Journal of Interactive Marketing

While past research has extensively investigated how a specific product attracts attention, little is known about how the display of other products in the same visual field affects the consumer's attention. Drawing from the Biased Competition Model and the Gestalt Principles, the current research seeks to examine the effect of distracting products’ similarity and proximity on a focal product in a goal-oriented online shopping episode. Specifically, in Study 1 (n = 38), using eye-tracking, we show that consumers allocate the most visual attention to distracting products when they are both categorically similar and spatially near the focal product. We replicate this finding in Study 2 (n = 211) and results additionally suggest that under such distraction, consumers are less likely to accurately identify the focal product. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Last-minute bidding is a prevalent strategy in which bidders submit their bids at the very end of an online auction; mobile push notifications can remind these bidders of upcoming deadlines and thus might determine bidding success. Using field data, this study demonstrates that last-minute bidders use mobile push notifications purposefully and strategically as well as more frequently than bidders with different bidding patterns. Among last-minute bidders, chances of winning the auction increase with their use of push notifications. In detail, mobile push notifications are particularly effective when last-minute bidders place less serious bids in search of a bargain, yet they lose effectiveness if the bids are placed closer to the auctions’ end. They prove to be equally useful tools for last-minute bidders with varying experience levels and for bids placed through both mobile and stationary devices. Managers of online (auction) platforms therefore should design and market their mobile push notifications as customizable, helpful features.

Failures of self-service technologies (SSTs) are commonplace, yet empirical investigations into effective SST recovery methods are still few and far between. This research investigates two important elements of SST recovery using three experimental studies, namely recovery initiation and locus of responsibility. Studies 1 and 2 reveal that employee-initiated recovery (vs. customer-initiated recovery) leads to higher repurchase intentions when the SST failure is due to a technological error, but customer-initiated recovery leads to better results when the failure is due to a customer error. Further investigation into the underlying mechanism indicates that recovery disconfirmation mediates the process. Study 3 shows that when employees are not around the service area, SST-initiated recovery enhances purchase intentions after the technological failures of SSTs. This research provides important managerial and theoretical implications for service and technology management.

Not all social media “friends” are close friends, but distinguishing them from mere acquaintances is an important task in marketing. The notion of a close friend is reflected in the metric tie strength, but the true tie strength is often unobserved in online social networks. With this research, we propose an approach that predicts real-world tie strength via online data measures of similarity, interaction, and network data. At its core, we assess ego network structures to predict tie strength, i.e., all first-degree connections and the interlinkage among them. Ego networks are easier to obtain than full networks, and researchers can process them more efficiently. We explain why bridging ego network positions could be associated with real-world tie strength and demonstrate the high discriminatory power of related network measures. In combination with measures of similarity and interaction, the precision of identifying all observed real-world strong ties is 45%. Finally, we empirically highlight the practical relevance of this finding by demonstrating that people react stronger to suggestions of a close friend compared to an acquaintance in a social advertisement experiment.

Should all brands initiate online customer engagement activities to entertain consumers beyond informing them? This work presents the idea that (in)consistency between the nature of an engagement initiative (i.e., entertaining or informative) and the perception of the brand (i.e., warm versus competent) influences the extent to which consumers perceive the initiative to be authentic. This in turn influences consumers’ evaluation of the initiative and the brand. The results show that entertaining initiatives are suited for warm brands, but backfire for competent brands, while informative initiatives are equally suited for both types of brands. These effects are driven by the perceived authenticity of the initiatives. The findings yield specific guidelines for managers about how to preserve the brand's essence in the online initiatives they launch to foster ongoing customer engagement. The effects were found in four experiments and one field study, generalizing across different online media platforms (i.e., Instagram, Facebook, brand website), products and services (i.e., shoes, groceries, and recipe deliveries), and samples (i.e., Mturk, Prolific, students).

The emergence of Location-Based Mobile Advertising (LBA) on mobile phones is a recent phenomenon that has profoundly changed consumers’ shopping behavior. In this context, little is known about the influence of LBA on the purchasing intention of users. Based on the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and the Privacy Calculus Theory (PCT), this study develops an impact model and empirically tests it using structural equation modeling (SEM) with data from 294 users in Germany of the PAYBACK mobile app. It was found that purchase intentions are influenced by the constructs “User Attitude towards LBA” and “Disclosure of Personal Information.” “User Attitude towards LBA” is dependent on how users perceive the various app functionalities. These effects are significantly enhanced by the app's “Location Context Quality.” The construct “Intention to disclose personal information” depends on the constructs “Perceived benefit” and “Perceived risks of disclosure of personal information,” while “Perceived benefit” is also enhanced by the “Location Context Quality” of the app.

Empirical results about the effect of open reserve price on ending prices in auctions are mixed, with some researchers finding a positive effect on ending price and others reporting a negative or no effect. The objective of this research is to propose a new theoretical framework. First, without an open reserve price, auctions attract more bidders, resulting in increased competition and higher ending prices—a so-called competition effect. Second, a high open reserve price may serve as a price floor or a reference price, influencing bidders’ valuations and increasing ending prices.

Quantile regression is used, which has the advantage of providing robust parameter estimates of the effect of open reserve prices on ending prices for different levels of the reserve price. Estimates of a longitudinal data set for four products collected over a period of one year show an u-shaped relationship between open reserve prices and ending prices, where either no reserves or high reserves results in higher ending prices. By comparing ending prices of auctions with an open reserve versus a secret reserve, it is shown that open reserve prices have a reference-price effect rather than a price-floor effect.