Customer–brand relationship in the era of artificial intelligence: understanding the role of chatbot marketing efforts

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Cheng ◽  
Hua Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Relationship Building ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brand Relationship ◽  
Information Accessibility ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Marketing Activities

Purpose This study aims to explore the role of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot marketing efforts (CMEs) in the establishment of relationships between brands and their customers, extending the link between relationship marketing and online consumer behavioral intentions. Design/methodology/approach Data are collected from 1,072 customers in the USA, who used chatbot marketing activities from any of 30 brands leading their industries in messaging innovation. Structural equation modeling is used for data analysis. Findings Results show that interaction, information, accessibility, entertainment and customization are important CMEs components. CMEs have significant direct effects on the quality of communication with chatbot agents and indirectly affect customer–brand relationships (CBR) and customer response. In addition, the findings demonstrate that CBR mediates the association between communication quality and customer response. Originality/value Implications of this study can enable practitioners to understand the effects of AI on user experiences and provide a guide for the development of CMEs strategies and relationship building.

Online relationship marketing and customer loyalty: a signaling theory perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 226-240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sheena Lovia Boateng
Keyword(s):  
Relationship Marketing ◽  
Customer Loyalty ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Signaling Theory ◽  
Relationship Building ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Online Trust ◽  
Online Technologies

PurposeOnline technologies have, in recent times, revolutionized the process of relationship building between firms and their customers. Nonetheless, there is a limited focus and theorization when it comes to explaining the link between online relationship marketing (ORM) activities and their impact on firm relationship marketing (RM) objectives. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to examine the signaling role of ORM activities in generating online trust and customer loyalty, through the lens of the signaling theory.Design/methodology/approachData for the study were gathered through a survey of 429 Ghanaian retail bank customers. Results were analyzed using structural equation modeling techniques.FindingsThe paper highlights the signaling role of engagement and interactivity online in influencing banks’ RM outcomes per the signaling theory. It concludes that bank’s online relationship activities, over and above the online tools utilized, need to communicate appropriate and useful signals in order to positively influence online trust and loyalty among customers.Originality/valueThe study, in its uniqueness, utilizes the signaling theory to explain the role and impact of online RM activities in the banking industry.

CSR perception and revisit intention: the roles of trust and commitment

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 607-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiseon Ahn ◽  
Jookyung Kwon
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Relational Value ◽  
Revisit Intention ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Marketing Activities ◽  
Tourism And Hospitality ◽  
Corporate Social

PurposeAlthough corporate social responsibility (CSR) is one of the essential marketing activities in the hotel industry, the effect of CSR perception on customer's revisit intention varies depending on mediators and contexts. Thus, this study aims to examine how hotel companies can effectively influence customers' patronage behaviors by leveraging overall customers' CSR perception, trust and commitment.Design/methodology/approachFor this purpose, an online survey is conducted among hotel customers in the USA. Partial least squares–structural equation modeling is utilized to analyze the collected data.FindingsThe results show that customers' perception toward CSR does not have a direct effect on customers' revisit intention. Interestingly, the authors find that customers' perception influences their revisit intention only via increasing trust and commitment. Also, trust appears to be highly critical for positive behavioral outcomes than commitment.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations of the current research are that the different types of CSR activities and customers' demographics were not compared.Practical implicationsCustomers' revisit intention is created when hotel companies provide not only CSR initiatives but also customers' perceived connection with the hotel brand.Originality/valueTourism and hospitality companies have focused on CSR activities because CSR activities are influential strategies to attract customers who want meaningful, responsible and sustainable experiences. By applying the cognitive consistency theory, the results of this study indicate that hotel companies can successfully use CSR activities to develop customers' revisit intention by enhancing their relational value.

Building brand relationship for restaurants

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 1469-1487 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ezgi Erkmen ◽  
Murat Hancer
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Brand Image ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Brand Preference ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brand Relationship

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the role of other customers in explaining customers’ relation with a brand. A conceptual model, which incorporates other customers along with atmospherics, food quality and service quality, is proposed to better understand how customers form their brand preference for fine dining restaurants.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative research methodology, using structural equation modeling, was adopted to understand the role of other customers along with other restaurant attributes. Data were collected from the customers of fine dining restaurants resulting in 324 usable surveys.FindingsThe findings supported the sequential link for: restaurant experience attributes – brand relationship and brand preference. While all restaurant attributes except other customers explain the satisfaction of customers, only service quality and other customers played a significant role in forming the brand image in the minds of restaurant guests. Overall, this study acknowledged the importance of both other customers and employees in fine dining restaurants’ branding.Research limitations/implicationsThe results suggest that customers in servicescape have a significant role in creating a successful brand image for restaurants. Moreover, service quality is also key to achieve a unique image, thereby suggesting that employees could be a source of differentiation and competitive advantage by managing their brand related behaviors.Originality/valueThis research was one of the first to study the role of other customers in restaurant service experience along with other attributes to assess customers’ brand relation and brand preference for fine dining restaurants.

The role of feedback in supervisor and workgroup identification

2014 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 228-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen F. Young ◽  
Lisa A. Steelman
Keyword(s):  
Work Environment ◽  
Performance Appraisal ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Feedback Seeking ◽  
Feedback Environment ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which two factors are associated with identification, the feedback environment and feedback seeking: two forms of identification, supervisor identification and workgroup identification, were linked to matching sources of feedback environment and feedback seeking. Design/methodology/approach – An empirical study was carried out with a sample of working students representing a variety of industries in the USA. Students (n=256) completed a written questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. Findings – Results indicated that feedback seeking frequency partially mediated the effect of supervisor feedback environment on supervisor identification. Similarly, feedback seeking partially mediated the effect of coworker feedback environment on workgroup identification. Research limitations/implications – Despite a cross-sectional design, these results support the role of feedback as a primary explanatory mechanism for how people can come to identify with multiple targets in their work environment. Practical implications – In order to increase employee identification, organizations should train their managers to engage in contextual behaviors that support the feedback seeking process. Additionally, organizations may want to reinforce these coaching behaviors by incorporating them into the performance appraisal process for managers. Originality/value – The vast majority of identification research has examined why people come to identify with targets in their work environment. This study represents one of the first to examine how people come to identify with those sources, fulfilling an important gap in the literature.

Linking brand personality to brand equity: measuring the role of consumer-brand relationship

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anees Ahmad ◽  
Swapnarag Swain ◽  
Pankaj Kumar Singh ◽  
Rambalak Yadav ◽  
Gyan Prakash
Keyword(s):  
Brand Equity ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Brand Personality ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Brand Relationship

Purpose This study aims to examine the relationship between brand personality and customer-based brand equity (CBBE) by investigating the mediating role of consumer-brand relationship (CBR), which is represented through three variables, namely, brand trust, attachment and commitment. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a cross-sectional descriptive research design. It included a mix of symbolic and utilitarian brands, namely, Pepsi and Sprite (soft drinks), Levi’s and Peter England (clothing), Pantene and Head and Shoulders (shampoos) based on their greater familiarity among Indian consumers. Primary data were gathered from 612 respondents through a self-administered online questionnaire survey approach. Structural equation modeling was performed to analyze data and validate the research model. Findings The present study establishes both direct, as well as the indirect linkage between brand personality and CBBE. Results also suggest a partial mediating role of the variables representing CBR while linking brand personality to CBBE. Originality/value The present study makes two contributions. First, it advances existing literature on brand personality and brand equity by establishing the mediating role of the CBR while linking brand personality to CBBE. Second, it establishes the importance of both the trust and attachment-based commitment mediator model of CBR influencing CBBE, which has not been addressed by prior studies.

Privacy helplessness on social media: its constituents, antecedents and consequences

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hichang Cho
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Measurement Model ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Confirmatory Factor Analyses ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Antecedents And Consequences

PurposeMany internet users exhibit signs of privacy helplessness and entirely give up online privacy management. However, we know little about what privacy helplessness is, when users are likely to experience it and its implications for privacy behavior. The objectives of this study were twofold: (a) the conceptual explication of privacy helplessness as a novel construct in privacy research and (b) the development of a theoretical model that specifies the antecedents and consequences of privacy helplessness.Design/methodology/approachA research model of privacy helplessness that contains three subcomponents of privacy helplessness, five antecedents and one outcome was developed. The model was empirically examined based on survey data collected from 589 Facebook users in the USA.FindingsThe results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses showed that privacy helplessness is adequately assessed by a three-factor model with affective, cognitive and motivational components. The results of structural equation modeling indicated that these three aspects of privacy helplessness are uniquely predicted by five theoretical factors: (a) prior experience of privacy risks, (b) personal mastery, (c) perceived costs of adaptive privacy actions, (d) perceived rewards of privacy inactions and (e) perceived vulnerability. Furthermore, it was found that helplessness as motivational deficits (and cognitive helplessness via this) impedes adaptive privacy actions, while cognitive helplessness promotes adaptive privacy actions when they do not result in motivational deficits.Originality/valueThis study pioneers investigation in understanding key constituents, attributes and processes underlying privacy helplessness. First, the present study developed the first theory-derived, successively validated measurement model of privacy helplessness. Second, this research proposed a theoretical model of privacy helplessness, specifying antecedents and consequences of privacy helplessness.

A strategy tripod perspective on merger effectiveness in the higher education industry: the mediating role of future foresight

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahraa Sameer Sajwani ◽  
Joe Hazzam ◽  
Abdelmounaim Lahrech ◽  
Muna Alnuaimi
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Education Industry ◽  
Higher Education Industry

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to investigate the role of the strategy tripod premises, mediated by future foresight and its effect on merger effectiveness in the higher education industry.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative survey method was implemented, with the data provided by senior managers of 14 universities that went through a merger from the years 2013–2016. The proposed model was tested using partial least squares (PLS) of structural equation modeling (SEM).FindingsThe results indicate that government support, competitive intensity and knowledge creation capability relate positivity to merger effectiveness, and these relationships are mediated by future foresight competence.Originality/valueThe study provides a better understanding of merger effectiveness in the higher education industry by identifying the role of future foresight competence in the application of strategy tripod and its contribution on merger effectiveness. Results indicate that future foresight competence contributes to the merger effectiveness and enables the effective implementation of the strategy tripod dimensions in higher education mergers.

Effect of social capital on agribusiness diversification intention in the emerging market

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Le Dang Lang ◽  
Abhishek Behl ◽  
Nguyen Trung Dong ◽  
Yama Temouri ◽  
Nguyen Hong Thu
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Measurement Scale ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Depth Interviews

PurposeCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has seriously affected the global economy. How agribusinessmen are overcoming this crisis is being noticed in emerging markets. Using social capital to diversify agribusiness for getting more customers is a useful solution for the growth of agribusiness. However, there is a lack of evidence on the aggregate measurement scale of social capital and the influence of behavioral goals on the intention toward agribusiness diversification. Therefore, this study aims to develop an integrated measurement of social capital and investigate its effect on agribusiness diversification intention using the expanded theory of planned behavior (TPB).Design/methodology/approachA mixed-methods approach is used, including four in-depth interviews, three focus group discussions and two surveys. Structural equation modeling is applied to a sample of 484 respondents to test the proposed hypotheses.FindingsThe study shows the role of social capital in influencing the intention to diversify agribusiness under the premises of the resource-based view (RBV). The scale of social capital is also developed, which is the first integrated measurement of this asset. The findings contribute significantly to the existing knowledge of social capital, the TPB and diversifying agribusiness.Originality/valueThis is the first study to explore the comprehensive effect of the facets of social capital on behavioral intention through behavioral goals and determinants of the TPB under the premises of the RBV. The findings will help emerging economies, for example, Vietnam, where most farmers are family business owners or microscaled entrepreneurs in agriculture.

Believe they can succeed, and they will: intrapreneurial behavior and leadership

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Farrukh ◽  
Fanchen Meng ◽  
Ali Raza
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Climate ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Chemical Engineering ◽  
Theoretical Development ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Pharmaceutical Chemical ◽  
Participative Leadership ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Member Exchange

PurposeA leader's job is not to put greatness into people, but rather to recognize that it already exists and to create an environment where that greatness can emerge and grow (Smith, 2014). Based on Brad Smith's quote, the purpose of this study is to investigate the role of the leader's expectations, leader-member exchange (LMX) and organizational climate for innovation in fostering the intrapreneurial behavior (IB) of employees.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from employees and their supervisors working across industries such as pharmaceutical, chemical, engineering and manufacturing. Collected data were then analyzed using the structural equation modeling technique.FindingsThe authors’ results show that LMX and leaders' expectations are positively linked to employees' IB. Moreover, this association is mediated by organizational climate.Practical implicationsThis study's findings contribute to the literature on intrapreneurship and may also help practitioners formulate interventions to foster IB in organizations that will ultimately lead to higher performance.Originality/valueThis study attempted to investigate the effect of LMX and the Pygmalion effect on IB through employees' perception of organizational climate for innovation. The literature in this field is scarce and theoretical development is weak because traditional collaborative or participative leadership approaches are more relevant to an outcome than innovation.

Place attachment and brand loyalty: the moderating role of customer experience in the restaurant setting

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Boadi Nyamekye ◽  
Diyawu Rahman Adam ◽  
Henry Boateng ◽  
John Paul Kosiba
Keyword(s):  
Brand Loyalty ◽  
Place Attachment ◽  
Emotional Response ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Place Dependence ◽  
Identity Based ◽  
Moderating Role

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to ascertain the effects of place attachment on brand loyalty. This study further ascertains whether the effects of emotion-based attachment on brand loyalty are stronger for customers who have a positive experience with a restaurant brand. Additionally, the authors investigate whether emotion-based attachment mediates the relationships between identity-based attachments, place dependence and brand loyalty in the restaurant setting.Design/methodology/approachThe authors administered the questionnaire to customers (diners) of restaurants in Ghana, and they were completed via a paper and pencil/pen approach. The authors tested their hypotheses using structural equation modeling.FindingsThe findings show that identity-based and emotion-based attachment enhances brand loyalty within a restaurant setting. The results also show that place dependence attachment promotes emotional bonding with restaurant brands. The study's findings also show that place dependence attachment does not have a direct and positive significant effect on brand loyalty except when an emotional response is produced.Originality/valuePlace attachment studies in a restaurant setting are rare. This study thus contributes to the place attachment literature in restaurants setting.

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