Purpose This research aims to test the effects of music in a retailer environment on revisit and recommendation intentions via the serial mediator’s atmosphere perception and satisfaction and the moderating role of scent and crowd perceptions. Design/methodology/approach This study was conducted by means of surveys in two stores: Abercrombie & Fitch and Apple (n = 948 customers). Data was analysed via PROCESS. Findings The results reveal a serial mediation effect, in which a positive perception of in-store music enhances revisit and recommendation intentions via atmosphere perception and satisfaction; perceived crowding does not moderate this mediated relationship; and in Abercrombie & Fitch, scent has no moderating effect, whereas in Apple, it exerts a positive moderating influence. Research limitations/implications The authors test the serial indirect effects of music on revisit and recommendation intentions through atmosphere perception and satisfaction. The authors extend this approach by examining the moderating role of scent and crowd. This study could be enriched by incorporating additional mediators (e.g., emotions) and other sensory and individual moderators. Future research could replicate these findings in different contexts. Practical implications This study highlights the importance of music in shaping atmosphere perception and driving satisfaction and long-term behaviours and a better atmosphere boosts satisfaction, future visits and recommendations. Originality/value This research is novel in that it examines the effects of music on the long-term downstream effects of revisit and recommendation intentions, mediated by the atmosphere perception and satisfaction, while also investigating the moderating influence of scent and crowd.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to identify segments in the Gen Alpha population (born since, 2010) in Gen Alpha samples in the USA, the UK and Germany, based on brand- and lifestyle-related variables. This study aims to explore how these segments differ and provide insights into cross-country similarities and differences.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey was conducted in stratified random samples (1,722 participants in total), and categorical principal-components analysis (CATPCA), latent class analysis and analysis of variance were used to identify and profile Gen Alpha segments.FindingsAcross the three countries, the identified four Gen Alpha segments differ in terms of the importance they attach to trendy and original brands, values such as sustainability, diversity, equity and inclusion, physical and mental health, self-image and social media influencers. Similar segments are found in the three geographical areas, although they are differently represented in each country.Research limitations/implicationsThis study proposes a conceptual and analytical approach for exploring intra-cohort diversity. Future research can apply this approach to study intra-cohort diversity in other parts of the world, explore cross-cultural differences and delve deeper into the role and impact of parents of Gen Alphas.Practical implicationsThe study provides input for marketing practitioners to create more fine-grained, better-focused and more effective campaigns.Originality/valueAcademic research and segmentation research in a generational cohort context about Gen Alpha is virtually non-existent; cross-country generational cohort research is also very scarce, and intra-cohort diversity is under-researched. This study offers a fine-grained insight into the diversity of the Gen Alpha cohort across three geographical areas.

Organizations increasingly advertise their environmental track record using green employer labels-certifications granted by external entities to recognize employers for their pro-environmental policies or practices for employer branding. Through the lens of Signalling Theory and Self-Congruity Theory, an eye-tracking experiment followed by a questionnaire was conducted with 142 young adults. Visual attention was measured for 11 areas of interest on a fictitious LinkedIn page on which different versions of a recruitment advertisement were shown. Individuals pay more visual attention to the LinkedIn search bar and less to the employer logo and right headband when a green employer label is shown. A green employer label has a positive effect on person-organization fit, thereby enhancing employer attractiveness. Especially individuals highly concerned about the environment perceive a fit between themselves and the employer when recruitment ads feature a green employer label. This increased fit leads to greater ad credibility and employer attractiveness.

We offer a retrospective on interactive advertising research by first examining the topics addressed in the Journal of Interactive Advertising (JIA) in three respects: (1) how these topics align with the journal's editorial mission; (2) how different they are from adjacent journals; and (3) how they mirror key evolutions in advertising practice. We screened the focal research topics of 1380 articles published since 2000 in three journals: Journal of Interactive Advertising, Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, and Journal of Interactive Marketing. Additionally, we discuss how publication characteristics in JIA evolved during the past decade, highlighting notable patterns. To that end, we screened the 173 articles published in the 10 most recent JIA volumes on the following characteristics: research topics; theoretical lenses; methods (types of samples, countries in which the studies were conducted, research designs and analytical approaches, realism and ecological validity in research designs); and the quality of the managerial implications offered and quality of the further research suggestions. Finally, we provide methodological recommendations and an extensive further research agenda for four interactive advertising categories, encompassing: (1) innovation and technology: real-time hyper-personalization, immersive experiences, personalized search technology, and location-based advertising, (2) consumer responses: user-generated content, ad avoidance, (3) integration strategies: integration of tools and channels, integration across societal groups, and (4) ethics and sustainability: consumer data empowerment, and ad carbon footprint and consumer digital impact.

The Generational Cohort Theory (GCT) has been an inspiration for academic research in many domains and countries. The current paper presents an overview of the marketing and advertising research that has been inspired by the theory. It critically assesses GCT validity, the oversimplification of a deterministic approach, and avoidance of reductionist generalizations. Comparing cohorts and/or study cohort effects suffers from confounds that cannot easily be avoided or controlled for. The paper identifies and discusses three research streams related to conceptual and methodological issues with the GCT and how they have been studied in the past: How to validly study generational cohort effects, intra-cohort heterogeneity, and cross-cultural cohort research. The paper further identifies research gaps and provides suggestions to enhance the conceptual and methodological quality of further GCT studies. Finally, the paper reflects upon to what extent the GCT is a useful lens for marketing and advertising practice.

PurposeEngaging in webcare, i.e. responding to online reviews, can positively affect consumer attitudes, intentions and behavior. Research is often scarce or inconsistent regarding the effects of specific webcare strategies on business performance. Therefore, this study tests whether and how several webcare strategies affect hotel bookings.Design/methodology/approachWe apply machine learning classifiers to secondary data (webcare messages) to classify webcare variables to be included in a regression analysis looking at the effect of these strategies on hotel bookings while controlling for possible confounds such as seasonality and hotel-specific effects.FindingsThe strategies that have a positive effect on bookings are directing reviewers to a private channel, being defensive, offering compensation and having managers sign the response. Webcare strategies to be avoided are apologies, merely asking for more information, inviting customers for another visit and adding informal non-verbal cues. Strategies that do not appear to affect future bookings are expressing gratitude, personalizing and having staff members (rather than managers) sign webcare.Practical implicationsThese findings help managers optimize their webcare strategy for better business results and develop automated webcare.Originality/valueWe look into several commonly used and studied webcare strategies that affect actual business outcomes, being that most previous research studies are experimental or look into a very limited set of strategies.

In a study with 320 Canadian participants, we explore the effect of perceived physical and non-physical anthropomorphism of an Embodied Conversational Agent (ECA) and the perceived actual and subjective age difference between an individual and this ECA on the ECA's likeability and credibility. We also explore the effect of likeability and credibility on the attitude towards the website on which the ECA appears and the brand on the website. Perceived physical anthropomorphism has a positive effect on ECA likeability and credibility. The perceived differences between a consumer's subjective and actual age and perceived ECA age have a negative effect on ECA likeability. This effect is attenuated by an interaction effect between the subjective age difference and perceived non-physical anthropomorphism: for a given level of the subjective age difference, the more the ECA is perceived as having human emotions and motivations, the more positive the effect on ECA likeability is. ECA likeability and credibility lead to more positive attitudes towards the website and the brand. For the conceptualization of our study, we draw upon the Attraction to Similarity Theory, complemented by insights from anthropomorphism studies, Self-Congruity Theory, and relational characteristics research. Theoretical and managerial contributions are discussed.

This paper explores the influence of different social media platforms' characteristics for use intensity (i.e., time spent and emotional connectedness), which in turn partially affects the development of consumers' online brand-related activities (COBRAs). Using a U.S.-based sample of 939 adult social media users, we tested three serial mediation models using partial least squares structural equation modeling. We find that different social media characteristics lead to different levels of time spent, emotional connectedness, and, ultimately, COBRAs. We show the superiority of using profile-based (vs. content-based) platforms in fostering COBRAs, despite its negative effect on use intensity. Also, using customized (vs. broadcast) messages boosts users' time spent on social media, thus enhancing emotional connectedness to the platform. Notably, the time spent on a platform significantly affects COBRAs via the mediation effect of emotional connectedness. We contribute by exploring the role of platforms' characteristics in developing COBRAs while unraveling how the two dimensions of use intensity influence brand-related activities on social media.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to identify segments in the Gen Z population (born between 1996 and 2010) in Europe, the USA and Australia, based on brand- and lifestyle-related variables and perceptions about their online activities. This study explores how these segments differ and provide insights into cross-country similarities and differences.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey was conducted with 4,304 participants, and cluster analysis and analysis of variance were used to identify and profile Gen Z segments in each of three geographical areas.FindingsFive segments in Europe and four segments in the USA and in Australia were identified. Segments differ in terms of the importance they attach to exclusivity, inclusivity and sustainability of brands, how Gen Z members perceive money issues and stand in life and how they perceive their online activities. Similar segments are found in the three geographical areas.Research limitations/implicationsThis study proposes a conceptual and analytical approach for exploring intra-cohort diversity. Future research can apply this approach to different generational cohorts and use it to study intra-cohort diversity in other parts of the world.Practical implicationsThis study provides input for marketing practitioners to create better focused and more effective campaigns.Originality/valueCross-country generational cohort research is scarce, and especially intra-cohort diversity is under-researched. This study offers a deep and fine-grained insight into the diversity of the Gen Z cohort across three geographical areas, based on representative samples in these areas.

Social media are increasingly popular for delivering branded content to consumers worldwide. A central task for researchers is to understand what consumer brand-related motivations and brand appeals drive consumer engagement and benefit brand outcomes across different cultures. Based on the Uses and Gratifications theory, this study explores how individuals' motivations for social media use and branded content reflecting these motivations affect three focal consumer brand responses (viral behavioral intentions, click intention, and purchase intention) across different cultural contexts, namely Western European (i.e. Austria, Belgium, Sweden) and Latin (i.e. Brazil, Chile, Portugal) cultures. Our results exhibit significant positive effects of motivations (Remuneration) and branded appeals (entertainment appeal) on consumer responses that prevail in both Western European and Latin cultures. Managers implementing cross-cultural social media marketing can use the insights of this paper as a guide to target audiences with brand appeals, enhancing the effectiveness of their brand communication activities on social media.

This special issue celebrates the 40th anniversary of the International Journal of Advertising. Nineteen articles from prominent authors cover advertising topics and look at the past, present and most importantly, the future of advertising research, offering extensive suggestions for future research. The issue covers four themes: Looking back at the advertising discipline through four decades, societal and policy issues in advertising, advertising in the digital age, and looking forward in search for future issues that should be studied. A broad variety of topics, theories and methods are covered, such as sustainability communication, diversity and inclusion, privacy issues, advertising ethics and surveillance, vulnerable target groups, CSR advertising, cause-related advertising, health care advertising, international advertising, the artificial intelligence ecosystem, branded content, influencer marketing, virtual, augmented and extended realities, gamification, the academic-practitioner divide, multidisciplinary research, setting up solid and relevant advertising research, and urgent topics for advertising research.

Managers increasingly address client feedback online, a practice known as webcare. Based on a systematic literature review on webcare, we provide a framework that aims to identify potential generalizations, discuss possible explanations for inconsistencies that require further investigation, and identify the under-researched areas concerning the managerial responses to eWOM (electronic Word-of-Mouth). This framework covers several practical and theoretical questions. Our systematic review suggests that organizations should respond to eWOM, especially when it is negative, and should do so in a personalized, detailed, and timely manner. Accommodative webcare should go beyond a mere apology and should focus on solving the issue. We integrate these results from prior research with insights from justice theory, attribution theory, message personalization, and service recovery to develop an extensive conceptual framework describing the factors to consider when engaging in webcare and the potential outcomes. This framework guides our suggestions for future research that should disentangle the many contradictory effects (e.g., when to use defensive webcare) and cover under-researched topics (e.g., webcare strategies for positive WOM specifically or the underlying mechanisms explaining the effects of different webcare strategies), and the mechanisms through which webcare strategies lead to better business performance.

The production and consumption of single-use plastics (SUP) has disastrous consequences for the natural environment. Understanding which consumers are more likely to avoid SUP and why is crucial. Building on a comprehensive action determination model of ecological behavior, this study aims to specify the most relevant drivers and barriers to consumers' intentions to avoid SUP. The results of a qualitative study (N = 32) and a quantitative study (N = 3,000), conducted across multiple countries (United States, Russia, and Belgium), reveal that positive attitudes and subjective norms regarding SUP alternatives enhance consumers' intentions to avoid SUP. Our analysis also shows the existence of four consumer segments—SUP addicts, SUP avoiders, the apathetic, and situation-driven SUP users—who differ in their intentions to avoid SUP and their motivations. While habits in using SUP, and situational constraints and hygienic concerns regarding SUP alternatives do not play a significant role in the whole cross-national sample, they represent crucial barriers for specific segments such as SUP addicts and situation-driven SUP users. The study concludes with several marketing and design recommendations for promoting and developing reusable alternatives for single-use plastics.

The present research explores readers' and authors' general attitudes towards brand placement in fiction. An online survey of Flemish readers (n = 500) and Flemish and Dutch authors (n = 97) measured attitudes towards the use of brand names and the practice of paid brand placement in fiction. Readers also reported their attitudes with regard to placement in film and TV programs. The results demonstrate that readers are favorable towards brand use in fiction. They also view the practice of paid placement as acceptable, perceive it as appropriate in most fiction genres, and are largely indifferent to the use of placement disclosures. Albeit perceptions are favorable across media in absolute terms, attitudes towards brands and paid placement in fiction, compared to film/TV programs, are less positive. Demographic characteristics and individual differences in reading motivation also predict readers' placement attitudes. Further, the results reveal that authors also perceive (paid) placement in fiction as acceptable, yet they appear more reserved about the practice than readers in our sample and see a higher need for disclosure regulation. Findings are discussed with relation to earlier work on general attitudes towards brand placement in other media and their implications for current theory and practice.

The present study is the first to explore the effects of brand placement disclosures in fiction. Prior to reading a short story featuring an unfamiliar brand, participants were exposed to either a brand-unspecific, brand-specific, or no placement disclosure. A longitudinal design was employed, such that conceptual persuasion knowledge (advertising recognition) and author-related perceptions (trustworthiness, intrinsic and ulterior motives for inserting the brand) were measured immediately (Time 1), while brand purchase intention was measured both immediately (Time 1) and after a two-week delay (Time 2). Mediation analyses showed that (especially specific) disclosures enhance advertising recognition and increase perceptions of the author’s ulterior (commercial) motives (both directly and via advertising recognition). Although disclosures did not influence purchase intention directly at either measurement point, they exerted an indirect negative effect on purchase intention at Time 2 via decreasing author trustworthiness.

Using a previously untested similarity contingency model of country stereotypes, this study assesses the effects of country stereotypes, perceived country similarity, and their interplay on emotion-driven punitive intent toward foreign, wrongdoing companies. In Study 1, positive country stereotypes (warmth, competence) mitigate punitive intent by diminishing agonistic emotions (contempt, anger, and disgust). Study 2 demonstrates that perceived similarity with a wrongdoing company’s country of origin moderates the indirect effects of country stereotypes on emotion-driven punitive intent. Compensatory effects between country stereotypes and perceived country similarity emerge; with greater (lower) perceived country similarity, the indirect effects of country stereotypes on emotion-driven punitive intent are weaker (stronger). The results provide companies with relevant insights into (1) why consumers emotionally react as they do to wrongdoing companies of different nationalities and (2) how to counterbalance negative effects of company misconduct by harmonizing elements of countries’ warmth, competence, and perceived country similarity in branding and communication content.