Business model of direct selling is the dynamic and complex multi-level structure. Interpersonal face-to-face communication is the key value creation aspect of direct selling business model. Nowadays more and more sellers employ virtual communication channels instead of face-to-face, thus hindering a traditional relational element. The study explores whether usage of Internet technologies for communication with customers brings benefits or extinguish the direct selling industry. The research is based on the quantitative analysis of all-country paper based survey from 5694 respondents. The statistical analysis of total sample revealed that usage of Internet in general does not give advantages for distributors. However, usage of person-to-person internet communication tool, such as e-mail, allows achieving better performance as measured by earnings per hour worked. Surprising is the fact that the most successful young distributors (at the age under 35 years) do not use internet for communication with customers at all. For distributors over 35 years old neither internet nor e-mail usages have got impact on performance. In rural areas users of internet communication tools show lower performance results. In big cities usage of e-mail provides significantly higher performance, but general usage of internet does not. Consequently, the effects from usage of internet technologies for communication with customers are achieved in case of person-to-person communication. Moreover the most productive sellers give priority to the live communication.

This paper broadly addresses the development of optimal marketing budget allocating among firms in the Russian market and applies methodologies produced by the contemporary marketing practices (CMP) project (New Zealand, the university of Auckland). From that project, it would seem that there are two separate paradigms that distinguish modern firms, namely a transactional approach and a relational approach. In a transactional type, the marketing campaign depends entirely upon closing the sale, based on a marketing miх or 4P conception. Relational marketing is based, rather, on a long term relationships with the customer, and it is generally typical of B2B markets where a limited number of companies try to develop customer’s loyalty due to the strong competition. Using marketing practices according to these two paradigms in Russia as an emerging market, however, reveals a difficulty in determining how to apply the CMP method to businesses: how is firm efficiency in these markets associated with one paradigm or the other? Is the situation in Russia typical for transition or emerging markets, or is it closer to that of advanced market economies, and which patterns in marketing practices do companies from different financial level prefer? Finally, how can firms use this approach to optimize marketing resources allocation? These questions were not resolved by the CMP project, yet they are critical for understanding the evolution of firms in transition countries such as Russia. The theoretical understanding in the literature shows a general cross-country relationship between marketing practices and firm efficiency. It is generally admitted that marketing creates value for a company, e.g. by analyzing customer database, selecting profitable clients segments, activities of the company, choosing an appropriate business model and strategic direction of the company. These are some of the most prominent reasons why marketing and company’s revenues are closely connected (Doyle, 2000; Rust et.al. 2004). The literature on marketing practices additionally identifies several regularities for developed and emerging markets: 1. Increased effectiveness can be achieved primarily by using database technology: switch marketing attention from markets to customers (individuals) and analyze clients flow. (Sheth and Sisodia, 2002; Rust and Chung, 2006) 2. Markets should be aimed not only at the customer acquisition but also at the customer retention. (Sheth and Sisodia, 2002) 3. Marketing is mostly characterized by delayed effect in time, implying companies should relate marketing activities with longer term effects (Dekimpe, Hanssens, 1995). 4. The consumer-company interrelation influence on the cumulative level of the marketing assets of the company. (Reinartz and Kumar, 2002)

There has been almost 20 years since science of marketing has developed in Mongolia and there has been significant progress in acquiring and using its findings. Business companies’ leadership have become aware of the importance of this science and see marketing as business philosophy and understand that analyzing the market, business environment and conditions by consumers is the key to success. Today’s society demands from marketing professionals’ delicacy and taking into account consumers’ needs and creating new needs and new means of consumption. Main purpose of business entities is to be aware of consumer needs, to establish its position on the market and to be successful. In order to provide consumers with the best products and keep them at the center of their attention it is important to establish optimal ratio of marketing factors that would most efficiently influence consumers with different behaviors.

As well as all other branches of trade, so retail trade itself undergoes various changes and trends with regard to the development of information and communication technologies which affect not only traders themselves but also their customers. It is the retail store environment itself which is one of the decisive aspects of purchase because more than 70% of consumer decisions take place directly at the point of sale. It is the last place which can reverse the purchasing decision. A final customers´ decision is influenced not only by price, quality but also by in-store communication and visual aspects of each store. That is the reason for continuous gathering of feedback on the effectiveness and efficiency of these means of communication in real environment. Besides traditional research techniques there are situations which require the involvement of relatively new research methods. Thanks to the innovative interdisciplinary approach with the use of neuromarketing, it is possible to create effective marketing strategies and thus stimulate the customer attention and emotions. By these emotions, it is possible to achieve better motivation toward purchase and an increase in the number of sales and subsequent raise in income. The paper deals with a complex, interdisciplinary examination of the in-store communication impact on customer visual attention, emotions and related spatial behaviour of customers in grocery stores. Research integrates measurements of mobile eye camera (Eye tracker), mobile electroencephalograph (EEG), face reading technology (FA) and internal position system in real conditions of retail store. The purpose of this research is to recognise the attention, emotional response and spatial customer preferences by means of selected in-store communication tools. At the end of the paper we explain how the neuromarketing methods can be used for better understanding of consumer behaviour at the point of sale.

The recent developments of artificial intelligence (AI), such as Google AlphaGo and IBM’s Watson, defeating human experts in public game venues, have instigated much surprise and awe among us. We are now genuinely curious about the true growth potential of AI into the future. Some of us are already imagining a darkening future where all human managerial positions can be replaced by machines leaving humans in a marginalized place after the point of singularity where machine intelligence achieves intellectual superiority over us and becomes a truly autonomous being. Likewise, the potential of AI has been overestimated or underestimated; rarely has it been addressed in the open context where marketing academics serve the role of an architect of future marketing AI, to provide valuable insights. We are enlightened about a possibility that the future of and marketing can greatly benefit from advanced forms of artificial intelligence. But how and where can this new technology be integrated in the every-day lives of consumers, to optimize business functions and create much higher levels of collective value for consumers, companies, and machines altogether? In this talk, we will discuss the following three points related to the AI and its potential future in the field of marketing. First, for consumers, we will discuss how marketing AI can help consumers to make better decisions about their eating, health, and consumption to enjoy better life, do more, and be happy. Second, for business, we will discuss the roles of AI and design a collaborative work process that can employ both human ingenuity and machine accuracy. Third, we suggest ethical issues related to marketing AI, delineating its boundaries and suggest governing policies to prevent potential danger spots. The purpose of talk is not to present a definitive answer, but to instigate an open discussion among the marketing academics, about the future of marketing, where AI will be an indispensable partner in the value creation process.

E-commerce has become an irreplaceable sales channel for businesses of any size all around the globe. It is a major source of revenue and sales through this channel continue to gain momentum with an annual growth rate of 20%3). The ubiquity, flexibility, and convenience associated with e-commerce has undoubtedly changed the consumption patterns. However, consumers’ preferences and considerations when making purchasing decisions are not static either. In a global competition, businesses have to adopt quickly to respond emerging trends in retail. An important and persistent trend in this regard is ethical consumption, a development which has been widely researched in an offline context. The present experiment demonstrated that online shop-related ethical labeling positively influences consumers’ willingness to pay and purchase intention across a broad range of products. While any type of ethical labeling showed a positive effect in these regards as compared to no ethical labeling, there was no pronounced difference between the various types of labels used. Accordingly, we assume that consumers make inferences from a specific ethical label about the higher–level ethical “trait”.

Online review sites have become both popular and indispensable for many industries that have recognized the importance of word-of-mouth as advertising tools. Hotels and restaurants that are rated highly by travel site “Trip advisor” proudly put a sticker outside their business locations demonstrating their popularity. The review site logos, and the business scores on stickers and badges regularly serve as seals of approval and symbols of reliability. This has given rise to a cottage industry that misuse the trust. While some businesses post flattering reviews as advertising, competitors sometimes falsely slander reputation of competitors. There has been some research which explores the issue of reliability of online reviews, for example, Luca and Zervas, (2015)* identify different restaurant characteristics that cause them to use fake reviews. Ney (2013)* identifies factors consumers use to assess credibility of online reviews. The problem of unreliable reviews creates an interesting set of issues that we attempt to address in this paper. First, if there is a way to confirm whether the reviews are reliable without engaging in primary data collection. Second, what explains the underreporting or over reporting of the quality of a place? To answer the above questions, in this paper the authors extract emotions embedded in location-based tweets emerging from restaurant locations to verify the reliabilities of their online review scores on Yelp. Due to the real-time nature of the feedback, location based tweet content is free of certain survey response biases like social desirability bias. In order to collect location based tweets, we mined data from consumers checking-in via Foursquare (a location based social network application) at restaurants, across six regions in USA. These regions were chosen because of the high volume of check-ins emanating from them on foursquare. Using this data set we were able to extract specifics such as the name of the restaurant, the content of the tweet and related temporal variables impacting the consumer’s experience in a particular business location. Over twenty five thousand tweets were analyzed which were posted by approximately 14000 users. Further, we developed a scale measuring emotions embedded in the tweets with the help of University of Florida’s Affective Norms for English Words (ANEW) scale. Each of the tweets were divided into its constituent’s words and the words were checked against the Anew scale items. When a word was identified, we allotted a numerical pleasure value to that word. At the end of the processing we had an average numerical pleasure score for each tweet. Using the tweet pleasure score and the Yelp score, an index was computed that could reveal whether Yelp overrated or underrated the restaurant. Further analysis led to preliminary findings that demonstrated how underrated or overrated a restaurant was varied with the type of cuisine served in the restaurant. Among all restaurants, over 75% of the restaurants were classified as overvalued. In other words, based on tweet emotion content, most Yelp ratings appear positively biased. Asian restaurants were the most overvalued (100%) followed by Latin restaurants, which were 88% overvalued. One interesting initial finding was that American category restaurants were the most undervalued. 43% of the restaurants were undervalued on yelp as compared to their pleasure ratings.

As social media platforms (e.g., Facebook) and related online communication channels (e.g., review websites and community forums) grow in quantity and commercial orientation, marketing practitioners and scholars alike have recognised the importance of understanding and influencing online consumer communication processes. Specifically, it is suggested that online opinion leaders (‘Epinion leaders’) can be utilised as a target group to manage negative e-word-of-mouth (‘e-WOM’) and e-complaints. This study identifies and targets Epinion leaders and explores three central personality characteristics – altruism, self-confidence and the need for uniqueness – as a means of understanding Epinion leaders’ motivations to communication and tailoring corporate communication campaigns. The study focusses herby on the rapidly growing and increasingly influential 50-years+ e-commerce segment (i.e., ‘silver surfers’). Based on an online survey of 1,700 e-consumers aged 50 years and older, the proposed structural equation model verifies the positive influence of Epinion leadership on the propensity to spread negative e-WOM and e-complaints while demonstrating the applicability of personality characteristics as means of influencing consumers’ online communication strategies. The findings demonstrate that addressing consumers’ self-confidence can be an essential way of reducing negative e-WOM and encouraging e-complaints, which show opposing effects on customer satisfaction. For practitioners, this study emphasises the usefulness of negative Epinion leaders as a target group and recommends fostering consumers’ self-confidence in order to prevent negative online opinion-cascades and increase overall satisfaction.

Daily deals sites function as an effective promotional tool for low-budget offline retailers. In particular, social interaction helps increasing sales because it not only clarifies product information but also increase product awareness. This study investigates two forms of social interaction, public discussion (posting on the within-platform deal board) and social sharing (sharing the deal information on an external SNS platform). In addition to the innate attractiveness of the deal, we hypothesize that the online and offline contexts affect the amount of social interaction. That is, (1) number of deals that are present along with the focal deal in the online platform and (2) the retail environment of the service offered in the deal affect the degree to which users participate in social interaction. An empirical analysis of deal-level data shows that the contextual factors, along with the deal attractiveness, affect the amount of social interaction. However, the effects are distinct for public discussion and social sharing. When there is a larger number of similar deals on the platform, less public discussion takes place while social sharing proliferates. Offline retail environment only affects public discussion; larger retailer revenue in the area that the deal provider is located results in greater social interaction. The innate attractiveness of the deal, defined as the past performance of deals of the same category in the same region, has contrasting effect on the two types; high attractiveness results in more public discussion but less social share. The results suggest that small offline retailers can better manage social interaction by understanding the influence of contextual factors when promoting their service products on an online platform.

Consumers have been exposed to instances of celebrity domestic violence stories through the news, social media and online gossip media. Past studies showed that consumers have a tendency to overlook or even forgive the male celebrity’s violence behavior, and the celebrity appears to continue success in his career. Guided by attribution theory, this study investigates consumers' attribution and their consequent forgiveness or blame of the male celebrity’s violence behavior on his intimate partner. This study also takes into account celebrity past violent histories and philanthropy histories, as well as consumer individual differences (online media use and individual traits). The study employed a 2 (violence history: high vs. low) x 2 (Philanthropy history: high vs. low) between-subject, posttest-only design. 200 men and 200 women who lived in the US were recruited via Amazon Mechanic Turk to take part in the online study. The results support the proposed theoretical explanation. That is, consumers use a celebrity’s past histories as a cue to assign dispositional or situational attribution to the violent behavior and then blame or forgive the celebrity. The results also demonstrate that Facebook use and gossip site visits facilitate situational attribution, which has a significant positive influence on forgiveness. Implications for future research and suggestions for practice in public policy and marketing are discussed.

Introduction Credit card issuers across countries now offer automated payment facilities online to ensure that consumers commit to regular repayments. However, insofar it is unclear whether repayment automation leads to better financial decisions. With an average of $880 billion of revolving debt in the U.S., it is no surprise that policy developers seek to remedy the global credit card debt problem. The current research makes three contributions. First, our study raises public awareness about the negative effects of automated payments on credit card repayments. Contrary to the established assumptions that autopay helps consumers to manage consumer finances (e.g., www.directdebit.co.uk), our experiment unanimously show that autopay facilities reduce the amount of credit card repayment. Second, our study offers a contemporary and relevant insight into the consumers’ online credit card management, which is distinct from its offline counterpart. Specifically, in an online environment, consumers can process information on their credit card and saving almost simultaneously. For example, some consumers may access credit and saving accounts in different browser tabs, while others who own credit and saving accounts from the same institutions may be able to access both accounts within the same webpage. Finally, our study enriches understanding of individual differences in repayment decisions behaviour. Our results indicate that certain attitudinal tendencies to credit cards heightens the effect of autopay on repayment, but this effect is intensified when the context involves those with low level of saving. Conceptual Development The Psychology of Automated Payment Credit cardholders often set up automatic monthly payments to avoid missed payments and incur penalties. The freedom and convenience associated with online banking means that credit card consumers can easily set up automated payment at an amount that they feel comfortable. Consumers can choose any amount ranging from the minimum amount, which is typically is set at 2% of the overall balance, to the full credit card balance. Prior research on goal pursuits suggests that people divide goals into subtasks to experience the motivational benefits of greater self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997). In this case, the use of automated repayment provides a sense of goal progress as it allows repayments to be made in smaller instalments, which in turn, bolsters one’s perception of self-efficacy with respect to the overall goal (i.e. total credit card balance). However, a boosted sense of achievement resulting from subgoal completion may lead consumers to undermine absolute progress towards the overall goal. As such, the subgoal – rather than the superordinate goal – becomes the most salient point of reference for individuals’ motivations towards goal pursuit (Besharat, Carrillat, & Ladik, 2014). Unfortunately, the focus on subgoals can lead to a sense of complacency and reduced persistence towards superordinate goal (Gal & McShane, 2012). Therefore, we expect that the presence of automated repayment cause consumers to focus on the more manageable subgoals (i.e., monthly repayments) rather than the unwieldy superordinate goals (i.e., total credit card balance). In addition, we theorise that the convenience of automated payment removes the salience of the “pain of paying” (Prelec & Loewenstein, 1998) away from future credit card repayment. A key characteristic of credit card expenses is that the “pain” of payment, which provides a nudge for self-reflection and intervention from overspending, is held at bay until the end of the month. However, with automated payment, such deliberation point is subverted to a one-time deliberation. Because automated payment shifts attention away from subordinate goals and reduces the complexity of monthly deliberation, we expect that consumers making automated credit card repayments will commit to less amount of repayment than those making non-automated payments. H1: Automated payment leads to lower repayment amount compared to regular non-automated payment. The Psychology of Credit and Saving Accounts The default setup of many credit card accounts tends to demarcate credit and debit (saving) accounts. For example, consumers may have separate login accounts to access information about their credit and debit accounts. Such financial accounts separation means that consumers also categorise debt and saving into separate mental accounts (Hershfield, Sussman, O’Brien, & Bryan, 2015). Previous research suggests that such erroneous categorization of overall wealth can lead consumers to make financially detrimental decisions, such as taking on high-interest rate debt, while simultaneously holding money in low-interest rate saving account (Sussman & O’Brien, 2015). The absence of overall wealth information in credit card accounts and statements means that people are likely to focus their attention to arbitrary information that may misshape one’s perception of wealth. We therefore expect that the absence of accurate information of financial capability in the form of saving account balance will lead consumers to anchor their repayment decisions on perceived wealth informed by the available credit limit. In contrast, the presence of saving information in credit card account has a direct influence over credit card repayment decision because it represents an accurate picture of one’s overall wealth. Thus, higher (lower) balance of saving account will lead to higher (lower) credit card repayment. We expect that the positive effect of credit and saving account on repayment transcend over the effect of repayment mode (i.e. automated versus non-automated repayment) as it reconciles the consumers’ saving and debt mental accounts. Hence: H2: The amount in saving account influences the amount of credit card repayment. Individual Differences in Susceptibility to Credit Card Debts Prior studies regularly report that credit card as a payment mechanism yield psychological effect on the consumers’ evaluation at the point of purchase. In comparison to more transparent and vivid payment methods such as cash, credit card payments causes consumers to trivialise past payment (Soman, 2001), reduces self-control (Chatterjee & Rose, 2012) and overvalue past income (Soman & Cheema, 2002). However, other studies suggest that consumers exhibit different individual differences in susceptibility to credit card’s psychological effects (Awanis & Cui, 2014; Rick, Cryder, & Loewenstein, 2008). For example, those characterised as spendthrifts, instant gratifiers, low in self-regulation and financial sophistication are likely to emphasise on the bright side of credit cards (i.e., spending/lifestyle facilitator). Consequently, these consumers tend to overspend with their credit cards. We expect that such individual differences in credit card mentality will reflect on the consumers’ repayment habits. Thus, we expect a negative relationship between individual-level susceptibility to credit card debts and repayment amounts. In addition, we also expect that individual differences in credit card debts susceptibility will moderate the relationship between automated payment and repayment decision (H1). Indeed, those who advocate the bright side of credit card (high susceptibility) may appreciate, or even celebrate automated payment facilities, as it makes credit card experience more convenient and worry-free. To this end, we suggest that individual-level differences in susceptibility to credit card debts will moderate the relationship between automated payment and repayment amounts. Furthermore, we propose that such moderated relationship is stronger and consequently more problematic among those with constrained resources (low saving). Specifically, cash-strapped consumers are at risk of placing greater emphasis on the bright side of credit cards to make up for their lack of financial resources. The combined effects of individual susceptibility to credit card effects and the misguided promise of automated payment are likely to lead these individuals to a path of revolving debt. Meanwhile, those with sufficient resources are unlikely to suffer the same extent of indebtedness due to their wealth. Thus, we hypothesise that the moderating effect of individual susceptibility to credit card debts on the relationship between automated payment and repayment amount will differ across those with low and high saving: H3: In low saving conditions, susceptibility to credit card debts moderates the relationship between automated payment and the amount of credit card repayment; in high saving no such moderation effect is expected. Method We conducted a 5 (current account balance) x 2 (payment mode) between-subject experiment involving a hypothetical scenario and repayment decisions. Current account balance has five levels: no account balance information (served as a control condition), $500, $1000, $2000 and $3000 and payment has two levels: autopay and regular payment. Across all experimental conditions, the minimum required payment and credit card balance were kept constant. In total, eight hundreds and nine US credit card users (458 women, 11% were aged 18-44 years, 42% from 25-34 years, 24% from 35-44 years and 23% were aged more than 45 years) were drawn from Amazon Mechanical Turk and were paid $.35 each for participation. Participants were asked to imagine that they had just logged onto their online account where they could see their online credit card statement with a balance of $1.937.28 and a minimum payment of £35.78. This minimum required payment was equal to two-percent of balance. The amount of credit card balance reflects the U.S. average of consumer credit card balance (Salisbury, 2014). Participants were told that they also saw their current accounts (i.e., the amount of money in their debit cards) and were also told that they do not have any other forms of financial obligations. Participants were instructed to indicate the amount of credit card repayment they would make in the light of the information provided in the online statement. We expect that the consumers’ understanding of compounding interest will affect their credit card repayment decisions. Therefore, we controlled for the participants’ financial knowledge, measured using three quiz-style questions following Navarro-Martinez, et al. (2011). Scores were calculated by tabulating the number of correct answers (one score for a right answer and zero for a wrong answer) and points are summed across the three questions to arrive at a single knowledge score. We measure participants’ susceptibility to credit cards effect (SCCE) by a 12-items scale adapted from Awanis and Cui (2014) (Cronbach’s α=0.89). The scale has been found to be invariant across cultures e.g., UK and Singapore. The scale items used a 7-point Likert format (1=strongly disagree, 7=strongly agree). Results and discussions A 5 (account balance) x 2 (payment mode) ANOVA revealed a main effect of current account balance, F(4,755)=61.50, p<0.001, η2=.246, such that higher current account will lead to higher repayment (Mcontrol=$960.64 (SD=53.91), M1=$181.85 (SD=58.08), M2=$390.55 (SD=53.78), M3=$1075.07 (SD=54.71), M4=$1138.45 (SD=51.84), see Figure 1). The ANOVA design also revealed a main effect of autopay vs regular payment mode, F(1,755)=28.44, p<0.001, η2=.04, such that the autopay (Mautopay=619.39, SD=35.17) brought about lower payments than the regular mode (MRegular=879.24, SD=33.72). Therefore, H1 and H2 are supported. Interaction effect of payment mode and susceptibility within low versus high account balance. We then examined the interaction effect of payment mode and susceptibility to credit card debt within three conditions: account balance is lower than the credit balance (high saving) and account balance is higher than the credit balance, and a control condition. We, therefore, recode the five levels of account balance experimental conditions into a dummy variable with three levels: 0 for control, 1 for low account balance and 2 for high account balance. The experimental conditions with account balance lower than the credit balance (i.e., $500 and $1000) is coded as 1 and those with account balance higher than the credit balance is coded as 2, no account balance information presented (i.e., control condition) is coded as 0. We centred the means of SCCE and use a PROCESS macro (Hayes, 2013) to estimate the interaction effect. Within low balance: the moderated regression results revealed the main effect of autopay (b=-233.23, t=-7.46, p=<0.001), main effect of SCCE (b=-43.318, t=13.04, p=<0.001) and interaction effect between autopay and SCCE (b=-81.48, t=25.64, p=<0.001) on credit card repayment. Simple slope analysis reveals that at there were significant differences in the repayment amount between low vs. high SCCE for regular participants (b=-81.70, t==-5.55, p<0.001). In contrast, for autopay participants, the effect of SCCE on credit card repayment is not significant (b=-.21, t=-.01, n.s). Within high balance: the moderated regression results revealed the main effect of autopay (b=-317.39, t=-3.57, p=<0.001) and main effect of SCCE (b=-135.10, t=-3.88, p=<0.001) on credit card repayment. The interaction effect between autopay and SCCE on credit card repayment is not significant p>.5).Within control: the moderated regression results revealed the main effect of autopay (b=-301.69, t=-2.13, p=<0.001) and main effect of SCCE (b=-156.24, t=-2.58, p=<0.001). The interaction effect between autopay and SCCE is not significant p>.5). Figure 2 shows the interaction effect discussed above for the two account balance experimental conditions: low account balance (panel A), high account balance (panel B). Patterns in control condition is similar to panel B. Based on these results, H3 is supported. General Discussion Automated payment is not as virtuous as many have assumed. In fact, autopay facilities encourage may reduce consumers’ long-term goal of debt repayment by craftily shifting attention away from superordinate goals to the more manageable and rewarding subgoals. We recommend that policy developers and practitioners should exercise caution in promoting the use of automated payment to enhance financial management. Such recommendations should come with a set of actionable guides to reduce debt levels in shorter time. Our findings also suggest that separation of many credit and debit accounts means that people tend to categorize debt and saving into separate mental accounts. This affects people’s ability to make informed repayment decisions, which should reflect one’s real ability to pay. Interventions that help people to accurately measure their real financial capabilities are expected to raise their repayment decisions. Therefore, we suggest that policy makers and practitioners reconcile credit card and saving account in a single online platform to enhance the consumers’ repayment decision.

Introduction Consumers throughout the world, including Asia, are showing increased concerns about food safety. Public policy, industry, and academic researchers are turning increased attention to the effects of food labeling requirements. General food labels provide information about serving size, servings per container, total calories per serving, calories from fat, and minimum daily nutritional value. Consumers must then use the food labeling information to make individual dietary choices. Thus it is appropriate for researchers to ask how consumers formulate product choices and evaluations according to food labeling information including calorie counts and standardized nutritional information (Ford et al. 1996; Keller et al. 1997; Roe, Levy, & Derby 1999). Long-term strategies are critically needed to find ways to protect public health and to assure food safety. Health practitioners and governmental regulators have increased their efforts to address the growing problem by sponsoring programs for food safety and by requiring nutritional labeling. In answer to the need for further research in food consumption behavior (RFC), this study was conducted to investigate how manufacturers might use consumers’ perceptions of risks and involvement for planning the most effective food labeling. Theoretical Framework To find ways to promote general and social marketing healthful consumer use of food labels (Lefebvre, 1988; McDermott, 2000), this study utilizes consumer segmentation techniques in which consumers are categorized according to psychological and demographic profiles (Slater, Kelly, & Thackeray, 2006). That is, they are segmented based on essential homogeneous responses (Forthofer, 2000; Kotler, 1971) and demographic characteristics, including age, gender, income and social class, although demographics may be less effective than psychological differences for predicting responses to health promotions (Lefebvre, 1988; Slater, 1991). The psychographics approach to consumer segmentation, derived from marketing techniques, selects variables that predict health behaviors; that is, consumers are segmented according to how they process communication channel properties and message features (Rimal & Adkins, 2003). By focusing on consumer segmentation we elucidate how consumers react to food labeling designed to promote health and food safety. Consumer segmentation should help us understand why consumers might reject risky unhealthful behaviors and adopt protective healthful behaviors (Slater, 2006). The risk perception attitude framework (Garretson & Burton, 2000; Rimal & Real 2003; Turner, Rimal, Morrison &, Kim, 2006) is a theoretical perspective for segmenting consumers based on their perceptions of risk and their beliefs about personal efficacy. According to the risk perception attitude framework, risk perceptions are usually insufficient to motivate behavior, but when high risk perceptions are coupled with strong efficacy beliefs, people are more motivated to engage in self-protective behaviors. Social cognitive theory and the extended parallel process model also support the importance of efficacy beliefs as moderating risk perception effects on self-protective behavior (Bandura 1986; Witte 1994). Using the risk perception attitude framework for purposes of this study, consumers are classified into four groups according to their risk perception and self-efficacy as indicated by their involvement in health concerns. 1) The "indifference" group comprises study participants who have low risk perceptions and low involvement; they believe they face few risks, lack control of their actions, and are thus not motivated to undertake protective behaviors. 2) The "responsive" group comprises study participants who have high risk perceptions and high involvement and thus are motivated to undertake extensive self-protective behaviors. 3) The "proactive" group comprises participants who have low risk perception but high involvement; they believe strongly in their personal abilities to take control, but perceive low risk and are thus not motivated to engage in self-protective behaviors. 4) The "avoidance" group comprises study participants who have high risk perceptions and low involvement; they are concerned about the need to counter risks but lack the self-efficacy and involvement to follow recommendations. Research Questions To examine the risk perception attitude framework in the context of research on food consumption behavior (RFC), three central research questions are posed: RQ1: How are consumers classified according to their level of perceived risk and involvement? RQ2: Do different consumer types show different attitudes toward paying higher prices for safer food and toward paying attention to food labels? RQ3: What factors influence consumer classifications? Methods Data for this study came from research on food consumption behavior (RFC) conducted by Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI) in 2014. In 2013, the KREI began gathering data regarding food consumption behavior to help the food industry develop more efficient use of food resources. RFC data are appropriate because they include data about various consumption patterns regarding food lifestyles, purchases, and food safety. Specifically, RFC for this study, we gathered data for a stratified sampling of 6,311 consumers, 19 to 75-years-old, living in 16 metropolitan city-regions in South Korea. Table 1 shows general features of the research participants. Among the respondents, 44.2% were men; 55.8% were women; 10.7% were 19 to 25-years-old; 37.6% were high school graduates; 46.9% had lower than middle school graduation levels, 21.9% were college graduates, 2.3% had post-graduate levels, 1.1% were uneducated; 36.5% had average monthly family incomes of 200~399; 1.3% had the highest rate of 1000 and more; 1.0% had low to moderate interest in health; 42.8% reported that they bought food two or three times weekly; 0.7% reported buying food once a month. Respondents reported an average 3.93 regarding risk perceptions for food safety. Their reported average level of involvement was 3.32; average of intention to pay higher prices for safe food was 3.37, and their average likelihood of checking food labels was 3.15. Measurement To score education levels, the uneducated group = 1, less than middle school = 2, high school graduates = 3, college graduates = 4, and postgraduates = 5. A five-point Likert-type scale was used to measure participants’ interest in their health (1 = complete indifference to 5 = very much interested). Also a five-point Likert scale was used to measure perceived risk for twelve items related to food safety: foreign substances, pesticide residue, use of antibiotics in livestock and fish, natural toxicity, food additives, heavy metals, endocrine disruptors, bacterial contamination, livestock disease, GMO, irradiation, packing hazards, and allergens (1 = not concerned at all to 5 = very concerned). Involvement was measured for three questions regarding food origin, food materials, and eco-friendly products (1 = not concerned at all to 5 = very concerned). Intentions to pay higher prices for safe food and to check food labels were measured from 1 = not at all to 5 = very positive. Results Four consumer groups were classified according to their level of perceived risk and involvement. We followed previous RPA model studies (e.g., Sullivan et al., 2008; Jo & Yoo, 2011) and classified groups based on median perceived risk and involvement: (≥4.00) for high perceived risk, (<4.00) for low perceived risk, (≥3.333) for high involvement, and (< 3.33) for low involvement. The responsive group had high perceived risk and high involvement; the proactive group had low perceived risk and high involvement; the avoidance group had high perceived risk and low involvement; and the indifference group had low perceived risk and low involvement. Additionally, ANOVA with post-hoc Tukey test was conducted to examine the average difference among the four groups regarding their intentions to pay higher prices for safe food and to check food labels. Multinomial logit regression was performed to discover the factors that influence classification of consumer types. Classification of consumer types according to perceived risk and involvement Table 1 shows the consumer classifications according to the level of perceived risk and involvement: 1,198 participants, 21.8%, were in the indifference group with low perceived risk and low involvement; 1,254 participants, 22.8%, were in the proactive group with low perceived risk and high involvement; 1,125 participants, 20.5%, were in the avoidance group with high perceived risk and low involvement; 1,924 participants, 35.5%, were in the responsive group with high perceived risk and high involvement. Among the four groups, the responsive group had a statistically significant relatively high ratio: χ2 value for group classification was 79.695 (p <.001). Consumer classification differences in purchase intentions to pay higher prices for safe food and to check food labels Table 2 shows differences in intentions to pay higher prices for safe food and to check food labels. The proactive group showed the highest average intentions to pay higher prices for safe food at 3.52, followed by the responsive group at 3.51, the avoidance group at 3.25, and the indifference group at 3.16. The differences among the groups were statistically significant. A Tukey post-analysis showed that the high involvement group, in contrast with the low involvement group, showed higher average intentions to pay higher prices for safe food. Among the low involvement groups, those with high perceived risk had higher average intentions than those with low perceived risk. The responsive group showed the highest average intentions to check food labels at 3.44, followed by the proactive group at 3.43, the avoidance group at 2.74, and the indifference group at 2.27. The differences among the groups were statistically significant. A Tukey post-analysis showed that high involvement groups, in contrast with low involvement groups, showed higher average intentions to check food labels, but no difference was found according to the level of perceived risk. Influential factors of consumer segmentations Table 3 shows the results of examining the factors of gender, age, education, monthly average family income, and interest in health that are typical in consumer segments. Comparing all groups with the responsive group, the indifference group was most likely to comprise young women who had lower educational levels, lower monthly income, and less interest in health. The proactive group was most likely to be made up of men. The avoidance group was most likely to be made of young men who had lower educational levels, lower monthly incomes, and less interest in health. Discussion This study is an investigation of the theoretical framework of risk perception and involvement according to indifference, proactivity, responsiveness, or avoidance consumer segments. The study centrally indicates that the four risk perception–involvement framework groups differ in their perceptions of risk and the extent of their involvement. By revealing the importance of high involvement as a fruitful intervention strategy, the results suggest practical implications for public policymakers and marketers who strive to devise appropriate food labeling. Social cognitive theory has long stressed the importance of enhancing personal involvement (Bandura 1986). That insight can be applied to the risk perception attitude framework for identifying particular audiences who will respond to involvement-enhancing messages. Our findings suggest that a useful strategy in promoting change is to recognize that consumers will react differently according to their tendencies toward indifference, proactivity, responsiveness, or avoidance.

Introduction The research described in this abstract discusses “multilevel marketing,” including a review of academic literatures and studies that have used the direct sales business method as a research context. The multilevel marketing business structure represents an alternative to the business-employee-consumer relationships of those offered by traditional bureaucratic organizations. As such, they have, on one hand, collectively prospered and, on the other hand, attracted negative attention from regulatory and government entities, scholars, and competitors. Studies related to MLM organizations have examined these businesses on every populated continent, and have considered the viewpoints of consumers, MLM participants, and sales managers. Research has included a variety of empirical approaches, from quantitative survey methods to qualitative ethnographic studies. Consumer dispositions toward MLM have been measured intermittently over several years, and include consumer responses from many different countries. One consistent finding is that people who have purchased products from MLMs expressed more favorable opinions of them than do those who have not bought from MLM. Further, studies also provide evidence that consumers perceive that buying from direct selling is perceived to be less risky than some other non-store shopping modes (Gillett, 1976; Peterson, Albaum & Ridgway 1989; Alturas, Santos & Pereira 2005). Nonetheless, the practice is controversial and faces intense scrutiny in many countries while being banned in others. However, the research literature suggests careful consideration of the benefits of MLM organizations, in that the nontraditional organizational structure and methods of promotion may provide economic development in poor economies and also allow consumer-participants to develop important skills. One common method of retailing is direct sales. Direct selling companies emphasize promotion and distribution of their products through person-to-person contact, usually away from a physical retail location and usually through some network of independent sellers. The sales presentations are often held in homes, in the form of door-to-door solicitation, one-to-one meetings, through sales “parties,” or through some type of online social media platform (e.g., Facebook). Direct selling provides a channel of distribution for companies as an alternative to traditional retail outlets; it is attractive to companies that may be unable to compete with the vast advertising and promotion expenses that other manufacturers employ to gain shelf space in traditional retail stores. The variety of products and services that are sold through direct sales matches that of major traditional retailers, including cosmetics, home décor, wellness, jewelry, kitchen products, clothing, organic gardening, and scrapbooking supplies. Promotion of the products often relies on product demonstrations. One type of direct sales is multilevel marketing. A multilevel marketing organization (MLM) is a type of compensation structure (Coughlan & Grayson 1998) through which distributors earn income from their own sales as well as through commissions from the sales made by individuals they have recruited into their organization. As depicted in Figure 1, there are three basic components to compensation: 1. Distributors purchase the products or services at wholesale cost from the MLM organization; these products are sold at a profit (markup) to end consumers 2. Distributors are paid a commission by the MLM for what they sell directly 3. Distributors earn a bonus (percentage) of the sales made by individuals they recruit into the MLM. Recruits are referred to as the distributor’s “downline,” while the recruiter is referred to as the recruited person’s “upline.” MLM and traditional organizations MLM participants include people with diverse backgrounds, levels of education and experience, and personal qualities. Direct selling organizations rely on social connections and relationships to broaden their potential customer base; MLM organizations rely on these social connections as integral to their recruiting as well. MLM organizations do not have formal sales management structures. MLM participants are not “employees,” but rather act as independent franchisees that must adhere to organizational, ethical, and legal parameters. MLM participants are usually not co-located – they do not work at a central office – and often begin work part-time. Participants usually pay start-up or membership fees and pay for training and other selling-related materials. Because MLMs operate without bureaucratic organizational structure or traditional workplace, the company’s culture and ideologies are circulated through social relationships of each individual participant. Several researchers have asserted that cultural characteristics have a significant impact on the success of MLMs in any economy. Biggart (1989) observed that MLMs are successful in Asian countries because those societies tend to be very structured and hierarchical, and individuals in those countries carry a Confucian work ethic similar to Protestant ethic characteristic of the United States. Additionally, Asian extended family networks make selling and recruiting easier. By contrast, Herbig and Yelkurm (1997) observed that MLMs have not succeeded in parts of Europe, because the cultural and ideological climate is comparatively unreceptive to free enterprise and market entry. Laws restrict sellers to contact people at home. Southern European countries, however, tend to have larger informal sectors, fewer worker protections and restrictions, and stronger family and extended-family relationships. Statistics Worldwide, direct retail sales were $182.8 billion in 2014, an increase of over 6% from the previous year; these sales were generated by over 99 million direct-sellingretailers, including cosmetics, home décor, wellness, jewelry, kitchen products, clothing, organic gardening, and scrapbooking supplies. Promotion of the products often relies on product demonstrations. One type of direct sales is multilevel marketing. A multilevel marketing organization (MLM) is a type of compensation structure (Coughlan & Grayson 1998) through which distributors earn income from their own sales as well as through commissions from the sales made by individuals they have recruited into their organization. As depicted in Figure 1, there are three basic components to compensation: 1. Distributors purchase the products or services at wholesale cost from the MLM organization; these products are sold at a profit (markup) to end consumers 2. Distributors are paid a commission by the MLM for what they sell directly 3. Distributors earn a bonus (percentage) of the sales made by individuals they recruit into the MLM. Recruits are referred to as the distributor’s “downline,” while the recruiter is referred to as the recruited person’s “upline.” MLM and traditional organizations MLM participants include people with diverse backgrounds, levels of education and experience, and personal qualities. Direct selling organizations rely on social connections and relationships to broaden their potential customer base; MLM organizations rely on these social connections as integral to their recruiting as well. MLM organizations do not have formal sales management structures. MLM participants are not “employees,” but rather act as independent franchisees that must adhere to organizational, ethical, and legal parameters. MLM participants are usually not co-located – they do not work at a central office – and often begin work part-time. Participants usually pay start-up or membership fees and pay for training and other selling-related materials. Because MLMs operate without bureaucratic organizational structure or traditional workplace, the company’s culture and ideologies are circulated through social relationships of each individual participant. Several researchers have asserted that cultural characteristics have a significant impact on the success of MLMs in any economy. Biggart (1989) observed that MLMs are successful in Asian countries because those societies tend to be very structured and hierarchical, and individuals in those countries carry a Confucian work ethic similar to Protestant ethic characteristic of the United States. Additionally, Asian extended family networks make selling and recruiting easier. By contrast, Herbig and Yelkurm (1997) observed that MLMs have not succeeded in parts of Europe, because the cultural and ideological climate is comparatively unreceptive to free enterprise and market entry. Laws restrict sellers to contact people at home. Southern European countries, however, tend to have larger informal sectors, fewer worker protections and restrictions, and stronger family and extended-family relationships. Statistics Worldwide, direct retail sales were $182.8 billion in 2014, an increase of over 6% from the previous year; these sales were generated by over 99 million direct-selling distributors (World Federation of Direct Selling Associations, 2015). The primary product categories included cosmetics/personal care, wellness, household products, and clothing/accessories. The largest markets for direct selling include the United States, Europe, and Japan. The European Direct Selling Association (Seldia) reported that 2014 sales of direct selling firms in European Union countries were €24 billion (about $26.7 billion), with over 5 million direct sellers (Seldia, 2015). In Japan, 2012 direct selling revenues were ¥177 trillion ($16 billion), with 3.3 million participants (WFDSA, 2015). In the United States, there were over 18 million direct-selling distributors in 2014 who generated $34.5 billion, a 5.5% increase from 2013. The Direct Sales Association reported that over 95% of U.S. direct sales in 2011 were through MLMs (Direct Sales Association, 2015). In terms of participation, the vast majority of direct distributors are women in both of two largest aggregate direct-selling markets. In the European Union, 79% of all direct sellers were women in 2014 (Seldia, 2015); seventy-six percent of direct sellers were considered to be part-time. In the U.S., the percentage of female direct sellers in the U.S. in 2014 was 74% (DSA, 2015). Criticism and Legal/Regulatory Issues Legitimate MLMs are often characterized as or confused with illegal “pyramid” or “Ponzi” schemes, and seem to have always attracted regulatory scrutiny (Arun, 2015; Alpert, 2012; Croft, Cutts & Mould, 2000; Hyman, 2008; Herbig & Yelkurm, 1997; O’Regan, 2015). In response to illegitimate operations, consumer protection groups and federal and local governments have provided information and enacted laws which distinguish MLMs from their fraudulent counterparts. MLMs and pyramid schemes Much of the academic and legal literatures have ventured to provide formal delineation between legal MLMs and the illegal and unethical practices related to pyramid schemes (Stockstill, 1985; Coughlan & Grayson, 1998; Epstein, 2010; Vander Nat & Keep, 2002). There is nearly universal concurrence that whether a program is a legitimate multilevel marketing plan or an illegal pyramid depends on: (1) the method by which the products or services are sold; and (2) the manner in which participants are compensated. Basically, if an organization pays participants for sales by their “enrollees,” “recruits,” and/or their downline enrollees and recruits, that plan is multilevel. If a program compensates participants, directly or indirectly, merely for the introduction or enrollment of other participants into the program, unrelated to the sales of any product, it is considered to be a pyramid. In the United States, federal and state anti-pyramid statutes comprise a comprehensive consumer protection umbrella. These laws are designed to protect individuals from being defrauded through illegitimate programs which lure participants with the promise of easy money by compensating them from the investments of additional participants rather than from legitimate product sales. Federal and state regulatory agencies have sought to prohibit such illegal activity using laws that control pyramids, mail fraud, business opportunity, franchise, lottery, and securities. Internationally, many countries ban some forms of pyramid schemes. Pyramid selling and multilevel marketing both take the form of complex organizations, and because of different interpretations of business activities and underlying regulatory philosophies across countries, regulation takes different forms (Micklitz, Monazzahian & Rößler, 1999; Dobson, 2011; Chan, 1999; China Daily, 2013; Epstein, 2010). Economic Development and MLM Organizations Several studies have observed that one of the key reasons for the establishment and growth of MLM organizations has been that they are often introduced into a larger socioeconomic context, using pre-existing social relationships to become engrained in the overall complex of an economy. Indeed, in communities where families and social networks are relatively large and geographically concentrated, MLM organizations have tended to thrive. MLMs are particularly attractive employment options for groups of people who may experience high unemployment and discrimination in the primary labor market (Brodie, Stanworth & Wotruba, 1998), for example women (Biggart, 1989; Casanova, 2011a, 2011b; Vincent, 2003; Dolan & Scott, 2009; Cahn, 2011; Singh & Aggarwal, 2012) and ethnic minorities (Dai, Wang & Teo, 2011; de Vidas, 2008). Further, as many countries attempt to follow a neo-liberalized, free-market approach to economic development, employment has become more feminized (Standing, 1999) and selling for a transnational direct sales organization is often an appealing option for women in developing countries, providing paid employment that takes place not only outside the home, but outside the archetypical, standardized workplace of the export-product manufacturing factory (Casanova, 2011a, 2011b; Wilson, 1998). Other evidence has suggested several macro-environmental developments that continue to have an impact on direct sales organizations (Ingram, 1993; Ragland, 2012). First, the splintering of market segments into subsegments has compelled companies with fewer resources to focus to avoid the “mass market,” and focus instead on smaller segments, tailoring their efforts to gain customer satisfaction (Kotler & Armstrong, 2014). MLMs are particularly suited to this consumer environment – distributors talking directly to consumers to find out what it is that they want, like, and prefer. One further outcome of this fragmentation has been that people have been forced to seek new groups to satisfy their need to belong, and “hybrid” economic social networks such as MLMs satisfy these nonmaterial needs of distributor participants (Green & D’aiuto, 1977). This appears to be a reasonable explanation of why many of the largest MLM organizations have several million distributors, the majority of whom gain only very minimal financial rewards despite devoting a substantial portion of their time to company activities. A second macro trend is that of globalization. Over the past thirty years, a strong demand has developed for Western products in then-newly-opened European and Asian markets. This continues to be the case in central Asia (India, Russia) and Latin America. In addition to consumer demand, a high level of salesperson motivation in those countries cited as a key to success. Thus consumer demand for MLM-supplied products has grown, while the entrepreneurial spirit that multilevel marketing encourages is appealing to many who seek self-managed work and independence from the traditional employer-employee relationship. Third, manufacturers often pursue multiple channels of distribution to make products available, and MLMs offer a realistic (and often creative) alternative component. This makes it easy for shoppers to find what they want, and a “direct” channel can coexist with traditional channels, allowing entry into extremely local markets and extremely poor consumers (Ireland, 2008; Dolan & Scott, 2009). For example, Ireland (2008) provided several examples of the implementation of MLM in poor communities in South America. This strategy was executed by well-known brands, some of which were recognizable MLMs (e.g. Avon) and some of which were traditional consumer products manufacturers (e.g. Coca Cola). The MLM organization in each of these cases emphasized physical distribution – in some situations going so far as to provide refrigerators in the homes of poor consumers, who would then sell beer or soft drinks directly from their homes. Improving access to products involved elaborate multilevel marketing channels that used the social skills and energy of “bottom of pyramid” (very poor) residents who participated as distributors. A fourth macro-level trend has been that toward trust-based relationship marketing, defined as building, developing and maintaining strong relationships with customers and other stakeholders in order to obtain a high profitability through customer satisfaction (Berry, 1983). The success of the MLM business model as a strategic alternative may thus be linked to the macro-level processes in national and global economies. Discussion and Conclusions Modern versions of direct selling hold the potential to improve lives across the world’s developing economies as the range of products begins to include those that have high social value, such as medicines, hygienic items and communications. Multilevel marketing is an innovation that has become increasingly successful as it has evolved in Western economies to include well-known consumer products (Amway, Tupperware, Mary Kay) but also high-end fashion (J. Hilburn, Etcetera) and even sex toys (Passion Parties). In developing countries, the MLM represents a potentially lucrative channel for traditional companies seeking growth – the flexibility of the channel of distribution, the fact that it relies on existing relationships among potential consumers and distributors, and its ability to reach consumers directly make it a potential tool for economic development. Even still, multilevel marketing carries negative connotations in many marketplaces worldwide. Because MLM participants are technically not employees of their company, “control” over participants is difficult, and continued participation is difficult to maintain. The high degree of commitment and strong organizational culture seem to foster accusations of “cult” behaviors. While there is no question that false product or business opportunity claims may be made – as with any consumer product – academic research tends to suggest that prohibition or strict regulation needs to be carefully weighed against the potential benefits of MLM organizational structures and operations. Multilevel marketing and other direct sales channels of distribution may facilitate economic development, first by employing people who may have little business experience, and second by making products available to consumers in markets where few other retailers may be able to reach. Research also suggests that the MLM business method provides a legitimate alternative strategy to traditional retailing: marketers can get information to consumers in ways that are not feasible using traditional advertising or retail distribution, and person-to-person selling increases the likelihood of customer satisfaction.

Recent decades have seen a number of policies have been launched to promote information disclosure on food products marketed in developed countries. There has also been increasing efforts to promote healthy eating in developing economies (Cowburn & Stockley 2005). A good example appears in China, where, in an effort to improve health education, nutrition labels became mandatory under the Nutrition Labeling Act (NLA) since 2013. Additionally, food labeling regulations were issued by India, Mercosur members and South Africa. While nutritional labeling has received a lot of attention both in academia and from the press, there are some key gaps in the nutrition labeling literature. One issue of how standardized information requirements affect firm marketing responses (e.g., advertising levels. R&D investment, and corporate social responsibility programs) and performance has been understudied. Another clear gap in the literature is how nutritional labeling requirements affect developing economies.

The rise of technology has brought innovations in the field of marketing. The most modern trend of marketing is termed as social media marketing. Social media is not only reducing the communication distance in the world but the discovery of social media provided opportunities for business to increase their exposure. However, it has been observed that regardless of the advantages of new technology some time users’ are reluctant to accept and use that technology. Considering these facts, the investigation of the factors affecting consumers’ intention for the acceptance and use of social media marketing (SMM) has been the greatest concern of the researcher. Other facet of this study is to understand the nature of consumers’ behavior across culture. This research is an empirical study for testing the underlying factors that influence the users’ intention for the acceptance and use of SMM. Current research proposes SMM acceptance model by integrating unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) and technology acceptance model along with personal constructs. As the focus of this study was on UTAUT, hence majority of factors were selected from this theory. The survey was conducted with sample of 612 participants from South Korea and Pakistan. Findings by using structural equation modeling revealed that attitude towards online advertisement and electronic word of mouth significantly affect users’ intention for acceptance of SMM. Moreover, effort expectancy, facilitating conditions, social influence, perceived usefulness, and perceived risk significantly influence users’ attitude towards advertisement. It has been found that the effect of social influence, perceived usefulness, and involvement is significant on attitude towards electronic word of mouth (eWOM). Moderating effects of nationality, gender, and use frequency are also tested on integrated model. The findings are helpful to understand consumer behavior and advantageous for marketing strategies. This research will contribute to the literature within the domain of social media marketing. The findings along with implications and recommendations for future research were also discussed at the end.

In this paper, we review the influence of crisis response strategies in social media on attitude recovery in relation to customer brand commitment. We extend the situational crisis communication theory and the social-mediated crisis communication model to include the role of audience characteristics (i.e., customer brand commitment). The effects of crisis response strategies (i.e., defensive, accommodative) and electronic word of mouth antecedents are discussed because source factors, message factors, and audience factors lead to attitude recovery. We also introduce a framework of the impacts of brand crisis response strategies on customer attitude recovery after exposure to negative word of mouth and response strategies in social media.

In recent years, leading digital technology companies have shown a strong interest in enabling children to send electronic word of mouth (eWOM). Recasting children from passive to active participants in marketing communications, this shift expands children’s marketing practices from how a company influences children via traditional marketing communications to how children influence a company’s marketing practices through eWOM. This paper aims to enhance our understanding about the use of children’s eWOM in marketing communications when children’s eWOM and children’s marketing begin to intersect. The eWOM literature demonstrated the effects of eWOM on product sales without identifying the sender (King, Racherla, & Bush, 2014). The extension of the effects from aggregated sender to children needs careful study in light of children’s marketing literature which showed children have distinct characteristics in the context of traditional marketing (Cross, 2002). In this study, we examine the positive expectation of business impact that explains firms’ adoption of children’s eWOM and further investigate the normative concerns about the social influence of children’s eWOM.