The current research introduces a novel relationship between consumer attitudes toward time and consumer well-being, connected to organic food consumption based on the findings from 206 American consumers. Consumer motivations to seek nutritional information appears as a mediator impacting organic food purchase intentions. Practical and theoretical implications are discussed.

Influencers have become a critical component of marketing strategy to increase awareness, encourage consideration, and drive purchases. A new type of influencer, computer-generated and artificial intelligence-powered avatars, has emerged amid this boom. Despite the mixed marketing results virtual influencers deliver, they are generally thought to create similar engagement as human influencers. Consumers appear capable of developing complex psychological processes when engaging with virtual influencers. Even though the positive impact of influencers is evident, there is a growing concern about how they can affect consumers' well-being. The feeling of envy is a significant well-being concern in the social media world. Assuming virtual influencers can deliver similar emotional effects as human influencers, can we feel envy towards virtual influencers?

Technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics are emerging as a new way to improve services, readjusting and impacting all business industries and relationships among people (Loureiro et al., 2021; Makridakis, 2017; Mingotto et al., 2020). The hospitality industry is no exception to this (Mingotto et al., 2020) since a quick growth in the use of robots and AI in this industry has registered a turnover of 249 million U.S. dollars (International Federation of Robots, 2021). However, very few of the existing studies highlight the customers’ perspective and sentiments on service robots (Luo et al., 2021) or the robot-human interactions/ customer service experience (Choi et al., 2021). Thus, further studies in the enhancement of human well-being through transhumanistic technologies, close relationship marketing capabilities, and the evolution of the engagement process between humans and AI-enabled machines are necessary (Loureiro et al., 2021). This research intends to understand how different types of robots influence customers’ perception of the service provided. Therefore, the following research questions are proposed; Can humans develop feelings of identification with a service robot? Can the identification that customers perceive between themselves, and service robots be strong enough to influence the creation of a close relationship between both parties? What are the features of service robots that heighten customer well-being?

This working paper aims to conduct an empirical study to examine the relationship between industry performance and consumer well-being. We adopt the holistic view of consumer well-being which is measured using multiple dimensions (economic, socio-cultural variables). This paper proposes the model to test the effect on industry performance on well-being. Findings could benefit practitioners and academics.

A wide consensus of research points to an increasing responsibilization of individuals, as consumers engage in self-improvement through services and products (Giesler & Veresiu, 2014). Self-tracking services, with which consumers can monitor physiological and cognitive attributes such as breathing, pulse or mood, are a common manifestation of this change. This responsibilization means that solving structural well-being problems is left to individual consumers (Anderson et al., 2016). However, how this takes place in practice, and how service providers construct their service in this context of responsibilization has not yet been studied within Transformative Service Research. Through qualitatively analyzing text content from the websites of eleven different wearable devices and applications for self-tracking, this paper shows a novel conceptualization of how service providers present well-being capabilities to responsibilized consumers. The findings show that while well-being is in almost all cases concerned with managing a stressful work life, or enhancing the presentation of a healthy self, service providers present consumers with differing types of capabilities for tackling these issues. The first type refers to changing, which implies actively conforming to norms by changing one’s appearance or physique. The second type entails coping, i.e. more passively withstanding and learning to live with stress or pressure. The third type of capability, countering, refers to an active, non-conformist stance towards external norms, instead advocating well-being through self-knowledge. This study contributes to Transformative Service Research by responding to calls for research on well-being as a socio-culturally constructed phenomenon (Anderson & Ostrom, 2015). The findings show how “consumer capabilization” (Giesler & Veresiu, 2014) takes place in practice through services. In addition, it extends discussions on service providers’ abilities to transform or reproduce structures (Edvardsson, Tronvoll & Gruber, 2011; Blocker & Barrios, 2015) and how this can affect well-being.

The paper proposes to develop a framework to help examine the factors and processes by which luxury advertising can impact consumer health across the globe. While luxury products such as Burberry and Gucci have been a source of much pride and might accentuate the need for conspicuous consumption (Veblen 1899) within a society, we seek to examine how luxury brands across categories can produce both favorable and unfavorable consequences on consumer health. The model would offer insights into essential factors and processes not only those who aspire such luxury brands, but also for those who have no such desire. With the theoretical underpinnings, the suggested model will draw its predictability powers across the fields of marketing (e.g., branding), psychology (i.e., cognitive dissonance theory, social perception theories) and network theories (social contagion theory). This suggested framework will focus on body image, specifically eating disorders (e.g., anorexia), and will exemplify how luxury brand communication can have quick detrimental effects on young adolescent females across the globe. At the same time, the model will also demonstrate how and what factors can lead the global community down a more healthy socially integrated pathway with luxury branding still being the driving force.