Creating the New Normal: A Historical Approach to Understanding Marketing Agility and its Implications Across Business, Healthcare, and Social Welfare in a Post Pandemic World

The purpose of this article is to expand our understanding of how marketing agility shapes business, healthcare, and social welfare policy and societal responses to global pandemics. We set the stage for this discussion by presenting an historical exemplar case of marketing agility during the 1918 Influenza pandemic in the US. Next, we outline a necessary conceptual revision and update to previous treatments of marketing agility relative to historical pandemics considering the recent COVID-19 pandemic. Our novel conceptualization focuses on a firm’s (business, healthcare, social welfare) prompt response to dynamic and turbulent circumstances beyond the control of the firm (Araújo et al., 2018) through marketing practices that include adapting, adopting, and innovating. We then discuss how using our new model of marketing agility advances our understanding of changes in business, healthcare, and social welfare, policy and societal responses using the COVID-19 pandemic as a recent exemplar. The implications of our approach for developing a deeper understanding of how firms respond to contemporary pandemics relative to domains such as management are discussed

The Effectiveness of Celebrity Endorsement on Purchase Behavior: Do Celebrities Raise The Bar?

Research on the interplay between celebrity endorsers, high-low pricing, and quality has not been examined in the literature. This raises the question of whether celebrity endorsement can compensate for the effect of low prices on consumer quality perceptions. Across two studies, one using archival data and one using an experiment, we find evidence that the presence of celebrity endorsers can offset the effect that a low price has on consumer quality perceptions. Further, willingness to purchase is higher for a low-priced product endorsed by a celebrity. These findings have implications for marketing theory and practice

Riding the subscription box wave: Understanding the landscape, challenges, and critical success factors of the subscription box industry

The subscription box e-commerce industry has experienced tremendous growth over the last 5 years. Given the growing size of the industry, this business model warrants the close attention of firms currently offering subscription services as well as companies considering entering this industry. This article presents a detailed overview of the subscription box industry and proposes a framework—the four Cs—for understanding subscription offerings. It identifies challenges and opportunities facing this industry, and it provides managers with guidance in the form of five tenets on how to navigate the subscription box economy

Taking it to the streets: A multimethod investigation of street credibility and consumer affinity toward street credible endorsers

Celebrity endorsers are featured in 10 to 20 percent of commercials in the United States (Agrawal and Kamakura, 1995). While firms have invested significant capital in celebrity endorsers, they traditionally shy away from those who have been involved in illegal or immoral acts (Briggs, 2009; Creswell, 2008). However, the rules of endorser selection appear to be changing. Recently, a new type of endorser whose celebrity is built in part upon criminal activity or violent history has emerged. These celebrities, often rappers, successfully endorse major brands such as Vitamin Water and Chrysler. They are frequently described as having another form of credibility--street credibility (Spiegler, 1996). Patrick (2005) suggests that the street credible celebrities will replace athletes as the most important product endorsers. Therefore, it is important to determine the nature of street credibility, who has it, and how is it gained. As well, we need to understand how diverse consumer groups relate to these endorsers. The first essay of this dissertation develops a definition for the construct of street credibility, outlines its antecedents, and investigates its attraction to different consumer groups. To do so, existing ethnographic, anthropological and sociological studies regarding street culture (i.e. Bourgois, 2003; LeBlanc, 2003) are consulted. A modified form of grounded theory using extant theory and ethnographic studies is employed to build a foundation for this emerging construct (Burton, Cherlin, Winn, Estacion, and Holder-Taylor, 2009). Next, theoretical sampling (Glaser and Strauss, 1967) is used to select interview respondents in two U.S. communities. The first community represented inner-city consumers and the second represented consumers outside the inner city. The results from this study indicate that street credibility is based on one\u27s ability to thrive within the streets\u27 culture of terror with street smarts and the creation of a tough persona. This form of credibility is increased as one gains financial, physical, and sexual power within street culture\u27s context. This study suggests that the inner-city consumers\u27 affinity toward the street credible celebrity is rooted in their similarity to the endorser while non-inner city consumers\u27 affinity is based on the celebrities\u27 ability to evoke fantasy. A second set of in-depth interviews with respondents who were inner-city minorities, inner-city non-minorities, non-inner city minorities, and non-inner city non-minorities were conducted. The purpose of this study was to buttress the findings from the earlier studies, further delineate how diverse populations view street credibility, and to gain insight as to which products and brands are best represented by these endorsers. The findings here were in line with the previous interviews and also indicated that non-inner city minorities are attracted to these endorsers based on their shared histories as minorities. Additionally, in terms of product match, street credible celebrities were reported as being able to endorse non profits as well as low priced street themed or high price-premium products, but not those products that are mid-tier. The second essay of this dissertation provides a review of literature on endorser credibility, endorsers as reference group members and source persuasion. This essay then provides evidence that consumer affinity for the street credible endorser, in spite of his or her association with negative information, is inconsistent with the traditional models of credibility and endorser effectiveness. Building on McCracken\u27s (1989) Meaning Transfer Model, this essay posits that consumer affinity for the street credible endorser is based on his or her meanings and uses. This is further delineated in a proposed model of Relationship, Feelings and Fantasy and Experiential Consumption Model. This model posits that consumer affinity for street credible endorsers is based on the endorser\u27s ability to provide the consumer escape from the stress of daily life through transformational fantasy. Here, street credible endorser\u27s association with certain scandals authenticates their street credibility and in doing so adds to the fantasy these celebrities evoke. This model resolves the anomaly of affinity for endorsers tied to negative information. Moreover, this model answers Amos, Holmes, and Strutton\u27s (2008) call for research that provides insight into attraction to celebrities who are bankable endorsers despite their negative actions. The purpose of the third essay of this dissertation is to provide further understanding the role that fantasy plays in consumers\u27 affinity for street credible endorsers. As scale measures for neither the construct of street credibility nor that of fantasy type has yet to be developed, a series of studies using Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis are first conducted. These studies yield two separate reliable and valid scales, one for each construct. Next, the basic assumptions of the Relationships, Feelings, and Fantasy and Experiential Consumption Model are tested. Here, Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analysis indicate that the brand personality scale (Aaker 1987) accurately measures celebrity brand personalities. The relationships between celebrity type and fantasy generation are explored using MANOVA. Results from these studies indicate that street credibility and cool are different constructs. In addition, an analysis of the data suggests that street credible endorsers are less cool and hold brand personalities that are less sincere and exciting than traditional endorsers. However, street credible endorsers are more able to evoke transportation fantasies and less able to evoke identify fantasies than their traditional counterparts. We find that each endorser group\u27s ability to evoke fantasy is mediated by the consumer similarity to the endorser. In agreement with the model, these findings suggest that the exotic nature of street credible endorsers do indeed contribute to this his or her ability to evoke transportation fantasies

ALLOW ME TO (RE)INTRODUCE MYSELF: AN EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING REBRANDING PROJECT WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF PROFESSIONAL SPORTS

Rebranding is a widely utilized practice to change the image of a brand in the minds of the consumer through major or minor changes in both its positioning and aesthetics. Yet, evidence suggests it is not meaningfully covered in many marketing classes. This project provides an innovative, engaging, experiential learning opportunity that can be easily adapted for a wide array of marketing classes. Findings indicate the students’ knowledge of, familiarity with, and ability to apply rebranding increase as a result of the experience

Minority students corporate engagement programs: Addressing the ad industry’s problem with minorities

Firms often make marketing missteps that offend minority consumers. Such missteps are attributed to the lack of diversity within the marketing field. This paper presents a corporate engagement program that partners minority students with a national company as an innovative approach to this problem. Leveraging both passive and active learning, students attend classes and work on original marketing plans for the company. Feedback from both students and the company suggests that both parties learned from each other, adding to the pipeline of future minority marketers while leading to a better understanding of minority consumers. The latter holds promise for the creation of effective communications that resonate with minority consumers

DPS 2.0: on the road to a cashless society

While cash will eventually become a thing of the past, marketing researchers have given little attention to the rise of cashless markets and the obstacles and opportunities they present. In fact, research that addresses the strategic approach to planning, coordinating, and executing the cashless adoption and experience for consumers is scant. To stimulate discussion and scholarly investigations into marketing’s contribution toward the evolution of cashless economies, this Idea Corner presents a research agenda that delineates the role of DPS 2.0, a new era of digital payment systems, in fueling the demonetization process. We offer that, compared to traditional payment systems (DPS 1.0), DPS 2.0 provides consumers and merchants cashless, virtual, automated, flexible, faster, and interoperable (The ability of DPS 2.0 systems to be compatible and operable across providers, software, and payment portals) means of payment. However, the promise of DPS 2.0 is clouded with concerns of opportunism, security, and fraud. This paper outlines these issues and provides corresponding future research opportunities within five areas of DPS 2.0 (digital wallets, cryptocurrency, virtual currency, facial recognition, and mobile payments)

Is this real life? Is it just fantasy? The development and validation of a media-evoked fantasy scale

Purpose: Prior research has indicated that narratives may lead to fantasy which may evoke narrative transportation. Researchers have also established that narrative transportation affects persuasion, changes in attitudes and brand evaluations. To this end, several studies have focused on narrative consumption (i.e. being hooked into a narrative) and the aforementioned consequences of narrative transportation. However, research investigating the role that fantasy plays in consumers’ journey from narrative consumption to narrative transportation is scant. The purpose of this paper is to develop a multidimensional scale for measuring narrative-driven fantasy in order to detail which dimensions of fantasy facilitate narrative transportation. Further, this paper posits that prior research has overlooked the mediating role that fantasy plays within the narrative consumption and narrative transportation process. As the exploration of overlooked mediators is important for theory development, this paper uses the scale developed here to test for fantasy as a mediator. Design/methodology/approach: This research involves four studies, taking a multi-methodology approach including one-on-one interviews and questionnaires. Exploratory factor analysis and sequential equation modeling are used to develop a valid scale for fantasy. Findings: This work results in the development of an eight-item scale of narrative-driven fantasy, highlighting two dimensions of fantasy: identification and passport. Further, this work finds that both dimensions of fantasy mediate the relationship between the level of narrative consumption (being hooked into the narrative) and narrative transportation. Research limitations/implications: The studies were conducted with respondents only from the USA, potentially limiting its generalizability to other countries and cultures. This research has several implications. This paper introduces a model that highlights fantasy’s role within the narrative consumption and narrative transportation fields of study. It also delineates a scale that measures the different dimensions of fantasy. This scale can be used to gain further understanding of the strength and type of fantasy that narratives consumed via various mediums (music, movies, commercials) evoke, the relationship between these measures and narrative transportation, and the subsequent changes in intentions and attitudes. Further, the identification of fantasy as a mediator in the relationship between narrative consumption and narrative transportation allows for further theory development and exploration. Practical implications: The fantasy scale that is detailed in this paper may be used to indicate which celebrities, music, images, movies, commercials, products, brands and other stimuli best evoke narrative-based fantasy. The scale should apply to all types of fantasizing, enhancing the understanding of what increases levels of fantasy and the effects of such fantasy on persuasion. Originality/value: This research extends the literature on consumer engagement in narrative consumption and transportation by providing novel and valid scale measures for narrative-based fantasy. The fantasy scale provided is internally consistent and proves accurate across many samples and stimuli. The scale is also short (only eight items) and easy to administer. Additionally, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this work is the first to generate insights into the mediating role that fantasy plays within the narrative consumption and narrative transportation framework