory.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000This study contributes to an improved understanding about how the visual is used as a marketing technique to capture teenagers’ attention, contributing to the persuasive power of marketing messages.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000Food marketing is a significant part of the young consumer’s marketplace, and this study provides new insight into the sophisticated nature of such marketing – revealing the visual styles used to capture the attention of its brand-aware audience.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46660,"journal":{"name":"Young Consumers","volume":"89 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83852772","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Purpose Virtual reality (VR), as a new type of media technology, significantly improves the audience experience with product presentation in the marketing communication field. The apartment rental market, particularly in China, has no exception in adopting VR technology in its communication strategy. VR usage has been boosted since the outbreak of COVID-19 and has become a widespread application in the global apartment rental market. Although extant studies have analyzed how real estate companies use VR technology to enhance customer experience, few studies have been made to explore the power of VR in apartment rental advertising, particularly in targeting the youth in China market. To fill this research gap, this study aims to figure out how young consumers perceive VR advertising and characteristics of VR used in apartment rental advertisements, and how VR advertising affects young consumers’ intentions to rent an apartment. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2021 with 301 Chinese university students aged 18 to 23. All respondents were invited offline and guided to watch one selected rental advertisement with VR technology featuring an apartment of about 50 square meters and then complete a questionnaire. Findings VR’s media richness in the apartment rental advertising increases its sense of presence perceived by the survey respondents. Both VR’s media richness and sense of presence positively influence respondents’ attitudes toward the advertised apartment. If respondents evaluate the advertised apartment positively, they are more willing to rent the advertised apartment. Research limitations/implications The sample size is not large enough to represent all Generation Z consumers in China. The use of the nonprobability sampling method also limits the generalizability of the study results. Practical implications To counter the challenges created by COVID-19, apartment rental service providers and apartment owners/landlords are suggested to enhance the application of VR technology to the apartment rental advertisements to grow young consumers’ interest in the advertised apartments and even their renting intention. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first quantitative study to assess young consumers’ responses to VR apartment rental advertising in China.
{"title":"Generation Z’s response to the virtual reality advertising in China","authors":"Bin Yu, Fei Fan","doi":"10.1108/yc-07-2022-1558","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/yc-07-2022-1558","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000Virtual reality (VR), as a new type of media technology, significantly improves the audience experience with product presentation in the marketing communication field. The apartment rental market, particularly in China, has no exception in adopting VR technology in its communication strategy. VR usage has been boosted since the outbreak of COVID-19 and has become a widespread application in the global apartment rental market. Although extant studies have analyzed how real estate companies use VR technology to enhance customer experience, few studies have been made to explore the power of VR in apartment rental advertising, particularly in targeting the youth in China market. To fill this research gap, this study aims to figure out how young consumers perceive VR advertising and characteristics of VR used in apartment rental advertisements, and how VR advertising affects young consumers’ intentions to rent an apartment.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2021 with 301 Chinese university students aged 18 to 23. All respondents were invited offline and guided to watch one selected rental advertisement with VR technology featuring an apartment of about 50 square meters and then complete a questionnaire.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000VR’s media richness in the apartment rental advertising increases its sense of presence perceived by the survey respondents. Both VR’s media richness and sense of presence positively influence respondents’ attitudes toward the advertised apartment. If respondents evaluate the advertised apartment positively, they are more willing to rent the advertised apartment.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000The sample size is not large enough to represent all Generation Z consumers in China. The use of the nonprobability sampling method also limits the generalizability of the study results.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000To counter the challenges created by COVID-19, apartment rental service providers and apartment owners/landlords are suggested to enhance the application of VR technology to the apartment rental advertisements to grow young consumers’ interest in the advertised apartments and even their renting intention.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first quantitative study to assess young consumers’ responses to VR apartment rental advertising in China.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46660,"journal":{"name":"Young Consumers","volume":"4 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"75327274","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influencing factors of generation Z (Gen Z) consumers’ revisit intentions to robotic restaurants in the post-pandemic times. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of Gen Z consumers with dining experiences in an Indian restaurant using service robots, the study empirically tests a research framework based on stimulus–organism–response theory. Findings The study explains how Gen Z consumer’s perceptions of functional attributes (i.e. perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use), socio-emotional attribute (i.e. perceived safety) and relational attribute (i.e. trust) shape their attitude, which in turn leads to their evaluations of performance outcomes and intention to revisit the robotic restaurants. The findings also indicate that perceived risk reduction of viral infection moderates the impact of performance outcomes on revisit intention. Originality/value Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the changing preferences of consumers have resulted in an increase in demand for restaurants offering robotic services. To support the long-term viability of service robots in restaurant services, the current study investigates what elements of service robots can determine consumers’ intentions to revisit the robotic restaurants during post-pandemic times.
{"title":"Understanding generation Z consumers’ revisit intentions to robotic service restaurants","authors":"K. Gupta, Smriti Pande","doi":"10.1108/yc-09-2022-1598","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/yc-09-2022-1598","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influencing factors of generation Z (Gen Z) consumers’ revisit intentions to robotic restaurants in the post-pandemic times.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Using a sample of Gen Z consumers with dining experiences in an Indian restaurant using service robots, the study empirically tests a research framework based on stimulus–organism–response theory.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The study explains how Gen Z consumer’s perceptions of functional attributes (i.e. perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use), socio-emotional attribute (i.e. perceived safety) and relational attribute (i.e. trust) shape their attitude, which in turn leads to their evaluations of performance outcomes and intention to revisit the robotic restaurants. The findings also indicate that perceived risk reduction of viral infection moderates the impact of performance outcomes on revisit intention.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000Due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the changing preferences of consumers have resulted in an increase in demand for restaurants offering robotic services. To support the long-term viability of service robots in restaurant services, the current study investigates what elements of service robots can determine consumers’ intentions to revisit the robotic restaurants during post-pandemic times.\u0000","PeriodicalId":46660,"journal":{"name":"Young Consumers","volume":"79 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"83354120","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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