Enhancing Consumer Engagement in an Online Brand Community via User Reputation Signals: A Multi-Method Analysis

Generating and maintaining consumers’ engagement in online brand communities is critical for marketing managers to enhance relationships and gain customer loyalty. In this research, we investigate how the type of signal used to indicate user reputation can enhance (or diminish) consumers’ community engagement. Specifically, we explore differences in perceptions of points (i.e., point accrual systems), labels (i.e., descriptive, hierarchical identification systems), and badges (i.e., descriptive, horizontally-ordered identification systems). We argue that reputation signals vary in the degree to which they can provide role clarity—the presence of user roles that deliver information about expected behaviors within a group. Across several studies, including a natural experiment using panel data, a survey of community members, and two controlled experiments, we show that signals that evoke a positive social role have the ability to drive greater engagement (i.e., creating discussions, posting comments, and future engagement intentions) than signals that do not provide role clarity. The effect is moderated by user tenure, such that new consumers’ engagement is particularly influenced by signal type. These findings have important implications for marketers as they use reputation signals as a strategic tool when managing online communities

Why and When Consumers Prefer Products of User-Driven Firms: A Social Identification Account

Companies are increasingly drawing on their user communities to generate promising ideas for new products, which are then marketed as "user-designed" products to the broader consumer market. We demonstrate that nonparticipating, observing consumers prefer to buy from user-rather than designer-driven firms because of an enhanced identification with the firm that has adopted this user-driven philosophy. Three experimental studies validate a newly proposed social identification account underlying this effect. Because consumers are also users, their social identities connect to the user-designers, and they feel empowerment by vicariously being involved in the design process. This formed connection leads to preference for the firm's products. Importantly, this social identification account also effectively predicts when the effect does not materialize. First, we find that if consumers feel dissimilar to participating users, the effects are attenuated. We demonstrate that this happens when the community differs from consumers along important demographics (i.e., gender) or when consumers are nonexperts in the focal domain (i.e., they feel that they do not belong to the social group of participating users). Second, the effects are attenuated if the user-driven firm is only selectively rather than fully open to participation from all users (observing consumers do not feel socially included). These findings advance the emerging theory on user involvement and offer practical implications for firms interested in pursuing a user-driven philosophy. Data, as supplemental material, are available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.1999. (authors' abstract

Attributing John Marston’s Marginal Plays

John Marston (c. 1576–1634) was a dramatist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods, known for his satirical wit and literary feuds with Ben Jonson. His dramatic corpus consists of nine plays of uncontested authorship. This article investigates four additional plays of uncertain authorship which have been associated with Marston: Lust’s Dominion; Histriomastix; The Family of Love; and The Insatiate Countess. The internal evidence for Marston’s hand in these four texts is examined and an analysis made of the potential divisions of authorship. The essay provides a survey of Marston’s individual style by testing vocabulary; prosody; collocations of thought and language; and versification habits within both his acknowledged plays and the contested texts, in comparison to plays written by other authorship candidates

The Dark Side of Scarcity Promotions: How Exposure to Limited Quantity Promotions Can Induce Aggression

Marketers frequently use scarcity promotions, where a product or event is limited in availability. The present research shows conditions under which the mere exposure to such advertising can activate actual aggression that manifests even outside the domain of the good being promoted. Further, we document the process underlying this effect: exposure to limited-quantity promotion advertising prompts consumers to perceive other shoppers as competitive threats to obtaining a desired product and physiologically prepares consumers to aggress. Seven studies using multiple behavioral measures of aggression demonstrate this deleterious response to scarcity promotions

Purification and biochemical/molecular characterisation of antimicrobial peptides produced by Saccharomyces cerevisiae and evaluation of their mode of action

Tese apresentada para obtenção do Grau de Doutor em Engenharia AlimentarABSTRACT: The antagonistic effect exerted by Saccharomyces cerevisiae against other microbial species during wine fermentations was recently ascribed to its capacity to secrete antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). The main goal of the present work was to purify, identify and characterize those AMPs. Firstly, the AMPs were purified by means of chromatographic techniques (size-exclusion and ion-exchange) and then characterized regarding their amino acid sequence, codifying genes and antimicrobial/biochemical properties. Analysis of the purified AMPs by mass spectrometry revealed that the natural biocide is mainly composed by two peptides (AMP1 and AMP2/3) derived from the isoenzymes of the glycolytic protein glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). The spectrum of action of the naturally-excreted AMPs, which we named saccharomycin, is wide and includes several wine-related non-Saccharomyces yeasts, such as Hanseniaspora guilliermondii, Torulaspora delbrueckii, Kluyveromyces marxianus, Lachancea thermotolerans and Dekkera bruxellensis, as well as bacteria such as Oenococcus oeni. The antimicrobial effect of saccharomycin is significantly higher than that of synthetic analogues (AMP1 and AMP2/3) and depends on their complementary action and relative proportion. The mode of action of the AMPs was evaluated against sensitive yeast cells. The AMPs induce cell membrane permeabilization, loss of pH homeostasis and increase/decrease of H+-influx/-efflux. They also induce cell molecular markers typical of death by apoptosis in H. guilliermondii. Our work also revealed the accumulation of these GAPDH-derived peptides on the surface of stationary-grown (48 h) cells of S. cerevisiae, which induce death of non-Saccharomyces yeasts (H. guilliermondii and L. thermotolerans) by direct cell-cell contact. Finally, S. cerevisiae strains over-expressing these AMPs prevented growth of D. bruxellensis in co-fermentations, decreasing the levels of sulphur dioxide needed to control wine spoilage. Thus, the potential of these AMPs to be used as biopreservative in wine seems promising.RESUMO: O efeito antagónico de Saccharomyces cerevisiae contra outras espécies microbianas durante fermentações vínicas foi recentemente atribuído à sua capacidade de excretar péptidos antimicrobianos (PAMs). O principal objetivo do presente estudo foi purificar, identificar e caracterizar estes PAMs. Primeiramente, os PAMs foram purificados por técnicas cromatográficas (exclusão molecular e permuta iónica) e posteriormente caracterizados quanto à sua sequência de aminoácidos, aos genes que os codificam e às suas propriedades antimicrobianas/bioquímicas. Os PAMs purificados foram, em seguida, analisados por espectrometria de massa, revelando que o biocida natural é composto maioritariamente por dois PAMs (PAM1 e PAM2/3) originários das três isoenzimas da proteína glicolítica gliceraldeído-3-fosfato desidrogenase. O espectro de ação dos PAMs naturais, os quais designámos por saccharomycin, é amplo e inclui várias leveduras vínicas, tais como Hanseniaspora guilliermondii, Torulaspora delbrueckii, Kluyveromyces marxianus, Lachancea thermotolerans e Dekkera bruxellensis, assim como a bactéria vínica Oenococcus oeni. O efeito antimicrobiano de saccharomycin é bastante mais acentuado do que o efeito dos análogos quimicamente sintetizados (PAM1 e PAM2/3) e depende da sua ação complementar, assim como da sua proporção relativa. O modo de ação dos PAMs foi analisado em leveduras sensíveis, verificando-se que estes induzem permeabilização da membrana celular, perda da homeostase do pH e aumento/decréscimo do influxo/efluxo de H+. Verificou-se igualmente, que os PAMs induzem morte por apoptose em H. guilliermondii. Descobrimos, ainda, que estes PAMs se acumulam na superfície de células estacionárias (48 h) de S. cerevisiae, as quais são capazes de induzir a morte de leveduras não-Saccharomyces (H. guilliermondii e L. thermotolerans) por contacto celular direto. Por fim, uma estirpe laboratorial de S. cerevisiae foi manipulada geneticamente de forma a sobre-expressar cada um dos PAMs, verificando-se que as estirpes manipuladas apresentaram um elevado efeito antimicrobiano contra D. bruxellensis, o que permitiu reduzir os níveis de dióxido de enxofre normalmente aplicados em vinhos. Assim, a utilização destes PAMs como um bioconservante alternativo no vinho parece promissora.N/

Refining the Tightness and Looseness Framework with a Consumer Lens

In their paper, Li, Gordon and Gelfand introduced the Tightness–Looseness (T–L) framework to the consumer domain, and offered several ideas on how this framework could be applied to consumer behavior. In this commentary, we examine the T–L framework through the consumer lens and discuss how the uniqueness of the consumption context can refine and broaden this psychological framework. We identify four questions that aim to enrich our discussion of this framework from the perspective of consumer research, and to motivate future research questions. Specifically, we consider 1) how the interplay between the tightness/looseness of a culture and its effect on consumer behavior can be a bi‐directional relationship, 2) how variances in T–L in different consumption subcultures and aspects of society (e.g., economic, political) can impact consumer behavior, 3) how the examination of T–L at different stages in the consumption process is a relevant and important question to consider, and 4) how T–L may contribute to further investigation and understanding of punishment toward business and consumer norm violators

Identity-Based Perceptions of Others’ Consumption Choices

In this chapter we argue that studying “identity” means moving beyond the “self.” Consumers exist in a social context, meaning that the choices they make (a) reinforce their own identities and (b) provide information about who they are to other people. For example, someone (an “actor”) might choose to buy organic produce; someone else (an “observer”) may perceive this individual as an environmentally-conscious Millennial with higher disposable income. Importantly, observers may use an actor’s perceived identities to judge the “appropriateness” of a given purchase. We illustrate these points by focusing on income identity (e.g., socioeconomic status) and ethical consumption choices (i.e., choices that are prosocial but costly). Across several experiments, we find that low-income consumers receiving government assistance (“welfare recipients”) are seen as less moral when they choose ethical products, such as organic food and eco-friendly vehicles. This occurs in part because people expect those who are poor to be frugal. Conversely, wealthier consumers are seen as more moral for the same choices, in part, because of a belief they have earned spending freedom. We also find that these judgments extend to non-financial choices like volunteering time. This chapter is important because it highlights that who we are impacts perceptions of what we do, which may have consequences for our relationships with other consumers, government agencies, and non-profit organizations. For example, identity-based cues may influence hiring practices (e.g., poor actors are seen as less employable than wealthy actors), government policies (e.g., some people may be seen as more “deserving” of aid than others), and the ability to solicit donations (e.g., people donate less to a charity providing “organic food” vs. “conventional food” to aid recipients). We hope our chapter inspires additional research activity into understanding how observer-based identity judgments influence consumer well-being and marketplace experiences

Do Retail Brands Bias Consumer Decision Making? -an Fmri-Study on Retail Brand Frames and the Evaluation of Product Packaging

In economic and psychological theory there is evidence that the manner ("framing") in which a choice-problem is presented, can affect people's preferences. To add a new theoretical perspective to this research stream, we investigated the neural correlates of retail-brand-frames and analysed how participants' product evaluation is biased by the framing-information