The Influence of Social Media Intensity and EWOM on Conspicuous Consumption

AbstractAn increasing number of people all around the globe are spending tremendous amounts of time in the cyber world on activities such as connecting with one another and searching for information. It is undeniable that social media, such as social networking sites (e.g. Facebook), micro blogging sites (e.g. Twitter), photo sharing sites (e.g. Instagram), and video sharing sites (e.g. YouTube) play a considerable role in peoples’ daily lives—changing the way people carry out their routines. This widespread consumption of social media has made an impact on the way marketers design their marketing activities, particularly in the promotion and distribution of their products. Grounded in sociology and marketing literature, this paper proposes a model linking the intensity of social media use with consumers’ reliance on electronic word of mouth (EWOM) and their consumption of conspicuous products. Data were collected from Thai consumers that yielded a final usable sample size of 1,142. The results from structural equation modeling reveal both direct and indirect influences (i.e., via EWOM) of social media intensity on conspicuous consumption. Hence, social media and EWOM are effective tools to entice demand for conspicuous products. In sum, this paper extends social network analysis to investigate evolving consumer behavior, and also suggests innovative marketing tools that enable firms to capitalize on advanced communication technologies and to adapt to the new virtual life style

The effects of globalization on marketing strategy and performance

Thesis (Ph.D.), College of Business and Economics, Washington State Universit

Innovation and performance implications of customer-orientation across different business strategy types

Given that the ultimate goal of business is performance enhancement, this study approaches the phenomenon by drawing on resource-advantage (R-A) theory to conceptualize a model with the aim of investigating the links among composite operant resources (CORs), namely customer orientation, basic operant resources (BORs), innovative capability, and financial performance across Miles and Snow's five business strategy types, including prospectors, differentiated defenders, low-cost (LC) defenders, analyzers, and reactors. The scope of this study is firms based in the emerging market of Thailand. A final sample of 395 Thai firms participated in the self-administered survey. Multiple-group structural equation modeling and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were utilized to test the hypotheses. The results revealed insightful findings that advance the strategy and innovation literature. While business strategy types moderate the proposed relationships, the only one that is uniform across all five types of firms is the positive, strong, and significant customer orientation-innovation capability link. Moreover, customer orientation and innovative capability contribute significantly to financial performance among prospectors and LC defenders. However, only the former is essential to differentiated defenders, analyzers, and reactors. Overall, the findings suggest that managers must pay attention to connections between their chosen business-level strategy, customer-focused resources, and innovation capabilities to generate the best financial performance outcomes for their firms

Understanding IT professional innovative work behavior in the workplace: A sequential mixed-methods design

In response to the pandemic, business leaders are increasingly investing in technology to enhance work processes. However, there is a gap in understanding how innovative work behavior (IWB) can facilitate this digital transformation and improve Information Technology (IT) helpdesk services. This study, guided by social exchange theory, explores the dimensions of IWB for IT helpdesk support staff using a mixed method design. Through a sequential exploratory approach, combining qualitative literature review and in-depth interviews, coupled with a quantitative survey of 440 IT staff, this study validates and establishes the reliability of an IWB measurement scale. Our results reveal eight dimensions of IWB: opportunity exploration, idea sharing, idea generation, idea implementation, idea organization, idea learning, idea promotion, and idea realization. These dimensions constitute a valid and reliable scale that organizations can utilize for self-assessment and employee development, as well as for identifying policy-related barriers to innovative work behaviors within the company