Despite rapidly advancing scholarship on consumer engagement and climate change as individual domains, understanding of their theoretical interface remains underdeveloped, revealing a key gap in the literature. Addressing this gap, this article and Special Issue advance insight into the interdisciplinary topic area of fostering consumers’ climate (change) engagement by taking a self-determination theory perspective. Specifically, drawing on the theory, we suggest that consumers are likely to internalize or adopt initially extrinsic financial, social, and recognition rewards through their latent cogno-emotional, socio-emotional, and socio-cognitive engagement, respectively. These are, in turn, proposed to drive the development of autonomous, relatedness-based, and competence-oriented climate (change) engagement behaviors, respectively, as summarized in the proposed conceptual model and an associated set of propositions. We next introduce the articles featured in this Special Issue, which are linked to the proposed model, followed by the development of a future research agenda that emerges from this pioneering interdisciplinary Issue.

Coupons can help increase the revenues of a firm and are widely used by marketers to attract customers. Yet in practice, marketers face the challenge of low redemption rates, with Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) coupons having a redemption rate of less than 1%. Our research explores how religiosity, a sociocultural factor, affects consumers' coupon interests. Using both secondary data (Google Trends) and primary data (survey), the findings reveal that higher religiosity is associated with increased coupon use, as religious consumers make heightened benevolent inferences about coupons-specifically, they are more likely to view coupons as a legitimate tool offered by businesses to help reduce costs. The research further shows that, rather than generalized social trust, frugality-based motivated reasoning better accounts for why religious consumers interpret coupons so benevolently. Alternative predictors and other potential underlying mechanisms are further tested to strengthen our theoretical framework. Taken together, these findings theoretically extend our understanding beyond the traditional demographic and marketing factors examined in prior studies. Practically, the segmentation variable suggests insights for marketers by addressing a prevalent issue and providing a framework for improved comprehension.

As firms have become more engaged in political issues, researchers have been keen to understand the consumer response to such corporate political advocacy (CPA). Drawing on an event study (S1) and an experiment (S2), the present work examines three novel questions relevant to the theoretical and managerial implications of CPA: 1) whether issue-specific policy attitudes are better predictors of consumer responses to CPA than political orientation; 2) how consumer responses toward CPA are influenced by a change to the advocated policy; and, 3) how consumer responses are amplified as perceived controversy increases. Results reveal several key findings. First, policy attitudes predict consumer responses to CPA better than political orientation (across six policy contexts). Second, when CPA-related policy changes occur, consumers on the ’losing’ side of the change punish firms on the winning side. Lastly, polarized responses to CPA are amplified when CPA is viewed as more controversial.

While prior authors have explored the notions of human and/or automated social presence, these concepts have been predominantly assessed either individually or as mutually exclusive theoretical entities. However, we draw on engaged theory to develop the hybrid concept of phygital social presence that comprises aspects of both the human and automated social presence of metaverse avatars. We define phygital social presence as the degree to which a metaverse avatar instils the feeling in other users that they are in the company of a social entity, as elicited by the avatar's (a) human social presence (i.e., the actions taken by its human user, in line with engaged theory's “ways of acting”), and (b) automated social presence (i.e., the avatar's embodiment or its appearance, look, design, and the character that these emit, in line with engaged theory's “ways of being”). We next propose a conceptual framework and a set of propositions, which suggest that metaverse avatars' (a) human social presence primarily impacts metaverse users' positive or negative behavioral engagement in the metaverse, and (b) automated social presence chiefly influences users' positive or negative cognitive and emotional engagement. Moreover, an avatar's ways of relating , as also informed by engaged theory, primarily impact users' positive or negative social engagement.

In recent years, firms have become increasingly involved in sociopolitical issues via corporate political advocacy (CPA) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) while consumers have become more politically polarized and skeptical of political institutions. Merging these developments, the present work examines similarities and differences in response to CPA and CSR, and the implications for consumer polarization and radicalization. Utilizing three studies across numerous domains, the authors demonstrate that (1) CPA results in increased negative sentiment and CSR results in increased positive sentiment on social media; (2) relative to CSR, CPA results in more negative and polarized reactions due to the controversial nature of CPA; and (3) polarized responses to CPA are stronger among consumers lower in political efficacy. Together, the findings shed light on the distinction between CPA and CSR and illustrate how (and among whom) CPA may contribute to polarization and radicalization via negative sentiment expressed through social media and consumer actions. Theoretical contributions, practical implications, and future research directions are detailed.

While scholarly acumen of consumer engagement, defined as a consumer's resource investment in his/her brand interactions, is burgeoning, its theoretical interface with consumer stress remains tenuous, exposing an important literature-based gap. Specifically, consumers' engagement with brands, or brand-related elements (e.g., online brand communities, frontline staff, service robots, social media pages, etc.), may either induce, or ensue from, individuals' consumption-related stress (e.g., through perceived resource depletion, brand-related performance anxiety, choice overload, pandemics, climate change, supply shortages, etc.). Addressing this gap, we develop a conservation of resources theory-informed framework of the consumer engagement/stress interface that identifies consumer engagement as either (i) a consumer stressor (e.g., by placing demands on consumers, including in self-service or coproduction tasks), or (ii) a stress-reducing coping mechanism (e.g., by facilitating the development of brand-related learning, skills, or resilience). We, then, introduce the articles contained in this section, which are also linked to the proposed framework. We conclude by outlining avenues for further research in the integrative area of consumer engagement/stress.

Multiple scales measuring a customer's, or consumer's, engagement (CE) with a brand or specific brand elements (e.g., advertising/social media content) have been proposed in the literature, offering researchers different options to gauge CE. However, the myriad proposed operationalizations can yield confusion among scholars regarding how to best capture CE, exposing a growing issue for CE research. Addressing this issue, we take stock of major scales measuring a CE with a brand or specific brand elements. To achieve this objective, we performed a systematic review of major CE scale development articles (2005 to January 2023) using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) approach. We systematically evaluated these scales in terms of their respective CE conceptualization, dimensionality, itemization, and underlying theoretical perspective. We also identify potential scale-related risks, or pitfalls, exposing important insight for CE researchers. Overall, the results suggest the existence of theoretical contamination in specific CE measures (e.g., through the inclusion of related concepts in the proposed CE definition), compromising their theoretical rigor and raising a need for scholars to verify the theoretical underpinnings of their adopted CE scales.

Research can be characterized in terms of three domains (Brinberg and McGrath 1985): (1) the substantive (the realworld problem of focus in the research), (2) the conceptual (the theoretical representation of some aspect of reality), and (3) the methodological (the approach taken to investigate a realworld problem or test theory). In empirical research, all three domains are usually involved, but researchers may emphasize each to different degrees. A distinguishing feature of research in the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing (JPP&M) is that it usually starts with a real-world problem that has important consumer, marketing, and public policy implications (see Martin, Borah, and Scott 2021). Due to its substantive focus, JPP&M articles enjoy an eclectic use of conceptual foundations and methods to explore important real-world problems. In this commentary, we explore JPP&M’s methodological domain by conducting an analysis of recent empirical research and providing insights based on our work.

Following the proliferation of customer engagement behavior research, rising interest is observed in marketing-based stakeholder engagement behavior, which covers any stakeholder's-including a customer's, employee's, firm's, supplier's, competitor's, and so forth-behavioral engagement in his/her role-related interactions, activities, and relationships. However, despite its importance, understanding of the stakeholder engagement behavior concept remains tenuous, is therefore addressed in this paper. We first conceptualize stakeholder engagement behavior as a stakeholder's behavioral manifestation toward his/her role-related interactions, activities, and relationships, followed by an exploration of the effect of influencor-exerted social influence on an influencee's stakeholder engagement behavior. We argue this effect to manifest as stakeholder engagement behavior conformity, -compliance, or -reactance, depending on the influencee's level of acceptance of the influencor's exerted influence. In turn, we propose stakeholder engagement behavior conformity, -compliance, and -reactance to yield cooperation, coopetition, or competition in the influencor/influencee relationship, respectively, as depicted in a conceptual model and an associated set of propositions. By investigating the interface of social influence, stakeholder engagement behavior, and its prevailing relational consequences (i.e., cooperation, coopetition, and competition), our analyses offer novel theoretical acumen and actionable managerial insight.

Brands have increasingly taken a stance on controversial sociopolitical issues. However, our knowledge of how politicized brands impact consumers in the context of interpersonal relationships is limited. The present studies investigate how consumers respond to politicized brands that are given as gifts. To understand this phenomenon, we frame our work within a gifting space composed of the giver, receiver, and branded gift, grounded within a broader environmental context. Three studies test a causal model derived from this framework. Study 1 reveals that gift recipients show less appreciation for politically incongruent gifts that threaten their identity, an effect magnified among consumers whose political identity is central to their self-concept. Study 2 finds that when givers’ persuasion attempts are not inferred, the negative impact of political identity incongruence on gift appreciation is reduced. Finally, study 3 demonstrates that incorporating congruent symbols into identity-incongruent brands enhances gift appreciation.

Prior research has established the key impact of customers' Big Five personality traits (e.g., agreeableness/conscientiousness) on their brand engagement, suggesting that individuals exhibiting differing personality traits engage differently with brands. In parallel, extending influential customer engagement research, stakeholder engagement, which covers any stakeholder's (e.g., a customer's, supplier's, employee's, or competitor's) engagement in his/her role-related interactions, activities, and relationships, is rapidly gaining momentum. However, despite existing acumen in both areas, little remains known regarding the effect of stakeholders' antisocial or maladaptive dark triad-based personality traits, including machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy, on the focal antisocial stakeholder's, and his/her interactee', role-related engagement, as therefore explored in this paper. To address these issues, we develop a conceptual model and an associated set of propositions that outline the nature of a stakeholder's machiavellian, narcissistic, and psychopathic role-related engagement and its effect on his/her interactee's engagement. We conclude by outlining pertinent theoretical and managerial implications that arise from our analyses.

Political polarization is a marked political division in the population, characterized by multiple manifestations. The authors argue that it can affect consumer psychology, which in turn influences marketers, policy makers, and consumer welfare. The present work introduces the construct of political polarization to the marketing literature and shows how it serves as a novel challenge for various marketing stakeholders. For consumers, the authors propose that political polarization increases the salience of political identities, alters inter- and intragroup dynamics, and amplifies cognitive biases. These effects negatively affect consumer welfare, including financial welfare, relationships, mental and physical health, and societal interests. For marketers, polarization introduces a challenge to both be more sociopolitically engaged while also navigating competing political interests. Polarization also creates new opportunities and challenges for segmentation, targeting, loyalty, and product offerings. For policy makers, political polarization creates policy gaps, impedes the implementation of policy, and obstructs governance. Building from these insights, the authors consider the drawbacks and overlooked benefits of political polarization, potential remedies, and directions for future research.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is likely to spawn revolutionary transformational effects on service organizations, including by impacting the ways in which firms engage with their customers. In parallel, customer engagement (CE), which reflects customer interactions with brands, offerings, or firms, has risen to the top of many managers' strategic wish lists in the last decade. However, despite literature-based advances made in both areas, AI and CE are largely investigated in isolation to date, yielding a paucity of insight into their interface. In response to this gap, this Special Issue offers a pioneering exploration of CE in automated or AI-based service interactions. Our editorial first reviews AI's Industry 4.0 underpinnings, followed by an important AI typology that comprises robotic process automation (RPA), machine learning (ML), and deep learning (DL) applications. We then offer a high-level synopsis of existing CE research, followed by the development of a set of integrative propositions of CE in automated service interactions. Next, we introduce the Special Issue papers, which feature particular RPA, ML, or DL applications. We conclude with an overview of further research avenues in this growing area, which has the potential to develop into a powerful service research substream in the coming years.

A particular point in time can be framed as either the start or end of a given time period. However, limited research is available on how such temporal landmarks influence consumers' judgments. This research addresses this issue by investigating how start vs. end temporal landmarks influence consumers' attentional focus and subsequent judgments. Six studies demonstrate that framing a temporal landmark as the start of a time period shifts visual attention to the left, while framing a temporal landmark as the end of a time period shifts visual attention to the right. By changing attentional focus within the visual-spatial environment, a temporal-spatial congruity between a temporal landmark (start vs. end) and the location of a target object (left vs. right) increases people's preference for that target object. Overall, these findings provide valuable implications for marketing theory and practice.

We contend that positioning dark side activities (DSA) as a more central component of IB coursework is important for students to understand the legitimacy and performance consequences of such phenomena. We draw on six types of DSA: environmental degradation; questionable marketing practices; accounting or financial fraud; corruption; labor abuses; and cultural imperialism. We suggest that IB educators expose students to concrete examples illustrating when MNEs may drift to the dark side and provide three short case studies. We provide informational resources and discussion prompts for human trafficking and outline a United Nations framework to structure in-class discussion of DSA.

While research identifies predictors of charitable giving, little is known about what happens after the donation takes place. Accordingly, the present work examines how consumers respond when they learn their donation to a donor-to-recipient (traditional) charity such as donorschoose.org (unitedway.org) has been used for a project that the donor did not select (prefer). Highlighting the dark side of charitable giving, the present work conceptualizes redirected donations as a service failure within a betrayal-based framework. Consistent with the proposed framework, three studies demonstrate that redirected donations increase perceived betrayal, which leads to lower future donation intentions and volunteering, and heightened negative word of mouth intentions and switching charities. Results also indicate that the sense of betrayal is magnified when the charity has a moral mandate to carry out the advertised project (i.e., the charity is a donor-to-recipient vs. a traditional charity, and the project is seen as morally imperative).

While research suggests that conspicuously displaying luxury goods can help men signal desirable qualities such as high earning capacity and social status, little is known about how women evaluate and interpret luxury items given as romantic gifts by men. The current research explores this under-researched question and reveals that women do not always react favorably to luxury gifts. Instead, women are wary that accepting luxury gifts may lead to relationship power imbalance, which prompts less favorable reactions to such gifts. We also test the competing explanation of relationship commitment and find that signaling commitment does not emerge until a relationship becomes more established. Furthermore, individual differences in power distance belief (PDB) are explored to test our theoretical explanation with results indicating that women low in PDB are more likely to have concerns about power imbalance. Together, these findings highlight the unique role of luxury gifts in romantic relationships and thereby advance our understanding of when and why men's romantic luxury gifts will be appreciated by women. More generally, our findings provide nuanced insights into the power dynamics between men and women and the progression of a romantic relationship. Implications for luxury consumption and gender stereotypes are discussed.

This special issue has explored ways in which consumers engage

We are delighted to present the Handbook of Research on Customer Engagement to you, which offers a selection of contemporary readings in this rapidly developing research area. Since its initial inclusion on the Marketing Science Institute's 2010 Research Priorities, the topic area has grown intensely with important advances being made with respect to customer engagement (CE) conceptualization, measurement, as well as studies conducted in particular areas of CE application (see e.g. Kumar et al. 2019; Kumar and Pansari 2016; Hollebeek, Srivastava, and Chen 2019). For the period 2018_2020, the MSI has maintained the CE on centrality by inviting future research on the question What are the most effective strategies to drive deeper and lasting customer engagement with the firm? (MSI 2018, p. 3). In parallel, researchers' growing interest in CE is evident in a significant number of journal Special Issues (e.g. 2017 Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 2010 Journal of Service Research, 2018 Journal of Services Marketing), conference Special Sessions, roundtables and other events being organized to foster enhanced understanding of the concept (Brodie et al. 2011).