Are Lonely Consumers Loyal Consumers? Two-dimensional Lonely Consumer’s Brand Relationships

Although loneliness has been shown to influence consumer behaviors, prior research conceptualized loneliness unidimensionally as a feeling of inadequate relationships. However, relationships can be inadequate in terms of quality and quantity, creating a two-dimensional view of loneliness. We show that these dimensions have distinct effects on how consumers relate to brands. Emotional loneliness, due to insufficient relationship closeness, increases brand loyalty, whereas social loneliness, due to insufficient number of relationships, increases preference for greater brand assortment, creating the appearance of weaker loyalty to any one brand. Three studies indicate that loneliness fluctuates brand loyalty, depending on the dimension of loneliness.

Sponsor: Oklahoma State University

PI/PDs: Zachary Arens, Eunyoung Jang

 

Disentangling Product Comparisons with the Attribute-Hedonic Model

Marketing policies assume that consumers comparing products will show a hedonic contrast effect, when a product seems more appealing being compared with an unappealing competitor. However, hedonic judgments are confounded with underlying attribute judgments and it is important to delineate their effects. This paper presents six studies to disentangle them and consistently finds two distinct effects in opposite directions: while attribute judgments contrast with a competitor, hedonic judgments assimilate. The results show a hedonic contrast effect on the surface, but deeper investigation finds no evidence of the effect. This research shows hidden complexity underlying product comparisons and the consequences for marketing tactics that rely on them.

Sponsor: Oklahoma State University

PI/PD: Zachary Arens

 

Entrepreneurial Orientation (EO) and Firm Innovation Performance

Using a dynamic capabilities perspective as our theoretical foundation, this study contributes by highlighting the underlying mechanism through which EO affects firm performance based on the subsequent theoretical linkages: 1)strategic resources, 2)strategic actions (organizational responsiveness), 3)competitive advantage, and 4)performance. Our theoretical rationale is that EO as an important strategic resource contributes to firm performance through a sequential link of EO: 1) dynamic capabilities, 2)competitive advantages, and 3) firm performance. More specifically, among various views of firm capabilities, the importance of dynamic capabilities is especially emphasized in the current business environments characterized by fast and unpredictable change.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, Chinese Culture University, Taiwan

PI/PDs: Todd Arnold

Chinese Culture University, Taiwan: Peter Chen

 

Alliance Orientation, Competitive Advantage in NPD, and New Product Success

Strategic orientation is a key determinant of new product development (NPD) performance, yet, little is known about the real value of alliance orientation (AO) in the context of NPD, as well as how it contributes to new product success. This study advances knowledge by investigating the role of important mediating and moderating mechanisms underlying the AO－new product success relationship. Applying a dynamic capabilities perspective, the research demonstrates that competitive advantage in NPD program and process play a significant and varied role (depending upon environmental conditions) in affecting new product success.

Sponsor: Oklahoma State University, Chinese Culture University, Taiwan

PI/PDs: Todd Arnold

Chinese Culture University, Taiwan: Peter Chen

 

Enhancing Perceived Product Value through Peripheral Product Attributes

We examine how firms could design their products’ packaging both to help customers socialize more successfully, as well as profit. We investigate how a peripheral product anecdote, or a brief, interesting story that is loosely connected to the product, but not connected to its history or usage, can serve this purpose. For example, Combat Wombat beer is an Australian beer with an anecdote about a wombat, an Australian animal, on its label. Does such a story facilitate social interaction among those who consume the product? This study addresses such a question.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University,  SUNY Albany

PI/PDs: Todd Arnold, Josh Wiener

SUNY Albany: Hillary Wiener

 

The Costs (and Opportunities) of Highly Involved Organizational Buyers

The authors examine the impact of organizational buyers’ product involvement on customers’ and suppliers’ financial outcomes, driven by buyers’ increased willingness to pay and their perceived credibility in negotiations with the supplier. The effects of these competing mechanisms are moderated by characteristics of the customer firm and the customer-supplier relationship. The authors examine effects of buyer product involvement using a survey of organizational buyers matched with secondary profit data from their supplier. Customer firms should encourage their buyers to be highly involved but limit their influence within the firm. Highly involved buyers can be potentially costly to suppliers.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, University of Missouri

PI/PDs: Todd Arnold, Justin Lawrence, Colleen McClure

University of Missouri: Lisa Scheer

 

End User Engagement with Supplier Firm Brands: Meaningfulness of Work and Differential Impact of Other-Focused versus Self-Focused Marketing Initiatives

Findings suggest a key management concept, meaningfulness of work, can be applied to brand attachment in a work context. More specifically, results illustrate how end users find meaning on their job and develop strong feelings for supplier firm brands. The interaction between meaningfulness of work and supplier firm brand performance demonstrates that end users who find work more meaningful are more likely to both develop strong attachment for a supplier firm brand and more likely to advocate for that brand to superiors and peers.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, Georgia Gwinnett College

PI/PDs: Todd Arnold

Georgia Gwinnett College: Amy Fehl

 

Optimizing Frontline Shift Composition for Increased Customer Satisfaction and Firm Performance

Both academics and marketing managers agree that frontline employees (FLEs) are paramount for the provision of excellent service to customers. What is less well understood in extant research is the impact other employees may have upon a given individual frontline worker. We term this influence the shift climate, defined as the FLE’s perception of the tendencies of other members on the shift toward service behaviors that focus on customer need satisfaction. This study investigates the influence of shift climate on FLE performance.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, Georgia Gwinnett College, Grand Valley State University

PI/PDs: Todd Arnold

Georgia Gwinnett College: Amy Fehl

Grand Valley State University: Valerie Good

 

The Positive Influence of Watching Others Receive Preferential Treatment: The Role of Envy

The purpose of this research is to examine how and when companies can motivate          

non-prioritized consumers to respond positively to customer prioritization and mitigate their negative reactions. We conducted two studies to test whether non-prioritized customers can respond positively to preferential treatment received by others. We used a video experiment to increase the realism of the manipulation and to establish internal validity and we employed a field survey to demonstrate external validity. We also suggest that the aspect of upward comparison that people pay attention to can influence whether they respond positively or negatively to an upward comparison episode.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi

PI/PDs: Tom Brown

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi: Yu-shan Huang

 

The Drivers of Salespersons’ Customer Insight-Generating Behavior and Its Impact on Sales Performance Outcomes in a Relationship Selling Context

Salespeople have long been told to uncover information about their prospective customers and their needs. This project examines the degree to which (and process through which) uncovering customer insights influences sales performance.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University,  Weber State University, University of Tennessee-Knoxville

PI/PDs: Tom Brown, Karen E. Flaherty

Weber State University: Nicole A. Flink

University of Tennessee-Knoxville: Alex R. Zablah

 

Bleisure Motivation of Meeting, Incentive, Convention, and Exhibition Travelers
The objectives of this study are to 1) examine the bleisure motivations of MICE travelers, 2) investigate the trip characteristics of bleisure travelers, and 3) induce a grounded theory from data collection and analysis. This study adopted a pragmatic mixed method of emic and etic approaches.  Triangulation (participant observations, interviews, and surveys of MICE travelers) was conducted with several datasets collected over time from 2011 to 2021.
Sponsor: Oklahoma State University

PI/PDs: Goutam Chakraborty, Bongkosh Rittichainuwat

 

CO2 Storage Site Screening Platform Development and CO2 Storage Resource Analysis in SECARB Offshore Reservoirs Using SAS® Viya

In this study, the SAS® Viya platform was utilized to manage the geological datasets and analyze the geological characteristics of the shelf and deep-water areas through the use of correlation plots and distribution maps. In addition, a CO2 storage site screening platform was developed in SAS® Viya. This screening platform is flexible and allows for quick access to the results, which enables users to easily tune the screening criteria and understand the how various screening criterion affect the output. 

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, (external funding from SECARB)

PI/PDs: Goutam Chakraborty, Xitong Hu, Prem Bikkina, Jack C. Pashin

 

Developing and Creating a User-Friendly Dynamic Dashboard of Catalogue using Tableau for Love’s Travel Stop and Stores

In this funded research project, we developed and created a user-friendly dashboard catalogue for Love’s Travel Stop and Stores using Tableau. The project involved first understanding which elements the mangers want to see in the dashboard. This was accomplished through many in-depth interviews with the managers. The next phase was to create mock ups of dashboards using static data and present to the managers for further refinement. Once buy-in was obtained from the managers through many iterations, then the final phase included replacing the static data with dynamically pulled data from their warehouse and helping them put this into production.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University (External funding from Love’s Travel Stores and Stops)

PI/PDs: Goutam Chakraborty, Melissa Reed

 

Developing and Fine-Tuning a Machine Learning Model to Track a Custom Object which is Initialized only once in a Video

In this research project, we developed and tuned a machine-learning model using Python to track an object that appears only once in a video, and to be able to handle occlusion. First, a thorough review of all existing algorithm packages that handle such tasks. These include open CV trackers, deep sort algorithm, Kalman filters and CSRT/MOSSE trackers. While each one of these has advantages, none could handle both of our objectives. Therefore, we developed a custom Python code that created an ensemble of best features from each of the reviewed packages. The Python code was tested with real data and was reasonably accurate.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, (External funding from Concat Systems)

PI/PDs: Goutam Chakraborty, Nikhil Gunti

 

Developing and Validating a Customer Lifetime Value Model for Love’s Travel Stop and Stores

In this funded research project, we developed and validated a customer Lifetime Value (CLV) model for Love’s Travel Stop and Stores using Tableau. Done through building and validating two specific models for the drivers. Forecasting the number of transactions for each driver on a weekly basis.  We evaluated multiple time-series models and selected the auto-ARIMA which performed the best on the validation data. Then combined forecasting with operational and financial metrics to create a Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) for each driver. These numbers were used to create segments of drivers who receive customized promotional offers to move them to a higher value segment.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, (External funding from Love’s Travel Stores and Stops)

PI/PDs: Goutam Chakraborty, Harshit Agarwal

 

Developing and Creating a User-Friendly Dynamic Dashboard of Campaign Analytics using Snowflake and Tableau for Heartland Payment Systems

In this funded research project, we developed and created a user-friendly dashboard for Heartland Payment Systems using Snowflakes and Tableau. The project involved first understanding which elements of campaign analytics the mangers want to see in the dashboard. This was accomplished through many in-depth interviews with the managers. The next phase was to create mock ups of dashboards using static data and present to the managers for further refinement. Once buy-in was obtained from the managers through many iterations, then the final phase included replacing the static data with dynamically pulled data using Snowflake to optimize time needed to populate the dashboard.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, (External funding from Heartland Payment Systems)

PI/PDs: Goutam Chakraborty, Katelyn Byrne

 

The Influence of Donation Resource Abundance on Choice of The Abstract Donation Target

This paper aims to investigate how to improve the donation choice toward abstract targets by matching donation resource abundance (abundant vs. limited) and message construal level (high vs. low) within donation appeals. Four studies were conducted to examine the influence of donation resource abundance on donation choice toward abstract target. We find that people with abundant resource are more likely to choose an abstract target versus a concrete target. Notably, perceived response efficacy mediates the effect of resource abundance on abstract target choice. In addition, the message construal level plays the moderate role.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, Sun Yat Sen University

PI/PDs:  Xiang Fang, Pramit Banerjee

Sun Yat Sen University: Yimin Zhu, Jifei Wu, etc. 

 

The Effect of Power Distance Beliefs on Vertical vs. Horizontal Display
This research is to investigate how individuals’’ power distance beliefs influence their evaluations of the products displayed vertically or horizontally. We expect individuals’ with high power distance beliefs are more likely to prefer the products presented vertically than horizontally. This effect is stronger for material products than experiential products. Process fluency mediates the effect of PDB on the evaluations.

Sponsor: Oklahoma State University

PI/PDs: Xiang Fang, Pramit Banerjee

 

Vicarious Authenticity in Tourism: Experientialism Approach and Focus Group Interviews

Authenticity is a core theme in the hospitality and tourism industry as it brings “a sense of the genuine, the real or the unique” to visitors at a destination via traditional culture and origins of a locality (Sharpley, 1994, p. 130). Three types of authenticity have been identified: objective, constructed, and existential authenticity (Bruner, 1994; MacCannell, 1976; Wang, 1999). The purpose of this research is to theorize a new type of authenticity, ‘vicarious authenticity’, using experientialism as a philosophical base. The objectives of this research are to define vicarious authenticity and explore how it transpires in tourists’ experiences through participation in locals’ everyday lives.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, Hong Kong Polytechnic University

PI/PDs:  Xiang Fang, Li Miao

Hong Kong Polytechnic University: Gemmy Moon

 

Touch or Click? The effect of direct and indirect human-computer interaction on consumer responses

Human-computer interaction is the way consumers access product, service and information, which affects consumers’ attitude, evaluation and purchase behavior. This paper examines how human-computer interaction affect consumer attitude and purchase intention. Four studies demonstrate that consumer with direct human-computer interaction will generate more favorable consumers’ attitudes and greater purchase intentions than those with indirect human-computer interaction. This effect is mediated by sense of immersion and this effect is moderated by the product haptic importance. These findings enrich the literature on human-computer interaction and provide some marketing implications for firms to improve product evaluation and purchase behavior by the means of human-computer interaction.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, Sun Yat Sen University

PI/PDs:  Xiang Fang

Sun Yat Sen University: Jifei Wu, Hongyan Yu

 

Examining the Effect of a Firm’s Product Recall on Financial Values of Its Competitors

Scholars examine the effect of product recall on the recall firms from two different perspectives. One is from a consumer’s perspective, and the other is from a financial perspective. We chose the second perspective and tested how different product recall strategies (proactive vs. passive) influence competitors’ financial values. We collected 14 years (January 1996 to December 2009) of CPSC product recalls, and found that competitors experience positive abnormal returns when the recall firm employs proactive recall strategies. This confirms that investors interpret proactive recall differently from consumers. Proactive recall not only hurts the recall firm’s stock prices but benefits competitors’ financial values.

Sponsors:  Oklahoma State University, Towson University, Shanghai Univ. of Finance and Economics

PI/PDs:  Xiang Fang

Towson University: Yingying Shao 

Shanghai Univ. of Finance and Economics: Xiaoyu Wang

 

A Cross-Cultural Exploration of How Employees’ Intervention Discourages the Subsequent Misbehavior of Other Customers

The spreading of Dysfunctional Customer Behavior (DCB) is particularly problematic and costly for organizations. Drawing on social learning theory (Bandura, 1978), we expect that responding to DCB with certain interventions helps other customers learn that an employee has ability to cope with DCB, implying that such behavior is not accepted and will be reprimanded, which may decrease the DCB of other customers. In addition, we investigate the moderating role of cultures (particularly, power distance beliefs).

Sponsor: Oklahoma State University

PI/PDs: Xiang Fang, Sandy Huang, Ruping Liu

 

Managers as Engineers of Market Knowledge Network:  Typology and a Conceptual Framework 

Adopting a grounded theory approach, we offer a typology of manager’s network engineering that is based on three key variables, including managers’ market orientation, their network approach (proactive or reactive), and their servant leadership approach (self-focused or other-focused). Specifically, we propose that marketing managers engineer the social networks of their frontline employees in four unique ways—they may 1) facilitate connections, 2) alter connections, 3) lend connections, or 4) sever connections between the frontline employees and important others.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, Baylor University, University of Georgia
PI/PDs: Karen Flaherty
University of Georgia:  Son Lam
Baylor University: Andrea Dixon

How are Salesperson Professional Identities Shaped? Elements of Identity Work

Today’s employees often demonstrate stronger commitment to their chosen professions than to the companies they work for. This raises an important research question: how do salespeople’s views of the sales profession as a whole shape their career goals, motivations, attitudes and behaviors? Using a grounded theory approach, we address this question. Based on 54 in-depth interviews with sales professionals, we offer a complex process model of salesperson professional identity construction. Salespeople’s professional identities are malleable and socially constructed. Salespeople engage in a complex process of assessment and reconciliation to form professional identities. This process influences important salesperson outcomes.

Sponsor: Oklahoma State University

PI/PDs: Karen Flaherty, Curtis Schroeder

 

Making a Positive (or Negative) First Impression with Small Talk

We examine the effect of small talk and relationship orientation on customer intentions to use a service provider in three experiments and one cross-sectional survey. Customers respond positively to small talk when communally oriented, but negatively when they are more exchange oriented. Mediation analyses reveal this effect occurs because small talk differentially leads to feelings of rapport and impatience for people high (versus low) in relationship orientation. While prior research has shown benefits to small talk, we show significant downsides to using small talk with customers who are exchange oriented and show process evidence of why small talk functions as a “double-edged sword.”

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, University at Albany

PI/PDs: Karen Flaherty, Joshua Wiener

University at Albany: Hillary Wiener

 

Who will Compromise? The Role of Gender in Joint Ethical Decision-Making
Current understanding of how unethical behavior arises in a business context remains unclear.  This may be due in part to the complex nature of business decisions. In this study, we report the results of an experiment designed to shed some light on factors that influence how moral judgments arise in a team situation. Based on a sample of 249 undergraduate student teams, we first consider the role that the individual’s and their partner’s motivation-to-lead and political skill play in determining the extent to which the person adjusts his/her response to an ethical dilemma to reflect greater sensitivity to moral issues.
Sponsor: Oklahoma State University
PI/PDs: Karen Flaherty, Jim Pappas

 

Alliance Value Creation and Appropriation: The Role of Customer- and Product-Centric Structures

Establishing a customer-centric structure is a popular but costly marketing strategy; some firms thus seek alliances with customer-centric partners, with mixed results. In this article, according to event study analyses (Study 1) of strategic alliances by Fortune 1000 firms over a 17-year period, product-centric firms create 2.5 times more value on average when they work with customer- versus product-centric partners, but they also capture significantly less share of the joint alliance value when allying with customer- versus product-centric partners. A complementary panel data analysis (Study 2) details the net long-term performance of a product-centric firm’s alliance portfolio.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, Iowa State University, University of Washington

PI/PDs: Justin M. Lawrence

Iowa State University: Ju-Yeon Lee

University of Washington: Robert W. Palmatier

 

Mitigating Price Discount Spillover in Online and Offline Markets

In accordance with today’s multichannel B2B environments, the authors theorize differential effects on the seller’s margin via offline and online discount contagion. The authors test their theoretical framework across two large-scale field studies featuring spatial econometric analyses. If managers fail to consider contagion systematically, the effects of targeted discounts can spill over to untargeted buyers, resulting in approximately three times the margin losses. Granting highly differentiated discounts further fuels this contagion process, precipitating even greater margin decline. However, contagion-conscious deployment, such as targeting buyers that limit e-commerce price transparency, allows sellers to virtually eliminate adverse effects of discount contagion.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, Iowa State University, University of Washington, Colorado State University

PI/PDs: Justin M. Lawrence

Iowa State University: Andrew T. Crecelius

University of Washington: Robert W. Palmatier

Colorado State University: Jonathan Z. Zhang

 

Sales Channel Specialization for B2B Resellers: Cost-matching versus Relationship-driven Models

In an effort to cost-effectively match sales channels to the shifting needs of customers and reap the benefits of sales specialization, business-to-business sellers are challenged with migrating customers between outside (field) salespeople and inside (remote) salespeople. Prevalent approaches include cost-matching—assigning less-developed accounts to low-cost inside salespeople and migrating them to the costlier outside sales channel once the account grows—and the relationship-driven approach—deploying the richer outside sales channel to establish relationships with newer customers, until the account can be migrated to inside sales. The authors’ findings challenge accepted wisdom and inform practical recommendations for sales channel specialization strategies.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, Iowa State University, University of Washington

PI/PDs: Justin M. Lawrence

Iowa State University: Andrew T. Crecelius

University of Washington: Robert W. Palmatier

 

The Opportunities and Costs of Highly Involved B2B Buyers

The authors examine the impact of organizational buyers’ product involvement on customers’ and suppliers’ financial outcomes, driven by buyers’ increased willingness to pay and their perceived credibility in negotiations with the supplier. The effects of these competing mechanisms are moderated by characteristics of the customer and the customer-supplier relationship. The authors examine effects using a survey of organizational buyers matched with secondary profit data from their supplier. This study contributes to the limited literature on product involvement and the role of buyer emotions in a B2B exchange setting.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, University of Missouri

PI/PDs: Justin M. Lawrence, Colleen E. McClure, Todd J. Arnold

University of Missouri: Lisa K. Scheer

 

Targeting and Designing Supplier-Initiated Relationship Expansion Proposals

The authors assess effects of relationship expansion proposals contingent on three account opportunity metrics: sales potential, gross margin position, and historical service provision. Study 1), reveals that higher sales potential and higher service provision make a customer a more favorable target for a relationship expansion proposal; conversely, when a customer relationship is more profitable to the supplier, relationship expansion proposals can backfire, resulting in lost business. Study 2), focuses on the strategic design of relationship expansion proposals and demonstrates how the depth of discounting in a proposal affects purchasing, contingent on the same account opportunity metrics used in Study 1.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, Iowa State University, Marquette University, Ohio University

PI/PDs: Justin M. Lawrence

Iowa State University: Andrew T. Crecelius

Marquette University: Jessica L. Ogilvie

Ohio University: Adam A. Rapp

 

When Hybrid Sales Structures Enhance Performance in B2B Markets

Business-to-business selling firms (sellers) increasingly assign customers an inside salesperson, in addition to a traditional outside salesperson. These multichannel sales structures are believed to decrease expenses by substituting a less-costly sales channel and increase sales by enabling more efficient exchange. However, the authors theorize that substitution toward the leaner inside channel can also constrain the seller’s relationship building efforts and induce sales headwinds. Further, if some customers elect not to substitute but instead use the new channel as a supplement, the seller’s customer-level expenses can increase considerably due to the additional resources required to deploy the inside channel.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, University of Notre Dame, Iowa State University, University of Washington

PI/PDs: Justin M. Lawrence

University of Notre Dame: Vamsi Kanuri

Iowa State University: Andrew T. Crecelius

University of Washington: Robert W. Palmatier

 

Managing Moral Misalignment and Donor Defection

Unlike performance-based defectors who leave firms in response to some form of utility deficit with the offering, identity-based defectors are customers who sever relationships due to a perceived mismatch between their identities and their perceptions of the firm’s identity. Using consumer data from a multinational nonprofit firm and a framework derived from customer-company identification theory, this study examines optimal communication strategies for the reacquisition of identity-based customer defectors and reveals suboptimal reacquisition results related to traditional reacquisition messaging. This article introduces identity-based defectors to extant literature and outlines specific routes by which firms should approach their reacquisition.
Sponsors: Oklahoma State University; Florida State University; University of North Carolina, Greensboro

PI/PDs: Justin M. Lawrence

Florida State University: Colleen Harmeling, Michael Brady

The University of North Carolina, Greensboro: Harrison Pugh 

 

The Upstream Impact of Online Ratings on B2B Relationships

Online reviews reflect relationships and interactions between a firm and end users. Dimensions of marketing strategy execution, such as service quality and affordable prices, drive positive reviews. These reviews therefore capture information that has implications not only for the firm, but for its upstream channel partners, a spillover effect not examined in extant research. Drawing on value capture theory, the authors investigate the differential effects of a firm’s Google reviews on its supplier’s performance, mediated by the buyer firm’s value creation–value capture tradeoff with its end users.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University; Iowa State University

PI/PDs: Justin M. Lawrence, Colleen E. McClure, Hans Nguyen

Iowa State University: Andrew T. Crecelius

 

Motivating Customers to Respond Positively to Involuntary Intermediation: Minimizing Defection and Maximizing Purchasing

Tightening margins and emerging competitors are motivating manufacturers to streamline distribution systems by assigning customers to channels where they can be profitably served. One frequently chosen strategy is involuntary intermediation: a manufacturer unilaterally terminating a customer’s direct relationship and encouraging the customer to migrate to a designated intermediary. Drawing on event system theory, this research examines the decisions at hand for customers following an involuntary intermediation, specifically: 1) whether to migrate to the manufacturer’s designated intermediary or defect to a competitor, and 2) how much to purchase of the manufacturer’s products and other products sold by the intermediary after intermediation.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University; Iowa State University; University of Missouri

PI/PDs: Justin M. Lawrence

Iowa State University: Andrew T. Crecelius

University of Missouri: Lisa K. Scheer, Divya Anand

 

Stable Prices in B2B Relationships: How Resellers React to Longer-term Pricing Policies

The authors examine when longer-term pricing policies in B2B markets can generate higher profits for suppliers. Drawing on cost of price adjustment (COPA) theory, the authors suggest that price-adjustment carries costs and benefits for customers, and that not all customers find a longer-term policy equally attractive. The authors identify customer characteristics that signal when longer-term pricing policies are more attractive to customers and more profitable for suppliers. This study utilizes a quasi-experiment from involving 8,987 business customers of a global U.S.-based industrial distributor.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University; Southern Illinois University

PI/PDs: Justin M. Lawrence

Southern Illinois University: Omid Kamran Disfani, Ashok Bhattarai

 

The Negative Impact of Seasonal/Limited Edition Packaging on Product Recognition and Shopping Experience

Brands often vary their traditional packaging for different times of year (i.e., Coca-Cola’s winter cans), when introducing limited edition products, and when co-branding and crossing   promoting products. We find that limited edition/seasonal packaging has a negative impact on consumers’ ability to find the target product. This in turn has a negative impact on their experience, reporting more annoyance with the simulated shopping process. Finally, we show that this is due to the fact that seasonal packaging often eschews familiar brand elements (e.g., color) which are heavily relied on in the search process. Implications for package design and promotion are discussed.

Sponsor: Oklahoma State University

PI/PD: Steven Shepherd

 

Cultural Diversity in Advertising and Representing Different Visions of America

Cultural diversity in advertising has the potential to reflect American society and embody a view of America that is either consistent or inconsistent with a consumer’s beliefs and values. Our research explores how consumers with differing visions of America and its values evaluate

cultural diversity in advertising. Consumers who support America’s dominant ideology more negatively evaluate ads with cultural diversity, particularly for brands that are American as opposed to foreign. We find this is due to the presence of ethnic minorities in ads increases perceptions of threat to American values and culture.

Sponsor: Oklahoma State University

PI/PD: Steven Shepherd

 

Identifying and Explaining the Gender-Gap in Consumer Responses to Product   Failures: Gender Stereotypes Create Victims out of Women

Every year, thousands of consumer complaints are made to regulatory agencies, including the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Federal Trade Commission, among others. The current research asks if the victim matters is how such incidents are interpreted and reported; specifically, the victim’s membership in a group that is seen as vulnerable (e.g., women, children, elderly). We propose based on various model of person perception and stereotyping that when members of these group are victims of a product failure, consumers will: 1) see increased harm done, 2) blame the company more, and 3) show increased tendency to complain about the product failure.

Sponsor: Oklahoma State University

PI/PD: Steven Shepherd

 

Military Veterans are Morally Typecast as Heroic but Unfeeling

What kind of “mind” do people assume those in the military have? Leveraging previous theorizing on mind perception, dehumanization, and career typology, the current research shows that veterans are seen as having a higher capacity for agency but less capacity for experience. As a result, veterans are seen as relatively ill suited for careers that require a high capacity for experience. Results are found across laypeople and those employed in management and human resources. Implications for veteran well-being are discussed.

Sponsor: Oklahoma State University

PI/PD: Steven Shepherd

 

Brand Dependence, Domain Complexity, and Motivated Brand Trust

We find that highly victim sensitive individuals want to trust others, but are also very concerned with being taken advantage of. Counterintuitively, we find that these people report increased trust in a brand or service provide when the particular domain at hand is seen as complex (vs. simple), which in turn increases perceived dependence on a particular brand or service. In other words, the concern of being taken advantage of appears to lead one to bolster trust in a brand that one is dependent on.

Sponsor: Oklahoma State University

PI/PD: Steven Shepherd

 

The Challenges of Military Veterans in the Workplace: Applications, Integrations, and Opportunities

Understanding disadvantage and how processes of stereotyping, stigma, and social circumstance affect individuals and society has long been an active area of research within psychology. However, how these processes affect military veterans and their transition to civilian life have largely been ignored. We discuss contemporary social psychology theories and relevant recent research that are relevant to challenges veterans encounter when they transition from military. We hope that this synthesis inspires other researchers to conduct research in the context of veterans, and for clinicians to draw on these theories to inform

programs and interventions.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, Duke University

PI/PDs: Steven Shepherd

Duke University: Aaron Kay

 

The Effect of Brand Personality and Acceptance of LGBT Representation in Ads Among Liberals and Conservatives

In this research we explore how liberals and conservatives respond to LGBT representation in advertising. Critically, we also test the moderating role of brand personality. While conservatives generally respond more negatively to LGBT representation in ads, this is particularly the case for sincere brand (e.g., brands that are seen as down-to-earth, wholesome, family-oriented), whereas this negative reaction is attenuated for exciting brands.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, Duke University

PI/PDs: Steven Shepherd

Duke University: Aaron Kay

 

Differing Terms for the Peer-to-Peer Economy and Their Associations with Race, Morality, and Legitimacy

Numerous terms that lack clear definitions are often interchangeably used to refer to the peer- to-peer economy and activities within it. Moreover, the popular press has noted racial disparities in how different peer-to-peer activities are perceived and treated. We find that different terms for the peer-to-peer economy are not equivalent when it comes to perceptions of: 1) who participates in these activities, and 2) their morality. Specifically, despite their overlap in application and usage, the sharing economy is more associated with White actors

and increased morality, whereas side hustles are more associated with Black actors and decreased morality.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, Duke University

PI/PDs: Steven Shepherd

Duke University: Aaron Kay

 

Passion Exploitation: Legitimization of Taking Advantage of Other People’s Passion for Work
Although passion may indeed be beneficial in many ways, we suggest that the modern cultural        emphasis may also serve to facilitate the legitimization of demeaning and unfair management   practices – a phenomenon we term the legitimization of passion exploitation. We show that people deem poor worker treatment as more legitimate when workers are presumed to be “passionate” about their work. We demonstrate two mediating mechanisms by which this process of legitimization occurs: 1) assumptions that passionate workers would have volunteered for this work if given the chance, and 2) beliefs that, for passionate workers, work itself is its own reward.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, Duke University

PI/PDs: Steven Shepherd

Duke University: Jae Yun Kim, Aaron Kay

 

The Cheating Culture: Consequences of Neurotic Competitiveness

Karen Horney (1937) discussed the concept of neurotic competitiveness. Neurotically competitive persons are more focused on defeating their opponents than on winning per se. Existing research shows that a significant segment of the American public may have a neurotic win-at-any-cost attitude. The current research will examine the link between neurotically competitive attitudes and cheating behavior in business and everyday life.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, California State University at Chico

PI/PDs: Ajay Sukhdial

California State University at Chico: Kirk Damon Aiken

 

The Joyless Economy: The Marketing Implications of Consumer Strategies for Beating Everyday Boredom

Throughout history, philosophers have argued, “Boredom is the root of all evil.” Current academic research confirms that ongoing feelings of boredom, a modern existential condition, are associated with numerous ills in society. Scholars have also argued that consuming all kinds of products and experiences is how consumers try to deal with feelings of boredom. This research will examine the commonly used strategies by individuals for beating everyday boredom and the marketing and public policy implications of such strategies.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, California State University at Chico

PI/PDs: Ajay Sukhdial

California State University at Chico: Kirk Damon Aiken

 

A Review and Meta-Analysis of Experimental Effects in Brand Alliance Research

A meta-analysis is a study of effect sizes across studies.  We analyze reported results from a large number of papers. The findings indicate that the brand alliance effect is real and of a small to medium effect size. How research design elements affect the results are analyzed.

Sponsors: Oklahoma State University, States of Virginia, Texas, and Ohio

PI/PDs: Kevin E. Voss,

University of Virginia: Mayoor Mohan

University of Texas: Jinho Jung

University of Ohio: Fernando Jimenez

 

Sound Symbolism and Consumer Forgiveness

We explore how the sounds of the words used in an apology affect the customer’s likelihood of forgiveness. Such apologies are used in response to a brand transgression. We posit that certain words convey warmth while other sounds convey competence. The warmth or competence of the sounds leads to customer forgiveness intentions.

Sponsor: Oklahoma State University

PI/PDs: Kevin E. Voss, Minjoo Kim

 

Perceived Shared Experience: The Moderating Effect of Experience Type in Building Emotional Attachment

We explore how different types of experience, for example ordinary versus extreme, experiences affect how people form attachment to their brands.

Sponsor: Oklahoma State University

PI/PDs: Kevin E. Voss, Ying Ying Li

 

How Competing Ad Cues Overwhelm a Brand Alliance Cue

We demonstrate that distraction impairs brand alliance cues in advertising because brand alliance cues are relatively weak. In published research, theorists have demonstrated that a well-known ally brand improves consumer evaluations of a previously unknown focal brand. Mental load, sex appeals, and celebrity endorsers attenuate the effect of the brand alliance on the previously unknown focal brand.

Sponsor: Oklahoma State University

PI/PDs: Kevin E. Voss, Ying Ying Li, YoungOk “Sunny” Song

 

The Effect of Fear-based stimuli on Emotional Attachment: The Mediating Effect of Emotional Arousal

The authors demonstrate that fear arousal is an important antecedent of emotional attachment, even when viewers’ emotional arousal is attenuated from the presence of a previously attached brand. When viewers are exposed to a fear-based stimulus, the resultant level of fear arousal drives emotional attachment. Thus, emotional attachment both reduces experienced fear and is strengthened in response to exposure to a fear-based stimulus.

Sponsor: Oklahoma State University

PI/PDs: Kevin E. Voss, Ying Ying Li

 

Measuring Attachment Anxiety and Avoidance: A Semantic Differential Approach

Marketing researchers are increasingly interested in the effects of attachment styles on important variables in consumer and business-to-business markets. The scales developed herein provide reliable, valid, and generally applicable scales that are shorter than available alternatives. Respondents high in attachment anxiety had significantly lower evaluations of a shoe ad with exciting positioning while those high in attachment avoidance had significantly lower evaluations of a shoe ad with authentic positioning.

Sponsor: Oklahoma State University

PI/PDs: Kevin E. Voss, Ying Ying Li

 

The Effect of Unusual Brand Names on Consumer’s Brand Evaluations

Research to understand companies’ use of brand names that we classify as unusual.  These brand names often use profanity or words that allude to body parts.  A website that tracks these names and has a list of 1,617.  We lack credible research on why marketers choose such names, how consumers view such names, and what impacts these names have on brand building.

Sponsor: Oklahoma State University

PI/PDs: Kevin E. Voss, Richie L. Liu

Building Brand Identification through Cause-Brand Alliances: The Role of Perceived Cause Controversy
Examines the extent to which a cause-brand alliance leads to improved brand identification. In addition, to test whether the attitude toward cause brand alliance is determined, in part, by whether the non-profit organization’s main issue is the subject of controversy. On average, customers’ perception of controversy concerning the nonprofit ally in a CBA influences the average evaluation of the CBA and subsequently the level of identification with the brand ally. Specifically, when there is controversy concerning the non-profit’s issue, customers will have a more favorable attitude toward the CBA and identification with the brand ally only if both partners are credible. 
Sponsor: Oklahoma State University
PI/PDs: Kevin E Voss, Yasamin Vahdati

Conjunctionitis:  A Call for Clarity in Construct Definitions.
The authors determine the extent to which the use of coordinating conjunctions enhances or impairs definitional clarity.  A sample of 736 construct definitions from Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Marketing Research, and the Journal of Consumer Research over a 30-year period were subjected to judging for ambiguity and vagueness by both academic and lay judges.  The authors demonstrate that constructing definitions using both ‘and’ and ‘or’ increases the ambiguity and vagueness of the construct’s meaning. The most frequently used conjunction is ‘and’ which appeared in 42% of the definitions. A significant percentage (26%) contain the conjunction ‘or’.
Sponsor: Oklahoma State University
PI/PDs: Kevin E Voss, Alex R. Zablah, Yu-Shan “Sandy” Huang

Integrating Reciprocity into a Social Exchange Model of Inter-Firm B2B Relationships
Integrates reciprocity and its antecedents into a social exchange model of inter-firm relationships. The social exchange model includes credibility trust, benevolence trust, information exchange, affective commitment, calculative commitment, and long-term orientation.  Primary data collection from a sample of firms in the Republic of Korea using a questionnaire. The authors used three-stage least squares to fit the model given the mediational and moderating effects.  Adding reciprocity and its antecedents to the social exchange model produce results that differ from previously published findings. Specifically, reciprocity affects information exchanged indirectly through both credibility and benevolence trust.
Sponsor: Oklahoma State University
PI/PDs: Kevin E Voss, Mayoor “Max” Mohan, Emily C. Tanner, Yong-Ki Lee, Hong-Kuen Kim

 

Small Talk: A Double-Edged Sword

There is a pervasive belief in the sales literature that beginning a meeting with small talk will lead to a positive outcome. Drawing on the linguistics and management literature the authors identify conditions where small talk will be counter-productive. In particular, when a customer is exchange A series of experiments support these hypotheses.

Sponsor:  Oklahoma State University

PI/PD: Josh Wiener

 

Communicating with a New Customer

The question is how a sales person should communicate to a customer that is a novice. S/he is unfamiliar with the product or service being sold. The salesperson must choose between beginning in a social or functional manner. A conceptual framework and series of empirical studies support the functional approach.

Sponsor:  Oklahoma State University

PI/PDs: Josh Wiener, Karen Flaherty, Hillary Wiener

 

Product Anecdotes

Extant literature emphasizes how products can be used by a person for one-way communication, i.e., telling others about themselves. A theoretical framework is constructed to explain how a product can be used to facilitate two-way communication (conversation with others). The framework is used to create a marketing strategy (attaching anecdotes to products). A series of empirical studies supports the strategy.

Sponsor:  Oklahoma State University

PI/PDs: Josh Wiener, Todd Arnold, Hillary Wiener

 

Support for Regulation

There ae numerous regulations that restrict the freedom of companies and individuals in order to advance a public health or environmental objective. Drawing on the criminal justice literature a framework for understanding why people might support such restrictions is created. A key finding (empirically supported) is that one’s affect towards the agents whose freedom is restricted is more important than the supposed efficacy of the regulation.

Sponsor:  Oklahoma State University

PI/PD: Josh Wiener

 

Why Scientists are Discounted

Assertions by scientists and other experts are often discounted or rejected by a significant portion of the population. A conceptual framework for understanding why is created. The core point is that if statements about a problem are accompanied by policy proposals then not only are the statements dismissed but future statements by this source are discounted. This extends the common idea that people believe what they want to believe by arguing their belief impacts source credibility.

Sponsor:  Oklahoma State University

PI/PD: Josh Wiener