M3 - Marketing and AdvertisingReturn

Despite substantial research on the antecedents of the relationship between brand experience and customer citizenship behavior, the effect of brand attachment remains a neglected subject in marketing research. Using social exchange theory (SET) and attachment theory, this study analyses the role of brand attachment as a mediator in the relationship between brand experience and customer citizenship behavior. Specifically, is to investigate the mediating role of brand attachment in the relationship between brand experience and customer citizenship behavior to clarify the role of the different dimensions of brand values among the customers of fast-food restaurants in Egypt. In this study, data was gathered through a questionnaire based on fast food restaurants. and for data analysis, structural equation modelling (SEM) was used. Findings reveal that customer citizenship behavior is directly influenced by brand experience. Furthermore, brand experience directly and significantly impacts brand attachment. Moreover, brand experience is a strong predictor of brand attachment, which promotes consumer citizenship behavior. The study finds that there is a partial influence on the relationship between Brand experience-consumer citizenship behavior relationship.

The study aimed to determine the impact of m-banking apps’ ease of use on brand trust, including the moderating effect of users’ demographic factors on that relationship. The research was quantitative, where 400 samples were selected based on simple random sampling. The participants were m-banking app users based on their availability and popularity and concentrated on the Dhaka division. The collected data were processed through the SPSS V23 and SmartPLS. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was run to test the hypothesis. The study revealed a positive significant impact of m-banking apps’ ease of use on brand trust. In addition, gender and age had a moderating effect on the relationship between ease of use and brand trust, especially the male and older class groups who had strong brand trust at the high level of m-banking apps’ ease of use.

Given the rapid advance and the growing influence of social media, the need to research this unique phenomenon becomes more apparent and urgent. This research examines the influence of social media marketing activities (SMMA) on Brand Equity, in the case of bottled water brands. Additionally, it offers a research model that investigates both direct and indirect effects of SMMA on Brand Equity, where Brand Trust is used as a mediator. A quantitative method was used to investigate the most popular domestic and foreign brands of bottled water in Bosnia and Herzegovina, with all 518 respondents being both bottled water consumers and social media users. Furthermore, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were performed to assess the reliability of the scales, while structural equation modeling was used to estimate the proposed hypotheses of the research. The obtained measurement results revealed that SMMA have a direct impact on Brand Trust and Brand Equity, keeping in mind that Brand Trust mediates the link between SMMA and Brand Equity. Therefore, the aims of the study are threefold: to increase the knowledge about social media, to shed more light on the relationship between SMMA, Brand Trust, and Brand Equity, as well as to help organizations recognize the benefits of using and investing in social media. Due to the fact that this research was conducted on brands in Bosnia and Herzegovina, research in another country can yield different results, given a different culture, mentality, and general educational and material status.

This study evaluates the impact of influencer marketing on consumers. Although online influencers are long established in German B2C markets, research in the field is scarce. Marketing managers are unsure how influencer marketing strategies should be drafted and which influencers should be recruited in order to maximize their marketing efforts at the consumer level. Based on a review of previous theoretical and empirical literature, a mixed method empirical study comprising semistructured interviews with three German fashion influencers and a consumer survey (N = 385) among the followers of these influencers are conducted to evaluate the impact of influencer activity on consumer followership, brand awareness and purchase intention. Results indicate that the intensity of influencer network involvement, intrinsic influencer motivation, authenticity of communication style and the real-life character of influencer posts increase the dependent variables. Hence, the empirical study has contributed to identify the most important determiners for the German B2C fashion influencer segment. Marketing managers are strongly advised to select influencers adequately and organize their marketing strategy in correspondence with their company and products.