{"title":"Can mental imagery enhance review helpfulness and product evaluation? The role of contextual background and mental simulation","authors":"Jae Eun Jeong, Minsun Yeu","doi":"10.1108/jrim-08-2022-0237","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jrim-08-2022-0237","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeDespite the growing importance of visual information, user-generated photos in product reviews have received relatively little attention. We investigate whether the contextual background of a product image can influence consumers' perceptions of review helpfulness and product evaluation.Design/methodology/approachOnline experiments were conducted using a scenario technique. A single factor (contextual background: low vs. high) between-subjects design was conducted in Study 1. A 2 (contextual background: low vs. high) × 2 (mental simulation: outcome vs. process) between-subjects design was conducted in Study 2.FindingsA photo with a high (vs. low) contextual background enhances mental imagery, increasing perceived helpfulness and product evaluation. Furthermore, mental simulation plays a significant moderating role in the relationship between contextual background and mental imagery.Originality/valueBased on cue utilization theory, this study identifies how the contextual background of product images affects consumers' perception and product evaluation by uncovering the underlying mechanism of mental imagery. Furthermore, the research examines the moderating effect of mental simulation while reviewing user-generated photos.","PeriodicalId":47116,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2023-03-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42256686","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effects of the anthropomorphic image of intelligent customer service avatars on consumers' willingness to interact after service failures","authors":"Q. Yao, Ling Kuai, Lan Jiang","doi":"10.1108/jrim-06-2022-0164","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jrim-06-2022-0164","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeIntelligent customer service has started replacing human employees in providing services to customers in numerous industries. Based on the expectancy disconfirmation theory, this study explores how different types of anthropomorphic avatar images of the intelligent customer service would affect consumer responses such as the willingness to interact, in the context of a service failure. The underlying mechanism and boundary conditions are also examined.Design/methodology/approachTwo experimental studies were conducted to investigate the effect of the anthropomorphic image of intelligent customer service on consumers' willingness to interact and the potential role of consumer expectation and disappointment, following a service failure (Study 1). The moderating effect of anthropomorphic type was also explored (Study 2).FindingsIn the context of a customer service failure, an anthropomorphized intelligent customer service avatar that appeared competent (vs. warm) induced higher customer disappointment. However, if the anthropomorphic avatar had a cartoon-like appearance, the effect of avatar image perception (competent vs. warm) on consumers' willingness to interact diminishes.Originality/valueThis research enriches and expands the literature on interactive marketing and artificial intelligence and provides practical guidance for companies to design or choose avatar images for intelligent customer service.","PeriodicalId":47116,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2023-03-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49027699","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Sıddık Bozkurt, D. Gligor, Jennifer A. Locander, Raouf Ahmad Rather
{"title":"How social media self-efficacy and social anxiety affect customer purchasing from agile brands on social media","authors":"Sıddık Bozkurt, D. Gligor, Jennifer A. Locander, Raouf Ahmad Rather","doi":"10.1108/jrim-08-2022-0242","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jrim-08-2022-0242","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThis study aims to contribute to the social media agility literature by examining the impact of perceived social media agility on customer purchases. More specifically, this study seeks to reveal whether perceived social media agility positively affects customer purchases. Furthermore, this study examines the moderating roles of social media self-efficacy and social anxiety to increase the model's explanatory power. That is, this study investigates whether social media self-efficacy positively moderates the impact of perceived social media agility on customer purchases. Similarly, this study examines whether social anxiety negatively moderates the impact of perceived social media agility on customer purchases.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey was conducted on Qualtrics platforms to test the research hypotheses. To test the main effect, a linear regression was used. To test moderating relationships, PROCESS Macro Model 1 was used. Finally, the moderating effects were probed with the Johnson–Neyman technique to gain further insights into the interaction effects.FindingsThe study results show that when customers perceive a brand as agile on social media platforms, they are more willing to buy the goods/services of the brand. Notably, individuals who are high on social media self-efficacy (relative to low on it) display more willingness to purchase the brand's products/services. However, customers who are high on social anxiety (relative to low on it) are less willing to purchase the brand's products/services.Originality/valueThis study examines the effect of perceived social media agility on customer purchases while accounting for the moderating role of perceived social media self-efficacy and social anxiety. The results provide noteworthy theoretical and managerial contributions.","PeriodicalId":47116,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2023-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43695242","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nadia Pomirleanu, P. Chennamaneni, Babu John-Mariadoss, J. Schibrowsky
{"title":"Building human brands: the role of critical reviews","authors":"Nadia Pomirleanu, P. Chennamaneni, Babu John-Mariadoss, J. Schibrowsky","doi":"10.1108/jrim-05-2022-0133","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jrim-05-2022-0133","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThis study evaluates the factors related to the creation of a human brand in the brand inception stage.Design/methodology/approachEmploying content analysis of expert reviews, we establish the role played by valence (positiveness), depth (number of statements) and timing of subjective and objective critical reviews for human brands. To address these issues, we employ generalized estimating equations to model numerical ratings of celebrity reviews evaluating a nascent human brand.FindingsThe findings show that subjective reviews have the potential to influence the probability of survival of a human brand in the brand inception period, are increasingly consequential during the inception period stages and are more influential than objective reviews. We also found that the valence of objective reviews can negatively and significantly relate to human brands in their late inception stage.Originality/valueThis is the first research to demonstrate the importance of critical reviews in building human brands, with a focus on the first moment of a brand's inception. More importantly, this research enriches our understanding of the larger process of personal brand building as it may emerge over time.","PeriodicalId":47116,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2023-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43001737","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Does congruency matter for online green demarketing campaigns? Examining the effects of retargeting display ads embedded in different browsing contexts","authors":"Hye Jin Yoon, Yoon‐Joo Lee, Shuoya Sun, Jinho Joo","doi":"10.1108/jrim-08-2022-0262","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jrim-08-2022-0262","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeGreen demarketing, which promotes anti-consumption as a more extreme sustainability tactic, could help consumers and societies move toward healthier consumption patterns while building strong, long-lasting relationships with consumers. As even the most committed brands find the need to oscillate between demarketing and conventional marketing for survival, this research tests how the congruency of the campaign shown on a brand's home page (owned media) and a following retargeting ad (paid media) could impact perceived congruency and further downstream effects. In doing so, this research proposes that the media context (i.e. news or shopping browsing context) in which the retargeting ad is embedded could determine how much congruency of the demarketing campaign across owned and paid media matters.Design/methodology/approachAn experiment with a 2 (home page content: green vs. demarketing) × 2 (retargeting ad content: product vs. demarketing) × 2 (browsing context: shopping vs. news) between-subjects factorial design was employed with an online panel of 430 participants. The participants first saw the brand's home page content, then were assigned to a website browsing context where the retargeting ad of the brand was embedded.FindingsIn a news browsing context, users perceived higher congruency when product retargeting ads (vs. demarketing) were shown after a green home page exposure and when demarketing retargeting ads (vs. products) were delivered after a demarketing home page. The elevated perceived congruency successfully led to higher ad argument and ad attitude. These differences were not present in a shopping browsing context. These results showed that the congruency between the home page and the retargeting ad for demarketing campaigns mattered more in certain media contexts (i.e. news browsing context).Originality/valueThe study closes the empirical gap in demarketing brand activism campaigns by demonstrating when and how congruency between multiple owned and paid channels for demarketing campaigns impacts consumer responses. This study provides evidence of how the match of the demarketing campaign shown on a brand's home page and a following retargeting ad could impact perceived congruency and further downstream effects of ad argument and ad attitude while considering different browsing context effects.","PeriodicalId":47116,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2023-02-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42135096","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jin Zhang, Xinmai Li, Banggang Wu, Liying Zhou, Xiangling Chen
{"title":"Order matters: effect of use versus outreach order disclosure on persuasiveness of sponsored posts","authors":"Jin Zhang, Xinmai Li, Banggang Wu, Liying Zhou, Xiangling Chen","doi":"10.1108/jrim-06-2022-0189","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jrim-06-2022-0189","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeA critical step in influencer marketing is influencer outreach, where a brand reaches out to an influencer and forms a partnership. Yet little is known about how factors related to this process might influence the outcomes of sponsored posts. To address this gap, the authors investigated whether, how and when the order of influencers' product use and brand outreach (i.e. use/outreach order) affects post persuasiveness.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted three experimental studies. Studies 1 and 2 examined the effect of disclosure type (use-first, outreach-later vs. outreach-first, use-later vs. no disclosure) on consumers' responses to the post. Study 3 investigated the moderating effects of compensation disclosure type.FindingsThe results revealed that when the influencer used the product before (vs. after) being contacted by the brand, consumers had more favorable attitudes about the product and greater purchase intention upon reading the sponsored posts; perceived information diagnosticity mediated this effect. However, this tendency was mitigated if the influencer disclosed the specific monetary payment from the brand.Originality/valueThis research advances understanding of sponsorship disclosure and provides a way to manage its impact on message persuasiveness.","PeriodicalId":47116,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2023-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44038145","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How perceived interactivity affects consumers' shopping intentions in live stream commerce: roles of immersion, user gratification and product involvement","authors":"Eunsin Joo, Jing Yang","doi":"10.1108/jrim-02-2022-0037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jrim-02-2022-0037","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeThis study explores how perceived interactivity effects in Livecommerce influences consumers' shopping intentions in live stream commerce. The authors specifically examine the mediating roles of immersion and hedonic/utilitarian gratification, as well as the moderating role of product involvement in identifying the boundary conditions.Design/methodology/approachA scenario-based online survey was conducted among American consumers via Prolific.co, an online crowdsourcing platform. The final sample included 187 respondents (male, 63.1 per cent; Caucasian, 61.5 per cent).FindingsThe results indicate that perceived interactivity significantly influenced consumers' shopping intentions. Consumers' sense of immersion and hedonic/utilitarian gratification were identified as serial mediators between perceived interactivity and consumers' shopping intentions. It was also found that individuals' product involvement moderated the serial effects of perceived interactivity on consumers' shopping intentions in live stream commerce.Originality/valueThis study provides empirical evidence that perceived interactivity plays an important role in creating an effectively immersive media experience in live stream commerce, which further contributes to higher shopping intentions via perceived utilitarian and hedonic gratifications. It was also found that varying levels of product involvement can have differing effects. Managerial implications are provided.","PeriodicalId":47116,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2023-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47733314","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Consumer bias against evaluations received by artificial intelligence: the mediation effect of lack of transparency anxiety","authors":"Alberto Lopez, Ricardo Garza","doi":"10.1108/jrim-07-2021-0192","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jrim-07-2021-0192","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeWill consumers accept artificial intelligence (AI) products that evaluate them? New consumer products offer AI evaluations. However, previous research has never investigated how consumers feel about being evaluated by AI instead of by a human. Furthermore, why do consumers experience being evaluated by an AI algorithm or by a human differently? This research aims to offer answers to these questions.Design/methodology/approachThree laboratory experiments were conducted. Experiments 1 and 2 test the main effect of evaluator (AI and human) and evaluations received (positive, neutral and negative) on fairness perception of the evaluation. Experiment 3 replicates previous findings and tests the mediation effect.FindingsBuilding on previous research on consumer biases and lack of transparency anxiety, the authors present converging evidence that consumers who got positive evaluations reported nonsignificant difference on the level of fairness perception on the evaluation regardless of the evaluator (human or AI). Contrarily, consumers who got negative evaluations reported lower fairness perception when the evaluation was given by AI. Further moderated mediation analysis showed that consumers who get a negative evaluation by AI experience higher levels of lack of transparency anxiety, which in turn is an underlying mechanism driving this effect.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors' knowledge, no previous research has investigated how consumers feel about being evaluated by AI instead of by a human. This consumer bias against AI evaluations is a phenomenon previously overlooked in the marketing literature, with many implications for the development and adoption of new AI products, as well as theoretical contributions to the nascent literature on consumer experience and AI.","PeriodicalId":47116,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2023-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44418657","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Effects of vividness, information and aesthetic design on the appeal of pay-per-click ads","authors":"Ying Zhu, Y. Wang, Joicey J. Wei, A. Hao","doi":"10.1108/jrim-07-2022-0207","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jrim-07-2022-0207","url":null,"abstract":"PurposeFew studies illustrate how contextual effects (e.g. assimilation and contrast) in pay-per-click ad design may impact consumers' attitudes and purchase intention. To fill this research gap, the authors provide theoretical predictions and empirical evidence on how ad design may prompt an assimilation and/or a contrast effect that may influence consumers' attitudes toward the ad and the brand and purchase intention. They also investigate whether the impact of contextual effects on consumers' decisions depends on the level of vividness in the ad.Design/methodology/approachA 2 (vividness: dynamic motion vs. static page) × 2 (information design: assimilation vs. contrast) × 2 (aesthetic design: assimilation vs. contrast) between-subjects experimental design is used to examine the effects of vividness, information design and aesthetic design. Conditional process analysis is used to assess the mediating role of attitudes toward the ad and the brand in the relationship between contextual effects and purchase intention.FindingsFor dynamic ads (i.e. high vividness) but not for static ads (i.e. low vividness), combined information contrast and aesthetic contrast designs generate a more favorable attitude toward the brand and a higher purchase intention than do combined information assimilation and aesthetic assimilation designs. Notably, combined information contrast and aesthetic contrast designs have the strongest effects than any other combination of assimilation and contrast designs of information and aesthetics. Attitudes toward the ad and the brand are significant mediators between contextual factors and intention to purchase.Research limitations/implicationsThe study examines the effectiveness of online ads from a new theoretical angle based on the attributes of pay-per-click ads.Practical implicationsThe results suggest that when advertisers decide to use dynamic ads, they should adopt a contrast design for both the ad information and its aesthetics.Originality/valueThis study fills a research gap in the contextual effects literature, including providing evidence of an underlying process in the relationship between certain contextual effects and purchase intent. It also extends previous findings of assimilation/contrast in information design to aesthetics design and advances the literature on vividness by examining a moderation effect of vividness.","PeriodicalId":47116,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2023-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46741989","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
M. Frau, F. Cabiddu, L. Frigau, Przemysław Tomczyk, F. Mola
{"title":"How emotions impact the interactive value formation process during problematic social media interactions","authors":"M. Frau, F. Cabiddu, L. Frigau, Przemysław Tomczyk, F. Mola","doi":"10.1108/jrim-06-2022-0186","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jrim-06-2022-0186","url":null,"abstract":"PurposePrevious research has studied interactive value formation (IVF) using resource- or practice-based approaches but has neglected the role of emotions. This article aims to show how emotions are correlated in problematic social media interactions and explore their role in IVF.Design/methodology/approachBy combining a text mining algorithm, nonparametric Spearman's rho and thematic qualitative analysis in an explanatory sequential mixed-method design, the authors (1) categorize customers' comments as positive, neutral or negative; (2) pinpoint peaks of negative comments; (3) classify problematic interactions as detrimental, contradictory or conflictual; (4) identify customers' main positive (joy, trust and surprise) and negative emotions (anger, dissatisfaction, disgust, fear and sadness) and (5) correlate these emotions.FindingsDespite several problematic social interactions, the same pattern of emotions appears but with different intensities. Additionally, value co-creation, value no-creation and value co-destruction co-occur in a context of problematic social interactions (peak of negative comments).Originality/valueThis study provides new insights into the effect of customers' emotions during IVF by studying the links between positive and negative emotions and their effects on different sorts of problematic social interactions.","PeriodicalId":47116,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":8.2,"publicationDate":"2023-02-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43484358","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}