Tourists are increasingly becoming active consumers of tourism offerings. Although engagement is an important concept in tourism marketing, the literature is replete with nomological approaches investigating its antecedents and outcomes. Thus, there is no available study in delineating how tourist engagement (TE) may co-create/destroy value at each stage of the consumption process to advance our knowledge on the topic. Therefore, this chapter aims to explain TE throughout the consumption process of tourism offerings. To achieve this goal, the chapter proposes an integrative conceptual framework that delineates TE in the three stages of the customer journey and at all levels of the service ecosystem. The chapter contributes to the literature by advancing our knowledge of tourist engagement and its role in value co-creation/destruction. Moreover, it identifies research voids and provides valuable future research recommendations.

The long-standing distinction made between goods and services must now be joined by the distinction between these two categories and "information products." The authors propose that marketing management, practice, and theory could benefit by broadening the scope of what marketers market by adding a third category besides tangible goods and intangible services. It is apparent that information is an unusual and fundamental physical and logical phenomenon from either of these. From this the authors propose that information products differ from both tangible goods and perishable services in that information products have three properties derived from their fundamental abstractness: they are scalable, mutable, and public. Moreover, an increasing number of goods and services now contain information as a distinct but integral element in the way they deliver benefits. Thus, the authors propose that marketing theory should revise the concept of "product" to explicitly include an informational component and that the implications of this revised concept be discussed. This paper presents some thoughts on the issues such discussions should address, focusing on strategic management implications for marketing information products in the information age.

Few studies have examined the antecedents of nutrition involvement. Similarly, conflicting results have been recorded on the relationship between nutrition involvement and knowledge, knowledge and dietary behaviors, and nutrition involvement and dietary behaviors. This paper addresses these research gaps by exploring the role of regulatory focus as an antecedent of nutrition involvement. It also examines the effect of nutrition involvement on nutrition knowledge and the effects of both involvement and knowledge on diet adjustment. A large-scale study with 1125 Taiwanese consumers demonstrates a positive effect of promotion focus and no significant effect of prevention focus, on nutrition involvement. Income moderates the effect of promotion focus on nutrition involvement, which in turn has positive effects on nutrition knowledge and diet adjustment. Nutrition knowledge also has a positive effect on diet adjustment. The study clarifies these relationships and provides suggestions to policy making.

Marketers value and seek brand loyalty. Consequently, they have developed a variety of strategies to encourage both behavioral (repeat purchase) and attitudinal (emotional) loyalty among customers. A recent concept has emerged related to the latter goal: brand engagement. Although marketers give a variety of definitions for brand engagement, the essential concept is an emotional attachment to a brand as though the customer has an emotional relationship with it perhaps because the brand acts as an important reflection of self-identity or is an important symbol of something meaningful to the consumer. Consumers manifest different types of engagement (with advertising, media, web sites, a company, as well as specific brands). Engagement is also conceptualized at different levels of abstraction: engagement with the marketplace, engagement with a product category, engagement with a specific brand, and brand engagement in self-concept, which refers to differences in how much consumer use brands in general to represent themselves to others. This chapter discusses these issues in some detail and presents theoretical, managerial, and theoretical implications of this concept.

The availability of information and variety of online purchase options are increasing for consumers shopping for complex products (e.g., cars, real estate). This situation, and consumers’ resulting sense of informedness, has led many to suggest that the need for business-to-consumer (B2C) salespeople is diminishing. Yet, despite these claims, many purchases—especially those associated with high prices and, therefore, high consumer involvement—still require consumers to interact with salespeople. This interaction, between consumers (at varying levels of informedness) and B2C salespeople, is the focus of the current study. Merging theories of consumer informedness and adaptive interpersonal influence, we suggest that the interaction between salesperson influence attempts and consumer informedness plays an important role in purchase decisions. To study this notion, Study 1 matches automobile shoppers’ survey responses with objective purchase data from 480 sales interactions. Study 2 is a scenario-based experiment that investigates informedness and influence in a financial services setting. The findings of both studies suggest that understanding a consumer’s informedness, and adapting the proper influence approach to it, is critical if salespeople are to influence modern consumers’ purchase decisions and, thus, avoid irrelevancy.

Tatzel proposed a theory of money worlds and wellbeing comprised of four prototypical consumer patterns based on whether consumers are high/low on materialism and simultaneously tight or loose with money. Tatzel proposes that the four prototypes (value-seekers, non-spenders, big-spenders, and experiencers) differ strikingly along many values, attitudes, and behaviors. This study uses data from 1,016 U.S. student consumers to test empirically the typology and differences. A cluster analysis confirmed that a four-cluster solution best represented the data, supporting Tatzel's model. Subsequent ANOVAs showed that two of the four groups differed predictably in the hypothesized directions. Significant differences between big-spenders and non-spenders appeared in levels of price sensitivity, status consumption, generosity, brand engagement, worry about debt, and spending. The other two groups, value-seekers and experiencers, fell between them. The findings partially confirm Tatzel's theory and suggest that “money worlds” are one way of conceptualizing consumer culture.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to review the impact electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) has had on the hospitality and tourism industry and discuss the changes that will affect its future. The paper's touchpoint is the authors' earlier paper (Litvin et al., 2008), which proposed that eWOM was to become a major influence as a conduit of travelers' views and opinions. Design/methodology/approach - The paper summarizes the arguments of the authors' earlier paper, describing ways in which eWOM has evolved into the influential system it has become, with special emphasis on the growth of mobile media as a platform for eWOM dissemination. Findings - The authors conclude that eWOM has fulfilled its promise to become a major influence on the hospitality and tourism industry and will continue to play an essential role in hospitality marketing for the foreseeable future. Practical implications - The authors provide examples of successful media campaigns and propose strategies for hospitality and tourism businesses. Originality/value - eWOM has emerged to become a highly influential element of modern marketing strategy. This look back at an early eWOM paper, with reflection on changes that have occurred and a view to the future, is of value as validation of an often cited article that set the stage for much subsequent hospitality research.

The marketing literature devotes little coverage to the topic of extreme couponing, even though the consumer minority of heavy coupon users accounts for the bulk of coupon redemption. The present research seeks to close this gap by examining the attitudes of coupon users toward the practice of extreme couponing. The research uses a qualitative study plus an additional quantitative analysis of survey data from an online coupon user community (n = 309). The results indicate that most coupon users hold negative opinions of the practice of extreme couponing and there are only minor differences between couponing behaviors of those who self-identify and are positive toward extreme couponing compared with those who do or are not. A typology of coupon users is also introduced.

Purpose The current research contributes to the marketing literature by examining, and more importantly, better understanding a presentation format (i.e. PACE) in which caloric information is complemented with physical activity time required to offset consumption. The purpose of this paper is to systematically evaluate the impact of this approach in both actual and simulated consumption settings while providing evidence of its contribution to healthier decision-making. This research uncovered several important insights into how consumers are influenced by, and respond to, the presence of physical activity time. Design/methodology/approach The paper used experiential designs in five studies to examine how the presence of physical activity calorie equivalent (PACE) information affects consumption. The studies measured both intended and actual consumption behavior. The data were analyzed using analysis of variance as well as bootstrapping methods. Findings The paper establishes that PACE information reduces consumption compared to NLEA-mandated information. We show that the effectiveness of PACE information differs based on consumers’ level of health consciousness as well as food type. Our research also uncovers a moderating effect based on perceived difficulty of the featured activity. Finally, we show the psychological process underlying the effectiveness of PACE information. Research limitations/implications Future research can address the generalizability of current findings across different consumption domains and contexts. Our work focuses on the efficacy of information delivery at the point of consumption. The results of the current study may differ when the decision is being made at the point of purchase for future consumption. Practical implications The paper’s findings represent a win-win scenario for consumers and manufacturers alike. Manufactures stand to benefit from PACE information as many consumers are seeking healthier food options and are willing to pay a premium for items that help them make more healthful choices. Consumers will benefit as well, given the struggle with obesity and other diet-related ills, by being provided with a more effective means of making healthier choices. Social implications Obesity and diet-related chronic diseases are global pandemics affecting consumers throughout the world. This paper contributes to this issue by presenting manufacturers and researchers with a better understanding of how consumers can be encouraged to make healthier choices and overcome the barriers to healthier lifestyles. Originality/value This paper addresses a gap in the literature as well as an important social concern by better understanding how healthier nutrition choices can be encouraged.

Brand love has attracted limited research attention although the brand relationship literature considers it as an important construct. Thus, the purpose of the current study is to address the voids in knowledge identified in the literature and explore the formation process of brand love in both, goods and services. A conceptual model is developed by proposing brand self- expression, brand attachment and brand trust as key antecedents in building brand love. The proposed model is tested using structural equation modeling and the results show a good model fit for the full sample as well as for the goods and the service sample separately. However, some differences are found on the effects of the above determinants between the two samples. The findings of the present study increase our understanding of the consumer-brand relationships and provide tools for predicting consumers’ post consumption behaviors.

How we see the future depends partly on our current perspective. A research-oriented visionary will detail what the future brings for researchers. A technology-oriented one describes the wonders of coming technologies. Marketing managers are likely concerned with future developments in their specific areas of responsibility (i.e., advertising and promotion, branding, or supply chain). Academics likely look for the hot new research topics. This article summarizes how several major consulting companies, e.g., McKinsey & Company, Strategy&, and Euromonitor International, view the near future on the premise that academic researchers often overlook such forecasts although they provide a unique perspective on what is important to all types of marketing managers. It summarizes the recommendations several consulting firms make regarding how managers should adapt their practices to these changes. The article contends that the reports consulting companies release to the public in an effort to attract clients are a valuable and unique source of information that can inform and shape academic research and teaching.

Since Feick and Price introduced the concept of market mavenism almost 30 years ago, researchers have accumulated a large body of empirical findings describing market maven attitudes, behaviors, and characteristics. Surprisingly, only a few studies examine the relationship between market mavenism and its personality antecedents represented by the Big Five theory. In addition, 2 consequences of mavenism, brand loyalty and frugality, have not been studied. The present study contributes to understanding mavenism by filling some gaps in this body of knowledge by using data from a sample of 351 adult US consumers. The findings reveal moderate positive associations of mavenism with openness to experience, extraversion, and agreeableness and weak positive associations with conscientiousness and emotional stability. They also show that market mavenism is positively related to frugality and negatively related to brand loyalty. The findings also confirm that mavens shop more and buy more than other consumers do. These findings continue to expand our understanding of market mavenism and provide insights that marketing managers might use as they factor mavenism into their strategies. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

This study assessed the relationships between the Big Five dimensions of personality and individual happiness with three indicators of shopping and spending for non-grocery items using a sample of 660 U.S. adults. The data from an online survey showed that all five of the Big Five traits correlated positively with self-reported happiness, even controlling for the effects of age and gender. Regression analysis showed, however, that the positive relationships between happiness and Agreeableness and Openness to Experience were no longer significant, indicating that they are real, but redundant to the other traits. The correlations also showed that happiness, Openness to Experience, and Extraversion correlated positively with the three shopping indicators. Finally, happiness appears to have a direct effect with shopping and mediates the influence of Emotional Stability, Agreeableness, and Extraversion on happiness.

The purpose of this article is to describe the concept of knowledge calibration within the context of knowledge management. Knowledge calibration is a concept borrowed from the psychology of decision making. It refers to the correspondence between knowledge accuracy and the confidence with which knowledge is held. Calibration is a potentially important concept for knowledge management because it describes one of the subtle errors that can lead to poor decisions. Where the correspondence between the accuracy of one’s knowledge and the confidence in that knowledge is high, decisions are described as well calibrated; but poor correspondence implies miscalibrated decisions. Since one concern of the field of knowledge management is the best use of knowledge for decision-making purposes, this topic is relevant. BACKGROUND

The purpose of this study is to propose a new perspective on classifying or segmenting consumers by describing a minority of them who are uniquely motivated by high levels of status seeking, brand identification, and materialism. We term this segment of individuals super consumers. The data came from an online survey of 351 adult US consumers. A cluster analysis using these three variables as criteria produced a two-cluster solution. Comparing mean scores between these two groups of consumers on measures of market mavenism, shopping frequency, amount of spending, age, and gender showed that the super consumers were significantly more likely to be market mavens, to shop more frequently, and to spend more than the other consumers were. The super consumers were younger in age as well, but there were no gender differences between the two groups. Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

ABSTRACT Materialism has by all accounts an important impact on many aspects of consumer behavior. The psychological mechanisms through which materialism influences behavior, however, are not well studied. This paper describes a study of the influence of materialism on shopping intensity and amount of spending that takes into account the mediating influences of three important consumer characteristics: status consumption, brand engagement in self‐concept, and market mavenism. The researchers fit a model of these relationships based on the Meta‐theoretic Model of Motivation (3M) model to data from a sample of 351 adult U.S. consumers. The model fit the data well, and the results showed that indeed, status consumption, brand engagement, and market mavenism mediate at least partially the influence of materialism on shopping and spending.

Since Feick and Price (1987) introduced the concept of market mavenism almost 30 years ago, researchers have accumulated a large body of empirical findings describing market maven attitudes, behaviors, and characteristics. Mavenism can be defined briefly as a strong involvement in the marketplace. The purpose of the present study was to assess relationships between market mavenism and three aspects of consumption behavior largely ignored by previous research into market mavenism. Analysis of data from a sample of 351 adult U.S. consumers confirms that market mavenism is positively related to frugality and negatively related to brand loyalty. The results showed that as H1 hypothesized, mavenism is positively related to frugality (r = .27). H2 proposed that mavenism is negatively correlated with brand loyalty. The results (r = -.24, p < .01) support this hypothesis as well. H3 posited that mavenism is positively correlated with shopping and spending. The correlations (.27 and .29) support this. These findings continue to develop our understanding of market mavenism and provide insights that marketing managers might use as they factor mavenism into their strategies.