Top-performing salespeople are invaluable financial assets and role models within sales organizations, yet their well-being remains an unexplored topic in research. This study examines the subjective well-being (SWB) of top-performing business-to-business (B2B) salespeople, focusing on the unique challenges they face - including high performance pressure and what we term the "attention challenge": the paradoxical experience of being highly valued but also potentially overlooked by management, while simultaneously being frequently sought out by colleagues for advice and support. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 27 top-performing salespeople and a validation webinar with five sales executives, we reveal three interrelated capabilities underpinning top performers' SWB: work-performance, relational-contribution, and well-being management capability. Our findings extend the sales literature by providing a capability-based framework that integrates eudaimonic well-being perspectives and by introducing the attention challenge as a top performer-specific friction point. The study offers actionable insights for supporting the sustained well-being and performance of top-performing B2B salespeople.
The constraints of a home-country business environment characterized by institutional voids habitually challenge emerging market firms to properly develop their digital marketing capabilities. Nevertheless, emerging-market multinational enterprises (EM-MNEs) transform their marketing capabilities by developing and applying digital marketing competencies. Leveraging upper echelons theory, this study empirically explores how prior international experience of the top management team fosters digital marketing capabilities of EM-MNEs, mediated by their international strategic orientation and moderated by their marketing experience. Findings from the Indian context suggest that firms' international strategic orientation increases as the top management team members' international experience increases. In turn, the international strategic orientation that develops enhances EM-MNEs' digital marketing capabilities in their efforts to adapt to evolving customer demand and competition in international markets.
The consumption of luxury and masstige goods has become a prominent facet of contemporary lifestyles. This research investigates how social media influencer type (mega vs. nano) and generational cohorts (younger vs. older) jointly shape consumer responses to these brands. Study 1 found that mega influencers were more persuasive among older adults, whereas younger adults showed no distinct preference. In Study 2, personalized offerings enhanced the effectiveness of nano influencers for older adults, while mega influencers garnered more favorable evaluations when endorsing masstige brands. Collectively, these findings highlight the nuanced interplay between influencer type and generational cohorts, offering both theoretical and managerial insights.
Many brands are increasingly navigating corporate sociopolitical activism (CSA) - driven online firestorms. Recently, Bud Light's relationship with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney sparked a firestorm, leading to the loss of its best-selling beer ranking in the United States. We situate the Bud Light case within the broader pattern of online firestorms by examining news and media coverage and user-generated content (UGC) during this timeframe and introduce a new linguistic measure, operationalized in Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC-22), to monitor self-congruity in UGC. Using these findings, we develop a managerial decision framework to support crisis communication during a social media firestorm.
As mobile commerce rises, touchscreens have become the primary interface through which consumers engage with products. We investigate how touch device interactions shape consumer attitudes and identify mental simulation, or the process of imagining oneself using a product, as the underlying mechanism. We demonstrate that interacting with products on touch devices enhances product liking, even in the absence of choice tasks or haptic relevant features. The effect generalizes across product categories and is mediated mental simulation. These findings extend grounded cognition theory to digital environments, highlighting how everyday device interactions can shape consumer evaluations.
The high costs associated with digital service platforms underscore the need for insights to enhance revenue and mitigate risks. Understanding consumers' cultural orientations is crucial for market adoption and the success of digital service platforms such as lateral exchange markets. However, technology-based research often overlooks cultural influences, focusing primarily on individual perceptions rather than macro-social influences that can be leveraged in large-scale expansion efforts. Thus, a latent growth model is used to test how macro-cultural factors influence revenue growth over time to provide insights on market attractiveness for lateral exchange markets that aim to grow market share and revenue.
The United Nations emphasizes gender equality as one of its top Sustainable Development Goals, focusing on addressing the gender wage gap. Thus, this research aims to close the gender wage gap by assessing gender differences in price-setting behaviors for gig workers and examining the underlying mechanisms. Two experimental studies reveal that females set lower prices than males for comparable services. Furthermore, an intervention shows that, after exposure to marketplace pricing information, females - but not males - increase their prices. This research supports the U.N. goals and has significant implications for businesses seeking to enhance profitability while promoting gender wage equality.
This article examines how rising income inequality affects households' perceptions of economic well-being and consumption decisions. Using data of 34,621 households from India Human Development Survey (2004 and 2011), the authors find that increasing income inequality in emerging economies increases conspicuous consumption and lowers households' self-perceptions of economic well-being. Households overcome negative effects of income inequality on perceived economic well-being by consuming conspicuous goods, resulting in a false sense of economic well-being. Given this increased conspicuous consumption diverts spending from productive investments, firms should adopt responsible advertising practices in high-income inequality regions. Policymakers can educate consumers about informed consumption choices.
This paper contributes to the marketing literature by examining the contingencies of the conflicting impacts of a turbulent environment on innovation and export. We adopt structural inertia theory and chaos theory to explain when domestic business-to-business (B2B) turbulence drives firms toward a conservative route (i.e. lower product radicalness and export intensity) versus an aggressive route (i.e. higher product radicalness and export intensity). Based on data from 12,715 entrepreneurs across 50 countries, our findings suggest that firm size strengthens the negative impacts of domestic B2B turbulence on radicalness of product and export intensity (e.g. a conservative route), while firms' access to new product development (NPD) technology weakens these negative impacts (e.g. an aggressive route). The theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.
Consumers are demanding flexible options for taking possession of their purchases, carrying with it increases in cost and strain upon labor and asset utilization for companies. Three consumer experiments vary product, possession transfer service, and product handling difficulty to analyze the perceptions of convenience and fairness in relation to possession transfer service preference. Findings suggest a product's level of handling difficulty creates different preferences for such services. Perceived convenience affects perceived fairness and possession transfer service. Delivery fees motivate consumers to consider more possession transfer services (e.g. curbside). However, the fee for curbside pickup did not have the same result.
This research examines factors influencing employees' use of social media for work-related purposes and its impact on customer relationship performance. The design extends the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) by integrating employee orientation as a key organizational cultural factor. Using a quantitative methodology, the findings indicate perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are significant drivers of social media engagement, while employee orientation enhances the effect of perceived usefulness. Results also show work-related social media usage positively impacts customer relationship outcomes. Practical implications including targeted training, clear communication of benefits, and comprehensive social media policies, provide insights regarding how to maximize engagement and mitigate risks.
Drawing on self-determination theory, this study investigates the moderating role of learning orientation on the relationship between sales control systems and salesperson creativity and explores the relationship between salesperson creativity and cross-selling. Data were collected from 155 business-to-business salespeople at a regional financial institution in Japan using a two-wave survey design. The results demonstrate that learning orientation moderated the relationship between sales control systems and salesperson creativity, and the positive effect of salesperson creativity on cross-selling was significant. These findings provide practical insights for sales and human resource managers to improve salesperson creativity by updating human resource strategies consistent with their organization's sales control systems.
This study aims to analyze the role of digital and traditional channels in activating relationships and networks in the internationalization process of B2B startups. We conducted a qualitative study based on 19 semi-structured interviews with key informants operating in B2B startups. The results illustrate the use of multiple channels to build business relationships during the three phases of B2B startups' internationalization, i.e. (1) pre-entry, (2) entry, and (3) development. The main theoretical contribution of the study lies in clarifying how B2B startups integrate digital channels with traditional channels during internationalization, leveraging both their own resources and those of their key partners.
Ephemeral content refers to social media posts that are only available for a brief period. The popularity of ephemeral content has surged in recent times. This transient nature of the content creates a sense of urgency, capturing the users' attention for new updates. In this research work, we employ the uses and gratification (UGT) and examine the impact of crucial motivations (i.e. diversion, information interaction, entertainment, surveillance, and trendiness) of watching ephemeral content posted by social media influencers and the impact on consumer engagement (CE). Furthermore, we also tend to examine how engagement develops an urge to buy impulsively in the presence of relational bonds as moderators. This article aims to provide influencers with suggestions on enhancing CE via ephemeral content. Data was collected from 475 respondents through an online survey. PLS-SEM was employed to test the structural model, and Hayes Process Macros was used to test the moderating relationships. The findings reveal that all the motivations in the model impact CE positively. Relational bonds significantly moderate the relationships between different motivations and CE. Additionally, this engagement positively impacts the urge to buy impulsively.
This article synthesizes neuromarketing research using a systematic literature review (SLR) approach. Unlike existing reviews, it focuses on pre-purchase, purchase, and post-purchase behaviors. Covering a broad range of literature from 2017 to 2024, it offers insights into the descriptive aspects, theoretical foundations, tools, and measurement variables in the field. The review provides a comprehensive evaluation of neuromarketing research and offers a systematic overview of the field's landscape. Ultimately, this work aims to make meaningful theoretical and practical contributions to neuromarketing research.
This qualitative article explores market shaping by base-of-pyramid producers (BoPP) firms in resource-constrained environments based on in-depth interviews at four BoPP organizations in India. The findings reveal a novel "market shaping triad" framework consisting of interconnected activities, resources, and capabilities that BoPP firms leverage to shape their markets. Through six propositions, we demonstrate that transaction transparency enhances trustworthiness, power restructuring influences market dynamics, network effects increase market influence, nurturing local ecosystems facilitates market redevelopment, resource reconfigurations enable market norms alterations, and adaptive capabilities help BoPP firms to shape their markets. The study has several implications for BoPP organizations, and policymakers.
Using a mixed methods design, this research unpacks the key facets of customers' content interaction experience (CIX) with brands' social media content (richness, originality, accessibility, information quality, creativity, and relevance), and the implications of CIX on customers' outward behaviors toward brands' social media efforts. CIX significantly impacts continued usage of brands' social media pages, content sharing, but not customer's adoption of promoted offerings. These findings underscore the critical facets for nurturing meaningful CIX on social media platforms to enhance long-term brand engagement.
Brand value co-creation has reinvigorated brand research, sparking heightened interest in co-created brand meaning and generating theoretical and practical challenges. This systematic review addresses a gap in the academic literature by comprehensively analyzing brand value co-creation within the context of multiple stakeholders. We scrutinize the process and components by combining two frameworks: the TCCM (theory, context, characteristics, and methodology) and the IMO (inputs, mediators, and outcomes). We propose a multi-stakeholder brand value co-creation (MBVCC) definition and introduce a multidisciplinary approach to the field's themes. We then provide a framework and map of future research opportunities.
This research utilizes the Job Demands-Resource model to explore how poor resource-demand fit and tip-based compensation moderate customer orientation's (CO) effect on burnout and helping behaviors. Data from a survey of 237 frontline employees (FLEs) of a dine-in restaurant chain indicate that employee CO positively affects work-related outcomes. However, when fit is poor, the gains from a high CO employee may be lost. Furthermore, when the compensation structure is highly dependent on tips, those with lower levels of CO may suffer more from burnout and be less willing to help coworkers.
This study explores how severe airline service failures impact perceived betrayal, helplessness, consumer avoidance, boycott, and revenge among 400 Russian air travelers, analyzed using PLS-SEM and Artificial Neural Networks. Findings reveal that service failure severity influences perceived betrayal and helplessness, which in turn drive avoidance, boycott, and revenge. This research enriches airline service failure literature by examining emotions like betrayal and helplessness and exploring anger-driven responses. The dual-method approach combining machine learning with traditional analysis highlights linear and nonlinear consumer behavior patterns, advancing service management research with a robust, innovative methodology.
