M37 - AdvertisingReturn

In the German-speaking food market, a significant gap exists between consumer preference for sustainable options and purchasing behavior, primarily due to skepticism about the authenticity of sustainability claims. In a study involving 368 participants from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, the influence of price on the perceived authenticity of sustainability labels was examined. Participants were surveyed on their explicit attitudes, while their implicit attitudes were assessed using the implicit association test (IAT). Results show that a higher price significantly improves the perception of a product's authenticity. Socioeconomic factors, such as nationality and gender, are significant, with Swiss nationality and female gender showing strong correlations with higher perceived authenticity. This study uniquely examines initial attitudes and reactions to reflect heuristic consumption decisions. Insights can be used to develop pricing and marketing strategies tailored to different markets and target groups, effectively addressing consumer skepticism through targeted communication and pricing.

This research delves into effective messaging strategies employed by companies to shape their reputation in anticipation of an initial public offering (IPO). Drawing insights from the analysis of 1162 media headlines encompassing 30 brands during their IPOs on NASDAQ or NYSE, the study offers valuable recommendations for entrepreneurs and startups engaging in rhetorical preparations for an IPO. By synthesizing the examination of successful companies' media framing with pertinent well-known communication frameworks (strategic communication and the PESO model), the article introduces the new 6I's model. This model serves as a comprehensive marketing guide, empowering entrepreneurs, and businesses to adeptly manage their company's reputation and highlight diverse accomplishments for the cultivation of a positive media image towards the IPO. The 6I's model encompasses messages centered on Increasing and rapid growth, Innovative technology, Immediate relevance, Individuals and personnel, In-charge management, and In-chronicle history and company tradition. Based on the suggested model, this study further develops the theoretical understanding of corporate narrative and strategic communication to mold the reputations of organizations.

This study aims to understand the factors influencing consumers' intention to adopt the metaverse as a marketplace for physical products and the role of trust specifically focusing on the generation aged 18–28. It also explores the moderating role of trust towards the company Meta in these relationships. An exploratory sequential mixed-method research design was employed to develop an encompassing conceptual model, enhance hypothesis formulation, and validate findings through triangulation. In the first phase of the study, in-depth interviews were conducted with professionals and students (n=11), and in the second phase, Likert-type questionnaire was administered (n=386) to university students. The data collected in the second phase was analyzed using Covariance-Based Structural Equation Modeling (CB-SEM) to validate the conceptual model. This included Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) for reliability and validity, followed by the assessment of path coefficients. Double-mean centering was applied to test moderating effects, with all analyses conducted using the R software's lavaan package. The results confirmed the positive effects of novelty, relative advantage, realism, and compatibility on consumers' intention to adopt the metaverse as a marketplace for physical products, while complexity and financial costs were identified as barriers. Trust towards Meta did not have a moderating effect. The findings provide insights for managers to develop the metaverse in a customer-centric manner and promote its unique features while addressing complexity and financial concerns. The study extends the literature on the metaverse in the consumer goods sector and contributes to Innovation Adoption Theory.

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.

This study was focused on application of perceptual carrying capacity concept in the environment of trade fairs. The main contribution of this study is exploration of customers' attitude towards overcrowding at trade fairs as there is not known any study with focus on these events. For this purpose, the eye tracking experiment was conducted, where different images depicting different level of visitors were used. In addition, the aim of the study was to identify what is at the centre of people's attention when looking at photographs taken at trade fairs. The study was conducted with 30 respondents from generation Y. The results imply that the number of people is a very important factor in deciding whether to attend these events (in this case trade fairs) or not at all. Simultaneously the in-depth interviews showed that people tend to have more of a negative attitude towards both overcrowding and a low number of people perceived at an event. This study also suggests that the optimal number of people at trade fairs is not extreme, not too low or not too high.

Many consumers believe that choices they make result from rational analysis of available alternatives. In reality, however, emotions greatly influence and determine our behaviour and decisionmaking also on the market of products and services. The main aim of this paper is to show the relationship between selected personality traits and emotional consumer behaviour. We used two psychological tests (Eysenck personality questionnaire and author's scale of emotionality) and tested several factors that might have influenced emotional consumer reactions. We found out that two of three tested personality predictors are significant - extroversion and neuroticism. The higher the score that respondents reach in the scales of extroversion and neuroticism was, the more emotional was their behaviour and decision making. In that connection, there are also differences between individual temperaments. Cholerics and melancholics react more emotionally than other two temperaments.