Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing最新文献

Purpose

The rise of virtual streamers in live streaming commerce has gained momentum, driven by the increasing prevalence of human–computer interactivity and artificial intelligence. However, achieving its broader adoption necessitates a comprehensive understanding of consumers' intention to switch from conventional human streamers to virtual streamer services as alternatives. To bridge this knowledge gap, this study endeavours to introduce and substantiate an asymmetric model incorporating innovation barriers, shopping motivations and personalities, shedding light on consumers' intention to switch.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey was conducted in the United Kingdom and analysed using a comprehensive approach that integrates Necessary Conditions Analysis (NCA), Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) and fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA).

Findings

The results unveiled six configurations of arrangements, each of them characterised by a unique combination of causation.

Originality/value

In knowledge, this study presents a significant contribution by revealing both the determinants that stimulate or hamper the desire to switch based on consumer-centric perspectives. In practice, this study is critical for helping practitioners overcome difficulties related to adoption and make educated judgements when promoting virtual streamers and developing marketing strategies in live streaming commerce.

Purpose

This study analyzes the indirect (i.e. through brand content engagement-BCE) and direct effects of informative, credible, novel, and aesthetically pleasing attributes of influencer-generated branded content on endorsed brand-related attitude and a subsequent attitudinal spillover effect on the followers' firm-generated endorsed brand-related ad click behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

Data for this study were collected from 300 users who follow the top 40 Pakistani social media macro-influencers using an online survey. The conceptual model and hypotheses were tested through process macro and structural equation modeling.

Findings

This study finds informative, credible, novel, and aesthetically pleasing factors vital attributes of influencer-generated branded content, which indirectly (i.e. via BCE) and directly affects followers’ endorsed brand-related attitude. This study also finds that these factors have a positive attitudinal spillover effect on followers’ firm-generated endorsed brand-related ad-click behavior on social media.

Practical implications

This study presents guidelines to firms and their partner influencers about designing and implementing follower-valued content-driven influencer marketing campaigns.

Originality/value

This study contributes to extant influencer marketing literature by integrating multiple attributes of influencer-generated branded content, which carry different values for followers, and using the Self-perception theory, the Multi-attribute attitude model, and the Spillover theory to explain their indirect and direct effects on endorsed brand-related attitude and a subsequent attitudinal spillover effect on firm-generated endorsed brand-related ads.

Purpose

While there has been a growing interest in the field of Metaverse-related research, its impact on vulnerable segments of the population, particularly those with special needs, is yet to be fully examined. This research develops the underlying scant theoretical knowledge related to the attachment of people with disabilities to the Metaverse and its effects on their need for uniqueness and acceptance of disability, and hence their sense of inclusivity and overall well-being.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopted a quantitative approach using an Internet-based survey. The sample size consisted of 530 Metaverse users with a physical disability in the USA. The proposed model integrates virtual place attachment alongside disabled consumers’ need for uniqueness, and acceptance of their physical disability. SPSS and LISREL were utilized for data analysis and SEM.

Findings

The study underscores the complexity of the interplay between virtual place attachment, disability acceptance and the need for uniqueness among physically disabled users in the Metaverse. It investigates how the attachment to virtual spaces by people with disability influence their psychological well-being.

Originality/value

This research adds to the interactive marketing and disabled consumer psychology literature exploring the theoretical and practical implications from an attachment and need for uniqueness theory perspectives.

Purpose

The emergence and rapid expansion of social media platforms have transformed the dynamics of consumer–brand communication. While consumer–brand relationship is driven on marketing campaigns in regular manner, social media (e.g. WeChat groups) creates boundaryless connections between external forces (e.g. customer community engagement) and internal resources (e.g. sales force). Therefore, this paper aims to provide a firm–customer synergistic perspective to explain service performance (SP) through service customization, which is significantly contributing to the research of consumer–brand relationship field in the current era.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey including two sets of questionnaires are employed for data collection, with one completed by frontline salesperson of Casarte and the other by their customers. A total of 242 dyadic-level data are adopted to test the hypothesis.

Findings

The findings shed light on the mechanism that drive SP by firm–customer interactions. These insights hold distinct managerial implications for firms seeking to leverage digital tools to efficiently meet customer demands.

Originality/value

This study contributes to understanding consumer–brand relationship within social media environment. It offers a synergistic perspective combined both outside-in and inside-out thinking, and explains how consumer–brand relationship can be fostered from both customers and salespeople. It highlights the significance of customer community engagement and salespeople dynamic learning capability as crucial factors in building strong consumer–brand relationship.

Purpose

Vertical business-to-business (B2B) relationship models are dynamic and depend on economic and relational constructs. However, it remains unclear how relationship termination intentions evolve across the mature and final stages of the B2B relationship cycle, particularly in the hospitality sector. Thus, this study investigates the dynamics of B2B relationship termination mechanisms.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use a two time-lag interval method to provide insights into how these two variables (relational satisfaction and partner trust) mediate (e.g. strengthen or weaken) the relationship between social dependence and relationship termination intentions over time.

Findings

The authors demonstrate that relational satisfaction is not directly linked to relationship termination intentions across B2B relationship stages. However, our findings show that social dependence and partner trust are both key determinants of relationship termination intentions over time. Based on the mature and final stages of a B2B relationship cycle, these results suggest that researchers must understand the theoretical mechanism of B2B relationships and the roles key constructs play in determining how these relationships conclude.

Originality/value

This study is novel in capturing the evolution of B2B relationship stages. This research presents the first collection of ample evidence on the manifestation of relationship termination in the transition from social dependence to reduced partner trust.

Purpose

By integrating the Uses and Gratifications Theory and Flow Theory, this research seeks to untwine the veiled effects of interactive commerce enhancements (ICEs), specifically haptic imagery and social presence, in promoting user immersion and sustaining social commerce (SC) users' usage intention, considering the moderating role of autotelic personality.

Design/methodology/approach

The research utilized purposive sampling of Malaysian SC app users with recent transactions. A dual-source data collection approach, encompassing offline and online channels, was employed to ensure a broad and diverse respondent pool. Partial least squares–structural equation modeling was chosen for its adeptness in analyzing complex relationships in predictive studies.

Findings

The findings revealed the significant positive effects of haptic imagery and social presence on user immersion and continuance intention within SC apps. Social presence and immersion were found to mediate the proposed paths. Additionally, autotelic personality traits were identified as moderators, influencing the strength of these relationships.

Originality/value

This research makes a unique contribution by addressing critical gaps in SC environments, extending the concept of ICEs, understanding the impacts of underlying mediators and pioneering the examination of autotelic personality traits' moderating effects. It introduces a fresh perspective on how individual differences impact user engagement. This groundbreaking study benefits social media and interactive marketing literature by comprehensively understanding how ICEs elevate SC, fostering innovation and heightened engagement.

Purpose

Conceptual and empirical research over the past 20 years has moved the social media (SM) literature beyond the embryotic stage to a well-developed academic discipline. As the lead article in the special issue in the Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing on Cutting-Edge Research in Social Media and Interactive Marketing, this review and agenda article has two key goals: (1) to review key SM and interactive marketing research over the past three years and (2) to identify the next wave of high priority challenges and research opportunities.

Design/methodology/approach

Given the “cutting-edge” research focus of the special issue, this review and research agenda paper focused on articles published in 25 key marketing journals between January 2021 and March 2024. Initially, the search request was for articles with “social media, social selling, social commerce” located in the article title, author-selected key words and journal-selected keywords. Later, we conducted searches based on terminology from articles presented in the final review. In total, over 1,000 articles were reviewed across the 25 journals, plus additional ones that were cited in those journals that were not on the initial list.

Findings

Our review uncovered eight key content areas: (1) data sources, methodology and scale development; (2) emergent SM technologies; (3) artificial intelligence; (4) virtual reality; (5) sales and sales management; (6) consumer welfare; (7) influencer marketing; and (8) social commerce. Table I provides a summer of key articles and research findings for each of the content areas.

Originality/value

As a literature review and research agenda article, this paper is one of the most extensive to date on SM marketing, and particularly with regard to emergent research over the past three years. Recommendations for future research are integrated through the paper and summarized in Figure 2.

Social implications

Consumer welfare is one of the eight emergent content areas uncovered in the literature review. Specific focus is on SM privacy, misinformation, mental health and misbehavior.

Purpose

This research aims to understand the dynamics that drive consumer engagement of multinational brands' social media posts on platform X, formerly known as Twitter. Taking the emotional tone of posts into account, the effect of vivid, interactive, informative, entertaining and practical features of posts on consumer interactions are evaluated across English- and Turkish-speaking markets.

Methodology

Inspired by the conceptual framework proposed in previous literature, features were extracted computationally using natural language processing from platform X posts of 33 Fortune 500 brands from various industries from June 2016 to June 2021. Following evaluation of regression models on alternative distributions of the dependent variable, which is total number of likes, shares and comments, random subspace regression using bootstrap resampling was applied to calculate an importance score and evaluate the effect of features.

Findings

Consumers in English- and Turkish-speaking markets perceive and engage with content differently. While informative and entertaining posts resonate more with English speakers, emotions play a broader role for Turkish speakers. English-speaking audience prefers happy and vivid daytime messages with questions, while Turkish-speaking audience is drawn to angry messages, lean toward nighttime posts.

Originality

This research is a pioneer to evaluate the factors that influence brands' platform X post engagements across markets of different cultural orientation. Beyond assessing the distinctions in brand post elements, the role of emotional content in brand messages were also analyzed across English- and Turkish-speaking markets.

Purpose

Conspicuously absent from the branding literature is research on the brand-to-brand (Br2Br) interface enabled by social media. The author proposes how networked brands-as-actors integrate their resources as Br2Br interactions that co-create consumer–brand value. As a secondary contribution, the author provides an empirical baseline exploration of the value co-creating impact of Br2Br interactions on consumer–brand evaluations and social media engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

Three streams of research aid in conceptualizing the value co-creating process of Br2Br interactions. A follow-up exploratory study uses a controlled Br2Br interaction stimulus in a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects design, where brand familiarity and product category complementarity are manipulated, and interaction spillover effects are analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Findings

The author finds Br2Br interactions positively affect consumer–brand evaluations and social media engagement likelihood. Spillover effects of these interactions are symmetric for consumer–brand evaluations for both brands. However, brand familiarity moderates the effects of Br2Br interactions on consumer–brand evaluations.

Originality

The author lays the groundwork for future research on the complexities of Br2Br interactions – including brand personality conflict, interaction duration and paratextual language – and the boundary conditions for Br2Br and brand-to-consumer relationships.