Journal of Interactive Marketing

With the popularity of video games and the resulting gamification of everyday activities comes an increase in in-game advertising (IGA). As a result, video game players’ engagement and motivation to level-up or master a video game are becoming increasingly important for marketers hoping to increase exposure to their brands. Across two experimental studies, we provide evidence that games played publically (versus privately) are more motivating to players, and also demonstrate the important influence of feedback via building a character or completing a status bar. In study 1, we find that, for public gaming contexts, players experience more enjoyment, effort, and flow when progress is shown via building a character. Furthermore, in study 2 we extend study 1's findings and discover a moderated mediation model for brand attitudes. Specifically, the relationship between public gaming context and brand attitude is mediated by enjoyment and flow. Further, the mediation of enjoyment and flow is moderated by feedback type, where progress affects brand attitude when a character is used for game feedback, but not for status bar feedback. We examine our research questions within the context of intrinsic motivation, specifically self-determination theory.

Drawing on regulatory focus and regulatory fit theories, this study illustrates that, through the mechanism of engagement, promotion-focused (prevention-focused) shoppers who are faced with a website offering a more hedonic (utilitarian) shopping experience are more likely to both have a favorable attitude towards it and a higher intention to make a purchase. Moreover, by extending the goal compatibility principle to the online shopping context, this study shows that shoppers experiencing fit are able to sustain their regulatory orientation in subsequent decisions, resulting in a preference for products that emphasize the same regulatory goal. This study will help e-retailers increase sales by clarifying why, when, and to what extent they should offer hedonic versus utilitarian shopping experiences. In doing so, this study documents a new source of regulatory fit: a match between the hedonic or utilitarian online shopping experience and a shopper's promotion versus prevention regulatory orientation.

Studies have shown positive associations between liking a Facebook brand page and brand evaluations, but causal evidence is lacking. This online pre–post-measure experiment compared brand evaluations of ‘current followers’ of a target brand's Facebook page, with ‘new followers’ instructed to ‘like’ the page, and ‘non-followers’ over one month. Results showed a significant positive increase for new followers on brand evaluations, whereas non-followers showed no change. Current followers were most positive in evaluations overall, but showed no change over time. This provides evidence that following a brand's Facebook updates can cause positive changes in brand evaluations. The effects were explained by perceived conversational human voice, indicating the importance of brand interactivity. Implications for brands’ social media presence are discussed.

Against the backdrop of consumers being deluged with traditional online advertising, which is increasingly manifesting in inefficient conversion outcomes, viral marketing has become a pivotal component of marketing strategy. However, despite a robust understanding about the impact of viral marketing as well as of factors that drive consumer referral engagement, we know very little about the effect of traditional promotional tactics on consumer referral decisions. Drawing on a randomized field experiment in the context of an online fashion service named StyleCrowd, we investigate the effects of scarcity and personalization, two classical promotional cues that have become ubiquitous on the web and have received only minimal attention hitherto, on actual referral behavior. Our analysis reveals that using these cues in promotional campaigns is a balancing act: While scarcity cues affect referral propensity regardless of whether a campaign is personalized or not, personalization cues are particularly effective when scarcity is absent, yet are cancelled out when scarcity is prevalent. We demonstrate that consumers’ perceptions of offer value drive the impact of scarcity on referral likelihood, while consumer gratitude vis-à-vis the marketer is the underlying mechanism for personalization's influence on referral decisions.

Conventional segmentation efforts usually focus on verbal or behavioral data while ignoring visual cues, which play a significant role in impression management. Drawing on theoretical work regarding motivations for impression management (need to belong and need for self-promotion), we propose that Facebook users differ from each other in the composition of visual elements they portray in their Facebook profile photos (PPs), and thus can be segmented based on this composition. In this exploratory study we present a methodological proof of concept for the visual segmentation of Facebook users. Using a randomly selected international sample of 500 Facebook accounts, we analyze data implicit in PPs and identify visual cues relevant to virtual impression management. Using these cues we segment users into types, and relate the types to demographics, Facebook usage, and brand engagement as reflected in the Facebook profile. At the theoretical level, the findings suggest that the current accepted motivations for Facebook impression management (need to belong and need for self-promotion) should be expanded to include a third motivation, need for self-expression. At the practical level, the findings demonstrate the utility of visual segmentation, which can later be implemented using computerized systems.

Marketing researchers and practitioners are showing substantial interest in social media communication, trying to understand the challenges and opportunities associated with this new cultural and social phenomenon. In this research, the authors examine social media as a new attachment phenomenon, positing likely predictive links to marketing-related social media behaviors. Researchers have demonstrated useful applicability of psychological attachment theory to a variety of other marketing contexts, including special possessions, places, brands, and services. Attachment to such varied focal targets has been shown to influence behaviors of interest to marketers. However, research to date has yet to develop a conceptualization or operationalization of attachment in the social media context. The authors seek to contribute to the literature in two primary ways: first, we provide a foundational definition of attachment to social media, and conduct four initial studies to develop a measure that meets desired reliability and validity standards. Secondly, in a fifth study, we use this validated measure to test its empirical usefulness in predicting social media behaviors in an applied retail setting. Taken together, the results are particularly valuable in demonstrating that attachment to social media is a distinct, measurable phenomenon that helps to explain various activities on social media platforms, including C2C advocacy and C2B supportive communication behaviors. Results reveal practical guidance for marketing managers wrestling with developing effective social media marketing strategies.