Although the phenomenon of lead categories is well-documented in the marketing literature, our understanding of this important store choice factor remains limited. Lead categories are defined as those product categories that are so important for the shopping trip that they influence the consumer’s store choice decision. The purposes of this paper are to offer theoretical bases that explain why lead categories form and to understand how overall images of product quality, selection, and price affect lead category formation. The authors use theories of anchoring effects and automatic cognitive processing to offer theoretical explanations regarding why consumers form lead categories and how overall images of product quality, selection, and price affect lead category formation. Using survey data collected from consumers at two grocery stores, the authors find that positive overall product quality and selection images facilitate lead category formation and that an overall low-price image hinders it.

Customer value co-creation behavior (CVCB) has been regarded as a strong predictor of firm performance in many industries for decades. CVCB—the customer’s direct and indirect contribution of resources to enhance the offering of the focal agent/object—is ubiquitous in service industries. Recently, customer engagement has been identified as a determinant of the value realized by customers and businesses. Customer psychological engagement (CPEngagement) is a multidimensional customer-firm relationship marked by customer satisfaction and emotional connectedness to the firm. Although there is concurrence that customer engagement and CVCB are linked, scholars diverge as to the precise nature of the relationship. Marketing and hospitality literature have not yet developed an integrated model of customer engagement with the digital and physical components of hospitality services. Given the increasing managerial interest in digital customer engagement and value co-creation behaviors, it is essential to enhance our understanding of the interplay between these concepts and their implications for both consumers and businesses. This research investigates the relationship between CPEngagement and value co-creation in the digital and physical aspects of hospitality services.

This research presents a conceptual framework for a comprehensive understanding of the causes of user migration from social media networking sites. The results of our survey show that users’ intentions to switch social media platforms are influenced by user satisfaction, alternative attractiveness, peer influence, and perceived switching costs.