ABSTRACT Drawing on the conceptual metaphor theory and national cultural values (masculinity and power distance), a field experiment was conducted to promote an experiential product to 4,108 consumers in the UK and in the US. The research contributions are novel in three ways: first, the digital advertising literature is extended into the international business domain by using metaphoric representations of cultural values; second, consumer digital engagement is examined through a lens of cultural values; and third, a real digital product and actual consumer data were used to conduct a field experiment with real-time data collected across two countries. The findings suggest that consumers do not automatically engage with metaphors that are aligned with their cultural values, but marketers can increase consumer digital engagement by using metaphors to remind consumers of their cultural values. This study has implications in terms of effective digital advertisement designs that engage consumers in different cultural contexts.

ABSTRACT The importance of relationship marketing (RM) as a strategic driver of strong long-term customer relationships is widely recognized. However, we still know little about when retail managers should invest in relationships to generate increased returns. Drawing on RM theory, this study aims to examine how perceived relationship investment (PRI) influences customer loyalty through the mediation of perceived value in a retail setting. It also explores the moderating role of consumer relationship proneness (RP) in the PRI–perceived value relationship. This study empirically assessed the theoretical model using a partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach. The results reveal that PRI directly influences perceived value and customer loyalty. Perceived value mediates the effect of PRI on customer loyalty. RP moderates the PRI effects. Based on these results, retail managers can develop strong long-term relationships by directing their efforts toward relationship-prone consumers in order to enhance perceptions of relationship investment, which leads to enhanced perceptions of value, thus improving customer loyalty.

ABSTRACT Given the rising global use of corporate social responsibility (CSR) by professional sport organisations, this paper acts to consolidate the state of scholarly research using a systematic quantitative literature review. Our aim was to critically analyse the literature on CSR and professional sport organisations and in doing so ask, how is the global research at the nexus of sport and CSR poised to deliver social good? Our findings indicate the presence of variability in approaches to investigating CSR in professional sport, and the lack of discrete reporting of target audiences and initiatives evidenced across our sample. We suggest there is potential to learn from other disciplinary approaches to CSR research and to push towards conceptual clarity. Finally, sport organisations can lever sports’ unique qualities to deliver, engage and unite people across a range of boundaries, and to promote and create social value which is even more important as we navigate the post-COVID-19 environment of uncertainty and resource constraints.

ABSTRACT A substantial number of studies has investigated consumer purchase intentions associated with green products. Yet most of this literature lacks clarity on feasible directions for promoting responsible consumption, which is increasingly important based on the growing recognition of green consumption. This study has explored the influence of green product price and quality perceptions, via the mediating effects of consumer self-confidence (CSC) and consumer protection confidence (CPC), on the decision to purchase such products. This study uses existing consumer self-confidence and protection confidence measures, to examine their relevance to green product purchasing. Australia was used as the case study for collecting and analysing data via structural equation modelling, to produce a conceptual model that demonstrates the associations of price and quality with purchase intent mediated by consumer self and protection confidence. The findings indicate that green product quality and price perceptions and consumer self-confidence are associated with purchase intention. The results can benefit marketing practitioners and retailers, highlighting the extent they can increase consumers’ responsible consumption. They also set the theoretical foundation for additional studies on how consumer self-confidence affects green product consumption and demonstrates how green purchase intent can be strategically improved.

ABSTRACT In a digital, global world, a paradigm shift in marketing has led companies and customers to become increasingly interconnected through the Internet and social media. Drawing on online review data from 64,285 hotel guests from 36 countries, this research explores the dynamics between customer engagement and recommendation intentions, adopting a cultural perspective. The results reveal that highly engaged customers generally provide more positive reviews. Regarding whether customers issue a recommendation, uncertainty avoidance exerts a context-dependent influence on negative sentiment. An information-motivated herding effect also arises, such that reviews reflect their immediately preceding reviews. Marketing managers thus should complement analyses of satisfaction scores with automatic analyses of textual sentiments in reviews.

ABSTRACT Margin management is an important aspect of marketing mix decision-making. We argue that when production costs increase, product managers must eventually choose among three alternatives: raising selling prices, reducing pack quantities, or decreasing product quality. Thus, the purpose of this research is to ascertain consumer trade-off preferences – among product price, pack quantity and product quality – for different types of FMCG products. Adopting a choice-based conjoint analysis research design, the study used three samples of American consumers. It was found that for each of the three FMCG product categories tested, quality is the product attribute most favoured by the respondents. For two of the three products, pack quantity was rated the least important product attribute, suggesting that manufacturers may have a better chance of maximising profit by reducing pack quantity, rather than increasing price or lowering quality. In the context of margin management, this is, to our knowledge, the first study to examine consumers’ preferences related to the trade-off between product price, pack quantity and product quality.

ABSTRACT This conceptual paper discusses the role of marketing in advancing socially responsible consumption during times of crisis. We argue that socially responsible consumption must be expanded from its current focus on preserving the environment to include consumers’ responsibility to preserve the health and well-being of other consumers, especially during crises. Therefore, we build on the socially responsible consumption literature and introduce the concept of consumer-centric socially responsible consumption (CCSRC). Further, we integrate the social contract theory, contagion theory, and tragedy of the commons literature to create a conceptual framework that illustrates how firms can employ different social contracts in response to changing crowd dynamics. Specifically, this article discusses how marketing can employ social contracts to reinforce a consumer-centric notion of socially responsible consumption that relates to the acquisition of goods during crises and its impact on overall consumer well-being. Theoretical and practical implications are offered.

ABSTRACT This research examines the timing of a food retail franchise’s entry into Shanghai, China. Previous literature espouses the benefits of early movers, but there is a lack of focus on related contingencies that influence the effect of entry timing on franchising outcomes. We employ a qualitative case study in two phases. The first interviews key franchise personnel regarding their motivations and strategies for expanding. The second utilizes focus groups to gain an understanding of customers’ perspectives. This paper considers the implications of the timing of market entry for franchises. Applying resource-based view, dynamic capabilities, and agency theory and institutional theory, the study provides an understanding on how entry timing should be analysed in conjunction with other contingencies including the area that is entered, the type of entry, the relevant players and the strategies, resources, capabilities, and assets needed to enter in order to achieve desirable outcomes.

ABSTRACT Despite all the benefits that customer relationship management (CRM) offers to companies, various studies show high rates of failure when implementing CRM schemes. This study aims to explain how CRM can capitalize on the notion of learning behavior from failures in order to improve the relationship building and innovation performance in high technology ventures.Questionnaire survey data were collected from 234 CEOs and General Managers from ICT firms based in Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou, China. Subsequently, both hierarchical linear regression and SEM was conducted to test the hypothesized relationships.Findings show that CRM positively affects both NPD and commitment to long-term relationships and confirm that learning behaviour from failure mediates the main effects of CRM, which consists of strategic and market orientation foci, in combination with internal marketing and knowledge management. Specifically, although all four aspects of CRM are important to NPD, knowledge management is of particular importance.