This research contributes to the sales literature by relating salespeoples’ facial expressiveness (captured by a face reader), to customer responses. Customers impressions are measured in real-time by means of a program analyzer. Results of an experimental study indicate differences in customers’ reactions according to sale peoples’ facial expressiveness.

In the last decade, several sellers have experimented with participative pricing, i.e., pricing mechanisms in which the buyers directly influence the price of a transaction. Pay What You Want (PWYW) is the most rigorous participative pricing model. The buyer can set any price, including zero, and the seller cannot refuse to serve the buyer for that price (Kim, Natter, & Spann, 2009). For the seller, PWYW can be advantageous if the buyers pay differentiated prices that are higher than posted prices. However, the profitability of the pricing model is limited to specific situations (Gerpott, 2017). We introduce a modification of PWYW labeled Multi-Tier Pay What You Want (MTPWYW). In MTPWYW, the seller offers different quality levels of a good. The lower-quality version is available under pure PWYW conditions. The higher-quality versions are only available to customers who pay at least a predefined threshold price. Nonetheless, customers can still pay more than the threshold price for the higher-quality good. Therefore, MTPWYW allows the seller to exclude customers who pay low prices for the higher-quality good. We run a field experiment comparing MTPWYW to PWYW by setting up a waffle stand with two quality levels: the basic version consisted of plain waffles only, the higher-quality version included waffles with toppings. In the case of PWYW, the buyers could choose any price they wanted to for both quality levels. In the case of MTPWYW, waffles with toppings were only available after paying at least the threshold price. The results indicate that MTPWYW can be more profitable than PWYW and that it can achieve two forms of price discrimination: endogenous price discrimination and second-degree price discrimination (i.e., self-selection into different quality levels).

The essence of any successful personal selling interaction is effective communication. Evidence from research on personal selling has provided extensive support for the effectiveness of nonverbal communication. Nevertheless, an individuals’ nonverbal communication style is difficult to measure during a sales conversation, as it is “encoded and decoded unconsciously” (Stewart, Hecker, & Graham, 1987, p. 305). This research introduces wearable sensor technology as a novel and objective approach for measuring nonverbal behaviors (i.e., kinesics, paralanguage, and proxemics) in a sales context using sociometric badges (Kim, McFee, Olguin, Waber, & Pentland, 2012). Findings reveal that salespeople can improve their appeal by making use of a more dynamic communication style (i.e., enhanced posture activity and variation in speech and volume), as opposed to a rather static, adhesive, and monotone communication. We contribute to the sales literature by relating a salesperson’s nonverbal communication behaviors to customer responses. In addition, we reveal various implications for sales executives and offer guidance on how to improve their sales effectiveness and performance.

There has been an emerging interest in the effective luxury advertising, which has been conducted within and across national borders. Unlike earlier studies on luxury brands that focused on the behavior and opinions of luxury consumers (e.g., luxury motivations, value perceptions, etc.), this nascent stream of research queries an important role that advertising exerts on luxury consumers (Freire, 2014). Informed by these developments, our study examines how luxury brand marketers can design effective social media messages for their consumers. In particular, we draw on recent research in consumer psychology to shed new light on (1) how consumer feelings about the psychological distance of luxury consumption may influence their evaluation of different types of message appeals on social media and their intention to share these messages with others; and (2) we address how this process varies depending on (a) the perceived tie strength between consumers on social media, the functional attitudes of luxury brands, and across different cultural milieus.

The advances of the Internet open consumers new opportunities to share their consumption experiences, opinions and feelings with others. Online customer reviews (OCRs) are a crucial source of information for consumers and are regarded as one of the most influential types of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) in shaping consumer attitudes and facilitating purchase decisions (Plummer, 2007). Prior research has produced a number of valuable insights on OCRs (e.g., Dellarocas, Gao, & Narayan, 2010; Hennig-Thurau et al., 2004; Mayzlin, Dover, & Chevalier, 2014). Especially the influence of OCR valence (positively vs. negatively framed information) has received considerable attention both from practitioners and from scholars (e.g., Xue & Zhou, 2010; Yang & Mai, 2010; Lee et al., 2009). However, we argue that scientific insights on the influence of OCR valence remain limited. Specifically, this paper shows that the level of source credibility (high vs. low) as well as the type of product (search vs. experience good) are important moderators of the influence of OCR valence on several consumer OCR reactions (product attitude, product quality, and product trust) under specific circumstances only. Four hundred and sixteen respondents (70% females, average age 24 years) participated in an experiment with a 2×2×2 between-subjects full factorial design manipulating the OCR valence (positive vs. negative), the source credibility (high vs. low) and the product type (search vs. experience good). Results demonstrate that the effect of positive OCRs from highly credible sources on diverse outcome variables is larger than from low credible sources. By acknowledging Chaiken et al.’s (1989) theoretical extension of the heuristic-systematic model (Chaiken, 1980) we provide empirical evidence that source credibility intensifies the impact of positive OCRs due to the additivity effect. In contrast, credible negative information is not more influential than incredible information. A similar mechanism becomes operational when considering product type. Here, positive OCRs about experience goods have a stronger influence on product evaluations than similarly valenced information about search goods. This research provides further support for the crucial role of credible, positive OCRs in affecting consumer behavior in contrast to their negative counterparts. From a practical perspective, marketers should consider including highly credible OCRs from trustworthy and experienced customers’ peers as decision aids. This can be achieved, for instance, by including personal postings from Facebook. Such a strategy is particularly efficient as positive OCRs increase the consumer’s confidence towards the product while credible negative OCRs are not more harmful than incredible ones.

Charismatic public figures are often associated with personal magnetism, a captivating aura, and an ability to influence their counterparts. Over the last 25 years, the concept of charisma has gained considerable interest among social scientists, and its positive effects on performance have been reported in multiple research areas (Vercic & Vercic, 2011). Nevertheless, there exists scarce research on charisma in marketing and little is known about specific nonverbal behaviors that predict charisma (Heide, 2013). Additionally, for decades a substantial body of sales research has been focusing on identifying characteristics of sales personnel that predict performance (Bauer & Martin, 2009). Therefore, the aim of this paper is to identify nonverbal behaviors that lead to a salesperson’s charisma in a personal selling context by posing the following research question: Which aspects of body language differentiate salespersons from each other and are such differences antecedents for perceived charisma?Charismatic public figures are often associated with personal magnetism, a captivating aura, and an ability to influence their counterparts. Over the last 25 years, the concept of charisma has gained considerable interest among social scientists, and its positive effects on performance have been reported in multiple research areas (Vercic & Vercic, 2011). Nevertheless, there exists scarce research on charisma in marketing and little is known about specific nonverbal behaviors that predict charisma (Heide, 2013). Additionally, for decades a substantial body of sales research has been focusing on identifying characteristics of sales personnel that predict performance (Bauer & Martin, 2009). Therefore, the aim of this paper is to identify nonverbal behaviors that lead to a salesperson’s charisma in a personal selling context by posing the following research question: Which aspects of body language differentiate salespersons from each other and are such differences antecedents for perceived charisma?in front) should be used more frequently in a personal selling situation to increase a salesperson’s charisma. These studies represent an important first step in conceptualizing charismatic sales behaviors and provide valuable insights for further research.

46 2016 Global Marketing Conference at Hong Kong Proceedings: 46-47 (July 2016) http://dx.doi.org/10.15444/GMC2016.01.04.01 WHY DO CONSUMERS BUY PREMIUM PRIVATE LABELS? – SOME QUAL-ITATIVE INSIGHTS Olivier Reimann, University of Vienna, Austria1) Udo Wagner, University of Vienna, Austria2) ABSTRACT Private labels (PL) have developed remarkably well during the last two decades. In many Western European countries they achieved market shares of around 30 percent and more. A phenomenon that recently gained momentum in academia and practice are premium PL (PPL). That are PL positioned as “better and cheaper” or “higher in price and superior in quality” compared to the leading NB. However, with regard to the perceived quality gaps consumers attributed economy and standard PLs vis-à-vis national brands (NB) in the past, it appears contradictory that PPL could become “one of the hottest trends in retail-ing”. To the best of the authors’ knowledge no study published up to now has addressed the following research question: Why do consumers prefer PPL over NB or other PL tiers. The present work tries to provide some insights into this research gap. We conducted two empirical research projects which aim at shedding some light on po-tential drivers of PPL product choice. Both projects are field studies with two leading grocery retail chains in a Central European country as research objects. In this country, the grocery retail market is characterized by a relatively high PL market share (29 percent in 2013) and a high concentration of retailer power: in 2014 the top three retailers cov-ered 85 percent of the overall market. Project I conducted focus group interviews. Partici-pants discussed about economy PL, standard PL and PPL products. Participants debated whether / under which circumstances they would choose one of these PL tiers or a NB. Research project II consisted of semi-structured interviews conducted with consumers in stores. The study revealed major determinants of PPL product choice: (1) quality and price, (2) packaging, (3) origin, and uniqueness, and (4) co-branding. We also gained some insights into the role of psychographics and demographics, brand management and communica-tion as well as on store loyalty. Disadvantageous for retailers, the reasons for PPL prod-uct choice are mainly not PPL brand related. PPL shoppers search for intrinsic or extrin-sic cues and would buy any other brand that offers a similar product. However, the find-ings for co-branding PPL showed that suggestions to apply traditional branding strategies in order to increase (premium) PL success should gain more attention from academia and retailers.

The Austrian scene differs greatly from the one in the Anglo-American region. Even the difference to the neighboring country Germany is a significant: the scene in Austria is dominated above all by fashion bloggers and to a lesser extent there are lifestyle and food bloggers; Austrians are considerably less oriented towards technical and political blogs. The most prominent and popular example probably is "Stylekingdom": this has been the most famous Austrian fashion site for quite some time and has been maintained since 2007. This page presents information about jewelry and fashion collections regularly. In addition, selected advertisements might be placed there which is of interest to companies because of the considerable reach of this site. "Mangoblüte" is one of the most popular luxury fashion blogs in Austria. Backed up with beautiful photos, the blog offers insight into a luxurious life by also displaying travelling in luxury resorts, eating in the best restaurants in the world and a private room that serves as a closet. Given the ubiquitous nature of the internet, American sites are also easily accessible to Austrians. One famous example is the site "The Style Rookie" which is mainly devoted to fashion. In the presentation additional examples will be presented and some comparisons will be undertaken

Recently, a television commercial by the Japanese tire manufacturer Autoway went viral on the Internet and received more than 3 million hits on YouTube. The advertisement, which depicts a car driver’s encounter with a grisly figure during a snowstorm, is preceded by a health warning: "Not for the faint of heart. We shall not be liable for any injuries, illness, and damages claimed to be caused by watching the contents." The popularity of this commercial, which explicitly points to its fear-inducing message, attests to the fact that fear appeals in advertising can draw attention. An area where fear appeals are particularly prevalent is social marketing. According to Kotler, Roberto, and Lee (2002), social marketing can be used to improve health, prevent injuries, protect the environment, and promote community involvement. Many of these issues, e.g., cancer screening, seat belt use, environmental pollution, or organ donations, are linked to negative consequences based on the action or inaction of consumers, which consequently lend themselves to fear appeals in advertising. Fear has been used in social marketing campaigns for various issues, such as road safety (Transport Accident Commission, 2002) or smoking (DeJong & Hoffman, 2000), as it can enhance the effectiveness of advertising but also lead to unintended side effects (Hastings, Steed, & Webb, 2004). While the literature has focused on the effectiveness of fear appeals, the effect of scary advertisements or public service announcements on consumers’ perceptions of other commercials surrounding them has been often overlooked. Social marketers might successfully use fear appeals in public service announcements, but the same advertisements could have an adverse effect on the effectiveness of the commercials surrounding them. In this study, we will investigate the carryover effects of public service announcements using fear appeals. Specifically, the goal of this research is to study the effects of fear appeals on the evaluation of commercials that follow.The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. First, we will give an overview of the influence advertisers have on the scheduling of commercials. In the following section, the literature on advertising context effects is reviewed and a hypothesis regarding the effects of fear-inducing public service announcements on the evaluation of subsequent commercials is developed. After the methodology section, the results of a laboratory experiment testing the hypothesis are presented and discussed.