In terms of sustainability alone, consumers are faced with a staggering assortment of 463 different labels across 25 industry sectors, a number that is only expected to grow over time (Ecolabel Index 2016). Amid growing environmental concerns, research suggests that many consumers are unlikely to consider the consequences of their choices at the point of purchase, or if they attempt to do so, they generally do not have the information necessary to make more sustainable choices. Given the rise of ineffective green communication protocols and consumers’ concerns with environmental impacts associated with their purchases, this paper attempts to understand how the provision of sustainability labeling can influence comprehension and consumer decision-making. Utilizing the ambiguity theoretical framework (Einhorn and Hogarth 1985), we suggest that perceptions of sustainability will be influenced using an anchor comprising a plausible range based on consumers’ existing beliefs and internal points of reference (Broniarczyk and Alba 1994). That is, consumers revert to a pre-existing reference point, and the new information does not allow for much movement in perceptions. In an ambiguous situation in which consumers have limited knowledge of product sustainability, the perceived brand-based sustainability level is expected to allow consumers to establish an initial value of sustainability (Hogarth and Kunreuther 1992). Our findings suggest that providing environmental information can be a useful tool in assisting consumers in making sustainable decisions. Providing quantitative aggregated environmental impact information of products influences consumers’ perceived ambiguity, leading to evaluation of the brand. The perceived ambiguity derived from sustainability level provides an underlying mechanism in information processing. Given rising concerns about consumers ability to process sustainability information in an efficient manner, our findings suggest that one way to encourage consumers to better process the sustainability information is to mitigate perceived ambiguity. Enforcing disclosure initiatives that assess the environmental impact of products can provide benefit to firms—especially for product categories in which limited loyalty or differentiation exists. Sustainability disclosures appear to offer a mechanism that can help consumers make informed decisions. Furthermore, extrapolating the influence of disclosures on consumer evaluation and choice across the variety of product categories for which consumers routinely make purchases suggests the potential for dramatic increases in global sustainability.

Introduction The concept of “processing fluency” has been widely discussed in various areas, including marketing and consumer behavior (Janiszewski and Meyvis, 2001; Labroo et al., 2008; Herrmann et al., 2013; Shen and Rao, 2016). Processing fluency is defined as the ease with which people process information, and it has been found that experiencing fluency while processing information has a positive effect on decision making. Many researchers have shown that fluency elicits positive evaluation. For example, the mere-exposure effect has been explained by processing fluency; repeated exposure to a stimulus increases processing fluency and the fluency, in turn, increases positive affect (Arkes, 2013; Janiszewski and Meyvis, 2001). Many factors have been examined in fluency studies. Among them, the most common method to affect fluency is font manipulation (e.g., Alter et al., 2007; Alter and Oppenheimer, 2008). In these studies, researchers examined processing fluency of objects with clear fonts or unclear fonts and found the former enhanced processing fluency and thus caused positive evaluation for the objects. There are many other factors related to visual perceptual fluency, such as contrast of letters and background, exposure time, and so on. Processing fluency can be influenced by eye movement. For example, Shen and Rao (2016) focused on the relation between fluency of eye movements and product evaluation. They found that repetition of an eye movement could enhance perceived fluency and that this perceived fluency could increase product evaluation. In their second experiment, they manipulated participants’ eye movement by moving a ball on the computer screen and found that the consistency between the direction of eye movement and the direction of products (pen and sports shoe) could enhance processing fluency and product evaluation. Similar to the study of Shen and Rao, we focus on the relation between the direction of products and processing fluency. Shen and Rao focused on eye movement, whereas our study concentrated on human body movement—namely, walking and riding. There are many advertisements in stores, trains, buses and on the roads. Consumers often see these advertisements while walking or riding. In these cases, they move to certain directions, and sometimes products in advertisements convey direction (e.g., automobiles, shoes, pens, and so on). At the time of exposure, consistency between two directions (consumer’s movement and product) may influence processing fluency and product evaluation. In a walking condition, the direction of physical body movement of the participants can be related to their eye movements. However, in a riding condition, the moving direction of a vehicle the participant rides does not always coincide with the direction of participant’s eye movement. We can therefore assume that if consistency of the two directions affects the product evaluation positively not only in a walking condition but in a riding condition, it is possible to verify the existence of the effects of human body movement. Based on the above considerations, we conducted two experiments. Empirical Studies In two experiments, all participants were undergraduate students at a major university in Tokyo. They were recruited at a university campus or via social network services. The experiments were conducted in two conditions: participants looking at the advertisement while walking or riding on the bus. In prior research focused on eye movement (Shen and Rao, 2016), the researchers examined the relation between eye movement and product location (left side or right side on the advertisements) as well as product direction (directed toward the left or toward the right). They showed that the participants preferred the product directed toward the right (pen or sports shoe) or located on the right side (cupcake) when their eyes moved from left to right. Conversely, the participants liked the product directed toward the left or located on the left better when their eyes moved from right to left. Based on their study, we also chose two types of products, sports shoe and bottled water. Sports shoe has a horizontal direction, so we can place the product in the advertisement with a particular direction (toward the left or toward the right). On the other hand, bottled water does not have horizontal direction, thus we use the product with a particular location (placed on the left side or right side in the advertisements). We hypothesize that the participants will experience processing fluency and express a greater preference towards the products in the advertisement when its direction or location matches the moving direction of the participants. Experiment 1 One-hundred-and-twenty students participated in a 2 × 2 between-subjects factorial design. Participants were randomly assigned into four groups: 2 moving direction × 2 product layouts. The experiment was set up in a classroom where the advertisements were displayed on the walls. On the wall to the left side of the classroom, the advertisement for sports shoe was displayed with the direction either toward the left or the right. On the wall to the right, the advertisement for bottled water was displayed with the product location either on the left or right side. On the front wall of the classroom, an advertisement for hamburger which had neither particular direction nor location was displayed as a dummy stimulus. The participants were asked to walk around the classroom either clockwise or counter-clockwise. They walked by the wall without stopping while looking at an advertisement and then rated preference and processing fluency regarding the product shown in the advertisement immediately afterwards one by one. For the participants who walked around the classroom clockwise, the products directed toward the right (or located on the right side) might appear more natural and thus enhance their processing fluency. On the other hand, the participants who walked counter-clockwise felt fluency regarding the products directed toward the left (or located on the left side). The results supported our hypotheses. There were significant differences between matched groups and unmatched groups in both preference and processing fluency. Participants who walked around the classroom clockwise showed a higher preference and fluency regarding sports shoe directed toward the right and bottled water located on the right side in the advertisements. Similarly, participants who walked around the classroom counter-clockwise presented a higher preference and fluency regarding sports shoe directed toward the left and bottled water located on the left side. Experiment 2 In experiment 2, we used school buses running between campuses as the vehicle in which the participants looked at the advertisements. We set up two situations of placing the advertisements for considering the effect of the moving scenery outside the bus window on the perception of the participants. We placed one near the ceiling, where participants can barely see the scenery outside the window, and the other on the window, where the participants can easily see scenery moving right behind the advertisement. The participants either stood or sat on the buses and then rated preference and processing fluency regarding the products on the advertisements right after getting off the bus. One-hundred-and-two students participated in a 2 × 2 between-subjects factorial design. The participants were randomly assigned into matched-above, unmatched-above, matched-window, and unmatched-window groups. The matched condition meant that the moving direction and product layouts were consistent. When the moving direction of the bus and the product layout (direction of sports shoe and location of bottled water) were consistent, we defined matched condition. Otherwise, we defined unmatched condition. The results supported our hypotheses. For the advertisements placed near the ceiling, there were significant differences between matched and unmatched groups in both preference and processing fluency for both sports shoe and bottled water. On the other hand, for the advertisements placed on the window, there were no significant differences between matched and unmatched groups. When the advertisements were placed on the window, the direction of the moving scenery outside the bus window was opposite to the direction of the bus. This might have cancelled out the effects of moving direction. Discussion and Conclusion The empirical studies showed that for the condition of participants walking, the orientation and the location of the product pointing in the same direction as the moving direction of the participants resulted in higher processing fluency, and led to higher product preference. Meanwhile, for the condition of participants moving towards a certain direction by passive means, such as taking a bus, product preference and processing fluency increase when the advertisement is placed up near to the ceiling, and the orientation or the location of the product match the moving direction of the participants. At the same time, there is no significant difference in product preference or processing fluency when the advertisement is placed on the window. In closing, our research has provided an initial look at how consistency between two directions (consumer’s movement and product) can have significant effects on consumers’ processing fluency and product evaluation. Consumers often look at the advertisements while walking or riding and advertisers can know the main direction of consumers’ movement. In these cases, they can determine the direction or the location of the products in the advertisements considering the consistency with the moving direction of consumers. Recently, digital signage in trains and buses has become popular and advertisers can easily adjust the direction or the location of the products in the advertisements on it. Therefore, the knowledge extracted from our research may be readily available for advertisers.

Introduction Despite the rise of digital media, TV remains the number one place children spend their media time (Moses, 2014). Past research has shown that less healthy food and beverages such as those containing high fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS) are prominent in TV commercials (e.g., Carter, Patterson, Donovan, Ewing, & Roberts, 2011). In these commercials, various persuasive techniques (e.g., taste/smell, convenience), which promote the purchase of the products, have been used (Hebden, King, & Kelly, 2011). Extensive studies have found that exposure to advertising for HFSS products, including confectionery, soft drinks, crisps or savory snacks, fast food, pre-sugared breakfast cereals, is associated with children‟s cognition, food consumption, and obesity (e.g., Harris, Bargh, & Brownell, 2009; Macklin, 1994; see also Moore, Wilkie, & Desrochers, 2017). Since younger children, especially those in the “perceptual stage” of development, may not understand the persuasive or selling intent of commercials (e.g., John, 1999), they may be vulnerable to this advertising. As a result, several countries such as UK and Ireland (Hawkes, Lobstein, & For the Polmark Consortium, 2011) have introduced restrictions or regulations for broadcasting food and beverage commercials for children. The commercials of HFSS food and beverage have sometimes introduced these products with healthier images and words / phrases like health and nutrition claims. Health claims refer to any representation that states, suggests, or implies that a relationship exists between a food (/beverage) or a constituent of that food (/beverage) and health. Nutrition claims mean any representation which states, suggests or implies that a food (/beverage) has particular nutritional properties including but not limited to the energy value and to the content of protein, fat and carbohydrates, as well as the content of vitamins and minerals (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States & World Health Organization, 2013). Using health messages for HFSS food presents the risk of a biased image of the products (i.e., they are „healthy‟), which may result in unhealthy life styles and conditions. In recent years, there has been regulatory pressure on food advertisers to market their products responsibly (e.g., WHO regulations; Kraak et al., 2016). At the same time, the Children‟s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) emerged, in which several leading companies pledged to market their products to children responsibly (see editorial by Boyland & Harris, 2017). Therefore, we were interested in seeing if food and beverage advertising had changed in 2017. Specifically, the purpose of this study was to examine the relative frequency of food and beverage commercials targeting children with a focus on healthy aspects of the products, their health and nutrition claims, as well as other persuasive techniques. Method A total of twenty hours of programming targeting children was recorded on Nickelodeon and Cartoon Networks in the United States during the hours of 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on two weekdays in September 2017. The advertisements were coded for product type (“food”, “beverage”, fast-food restaurant (“Restaurant: Quick-service/fast food restaurant”), and sit-down restaurant (“Restaurant: Sit-down restaurant”), food type (e.g., “confectionary”, “savory snacks”, “pre-prepared convenience foods”, “bread”, “fruits”, and “vegetables”) (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations & World Health Organization, 2016; Suzuki, 2018), and persuasive techniques (e.g., “health claims”, “nutrition claims”, “taste/smell/flavor”, “convenience”, “scientific information”, “celebrities/a well-known person”, and “eating /drinking behavior”) (e.g., Hebden et. al., 2011; Jenkin, Madhvani, Signal & Bowers, 2014; Kraak & Story, 2015; Warren, Wicks, Wicks, Fosu, & Chung, 2008). Food type can be classified into two categories; Less healthy (“confectionary”, “savory snacks”, “sweet bakery wares”, “other sweets/desserts”, “Sugared breakfast cereals”, “pre-prepared convenience foods”) or healthier categories related to other food categories (Ofcom, 2004; Nutrition Australia, 2013; Suzuki, 2018). Seven coders independently evaluated the advertisements, with two coders assigned to every programming block. They were trained for about three weeks to read the coding manual, practice coding and discuss the coding scheme, and revise their coding after receiving feedback of the trial coding. To check coding reliability, two independent coders evaluated the same programs. 94.3% agreement was achieved for product type. Results and discussion A total of 856 commercials appeared. Food and beverage advertisements represented 29.0% (N=248). On average, children were exposed to 12.4 food and beverage advertisements per hour. Of all the food, beverage and restaurant advertisements, “food” and fast-food commercials were frequently broadcasted; 40.7% (N=101) were for “food” commercials, and fast-food restaurant commercials accounted for 43.5% (N=108). 12.1% (N=30) “beverage” commercials and 3.6% (N=9) sit-down restaurant commercials were included. Food, beverage and restaurant commercials were more likely to appear on Nickelodeon (36.2%, N=129) than on the Cartoon network (28.4%, N=419) (χ2=5.43, df=1, p<.05). As for the appearances of product type, “food” advertisements frequently appeared on Nickelodeon (54.6%, N=65), whereas the programs of Cartoon network included a lot of fast food commercials (61.2%, N=79). In examining the appearances of “beverage”, “food”, “fast food”, and “others (except food, beverage, and restaurant)” between the channels, the results showed that the programs of Cartoon network were more likely to broadcast “fast food” commercials than those of Nickelodeon, whereas the programs of Nickelodeon were more likely to broadcast “food” commercials (χ2=38.23, df=3, p<.01)1. The majority of food types were “confectionary” (25.7%, N=26), “savory snacks” (16.8%, N=17), “breakfast cereals” (14.9%, N=15), and “pre-prepared convenience foods” (13.9%, N=14). In classifying various kinds of foods into two big categories related to health (healthier or less healthy) as above-mentioned, less healthy food accounted for 88.1% (N=89). No commercials were categorized into three of the healthier categories (bread, fruits, and vegetables). As persuasive techniques for consumers, “health claims”, and “nutrition claims” were low (8.9%). For example, grape juice produced by Welch‟s used the appeal “sugar free”. In the commercials with nutrition claims, there was no significant difference in the appearance between the “beverage” and “food” commercials (χ2=1.70, df=1, n.s.). The other persuasive techniques like “convenience” (75.8%, N=188), “taste/smell/flavor” (51.2%, N=127), and “eating/drinking behavior” (49.2%, N=122) were frequently used. In contrast, the rates of some techniques (e.g., “celebrities/a well-known person”, “scientific information”) were very low. As for the persuasive technique of “celebrities/a well-known person”, the category of product type was classified in only the “beverage” category. Thus, this study indicated that there were not many less-healthy food commercials that appealed to health and nutrition aspects of the products by using health and nutrition claims, or scientific information. In previous studies, the rate of health and nutrition claims varied between less than 10% to more than 30% (Jenkin et al., 2014). This may be due to the differences in the definitions of health and nutrition claims. Our study referred to the international standard definitions. Therefore, the findings regarding the rate of health and nutrition claims in this study can contribute to overall knowledge about the current spread of health and nutrition claims in “less healthy” food commercials of children‟s television programs. It may also be the case that food companies are acting more responsibly by limiting their persuasion techniques to those that relate to taste or convenience and not by misrepresenting the products as healthy. However, overall, the proportion of less healthy food commercials was high, and various persuasive techniques were used. At the same time, there were no commercials for fruits or vegetables presented during this time frame despite governmental regulations for eating these healthier foods. These findings suggest that more attention should be paid to the ways that certain foods are promoted (or are not promoted) among parents and policy-makers. As the sample used in this study was recorded only on weekdays and through the two kids' channels. It would be expected that the future study develop the analysis for the recorded commercials on weekends and on the other local channels. The sample used in this study was analyzed only on weekdays and through two children‟s channels. Future research might examine food and beverage advertising across different time frames and channels.

Most previous studies exploring the relative effectiveness of superiority and parity claims in comparative advertising were based on the regulatory focus theory. However, the findings of these studies provided limited implications for practice. The current research attempts to examine the relative effectiveness of superiority versus parity claims in comparative advertising from the perspective of construal level theory. Recent research has found that the fitness between message framing and construal level can enhance processing fluency of information. Specifically, loss-framed messages are more impactful when paired with low-level construals, whereas gain-framed messages are more effective when paired with high-level construals. Accordingly, the current study predicts that a superiority claim, which states sponsor brand is better than the competitors, is more effective in enhancing brand attitude than parity claim when the construal level is high. Conversely, a parity claim, which argues sponsor brand asserts parity with the comparison target, lead to more favorable brand attitude than superiority claims in the condition of low-level construal. This study conducted a (superiority claim vs. parity claim) × 2 (high-level construal vs. low-level construal) experimental designs to examine proposed hypotheses. The manipulation of construal level either highlighted a concrete “how” message or an abstract “why” message. The results showed that the superiority (parity) claim leads to more positive brand attitude and purchase intention than the parity (superiority) claim when customers are presented with message highlights an abstract “why” (concrete “how”) construal. Based on the findings, this study suggests that superiority claims combine with the “why”-oriented thoughts can enhance the effectiveness of the comparative advertising. In contrast, when parity claims are used, “how” -oriented, thoughts should be integrated in comparative advertising.

In recent years, there has been increased attention on the portrayal of women in the media. Photoshopped images of unrealistic female forms have been perceived to have negative impacts on the self-esteem of those exposed (Groesz 2002). Based on the idea that seeing unrealistic body images can put undue pressure on women and impact their self-esteem, some governments have gone as far to propose and or pass legislation that ban or require disclosures on such images in advertising. For example, multiple attempts have been made to pass the Truth in Advertising Act in the U.S., which would severely restrict the ability to digitally alter ad (Navamanikkamm 2017). Meanwhile. France passed a law in 2017 mandating that if a model’s physical person has been digitally altered in an ad it must include a disclaimer indicating that the ad has been retouched (Lubitz 2015). Recently, Israel out of concern about eating disorders at a societal level, passed legislation requiring a disclaimer in any ad whether a model is photoshopped to look thinner. The Israeli law also mandates that a threshold body mass index be met for a model to be included in an ad. With the United Kingdom’s Advertising Standards Authority also banning some campaigns due to exaggerated retouching, it is clear that photoshopping of models in advertising is under scrutiny (Sweney 2017). Several companies have also taken a stand on photoshopping of ads. These include Aerie Lingerie, CVS Drugstores, Dove, and Britain’s ASOS, all of whom has committed to having realistic images in their ads and reducing or eliminating retouching (Horwath 2016; Zillman 2017; Bomey 2018). In spite of the increased attention being paid to photoshopping of ads by regulators, companies, and some in the public, research on the topic has been relatively sparse. This paper aims to summarize what is known about the societal and managerial implications of digital retouching and offers future research directions designed to make advances in these areas. To this end, this paper begins by reviewing work in three areas related to photoshopping of ads. The first topic addressed is whether edited images of unrealistic standards have a negative impact on the viewer. Secondly, we examine what is known about the implications of including disclosures and disclaimers on the consumers psyche, (i.e. do these warnings negate the implied negative consequence of the edited images). Finally, the impact such disclosure labels have on ad effectiveness and purchase intention is considered. To ensure the full scope of pertinent material was covered, articles were targeted via databases such as ABI/ Inform, Business Source Premier, EBSCO and Google Scholar. Because of the paucity of articles, no time limitations were placed on the search. A variety of combinations of relevant search terms were used (e.g., retouching, advertising, body image, women, photoshop etc.). As key articles were identified, the sources they cited were also reviewed in relation to the purpose stated above. Our review of the literature finds a virtually universal consensus finds that idealized imagery, often characterized by very thin or “ideal” models is directly correlated to an increased risk of body dissatisfaction (Groesz 2002). Several of these studies draw on social comparison theory (Gulas 2000; Myers 2009) is commonly used as a theoretical explanation underlying this effect, with experimental studies being used to provide empirical evidence. Prior studies have tested several types of disclaimers. These studies have generally found that disclaimer do not mitigate the negative impact that the exposure to idealized image has on the consumer (Cragg 2017) Based on this research, apparently, women feel social pressure to live up to idealized images even if a disclaimer is included in the ad. However, it should be noted that only a limited number of studies have tested this effect, and additional types of disclaimers from different sources need to be tested before drawing firm conclusions. As for advertisement effectiveness, specifically product attitude and purchases intent, studies have found that advertisements using “normally attractive models” in comparison to “highly attractive models” tend to produce better results (Tsai and Chang 2007). Notably, the presence of a disclaimer does not appear to either increase or decrease the effectiveness of ad based on the extant research (Semaan, Gould and Kocher 2012; Schirmer et al., 2018). The literature does raise some questions about the needed prominence of a disclaimer to have an impact, suggesting that often times “fine print messages” are largely unnoticed in relation to a more prominent alternative (Black & Watson 2013). Notably, there is some evidence that including a “retouch-free” versus a “retouched” disclaimer does increase attitudes toward the brand and purchase intention (Cornelis and Peter 2017). The literature reviewed has limitations such as uncorroborated studies, limited sample sizes, and narrowly focused demographics in some studies. While it has generally been established that highly attractive model usage and idealized retouched imagery has a negative effect on consumer body image, there is insufficient research on the implications of disclaimers and disclosers. It is suggested that additional research is needed on the effects of various disclaimer types directly related to various levels of image re-touching (as opposed to product warnings) on consumer buying behavior and ad effectiveness (see Schirmer et al., 2018). There is some evidence that consumers are accepting of minor photoshopping of ads, such as changing the background or “fixing” a blemish, but that more major retouching such as making a model appear to have different facial features, thinner legs, or larger breasts is viewed as problematic. As such, future experimental research should focus on different levels of retouching. There is also a clear need to test different wording of disclaimers as well as disclaimers from different sources (e.g. government vs. non-profit, vs. company itself). Future research should focus on a wide cross-section of women. It should also test multiple product categories, including those beauty related vs. not beauty related.

Customers’ opinions on social network platforms are known to influence peer behaviour (Bai, 2011; Eirinaki, Pisal, & Singh, 2012). Customers are also known to be more engaged in sharing their experiences by writing online reviews and recommendations that may be useful to others (Cantallops & Salvi, 2014; Tang & Guo, 2015; Xu & Li, 2016). Actually, user-generated content (UGC) on social network platforms has emerged as an important source for understanding and managing consumers’ expectations, particularly using automated and semi-automated knowledge extraction techniques from text such as text mining and sentiment analysis (Zhang, Zeng, Li, Wang, & Zuo, 2009). This research analyses dimensions of online customer engagement and associated concepts in customers’ reviews through (i) a global sentiment analysis using positive, neutral and negative sentiments and (ii) a topic-sentiment analysis to capture latent topics in online reviews. Furthermore, it examines what influences customers to contribute their online reviews, beyond the features of each focal company or brand. The research methodology is based on a text mining approach, using the MeaningCloud tool. The study focuses on Yelp.com reviews and includes a random sample of 15,000 unique reviews of restaurants, hotels and nightlife entertainment in eleven cities in the USA. An innovative customer engagement dictionary is created, based on previously validated scales using known dimensions of engagement, experience, emotions and brand advocacy, and extended using WordNet 2.1 lexical database. The research findings reveal a high impact of the engagement cognitive processing dimension and hedonic experience on customers’ review endeavour. The study results further indicate that customers seem to be more engaged in positively advocating a company/brand than the contrary. The findings will help social network managers to reinforce their platforms.

Customers rely primarily on peers’ restaurant reviews but also on pre-consumption ratings, provided by professional critics edited in legitimating institutions, such as dining guides. Few studies have analyzed the discourse of iconic guides describing the awarded restaurants. This study provides empirical data by examining the way culinary excellence is depicted in restaurants websites and the way dining guides report it in their own websites. The methodology of this research is a lexicometric analysis based on the exclusive club of three stars French Michelin restaurants. The results show that starred restaurants and guides websites do not approach culinary excellence the same way. The results firstly show that the restaurant websites do not emphasize on symbolic, aesthetic and hedonic values. Reversely, the Michelin guide does. Secondly they indicate that luxury products presence is exclusively anchored in the Gault Millau guide, far from the simple casual food that triggered their Nouvelle Cuisine approach. Thirdly, the chefs’ family anchoring is characteristic of the restaurants websites and their peers’ recognition of the restaurant websites and the Michelin guide. These results are discussed and recommendations for restaurant managers are formulated.

Ever since the notion of a sharing economy was highlighted by Time Magazine as one of the ten ideas that will one day change the world, there has been a significant increase in scholarly attention dedicated to investigating the impact sharing economies will have on individuals, organizations and society as a whole. Particularly, sharing economy has revolutionized the landscape of the tourism industry through Airbnb (Fang, Ye, & Law, 2016). Academic research has focused on studying consumption practices and behaviors from a recipient perspective, but relatively little attention has been given to understand what impacts sharing economy has, from a sharer point of view (Fagerstrøm, Pawar, Sigurdsson, Foxall, & Yani-de-Soriano, 2017). Specifically, the existing literature has yet to explore in what ways and to what extent sharers are engaged with sharing economy platforms, and explore what consequences accrue from engaging in sharing economy activities. As a result, this paper seeks to fill this gap by proposing a framework drawing on self-determination theory (SDT), in conjunction with a tourism well-being perspective to examine how sharers’ perception of extrinsic rewards indirectly influences their well-being through the mediating role of engagement in tourism sharing economy activities. Data from Airbnb hosts in London were analyzed through PLS. The findings show that hosts’ engagement with Airbnb fully mediates the relationship between extrinsic rewards and their wellbeing. In other words, extrinsic rewards from using the sharing platform have a positive effect on sharers’ engagement in sharing economy activities (Tussyadiah & Pesonen, 2016; Guttentag, 2015). In turn, engagement in sharing economy activities has been found to have a positive effect on the sharers’ well-being (Kim, Uysal, & Sirgy, 2013; Ganju, Pavlou, & Banker, 2016). The paper has some important managerial implications.

The impact of customer involvement in NSD on customer loyalty is still unknown, because most studies examine loyalty perceptions of only active participants in co-creation, while the few studies involving co-creation observers provide conflicting results. Research is also limited, as it measures user participation only at the design level, while customers are empowered to participate at all NSD stages. This study contributes to the literature by developing a model capturing the various levels of customer involvement in NSD co-creation and then, measuring its impacts on two type of user loyalty: brand loyalty and loyalty on innovation community. Data were collected from users of the Domino’s Mogul pizza toolkit empowering them to participate in all NSD stages and also to become pizza entrepreneurs by designing and selling their pizzas. Findings comparing the brand loyalty and the innovation community loyalty perceptions of users with various levels of co-creation involvement provide useful insights.

The dual processes of cognition and affect impact consumers’ choice of sharing economy-based experiential tourism. Prior knowledge of sharing economy technologies and favourable attitude toward sharing economy impact consumers’ intention to adopt a peer-to-peer experiential tourist service. Data from 150 respondents and OLS and OLogit analyses supported the hypothesis.

Human beings are intrinsically social. How social interaction among tourists affect their experience remains under-represented. Drawing on S-O-R theory, social integration theory and social penetration theory, this study proposes and empirically tests a conceptual model that integrates self-disclosure, perceived cohesion, perceived intimacy, tourist engagement and tourist satisfaction with the experience. Also, the tie strength is theorized as a moderator in the relationship between self-disclosure and perceived cohesion as well as perceived intimacy. A field experiment was undertaken to collect data. The results from the structural analysis suggest that self-disclosure influences perceived cohesion and perceived intimacy, which in turn influence their engagement and satisfaction with tourism experience. Moreover, the initial tie strength has moderation effect on the relationship between self-disclosure and perceived cohesion as well as perceived intimacy. Overall, findings of this study contributes to the development of tourism experience research from the perspective of tourist-to-tourist interaction, and broadens the research on tourist engagement. Discussions and implications for tourism operators, limitations, and suggestions for future research are also provided.

Also known as information richness theory, the media richness theory has kindled much research on media selection and yet has received limited attention in the context of consumer-generated media, despite being concerned with reducing uncertainty and resolving equivocality. As El-Shinnawy and Markus (1997) observed, distinct differences exist among traditional media and the new media with regards to their ability to support the four elements of the richness construct (i.e. capacity for immediate feedback, ability to convey multiple types of cues, language variety and personal focus). Nonetheless, individuals’ perceptions of how ‘rich’ a medium is might still influence their choice of the medium for specific tasks. Giving the growing use of TripAdvisor for the task of travel planning, it is thus important to assess how travel consumers perceive the ‘richness’ of this medium. This study therefore investigates the potential role of media richness theory in explaining CGM usage by segmenting travel consumers based on their perceived media richness of TripAdvisor and profiling them to improve our understanding of their conative responses to CGM. Data were collected using a Web-based survey of American travel consumers. After data screening, 524 valid responses remained for the analysis. The data analysis process involved three key stages: (1) clustering travel consumers into homogenous groups based on the raw scores of the perceived media richness indicators (2) validating the cluster solution, and (3) profiling the resultant clusters against relevant variables. Findings reveal three clusters which differentiate travel consumers by the degree of their perceived media richness of the TripAdvisor platform. The resultant segments differ by respondents’ prior experience with TripAdvisor as well as by their attitudes and willingness to employ TripAdvisor for future travel planning. Among others, the findings advance our understanding of the media richness theory in the context of consumer generated media. The study represents a valuable contribution to the scant literature on media richness in the new media environment. Given the need to improve customer engagement in an era of customer-to-customer interactions, the findings throw light on the potential role of perceived media richness which has often been ignored in CGM research. The measurement index could as well serve as a basis for future research in this field. Generalisability of empirical findings may be limited by the ephemeral nature of the technical features of C-2-C platforms.

By carrying out experimental research, the authors aim to explore the influence of animosity on tourists’ travel intention. Although animosity is proven to have a direct negative impact on consumer’s purchase intention in many other product categories in the consumer marketing domain (Moufakkir, 2014), little has been investigated into its impact on tourists’ behavioural intention within the tourism context. It is a first study in tourism using experiment method to examine the relationship between Chinese tourists’ animosity triggered by different scenarios and their outbound travel intention. By analysing and comparing types of animosity and price promotion, the research contributes to the existing literature in both consumer behaviour and tourism via better understanding the impact of attitude (animosity) on behaviour (travel intention) and the relative marketing application (price promotions). This study has discovered that although animosity triggered by unexpected incidents and political disputes will lead to significant decrease in travel intention, even deep price cut cannot reverse the unwillingness to travel to those destinations when animosity exists. This research is particularly important for countries/regions that are seeing an increasing number of Chinese tourists and investing heavily to provide tailored products and services to this target market, negative feelings, particularly animosity should be taken into consideration when developing tourism strategies (Richter, 1983).

The purpose of this study is to investigate how social media and user-generated content (UGC) foster consumer engagement through the development of a good city image. Special emphasis is placed on the attitudes of potential visitors, how these attitudes affect a city’s image, and the perceived social distance between users and the authors of social media content. The study adopts a 2 x 2 experimental design in which high/low green image and high/low social distance are examined. The results suggest that a green city image has a significant effect on potential visitors’ attitude towards cities. Moreover, this study found that the effects of social media content varies according to the perceived social distance between the author of the post and potential visitors.

Modern luxury research draws upon the concept of conspicuous consumption, the act of publicly displaying luxury goods as a means of showing-off one’s wealth (Veblen, 1899). Millennials are considered to be the next generation of luxury consumers. Instagram being a highly visual social media platform creates an environment that is fit for setting the scene by displaying wealth. This study explores millennials’ display of experiential luxury through personal branding strategies on visual social media, looking at the case of ‘Millionaires’ of Instagram. We collected data through an anonymously curated platform on Instagram called “Rich Kids of Instagram”. We carried out a visual content analysis and a netnography. Findings revealed two main aspects of the personal branding strategies (Peters, 1997) adopted by wealthy micro-celebrities. First, the restrained use and lack of display of conspicuous luxury branded products. Second, an emphasis on experiential luxury through the use of geo-tags. These findings carry theoretical implications. Contrary to more ‘traditional’ luxury consumption theories (Veblen 1899), findings showed that wealthy millennials put an emphasis on more unconventional and immaterial - rather than material - aspects of their luxury consumption. The experiential nature of luxury consumption was exemplified by the almost systematic use of geo-tags. Followers seemed to be especially motivated by this aspect of the luxury consumption experience, which can be seen as a truer, more authentic, form of consumption experience. This study also contributes to the understanding of how millennials conceive luxury consumption in a broader sense. Experiential luxury, rather than luxury products (Hemetsberger, von Wallpach, and Bauer 2012), appears to be the main focus of luxury consumption for this new generation of luxury consumers.

This paper develops a conceptual model of international social media marketing strategy that describes how culture shapes consumers’ use of social media around the world. Drawing from cultural psychology, marketing, and computer information systems, we use Kietzmann et al.’s (2011) functional building blocks of social media to organize social media functions, then explicate how various dimensions of culture affect the way such social media functions are used across cultures. By delineating these complex relationships, our model and the propositions that stem from it offer directions for future research and advance understanding of cross-cultural differences with implications for businesses that provide social media or capitalize on social media for global reach in the international marketplace.

Introduction With most consumers in developed countries actively using Internet in their daily lives (International Telecommunication Union, 2017), and billions of monthly active social media users (Facebook, 2017; Instagram, 2017), businesses across the globe work to ensure their efficient representation in the online environment. For luxury brands, digitalization poses unique challenges. While some luxury brands fully embrace the digital environment, whether through designing memes for their social media campaigns (Gucci, 2018), or through selling their luxury products via online channels (Vacheron Constantin, 2018), other luxury brands avoid digitalization. Some marketers suggest that “digitalization of luxury brands” is somewhat paradoxical, since customers of luxury brands expect exclusive access, insider knowledge, and more personalized, intimate service than online environment can offer (Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, 2015; Hennings, Wiedmann, and Klarmann, 2012; Popomaronis, 2017). Considering that “one size” does not fit all in marketing, could it be the case that digital presence has favorable impact on some luxury brands, but not on others? Brand personality, culture and values of luxury brands can work to create a traditional, or a more modern, brand image (Azoulay & Kapferer, 2003; Madhavaram, Badrinarayanan, & McDonald, 2005). It seems reasonable to assume that more modern luxury brands are expected to modernize, even in a digital capacity, while traditional luxury brands are expected to be resilient to change. In other words, digitalization might be perceived differently by customers of traditional luxury brands versus modern luxury brands. However, luxury brand literature is silent as to how these brands should engage audiences online. The primary goal of this paper is to determine whether digital presence leads to differential consumer outcomes depending on the luxury brand identity. Theoretical Development It is universally accepted that the online environment is one of the key factors impacting consumer outcomes in our digital age (Darley, Blankson, & Luethge, 2010). Specifically, brand website quality, interface, experience and website satisfaction all have a strong influence on the consumer decision process, and determine how consumers engage with and obtain knowledge of a brand (see Darley et al., 2010 for a review). Moreover, navigation and convenience of the brand website environment were found to be important predictors of consumers’ attitudes (Childers, Carr, Peck, & Carson, 2001). In fact, when it comes to evaluating brands and their websites, consumers are driven by three factors: website functionality (e.g., navigation), psychological factors (e.g., trust and feelings of reliability/professionalism), and content (e.g., website design) (Constantinides, 2004). At the same time, these three driving factors in website evaluation (i.e., functionality, psychological factors, and content) help build the brand identity, and create a specific brand image through brand presentation style, and the relationships created with customers (Nandan, 2005). A strong component of brand identity is brand personality. Using Aaker’s (1997) brand personality dimensions as a starting point, Heine (2009) developed a luxury brand personality scale, identifying the following traits: modernity, eccentricity, opulence, elitism, and strength. The first trait, modernity, refers to the temporal perspective of the brand, ranging from modern to traditional. ”Traditional” can mean conservative, classic, and old-fashioned, yet luxury brand positioning is often based on tradition, which results in low modernity (Esteve and Hieu-Dess, 2005; Mutscheller, 1992; Vernier and Ghewy, 2006; Vickers and Renand, 2003; Vigneron and Johnson, 2004). The concept of a “modern brand,” on the other hand, elicits associations such as contemporary, trendy, and progressive. For luxury brands, while Donna Karan New York would identify as a modern brand, Hermes provides an example of the traditional brand. Past research indicates that modern brands are more symbolic, embody conspicuousness, and do not require luxury knowledge. Furthermore, modern brands are often deemed more exciting (Aaker, 1997) and creative (Roux, Tafani, and Vigneron, 2017). In contrast, a traditional brand requires craftsmanship, represents aesthetic possession, and requires knowledge (Pitt, Berthon, Parent, and Berthon, 2001). While Kapferer (1998) considers that tradition and modernity are part of luxury brand identity, and thus strategy, only recent evidence demonstrates that luxury brand image can influence consumer evaluations and decision making (Roux et al., 2017). We suggest that luxury brand identity should impact the digitalization strategy of the luxury brands. First, even though past research suggests that e-commerce and use of social media bodes well for luxury brand strategy (Godey et al, 2016; Lee and Walkins, 2016), we argue that for modern (vs. traditional) luxury brands, digitalization and social media presence is viewed more negatively. This is due to the fact that modern brands are more symbolic, that is a sign of affluence (Pitt et al., 2001), and linked more closely to the trait of exclusivity (Roux et al., 2017). When negative attitudes of the modern luxury brand consumers arise, they will result in lower evaluations of the brand digitalization efforts (e.g., brand website). Formally, H1: Exposure (vs. no exposure) to the brand’s social media page will lead to lower (vs. higher) brand website evaluations for the consumers of a modern (vs. traditional) luxury brand. Given that consumers can express love for brands and designate status to brands, their overall relationships with a brand can influence brand website evaluations. However, consumers could attribute higher or lower value to a brand’s identity in the online environment, thereby determining the success or failure of luxury brand digital strategy (Quach and Thaichon, 2017). More specifically, consumers might perceive brand website to be an integral part of a modern brand’s image, and might not see a website as a critical component of a traditional brand’s image. In other words, a website of a modern brand might be subject of higher scrutiny than that of a traditional brand, and thus might be more dependent on the overall consumer attitudes towards the brand. Therefore, we propose that brand love can attenuate the negative influence of digitalization on website evaluations for a modern brand. As such, H2: For a modern luxury brand, high (vs. low) brand love will increase (vs. decrease) website evaluations. No such relationship exists for a traditional luxury brand. Study 1 One hundred and forty-six French participants were recruited on social media (Mage = 28; 71.9% female) to participate in a survey conducted in French about luxury brands. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions in a 2 (Luxury brand: modern vs. traditional) x 2 (Social media page: shown vs. not) between-subjects experimental design. After viewing the website for either the brand identified during the pretests as traditional (Hermes) or modern (Celine), participants in the “social media page: shown” condition viewed the target brand’s Instagram page. Participants in “social media page: not shown” condition immediately proceeded to the study questionnaire. Following this, all participants responded to the questionnaire measuring the dependent variable, Website evaluations, on a 3-item 7-point scale (“How would you rate this website on the following features: design, navigation, and professionalism”, 1 - very negative and 7 - very positive; α = .94; Constantinides, 2004). Next, participants responded to two covariates, including two 7-point Likert-type items to capture Luxury brand knowledge (e.g., “I know more about luxury brands than most other people”; r = .96; p < .001; Mueller, Francis, & Lockshin, 2008), and one item measuring Luxury shopping habits (“How often do you buy luxury goods?”, 1 - more than once a month and 7 - never). Social media usage, as it pertains to this study in particular, was measured as a covariate on a one-item scale (“How often do you use social media?”, 1 - several times a day, 4 - at least once per month). Lastly, demographics were captured. An ANCOVA with the Luxury brand (0 - traditional brand, 1 - modern brand) and the Social media page (0 - not shown, 1 - shown) as the independent variables, Luxury brand knowledge, Luxury shopping habits, and Social media usage as covariates, and Website evaluations as the dependent variable yielded a significant 2-way interaction (F(1, 144) = 3.91; p = .05), driven by main effects of Luxury shopping habits (F(1, 144) = 5.28; p = .02) and Social media usage (F(1, 144) = 6.75; p = .01). The means revealed directional support that the traditional brand website was evaluated more favorably (M = 5.59) than that of the modern luxury brand (M = 5.38). Planned contrasts revealed that for those who saw the social media page, the Website evaluations were higher for the traditional brand (M = 5.56, SD = 1.48) than the modern brand (M = 5.10, SD = 1.88; F(1, 144) = 1.76; p = .06). For those who did not see the social media page, Website evaluations did not differ for the modern (M = 5.68, SD = 1.52) or traditional luxury brand (M = 5.63, SD = 1.53; F(1, 144) < 1). Moreover, for the traditional brand, the social media page did not influence Website evaluations (M = 5.56, SD = 1.48 vs. M = 5.63, SD = 1.53 for shown vs. not shown; F(1, 144) < 1). On the other hand, for the modern brand, Website evaluations were lower for those who saw the social media page (M = 5.10, SD = 1.88) versus did not see the social media page (M = 5.68, SD = 1.52 F(1, 144) = 2.61; p = .02). Thus, the modern brand was more influenced by digital strategies than the traditional brand, such that for the traditional brand, viewing the social media page did not influence the website evaluations. In contrast, viewing the Instagram page of the modern luxury brand had a negative influence on luxury website evaluations. The modern brand website, specifically, was viewed as less aesthetically pleasing, and less professional, after viewing the brand’s Instagram page. We speculate that this is because the luxury brand was seen as less rare, and special, after viewing its social media page, and these negative associations affected downstream consumer judgments when evaluating the brand website. Study 2 To formally test hypothesis two, European consumers speaking English were recruited via social media to participate in a study on luxury brands. An experiment using a 2 (Luxury brand: modern vs. traditional) x (Brand love, continuous) between-subjects design was undertaken. The Luxury brand variable was manipulated by exposing participants (N=128; Mage = 21; 60% female; 63% German) to one of the two brands recognized as either more modern (Chanel) or more traditional (Hermes). The dependent variable, Website evaluations, was measured as in study 1 (α = .77). Participants also responded to two 7-point Likert items measuring Brand love (e.g., “I love the brand whose website I just visited”; r = .75; p < .001; Bagozzi, Batra, and Ahuvia, 2014), and two covariates of Luxury brand knowledge (r = .9; p < .001) and Luxury shopping habits. Lastly, demographics were captured. A regression using PROCESS Model 1 with the Luxury brand (0 – traditional brand, 1 – modern brand) and mean-centered Brand love as the independent variables, Luxury brand knowledge and Luxury shopping habits as covariates, and Website evaluations as the dependent variable yielded a significant 2-way interaction (β = .38; t = 1.82; p = .07) driven by a main effect of the Luxury brand, so that the website of the traditional brand was evaluated more favorably (M = 5.85) than that of the modern brand (M = 4.88; β = - .98; t = -3.13; p = .002). Planned contrasts revealed that when Brand love was low, Website evaluations were greater for the traditional brand (M = 5.84) than the modern brand (M = 4.28; β = -1.56; t = -3.86; p = .0002). However, there was no difference in Website evaluations when Brand love was high (M = 5.87 vs. M = 5.47 for traditional vs. modern, respectively; β = -.40; t = -.82; p > .4). Moreover, for the traditional brand, Brand love did not influence Website evaluations (M = 5.85 vs. M = 5.87 for low vs. high brand love; β = .01; t = .08; p >.9). On the other hand, for the modern brand, Brand love had a positive impact on Website evaluations, such that evaluations were higher when Brand love was higher (M = 5.47) versus lower (M = 4.28; β = .39; t = 2.40; p = .018). Thus, luxury brand websites emanating from traditional brands are more widely accepted than those from modern brands. Additionally, these results support hypothesis two that brand love attenuates lower website evaluations for the modern luxury brand while not influential of evaluation of the luxury brand website for traditional brands. Important for the modern luxury brand, brand love should be high for brands pursuing digital strategies. Conclusion In sum, the findings from the two experiments indicate that digital techniques employed by traditional luxury brands are more widely accepted than those of modern brands. Specifically, the findings reveal that while social media pages can detract from the evaluations of the modern luxury site, they do not influence the evaluations of the traditional luxury site (study 1). Given that one of the benefits of luxury brands’ sharing of content in a digital environment involves facilitating brand love, it is imperative for modern luxury brands to garner high brand love. After all, brand love increases site evaluations for modern luxury brands (study 2). Using appropriate brand identity interface to communicate brand identity to the brand contacts is important in building brand equity (Madhavaram et al., 2005), especially in the domain of luxury brands, where brand equities amount to billions of dollars (Quach and Thaicon, 2017). Therefore, understanding how best to use digital interfaces is paramount to luxury brand strategy.

This study empirically examines the effects of two distinct types of privacy-related concerns (organizational threats and social threats) on different aspects of information disclosure (amount, honesty and conscious control) on social network sites, especially by highlighting the role of trusting beliefs (integrity & honesty, predictability, benevolence, competence), across three markets in which social network usage is substantial (i.e. US, Europe, and East Asia). The study contributes to the literature focused on the paradoxical dichotomy between privacy attitudes and behaviors. In a quantitative modeling framework, we develop a structural model based on our previous conceptual model. We use data collected through snowball convenience sampling technique from a large sample (n=624), Web-based consumer survey from Europe, US and East Asia to measure these constructs, and we fit a series of structural equation models that test related prior theory. Findings suggest that the “Social Sharing” paradox may result from a failure to disentangle between social and organizational concerns, since the authors find no effect of privacy concerns about organizational threats on overall disclosure (amount and honesty of information) but find high conscious control of information disclosed for higher concerns towards social threats. Trusting beliefs differently influence information disclosure in the three main geographical areas and were found to moderate the effect of social concerns on the amount of information disclosed and conscious control. Further the cross-country analysis results suggest that cultural values may affect how concerns about privacy and trusting beliefs, impact self-disclosure. For practice, our research suggests actionable strategies to aid online marketers in matching information requests with the needs and concerns of consumers by providing greater control and customization and enhancing firm trust.

Investigation concerning the presence of customer-brand relationships in online communities is recent and scarce and might offer potential (Moraes et al., 2014; Huber et al., 2015; Vernuccio et al., 2015). The purpose of this investigation is to understand and analyse how brand love can influence brand loyalty among millennials generation, considering engagement constructs and social networks. It bridges an academia gap in the context of the consumer brand relationship literature. This research aims to answer the following questions: (1) Is brand love effective in building true brand loyalty? (2) Does interactive engagement with brands and brand love contribute to build brand loyalty? and (3) Does interactive engagement on social networks reflect millennials love of brands? To collect data we conducted two online surveys, covering two different brand categories: Fashion and Electronics/Technology. We have in total 1278 inquiries. The analyses of data and hypotheses test were made by using the Structural Equation Model (SEM) and a multi-group factor analysis. The proposed structural equation model was validated and all hypothesis were accepted. So, consumers’ Brand Related Social Media Content was proved to have a direct impact on Social Interactive Brands and Brand Loyalty. Social Interactive Brands were proved to have a direct impact on Emotional Attachment and Self Expressive Brands which also proved direct impact on Brand Love. Brand Love for instance was proved has been directly connected with Brand Loyalty and Word of Mouth and Brand Loyalty also, directly impacts Word of Mouth. The model behave well in the previous research so we wanted to test it with a smaller sample and different brand categories the results would maintain. The results of the multi-group factor analysis showed that we have configural and metric invariance in both different studies, covering Fashion and Technological brands. As though for management purposes it might be of no disagreement to state that marketing alone is no longer enough to influence purchase motivation and intention for consumers. This investigation advance and valid a new theoretical framework in the consumer brand love approach

This study tries to focus on the psychological influence by social media on user and tries to find a relationship between psychological influence and consumption patterns. Therefore, we contend that social media are platforms of interaction in that they can generate social empowerment—users feeling that they have an impact on others which gives them high self-worth (Sara Hanson, 2017) and temporarily rise self-worth can lead low self-control. Khan and Dhar (2006) find that a prior virtuous act can momentarily increase one’s self-concept, which leads to more self-indulgence in unrelated decisions. In this paper, we also investigated the two types of social media users by their presentation focus (self vs. other). In social media, there are two types of users: player & watcher. Players are users who have many followers, post lots of information about themselves and need love and attention from other users. Thus, a player which is called self-presentation focus (Wilcox, 2013) is defined as a user who focuses on information they are presenting to people in social media. In contrast, watchers are users who don’t post information on social media as actively as players but love to observe and like or dislike other users’ posts. Thus, a watcher which is called other-presentation focus (Wilcox, 2013) is defined as a user who focuses on information people present to them in social media and this is called other-presentation focus. In general, players could feel more social empowerment because posting information can be one of the activities involving interacting with other users. However, we contend that watchers will feel rather more social empowerment because having an impact, or having the feeling of social empowerment, involves the perception that one’s actions are beneficial to others, which is giving a like or comment to other user in social media (Grant and Campbell 2007). This research will have several theoretical and managerial implications. First, this study will show the influence of social media on users’ behavior and mentality, and which are related to self-control and social-empowerment. Second, this study will discover which type of social media user can be affected effectively by firms’ social media efforts.