Thursday, February 15
Hotel Check-in Embassy Suites
4:00-5:30 – Symposium Registration in Hotel Lobby
5:45 – Meet in Lobby to Walk to Chuck’s
6:00-8:00 – Welcome Event at Chucks
8:00 – ? – Enjoy Downtown Tuscaloosa on your own!
Friday, February 16
7:00-8:00 – Breakfast on your own at Embassy Suites (Made To Order Breakfast Available in Hotel Restaurant)
8:00 & 8:15 – Shuttle(s) leave from Embassy Suites to Bryant Hall
8:30-9:15 – Welcome from Tom Baker, Dean Kay Palan and Past, Present, and Future of SMS (Sharon Beatty, Mike Brady); Bryant Hall 247
9:15-10:30 – Concurrent Session A: Strategic Perspectives on Public Policy and CSR, Bryant Hall 147
Calling Their Bluff: Misplaced Loyalty is a Problem for GamblersJonathan Ross Gilbert, The University of Memphis
Abstract: Due to the ubiquity of casinos, both brick and mortar and online, problem gambling has emerged as a significant public health issue. It is estimated that 30% – 50% of all casino revenues are generated from problem gamblers who tend to be disproportionately male, young, and minority group members. Although prior research has examined the mediating role of gambling behaviors in the relationship between casino marketing strategies and problem gambling, it is not clear what role casino loyalty programs play in predicting problem gambling. This study develops and tests a conceptual framework, which extends the theory of integrative justice to: (1) explain the influence of casino loyalty programs in the relationship between ease of access and problem gambling; and (2) demonstrate the disproportionate impact of casino loyalty programs in the context of an underserved population. Based on a series of experiments, the results show support for this variance model. Notably, casino loyalty programs partially mediate the relationship between ease of access and gambling behaviors that lead to problem gambling. Individual traits further moderated maladaptive consequences. The uncovered mediated and moderated results offer important implications for marketing theory, policy, and practice as U.S. lawmakers push to legalize sports betting (including fantasy sports) and online gaming.
The Effects of the FTC-Mandated Disclosure on Homeopathic Product Purchase Intentions
Ashley Deutsch, University of Arkansas
Abstract: Homeopathic products and herbal remedies are a growing category that offers an alternative to conventional OTC medicines. To reduce potential misinterpretations by consumers, the FTC requires all OTC homeopathic product advertisements making unsubstantiated claims to include specific disclosures (Federal Register 2016). The direct and indirect effects of mandated ad disclosures were tested across users and nonusers of homeopathic products. These effects were tested across three studies. The first two studies were single-factor between-subjects experiments with two conditions (no information disclosure vs. FTC-mandated information disclosure). In addition, use status (nonuser vs. user) was assessed in Study 2 as a measured moderator. Study 3 extended the findings of Study 1 and 2 to a retail laboratory setting. The FTC-mandated disclosure was found to have a negative direct and indirect effect on consumer purchase intentions and choice through perceived product efficacy. However, the effect was attenuated for current homeopathic product users.
Marketing-Related Controversies and Shareholder Wealth: The Impact of Top Management Team Composition and Prior Corporate Social Performance
Ashley Morgan, University of Mississippi
Abstract: Firms in today’s world face many different controversies. As it relates to the marketing aspect, a firm can face issues that include product-harm crises, deceptive advertising, and patent, copyright, or trademark infringements. This study examines the role of the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and the firm’s prior corporate social performance (CSP) when a marketing-related controversy occurs. The author employs signaling theory in order to explain that the presence of a CMO and a firm’s prior CSP will indicate to the investor that this type of event is a one-time event. Preliminary results do not provide empirical support for the hypotheses, suggesting the need of using alternative measures of the key variables, and increasing the size of the sample to improve the power of the tests.
9:15-10:30 – Concurrent Session B: Advancing our Understanding of Brand/Product Management, Bryant Hall 149
The Motivation to Exclude Others and Its Impact on Brand Commitment
Samantha Bittner, Florida State University
Abstract: This research examines exclusion in brand community contexts. The authors demonstrate that in communities of high (low) personal experience consumers are more (less) motivated to exclude others. Furthermore, in communities of high (low) personal experience consumers report higher brand commitment after excluding (including) another from the community.
It’s Not Me, It’s You: Brand Breakups and Disassociation
Christian Barney, Mississippi State University
Abstract: This presentation will look at how a brand disassociates itself from another brand after there has been a negative brand incident. In particular, the relationship between how brands go about disassociating themselves and the attribution of blame for the incident that they receive will be examined. The degree of blame that the brand shares with the disassociated brand is proposed to be moderated by the formality of their previous relationship (co-brand or cooptation). Furthermore, the degree of attribution of blame that the brand receives is proposed to be directly related to consumer’s attitudes toward the brand. Implications about how a brand ought to go about disassociating itself when necessary and advice to managers on how to manage such an event are discussed.
The DESIGN Scale: Diagnosis of the Extrinsic and Intrinsic Goodness of Products to Consumers
Kevin Sample, University of Georgia
Abstract: Consumers have varying responses to product design, yet marketing researchers have varying ideas as to what constitutes design. Design theory and marketing research inform that product designs have intrinsic dimensions of form and function and extrinsic dimensions of solidity, usefulness, beauty, eco-consciousness, and uniqueness. These extrinsic dimensions are utilized by consumers to evaluate how product designs interact with their life and possessions, the environment, and other consumers. The intrinsic dimensions are based on the stand-alone aspects of a design. By receiving designer input and using established scale development procedures, a reliable and valid scale that measures consumer evaluations of product design is developed, the DESIGN scale. This scale can diagnose the dimensions of product designs that are leading to positive or negative consumer response, and due to the usage of design terminology this information can be appropriately conveyed to designers so that adjustments can be made. Through the course of development, the improvement that this scale represents as compared to prior scales is demonstrated at multiple levels while providing substantial theoretical and practical contributions to our field.
10:30 – 11:00 – Break
11:00 – 12:15 – Concurrent Session C: New Perspectives on Digital and Online Marketing, Bryant Hall 147
Emojional Communication in Digitally Mediated Relationships
Leah Smith, University of Tennessee
Abstract: In-person communication utilizes both verbal and nonverbal cues to convey meaning. However, the lack of nonverbal cues in mediated communication (e.g., text messages, social media etc.) limits the amount and type of information that can be conveyed. These limitations of mediated communication are slowly eroding as emojis are now commonly utilized to convey meaning. Emotion as social information (EASI) theory is the lens for exploring how and when emojis aid in relationship development. This research thus seeks to identify both the types of meaning that emojis can add to a message and the conditions that determine whether relationship development occurs.
Must I Always Be Waiting On You: Perceived Online Scarcity and Intentions to Purchase
Tyler Hancock, Mississippi State University
Abstract: E-commerce continues to change the landscape of modern retail. A record $6.59 billion was spent shopping online during Cyber Monday, a figure that is up 17% from 2016 (Rubin, 2017). Of course, perceived scarcity fuels the thrill of the hunt contributing to these enormous expenditures. A number of different scarcity cues are regularly used online that may influence a consumer’s shopping experience. It is well established that scarcity increases consumers’ preference for desired products (Verhallen, 1982). Essentially, the more challenging it is to acquire a product, the more valuable it is perceived to be (Lynn, 1992). While scarcity has been well-explored in the context of brick-and-mortar retailers (e.g., Parker and Lehmann, 2011; Aggarwal, Jun, and Huh, 2011; Gierl and Huettl, 2010) there are still considerable gaps to explore within the online environment. How does scarcity translate to the online environment? The research presented aims to understand how different types of scarcity cues influence perceptions of product scarcity. Additionally, the impact of perceived scarcity on the retailer is also investigated, yielding a discussion of valuable practitioner implications.
Exploring Effective Firm Curation of Subscription Boxes
Jessica Babin, University of Georgia
Abstract: Firms have the opportunity to play a role in organizing the information available to consumers today into a more manageable form through curation (i.e., the selecting, organizing, and displaying of content, like a museum curator). One major way that some firms are curating for consumers is through subscription boxes—collections of products around a theme that are delivered to customers on a regular basis (e.g., StitchFix, Blue Apron, Birchbox). By exploring the subscription box service business model, we are able to address the larger phenomenon of firm curation. A set of 2,000+ subscription boxes were gathered from a popular blog that catalogs subscription box information. Descriptive statistics of this database illuminate the current landscape of subscription box offerings across many dimensions. Further, preliminary results from an experiment show that consumers react differently to subscription boxes curated by a computer (“advanced algorithm”) vs. a human (“expert food blogger”) as well as to standardized vs. personalized box items. Implications for managers are discussed.
11:00 – 12:15 – Concurrent Session D: Strategic Consumer Behavior Insights, Bryant Hall 149
Scarcity (versus Popularity) Cues for Rejected Customers: The Impact of Social Exclusion on Cue Types Through Perceived Uniqueness
Siddik Bozkurt, University of Mississippi
Abstract: Previous research shows that customers are more inclined to choose products promoted by scarcity cues (e.g., this product is a limited edition) relative to popularity ones (e.g., this product is a best seller) when purchasing products for themselves due to their need for uniqueness (Wu and Lee 2016). However, we argue that a customer’s need for uniqueness may depend on the psychological situation. More specifically, we propose that excluded (vs. included) customers are more likely to choose the product promoted by a scarcity (vs. popularity) cue when purchasing for themselves, as they are more likely to attribute this exclusion to their uniqueness. In turn, this exclusion leads them to act in a way that differentiates themselves from the social entity from which they were excluded (e.g., purchasing unique or differentiated products). To test these predictions, we utilize a one-factor (exclusion: being excluded/being included) experimental design and recruit 94 student subjects for participation. For statistical analysis, we utilize binary (logistic) regression, one-way ANOVA, and PROCESS Model 4 for the mediation analysis. The results show that socially excluded customers are more likely to prefer products promoted by a scarcity (relative to popularity) cue, and that perceived uniqueness partially mediates the relationship between social exclusion and product choice.
Two Dimensional Impact on Willingness to Buy
Danli Chen, Louisiana State University
Abstract: Virtually every day, colors play a fundamental role in marketing communication as products, advertisements, and shopping environment, are presented to consumers in colors. People make up their minds within 90 seconds of their initial interaction with either people or products. Approximately 60-90 percent of the assessment is based on colors alone (Singh, 2006). Therefore, prudent use of colors could create feelings, shape customers’ judgments, and thus, alter the level of willingness to buy. Both physiological and psychological effects have been found across decades of research in many disciplines. Extant research has shown red and blue shared the opposite color properties. Red, has been identified as warm, negative, and tense as well as physically arousing. Blue, on the other hand, is perceived as cool, positive, and calm (Bellizzi and Hite 1992). The role of color is investigated as a contributor to emotional feelings and subsequently be linked to willingness to buy. Self-control is also an important driver for customer’s willingness to buy. Consumers are in decision making dilemma between an alternative with higher overall value and a more tempting but ultimately inferior option on a daily basis. Optimal decision-making requires high self-control. Self-control directly affects our willingness to buy; in specific, high self-control can reduce willingness to engage and purchase a product.
The Ambassador Effect: How Inducing an Ambassador Role Increases Consumers’ Prosocial Marketplace Behavior and Patronage Intentions
Corinne Kelley, Florida State University
Abstract: This research introduces the ambassador effect as a novel, socially-induced form of pre-commitment that influences consumers’ prosociality and patronage intentions. One field study and three experiments show that inducing an ambassador role (by asking consumers to both (a) engage in a prosocial behavior and (b) to involve another person in the same prosocial behavior) increases consumers’ prosocial behavioral intentions and patronage intentions, beyond what previously established question-behavior effects or mere personal pre-commitments can achieve. The ambassador effect is mediated by a consumer’s enhanced warm glow and group orientation. This research also examines the interaction of the ambassador effect with firm policy (reward-based vs. penalty-based) to examine which approach is more effective at encouraging consumer prosocial behavioral intentions and patronage intentions. The results show that, in general, penalty-based retail policies (e.g., charging a fee for using a plastic shopping bag) are inferior to reward-based retail policies (e.g., offering a discount for using a reusable shopping bag). However, inducing an ambassador role attenuates the negative sentiments associated with penalty-based policies. Indeed, under a penalty-based policy, consumers in an ambassador role (vs. not) report more prosocial behavioral intentions and higher patronage intentions, attenuating differences between penalty-based and reward-based policies.
12:15 – Buses to Mal Moore Athletic Center
12:30 – 1:30 – Lunch at Mal Moore Athletic Center
Lunch sponsored by University of Memphis
1:30-3:00 – Faculty Presentations on the Future of Marketing; Presentation of Bearden Award
Football Auditorium, Mal Moore Athletic Center
Panelists:
Mike Brady, Florida State University
Scot Burton, University of Arkansas
George Deitz, University of Memphis
Charlie Hofacker, Florida State University
John Hulland, University of Georgia
3:00 – 4:15 – Tours of Mal Moore Athletic Facility; Bus back to hotel (3:00)
4:15 – Bus back to hotel
6:15 – Meet in lobby to walk to Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center
6:30 – 8:30 – Evening Event at Dinah Washington Cultural Arts Center
8:30 – ? – Enjoy downtown Tuscaloosa on your own!
Saturday, February 17
7:30-8:30 Breakfast on your own at Embassy Suites
8:30 – Drive on your own to Bryant Hall
8:45 – 9:00 – Initial Meeting; Bryant Hall 247
9:00 – 10:15 – Concurrent Session E: Understanding the Role of Emotions in Consumer Behavior, Bryant Hall 147
Understanding and Overcoming Social Anxiety in Service Encounters
Maria-Susana Jaramillo-Echeverri, University of Alabama
Abstract: Service encounters are usually performed in the presence of other people (e.g., service employees, other customers, or even people that we know), which can lead customers to experience social anxiety. Social anxiety has been defined as anxiety caused through perceived or real evaluation by others in real or perceived situations. To gain an understanding of the impact of social anxiety-triggering situations on service outcomes (i.e., satisfaction, word-of-mouth, repurchase behavior), three experiments were developed. The first experiment showed that when customers experience higher levels of social anxiety, they are less satisfied with the service, less likely to spread a positive word-of-mouth or exhibit repurchase behaviors. The second experiment revealed that the negative impact of social anxiety environments on service outcomes can be explained by temporary loss of self-esteem felt by customers during service encounters. The third experiment will investigate how the actions of the frontline employee can moderate the mediating effect of self-esteem.
Consumer Embarrassment: A Meta-Analytic Review of Antecedence and Outcomes
Alex Ziegler, University of Kentucky
Abstract: The implications of embarrassment on consumer welfare and decision-making are significant. Research indicates that embarrassment leads consumers to make irrational choices and to avoidance behaviors that are deleterious to their personal health. Therefore, an understanding of the antecedents and consequences of embarrassment can have significant positive impacts on research, public policy, and marketing decisions intended to improve consumer well-being. To date, the extant literature precludes the ability to guide such efforts for two reasons. First, an impediment to generalization are the often competing findings of causes as well as consequences of embarrassment. Second, embarrassment has drawn research attention in fields as diverse as marketing, psychology, sociology, and health care. This diversity of disciplines results in a wide range of research methods being implemented to study embarrassment. Our meta-analysis is guided by three main objectives: (1) to develop a model that integrates the antecedents as well as outcomes of embarrassment by compiling substantial contributions to the field, (2) to test this model empirically with a quantitative meta-analysis of 1451 effect sizes of embarrassment from 185 published and unpublished articles, and (3) to offer guidance to future researchers, marketing practice, and public policy.
The Most Frightening Presentation You’ve Ever Seen
Brett Christenson, University of Alabama
Abstract: Consumer expectations and satisfaction are affected by the emotions consumers experience before and during product use or service encounters. Researchers have investigated not only what emotions consumers are feeling, but also when they feel them. Consistent with Construal Level Theory (CLT), the closer a consumer is to a consumption decision, the more emotion the consumer will feel. This emotion can be positive or negative and can influence expectations for the amount of emotion experienced during consumption as well as whether the experience will be successful in delivering the expected amount of emotion. Additionally, emotions experienced leading up to consumption have been connected to estimations of satisfaction after a consumption experience. Research on emotions experienced before, during, and after consumption has focused mostly on eliciting positive emotions in consumers as a way to increase satisfaction and mitigate unwanted effects. However, research on negative emotions, like fear, still has room for expansion, particularly in the area of uncovering potential positive effects of experiencing fear. Given that intensity of emotions may affect satisfaction with consumption decisions in both positive and negative directions, this research seeks to examine the potential positive effects that experiencing fear has upon expectations for, and satisfaction with, consumption choices and how these effects change over psychological distance.
9:00 – 10:15 – Concurrent Session F: Understanding the Role of Emotions in Consumer Behavior, Bryant Hall 149
The Performance Implications of Entering International Marketing Alliances: Does Strategic Fit Matter?
Annette Tower, University of Tennessee
Abstract: International marketing alliances allow firms to gain competitive advantage by pooling resources with an international partner for the accomplishment of individual corporate goals and typically focus on discovering new capabilities by gaining access to new resources or on leveraging the firm’s existing capabilities to strengthening its competitive position. However, firms can also engage in the exploration of new capabilities and the exploitation of existing capabilities internally, consistent with the notion of a firm’s strategic marketing emphasis (SME). Consequently, firms engaged in business-to-business relationships must consider a two-dimensional strategic choice set in their quest for competitive advantage: the relative SME within the firm and the relative international marketing alliance focus (RAF) across firm alliances. Surprising, little is known about the interplay between these two dimensions and their potential joint effect on firm performance. Using a longitudinal database consisting of over 50 firms from multiple industries which covers over 15 years of international alliance forming activities, we empirically explore the relationship between a firm’s SME and its RAF, and the effect on short- and long-term performance measures. Preliminary results from using a Heckman selection model with fixed effects indicate that strategic fit through complementary relationships across the two strategic dimensions positively affects firm performance in the short-term.
Brands in the Breach: Effect of Market-Based Assets on Shareholder Losses
Michael Houston, University of Memphis
Abstract: Despite increased interest in the topic of customer privacy, generally, and privacy data breaches, more specifically, very little research has investigated the impact of these events on consumer evaluations of the firm or its market offerings. Of course, publically-traded firms that have been victimized by privacy breaches typically account for remediation-related expenses in their quarterly and annual reports. Absent more complete understanding of the full financial implications of these incidents, however, management may systematically understate the true long-term impact of these types of threats. Study 1 offers novel insight in showing the negative effects of privacy data breaches on shareholder wealth are magnified for firms with higher market-to-book ratios. Building on the assumption that study 1 findings were based on diminished brand perceptions, study 2 offers findings from a quasi-experiment that shows brand trust and purchase intentions of Target customers declined significantly in the wake of its 2013 breach. Study 3 extends findings by using a scenario-based experiment to show how the relationship between brand trust and brand attitudes and behaviors are influenced by breach characteristics and whether subjects were directly impacted by the event. Study findings contribute to a growing literature base on implications of privacy issues on consumer decision-making.
Customer Perspectives on Sales Strategies: A Relational Approach
Vinny Jeseo (presenter) and Julian C. White, Louisiana State University
Abstract: Relationship marketing strategies have long been known to impact salespeople and the customers they serve. However, there is still much to learn about the mechanisms that drive such buyer-seller relationships. This research examines how a salesperson’s behavior, relational orientation, and individual disposition dynamically interact to influence customers. Data collected from the customers’ viewpoint reveal several unique salesperson competencies and strategies that affect the buyer-seller relationship. The impact on overall selling performance is discussed.
10:15-10:30 – Break
10:30-12:00 – Ask the Experts!
Bryant Hall 247
Panelists:
Clay Voorhees, Michigan State University/University of Alabama (Fall 2018), Moderator
Brian Murtha, University of Kentucky
Dan Rice, Louisiana State Unversity
Allyn White, University of Mississippi
12:00-1:00 – Lunch, DRS Award