Real-Time Push Mobile Marketing Strategy: To What Extent Do Time and Relevance Matter?

The ubiquity of the smartphone has proven disruptive. The relevance of this medium can be observed through time spent on mobile media, google mobile search numbers, and direct and indirect sales generated by mobile devices. Consumer expectations of firms have likewise increased, and there is now an anticipation of readily reliable, responsive, and personalized services to support consumers’ everyday activities whenever they need it. Prior research focused on the following themes: mobile marketing strategy, permission marketing, proximity marketing, topicality, and utility. Empirical gaps were identified in the real-time mobile and push mobile marketing domain. A quantitative engaged scholarship research method was utilized to investigate this phenomenon empirically. In partnership with an online information marketplace, an empirical investigation was undertaken via an experiment that used real mobile application users. The empirical findings from the study have several possible implications. First, prior research suggests that mobile marketing is time-sensitive, but consumers require some lead time to respond to the communication. However, this study provides evidence that push mobile communication is different. Unlike traditional mobile marketing, real-time communication, and content topicality work together to increase consumer engagement in push mobile communication. Second, mobile application users would like a guided experience that is both relevant and in real-time. Failing to engage users with any communication or provide a guided experience on the mobile application is as counterproductive as sending users a push communication that is neither relevant nor in real-time. Third, in certain business contexts, typicality takes priority over the timing of the communication. When the business context is ephemeral in nature, timing and topicality are of equal importance. The study contributes to the research by plugging the real-time and push mobile communication literature gap. The study contributes to practice by providing a push mobile marketing framework for firms seeking to orchestrate a sound push mobile communication strategy. Finally, the study acts as a catalyst to a call for research on the scarcely explored areas of real-time and push mobile marketing to move the field forward

The Influence of Website Design on Online Trust in Electronic Commerce Retailing Environments

E-commerce retail sales continue to experience significant growth in the United States (U.S.) annually. However, the contribution of e-commerce retail sales towards total retail sales in the U.S. remains low. Furthermore, the growth of e-commerce retail sales from year to year as a percentage of total retail sales in the U.S. is also fractional. The lack of online trust by consumers has been cited as a significant barrier to transacting online and a possible cause of this slow-moving trend. E-commerce retail sales are paramount to the success and profitability of online merchants. It remains critical to understand the underlying determinants of online trust as a precursor to online purchase intention. This study sought to explore the effect of one such determinant namely, website design, on online trust. Using constructs and scales synthesized from the salient literature, the effects of visual design, social-cue design, and content design on online trust were measured and reported. Additionally, the mediating influence of online trust on online purchase intention was investigated. Demographic factors of age and gender were also examined for possible moderating effects of website design on online trust. A conceptual model of the influence of website design on online trust and the influence of online trust on purchase intention in e-commerce retailing environments was also tested. The study involved scenario-based survey research methodology. Participants were presented with two websites along with a fictitious purchase scenario and post-scenario survey. The survey captured their responses with respect to the design elements of each website, their inclination to trust each website, and their intention to make a purchase from each website. Participants’ age range and gender were also captured in the survey. A total of 502 participants took part in the study. The results found that each of the components of website design namely, visual design, social-cue design, and content design had a statistically significant effect on online trust. Online trust was also found to mediate the effect of these design factors on purchase intention. Finally, no significant effects of age or gender on website design’s relationship with online trust were found. Subsequently, implications and suggestions for future research are presented

Factors Influencing the Establishment of Clothing Retailers in the Metaverse: The Role of Metaverse Technology as a Mediator

The metaverse is a virtual environment where people may interact with one another via avatars. As the metaverse has gained in popularity over the last several years, the retail industry has indicated an interest in using it for product promotion and sales. However, opening a clothes store in the metaverse has unique challenges, and prospective investors should keep a few things in mind. This study aimed to uncover the factors that led Dubai investors to create a virtual apparel brand for sale online. Independent factors were creativity, safety, and confidentiality. The advent of Dubai's Metaverse clothes store was the dependent variable, while the technology enabling the metaverse was the mediator. The study used a quantitative methodology, including a survey questionnaire. For demographic and structural equation modeling objectives, we employed SPSS and AMOS software. The mediator variable was shown to be significantly affected by all independent factors, according to data from a survey of 398 participants. The successful debut of apparel in the metaverse in Dubai may be primarily attributed to the metaverse's cutting-edge technological innovations in security and privacy. Customers may be unwilling to provide personal information or engage in virtual transactions if they do not trust the safety of their data in the metaverse; thus, these issues must be addressed. Investors should prioritize developing private and secure metaverse technologies to win users' confidence. The findings call attention to the absence of study in this area and provide valuable insight into the factors contributing to the success of retail clothes launches in the metaverse. When taken as a whole, this study paves the way for more investigation into the metaverse and its possible implications on the retail industry in Dubai.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Mobile Ad Intrusiveness – The Effects of Message Type and Situation

This study addresses the effects of message type and situation on the perceived intrusiveness of mobile advertisements. Ad intrusiveness, as conceptualized by Li et al., is introduced to the field of mobile advertising and used as dependent variable in a 2x2 within-subjects factorial study design. Two message types (informative vs. entertaining) are combined with two different situations (low vs. high level of activity). Attitude towards advertising in general and ad relevance (here: product class involvement) are further variables assessed in order to test for a hypothesized impact on mobile ad intrusiveness. A survey approach was used for data collection (n=325). Main effects were analyzed with analysis of variance. Analysis of covariance and regression analysis were applied subsequently for analyzing further effects. While message type was not found to contribute significantly to the explanation of mobile ad intrusiveness, the situation type showed a highly significant effect. Three of the four assumed relationships were found in the data. The study contributes to the body of knowledge on mobile advertising effectiveness. Empirical evidence for the effects of the situational context on mobile advertising effectiveness has been found and discussed with possible implications for marketing practice

Innovation in In-Store Promotions: Effects on Consumer Purchase Decision

With retail competition at an all-time high, today’s retailers must find new ways to attract consumers and inspire high levels of customer loyalty. Due to the scarcity of time and advancement in technological and strategical innovations, it becomes inevitable for the retailer to come up with various new ways of promoting the brands and their products in-store at the time of decision making. Innovative retail set up can create a truly differentiated in-store experience with fun, interactive tools that put a wealth of information at customers’ fingertips during the right time of purchase decision. Retailers open in-store media (ISM) and allow manufacturers to advertise to shoppers. With an informative and easy-to-use retail experience, shoppers are empowered to access a wide variety of real-time product information— including pricing, location, availability, helpful advice, targeted promotions and more — right in the aisle, without waiting for a store associate. This enhanced self-service gives customers the best of both worlds — the instant information access in an internet-based online store and the irreplaceable tactile experience of shopping in the brick and mortar store. This research paper discusses on various in-store promotional strategies, new shopping solutions and how this in turn helps the customer to make purchase decision right in the retail store. Keywords: Retail, In-store promotion, Purchase decision, Innovatio

The effects of advertised exclusivity on consumer behavior

Retailers routinely counter price competition by matching or beating competitors\u27 prices. However, in addition to offering price-matching guarantees many retailers are increasingly adopting a differentiation or product assortment strategy of using advertised retailer exclusive products (AREPs) that are not directly comparable to competitor offerings. Such goods may offer added utilitarian and hedonic benefits to the consumer. With this tactic, products are advertised and labeled as exclusive, but the nature of the exclusivity may range no further than an exclusive label to more pronounced differences, such as unique or additional features. However, the effectiveness of such tactics at: (1) decreasing search motivations for lower prices and/or alternative versions of the product, (2) shaping perceived value (both utilitarian and hedonic), and (3) influencing consumers\u27 purchase decisions, is relatively unknown. Furthermore, while AREPs are a fairly new trend in retailing, the idea of exclusive products is a well-worn marketing idea. Luxury goods, in particular, are associated with exclusivity. However, exclusivity, especially the explicit, advertised exclusivity associated with AREPs, is different from the implied exclusivity of luxury goods. Therefore, this dissertation also presents a continuum and classification scheme of exclusivity to assist in differentiating between the types of exclusivity appeals and products. With the various forms of exclusivity classified, this dissertation gives a refined definition of exclusivity in a marketing context. Next, this dissertation discusses commonly accepted reference price models (e.g. Urbany et al. 1988, Alford and Engelland 2000) and suggests ways in which AREPs might influence these models and convince consumers to pay more for an exclusive product. An alternative model specifically addresses ways in which AREPs attempt to suppress or enhance parts of the traditional reference price model to increase purchase intention. AREPs, by their very nature, have no identical products available for comparison. However, other retailers may offer extremely similar versions of the same products. Rather than competing on price, AREPs use a combination of scarcity, whether real or perceived, prestige pricing, and additional hedonic (i.e. emotional) or utilitarian (i.e. practical) value to make the sale price more attractive. This unique combination of exclusive features and attributes may increase the likelihood of customer lock-in, in which customers must visit the retailer, and perhaps pay a slightly higher price, in order to obtain the additional exclusive attributes. Overall, this dissertation focuses on the nature of exclusivity in a marketing context, both in the retail marketplace and in the academic literature. While AREPs as a retailing strategy are discussed in-depth, other forms of exclusivity are also discussed to better define exclusivity and differentiate between the forms that exclusivity takes in the marketplace. Last, an experiment testing consumer reactions to exclusivity promotions provides insight into the effectiveness of such promotions and gives a better understanding of how consumers perceive exclusive product promotions. The experiment was conducted using a web survey at a university in the southern United States. After cleaning the data, 321 valid responses remained. MANCOVA was used to analyze the results of the survey, and exclusivity promotions alone appeared to have had little impact on consumer perceptions. When exclusivity and additional product attributes were both present, exclusivity promotions significantly lowered the subjects\u27 attitudes toward the product in some manipulations. Overall, exclusivity promotions and their effects seem related to the type of attributes that are combined with the exclusivity promotion, and these effects appear to vary across product class

Do Products Labeled Retailer “Exclusive” Affect Consumer Behavior?

Many large retailers offer “advertised as retailer exclusive products” or AREPs. Retailers work with manufacturers to produce these unique, retailer exclusive versions of otherwise common products. While not all retailer exclusive products are advertised as “exclusive,” AREPs are advertised and labeled as retailer exclusives. The retailer exclusive product attributes are often “trivial,” but still may add customer value and discourage price comparison shopping. Here, two experiments assess AREPs effects on consumers. Contrary to managerial expectations, the findings suggest that AREP exclusivity promotions are ineffective at influencing consumers, but that the choice of exclusive, seemingly “trivial” attribute can sometimes be a significant negative influence on consumers. Further, the authors suggest contexts that may encourage specific responses to retailer exclusive product promotions and trivial attributes

Predicting the Mobile Consumer Purchase Behavior using Quantified Visual Preferences

Most mobile consumers make a decision about the product in a split second. The decision making in the mobile environment is surely faster than in front of the desktop. This paper claims that the decision-making in the mobile shopping is highly depending on the product’s first impression and their visual preference. By predicting the human’s visual preference based on the image processing model of perceived colorfulness and perceived visual complexity, this study tested an S-O-R path model from visual preference to consumer’s bookmarking and purchase intention via age and gender as moderators. With the controlled laboratory experiment, we substantiated our predicting image preference model. Further, a plan for a real data based analysis is proposed to validate the congruity of our model with the Korean mobile shopping company later