Abstract

Adult obesity has remained a key health concern globally. Theory-based social marketing interventions are considered effective for improving dietary and physical activity (PA) behaviours. However, their application in universities is not yet established. This review aimed to identify social marketing strategies targeting healthy eating and/or PA behaviours of young adult university students and outline the intervention effectiveness. Literature search, screening, and data extraction followed the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodology for scoping reviews. PubMed/Medline and Scopus databases were searched for intervention and exploratory studies published between January 1, 2000, and September 20, 2023. Twelve articles were selected based on the eligibility criteria. Although different in study design, all studies reported improved healthy eating-related outcomes, while three showed improved PA-related outcomes. One study incorporated all six of the social marketing benchmarks, but the majority identified two. Most studies focused on behavioural objective, formative research, and marketing mix in their intervention design. Four studies incorporated behaviour change theories in development of the social marketing campaigns. Social marketing using social media could be a significant approach for improving healthy eating and PA in young adult university students when behavioural change theories and all social marketing benchmarks are adopted. More generalizable longer-term investigation into the effectiveness of this approach in university young adults is needed to tackle adult obesity related health issues.

Introduction

Obesity has remained a global epidemic and represents a key risk factor for the development of many chronic diseases [1]. This epidemic is reflected by the prevalences and trends of adult obesity in Australia and the US, with females showing higher rates of becoming obese than males [2,3]. For example, approximately 12.5 million Australian aged ≥18 years were categorized as overweight or obese in 2017/2018, equivalent to 2 in 3 adults being overweight or obese [4]. The prevalence of overweight and obesity in Australian aged ≥15 years has also demonstrated a steady upward trend, with a combined incidence of 60 % over the period 2006 to 2019, particularly those living in rural and regional city urban areas [5]. This trend aligns with recent observation from five US national studies where obesity incidence increased from age 15 years into young adulthood [6]. Similarly, obesity prevalence rates among Canadian young adults (≥18 years) increased from 23.9 % in 2007/09 to 26.4 % in 2012/13 [7]. These trends highlight the need for more efficient interventions targeting key modifiable risk factors to prevent and manage obesity in young adults. Obesity in young Australians, Americans, and Canadians (aged ≥18 years) is attributed to several risk factors such as poor diet, physical inactivity, sedentary behaviours, low socioeconomic status, and stressful life events [8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14].

One such life event is the transition to university life [15]. It represents a critical period where changes in lifestyle behaviours (e.g., decrease in physical activity (PA) and fruit/vegetable intake) and weight gains are more commonly documented [15]. Starting university in Australia, Canada, and the US is influenced by several barriers perceived to healthy eating/lifestyle such as unsupportive institutional environment, availability/cost of healthy foods, neglect of PA, easy access to fast food, peer influence on unhealthy eating behaviour/physical inactivity, insufficient sleep, and stress [16, 17, 18, 19]. Students appeared to maintain those detrimental behavioural patterns such as excessive screen time and physical inactivity during the transition [20,21]. Alarmingly, a higher psychological distress risk was found in students who followed unhealthy patterns of behaviour such as physical inactivity and unhealthy diet while studying transition to university courses [22, 23, 24]. Different types of interventions have been used to improve dietary, PA, and weight-related outcomes (e.g., body fat, lean mass, waist-to-hip ratio, waist circumference) in the university setting, including strategies promoting healthy food purchases, online education and using web resources, and social media/technology devices [25].

Results

Our search identified 32,928 records for possible inclusion, with 32,571 duplicates removed. A total of 357 articles were screened by title and abstract for inclusion, and 325 articles were excluded based on Table 1. Of the 32 full-text articles that we screened as potentially relevant, 12 met the inclusion criteria (Table 1), which involved more than 52,280 university students/young adults (aged 18–35 years). A PRISMA flow diagram of articles inclusion is summarized in Fig. 1. The results were divided into two themes: university setting and young adults.

Abstract

     In the emerging retail market, e-tailers operating in developing economies have to cope with the rapid use of the Internet, new electronic purchasing methods and online selling platforms. However, e-tailers do not understand the effect patterns in which customer engagement on purchase intention and customer acquisition. From e-tailers’ perspective, this study explores how customer engagement behaviors are related to both purchase intention and customer acquisition. We obtained live streaming data in the mature e-tail live streaming market environment and found empirical evidence supporting the conceptual framework through regression model analysis. The analysis results show that the specific indicators of the customer engagement are not all positively related to customer purchase intention and customer acquisition, and it is worth noting that the influence of “like” behavior on customer acquisition is no statistical significance. This is expected to encourage e-tailers to rethink their focus on customer acquisition and sales enhancement digital strategies as they operate in emerging markets.

Introduction

     Live streaming e-commerce has become the fastest growing new form of e-commerce in the world in the last three years. According to data from T-mall in China, within 48h of the 618 shopping festival in 2021, the live streaming e-commerce transaction volume of brand stores increased by more than 100% compared to the same period last year, and the number of live broadcast rooms of stores with a transaction of more than 10 million yuan was more than twice that of the same period last year. “Improve business efficiency through Taobao Live” has been recognized by many brands. And many international brands have used Taobao Live to reach Chinese consumers. Live streaming e-commerce has also been widely concerned with consumers in its novel form of commodity display, affordable and convenient. According to the 47th Statistical Report on Internet Development in China (CINIC, 2021), as of December 2020, the scale of online streaming users in China has reached 388 million, and 66.2% of online consumers have bought live streaming merchandise. Live streaming provides customers with added value and additional channels for customer engagement, making it a popular shopping method among consumers. Whether from the perspective of consumers or e-tailers, live streaming will become the mainstream e-commerce mode, as consumers will not change once their shopping patterns are formed.

Conclusion

     At a broader level, this paper was motivated by the observation that e-tailers do not understand the effect patterns in which live streaming service on their benefit, i.e., purchase intention and customer acquisition. The notion of engaging is reflected by customer co-creative and interactive experiences (Vargo and Lusch, 2008), so we focus on the customer engagement in the context of live streaming.

     Based on the prior research and data availability, we firstly determined the customer engagement behavior indicators (customer visits, likes and comments) in the context of live streaming. Then, we revealed the relationship between these engagement behavior indicators and purchase intention and customer acquisition, respectively, through empirical analysis. Consistent with most studies, customer engagement has a positive effect on purchase intentions, but the degree of impact varies across engagement behaviors, and, for customer acquisition, some engagement behaviors even have a negative impact. Overall, the finding of this paper highlights the important point that different engagement behaviors may have different effects. The retail business may benefit more from studies segmenting these engagement behaviors. Of course, the lack of access to specific data measuring increased sales and increased customers is a major limitation of our study, and in the future, we hope to work with brands to obtain specific data to further validate the findings of this study. While the limitations of our study go beyond this, our findings provide some inspiration for future researchers in the areas of live streaming e-commerce, customer engagement, and relationship marketing.

Abstract

Keywords

Introduction

Conceptual framework

Methodology

Data analysis

Results and discussion

Conclusions, limitations and future lines of research

Declarations

Annexed 1. Measurement tool

References

Article Info

Tables

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate how social responsibility marketing campaigns can be effective in branding for young millennials. An empirical model was applied in three specific cases of cause marketing targeting Generation Y. A total sample of 547 young people was obtained, and the data were analysed through the structural equation methodology using PLS data technical analysis. The results showed that, for millennials, marketing actions with a cause are effective in positioning the brands that carry them out favourably as long as requirements such as the alignment of their objectives with the social ideals and their closeness to millennials are met. Likewise, all the communication elements of the message will influence its effectiveness. This study provides new evidence on the attitudes of young millennials towards brands’ social marketing actions.

1. Introduction

Social responsibility marketing (SRM) has been defined as the design and implementation of marketing programmes that seek to generate a change in consumer behaviour towards a social or environmental cause (Lee and Johnson, 2019). SRM focuses on strategically positioning the brand as being interested in improving society; thus, the company must study its environment and its composition. SRM then starts with a social strategy and seeks to align the brand’s clients with awareness of a particular problem, limiting itself only to generating awareness. SRM programmes are being increasingly popular because consumers are becoming involved with this initiative and feel directly and indirectly affected by what happens to their environment (Kärnä et al., 2003).

SRM actions allow a firm to build a positive brand reputation among its stakeholders since, on the one hand, they align its brand identity with the social objective that it is promoting and, on the other hand, they differentiate the firm from its competitors (Van De Ven, 2008). However, SRM actions may be perceived by consumers as not very credible or alienated with the brand, something that happens frequently, especially in SRM actions (Childs et al., 2019) in which complementary actions are not carried out, as in the case of marketing with a cause, which demonstrates the greater social impact of the brand.

Companies are increasingly focusing on new buyers, including a very special segment called Generation Y, namely the buyers who will account for the largest share of the global market by 2030 (Jamie et al., 2021). Moreover, consumers increasingly make purchasing decisions on the basis of their perceptions about a brand with respect to its SRM programmes, a particular factor among young millennials, who tend to support social causes and socially responsible companies.

1- Introduction

2- Literature

3- Methodological concept

4- Stage 1: Stakeholder consultation

5- Stage 2: Survey

6- Stage 3: Focus group

7- Social marketing campaign: Western Rising!

8- Stage 4: Post survey

9- General discussion

10- Conclusion

References

Abstract

Social marketing is the application of classic marketing techniques to promote socially beneficial behavior. This paper examines the opportunities for applying social marketing by outdoor recreation advocacy groups. Highlighting a successful campaign to promote environmental behavior among rock climbers, findings from this research are examined to demonstrate applications of social marketing to support similar organizations. In the examined campaign, a sample of rock climbers were surveyed. Cluster analysis revealed three distinct segments with significantly different environmental attitudes and past commitments to environmental behaviors. The cluster labeled ‘The Project’ showed a high level of willingness to change behavior and need for intervention. A focus group of individuals from this cluster then answered questions identifying their barriers to responsible behavior, motivations for acting more sustainably, and ideas for encouraging others to participate in a general campaign. Results were presented to an environmental non-profit organization, which aims to promote conservation by, and for, rock climbers. Findings assisted their campaign targeting entry level climbers and indoor facilities. Specifically, co-creation with the recreational and advocacy groups, framing interventions within the 4Ps for project planning, and leveraging public commitments significantly improved efforts. The successful campaign is examined to describe how social marketing may be leveraged by similar advocacy groups. Additional ideas for intervention and areas for future research are also discussed.

Introduction

Outdoor recreation advocacy groups operate throughout the world and are diverse in their promotion of activities. In the United States, where this research was conducted, they are primarily non-profit entities which support access to public and private lands, legislation aiming to provide accessibility and protection of such lands, democratic voice for their user bases in the public sphere, and engagement in civic efforts with the communities of users they represent. These organizations vary greatly in scope, size, and mission. Examples of US based advocacy groups include Protect Our Winters, Outdoor Afro, and Ducks Unlimited. To promote their efforts, many of these organizations use marketing techniques to encourage membership, increase donations, sell products and/or services, raise awareness of current events/issues, and/or to increase brand recognition. For most conservation oriented organizations, resources are limited (Ferraro & Pattanayak, 2006) and it is therefore important to understand how best to leverage, and maximize, all tools that the field of marketing have to offer these organizations. Social marketing may be effective in supporting these groups. The field of social marketing has been described by Dann (2010) as the “the adaptation and adoption of commercial marketing activities, institutions and processes as a means to induce behaviour change in a targeted audience on a temporary or permanent basis to achieve a social goal” (p. 151).

Personal branding is a rapidly growing phenomenon taking place in multistakeholder ecosystems. This article builds on ethnographic fieldwork from the rock-climbing industry in the US and Europe to show how stakeholders enable and shape the personal branding practices of professional climbers. Findings demonstrate that personal branding is a highly social practice wherein stakeholders provide three types of resources to elaborate personal brands: material resources, informational resources, and symbolic resources. In addition, six main conventions guiding stakeholders’ relationships and enabling resource transfer are then identified and theorized. Finally, these findings are built upon to suggest a framework to analyze stakeholder cooperation in personal branding.

Introduction

Personal branding refers to the creation and management of personal brands by people who apply marketing principles to themselves for promotional purposes (Pagis & Ailon, 2017; Shepherd, 2005). This type of branding is a central concern for many professionals, such as athletes (e.g., Arai, Ko, & Kaplanidou, 2013), models (e.g., Parmentier, Fischer, & Reuber, 2013), knowledge workers (e.g., Bandinelli & Arvidsson, 2013; Gandini, 2016), bloggers and influencers (e.g., Duffy & Hund, 2015; Erz & Christensen, 2018). People increasingly use social media to elaborate and disseminate a particular image of themselves (Duffy & Hund, 2015; Marwick, 2013). Scholars have described their motivations as self-serving and calculated (e.g., Hearn, 2008, 2010), embedded in the growing marketization of social relationships across professional contexts supported by digital technologies (Gandini, 2016). This literature suggests that personal branding is a highly individual practice sharing similarities with product branding. However, brands are not created in isolation, but through the complex set of social relationships established among interrelated stakeholders (Michel, 2017; Von Wallpach, Hemetsberger, & Espersen, 2017). These stakeholders play active roles in branding processes by providing resources (Pera, Occhiocupo, & Clarke, 2016). They may have different expectations when collaborating with a brand (Jones, 2005), varying resources and power (Mäläskä, Saraniemi, & Tähtinen, 2011), and diverse backgrounds and norms (Hillebrand, Driessen, & Koll, 2015). Despite this acknowledgment of the role of stakeholders in branding, their potential participation in personal branding has received little attention. A consequence is that knowledge on the influence and role of stakeholders in the creation of personal brands remains limited to descriptive accounts of the multistakeholder ecosystems where personal brands are built.

Successful hotel branding requires the management of both external and internal branding. External branding has been widely studied to understand how hotel brands connect with customers; however, internal branding targets internal employees, and the practice is not well understood by hoteliers. For that reason, this study proposes a framework for implementing internal branding in hotel organizations. We analyzed an internal branding project for three consecutive years using a participatory action study. The findings of this study support a six dimensions framework for implementing internal branding strategies: (1) corporate support; (2) leadership of managers; (3) reciprocal learning; (4) being proactive at the personal level; (5) characteristics of departments; and (6) performance evaluation. In the proposed framework, we applied a combined social identity and social exchange approach to identify how these approaches function in different paths which contributes new theoretical insights to the understanding of internal branding.

Introduction

To build strong brands, both internal and external branding initiatives are needed (Davies & Chun, 2002). Brands need to maintain relationships with both internal and external stakeholders by improving both internal organizational identity and external customer identity (Urde, 2003). When considering internal branding, employees are vital assets to building and maintaining a favorable corporate reputation and brand image (Gofton, 2000). Organizations and customers are better served if employees have a strong attachment to and a positive image of their own companies. Employees’ identification with and internalization of a company’s brand values and norms can reflect strongly on their service to external customers (Dutton, Dukerich, & Harquail, 1994; Gotsi & Wilson, 2001) which is particularly relevant to front-line team members in the service industry. The central role of service employees in the hotel industry cannot be overemphasized. Service organizations are labor-intensive, and they depend on employees to maintain and deliver brand promises to guests. Because of their many interactions with customers, the perception of employee service and the actual delivery of service (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1985) determine the scope of service quality and, ultimately, customer satisfaction with the brand. During service delivery, employee attitude and brand-related competencies are highly valued (O’Neill & Mattila, 2010); therefore, the benefit of well-trained employees who “live the brand” (Gotsi & Wilson, 2001) is growing, yet few service studies have comprehensively examined employee brand education (Terglav, Ruzzier, & Kaše, 2016).

2- LITERATURE REVIEW

3- CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND HYPOTHESES DEVELOPMENT

4- METHODOLOGY

5- DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS

6- DISCUSSION

REFERENCES

Organ donation is a social issue, and marketers face challenges promoting it. If factors aiding and inhibiting it are identified, it becomes easier to enhance intention of donating organs. The objective of this research is to establish the role of perceived awareness, family support, perceived individual value, and religiosity on organ donation intention (ODI). A sample of 247 respondents answered a structured questionnaire. Proposed model is mediated by organ donation attitude (ODA) and moderated by perceived risk. Findings from the study show that all the predictors are positively related with ODI mediated through ODA and perceived risk moderates the influence of ODA on ODI.

INTRODUCTION

Organ donation (OD) has become a very important issue as the level of organ failure has seen a steep increase over the years. Medical advancements have escalated the propensity of number of people undergoing the organ transplant process. A combination of these factors have continuously lead to an increased demand for organs (Becker & Elias, 2007). It becomes the responsibility of social marketers to communicate the scenario and make common people understand the value of organs and importance of OD. OD can occur in whole (such as kidney, heart, and pancreas) or in parts (such as heart valves, partial lobes of lung or liver, skin, and bone; Steinberg, 2012), and it can be from both living and deceased donors. Tissue may be recovered from donors who are cardiac dead up to 24 hr past the cessation of heartbeat. Unlike organs, most tissues (with the exception of cornea) can be preserved and stored for up to 5 years (Hood, Vogelsang, Black, Farmer, & Santos, 1987). This study focuses on cadaveric OD. Nonavailability of suitable donor (Theodore & Lewiston, 1990) leads to an increased demand of organs. The supply of organs is stagnant even though death rates are high (Merion et al., 2005) leading to widening of the demand–supply gap. India’s OD rate in 2016 is 0.8 person per million population (pmp; Times of India, 2017). Three percent out of 85,000 terminally ill liver patients (for whom transplant is the only way of survival) gets liver for transplant. Among 0.2 million patients who register for kidney annually, only 8,000 get it, and others die in due course because of nonavailability of donor kidneys, and people awaiting cornea for transplant is 1 million (medindia, 2015). Around 0.25 million people die due to organ failure annually in India (Times of India, 2017).

This study provides novel insights into the way loyalty behaviour to the performing arts is formed. Research in this area has predominantly relied on either demographics or motives to understand audience behaviour and we have provided a theoretically robust explanation for the psychological processes that connect occupation, income and education (SES) to loyalty. Based on a sample of 196 concert attendees aged between 20 and 50, and using an adapted a model of motivation, we showed that basic psychological need (BPN) satisfaction plays a pivotal role in transferring the effects of SES to loyalty for this important demographic through utilitarian and hedonic attitudes. These findings highlight the importance and potential application of a universal needs concept for expanding and deepening consumer behaviour theory. The implications of the findings for research and practice are addressed throughout and the study concludes with recommendation for further research.

Introduction

Attendance at classical music concerts has been declining (Allday, 2012) for well over a decade. Intense competition from more popular entertainment forms, coupled with economic uncertainty have influenced demand trends (Anning, 2016) and increased production costs and reduced public subsidies have put pressure on supply. Moreover, audiences are getting older, with a recent study in the United Kingdom reporting that 37% of patrons in that country are aged over 61, 42% between 41 and 60 and only 7% aged under 31 (Bradley, 2017). Cleary, performing arts practitioners are facing challenging times and while retaining current audiences is important, strategic actions to energize younger audiences must be prioritized and central to this is understanding the factors that influence the next wave of classical music consumer behaviour. From a cultural sociological perspective (Bourdieu and Nice, 1984), preferences for the arts are posited to reflect and reinforce social class distinctions (Newman et al., 2013) and while the line between traditional highbrow/lowbrow positions has blurred (Peterson and Albert, 1992) a considerable amount of research supports an association between socioeconomic status (SES) and performing arts attendance patterns (Kraaykamp et al., 2010; NEA, 2015;Yaish and Katz-Gerro, 2012). Others however believe that socioeconomic factors alone do not adequately account for audience participation and suggest that researchers broaden the focus to consider ‘lifestyle’ variables (Seaman, 2005). Gofman et al. (2011) for example found that young people on lower incomes were attracted to museums for fun and social interaction reasons and Manolika et al. (2015) reported that the ability of education, occupation and income levels to predict performing arts attendance was significantly increased when intrapersonal motives were included in their model.

Motivated by the need for a deeper understanding of the factors and processes through which consumers evaluate corporate giving, this paper examines the role of perceived effort in the formation of consumers’ motive attributions. Guided by attribution theory and the augmentation principle, three studies are put forth to demonstrate how the type, nature and source of giving influences consumers’ perception of effort and ultimately, their evaluation of the firm. Results show that donation type, time versus money, differentially influence consumers’ attitude toward the firm via serial mediation. Specifically, corporate donations of time (compared to money) lead to higher levels of perceived effort, which then induce more altruistic motive attributions. We also find that the effect of donation type on perceived effort is moderated by consumers’ perception of the relative cost of the donation to the firm.

Introduction

For many organizations today, the common good has become common practice. A survey by America’s Charities finds that a full 60% of companies offer year-around giving, up from 24% in 2013 (America’s Charities, 2015). These changes are also reflected in the amount of giving, with corporate donations to charities exceeding $18 billion in 2016 (Charity Navigator, 2017). In recent years, the nature of corporate giving has begun to change. Corporate philanthropy, whereby a corporation donates a portion of its resources to a societal cause, has become more focused and strategic in its execution (Gautier & Pache, 2013). Google for example sought to foster innovation by awarding a $1.5 million-dollar donation to Code for America (Govtech, 2011). More recently, car manufacturers, energy firms and tech companies have begun to donate to causes that support STEM education in an effort to bolster the future supply of skilled workers (Insidephilanthropy, 2016). While monetary donations remain the most prevalent form of giving, donations of time in the form of corporate volunteerism has also emerged as a common means of corporate philanthropy (Philanthropy, 2012).

1- Introduction

2- Methods

3- Results

4- Discussion

5- Conclusion

References

Abstract

Active transportation to school (ATS) is a recognized way to increase physical activity (PA). However, girls and young women do not regularly use ATS despite the many documented physical, mental, and community health benefits. Social Marketing (SM) may provide a framework for understanding girls’ perspectives of and experience with ATS and inform messages for use in a public health marketing campaign. Focus groups with 79 girls between the ages of 7 and 15 were conducted in Spring 2017 in Victoria, Canada. Transcripts and poster data were initially categorized using the ‘4Ps’ from social marking (Product, Price, Place and Promotion). Participant groups were segmented into three age categories for designing tailored messaging. Thematic analysis revealed elementary school aged participants identified health and fun while middle school participants valued socializing and helping the environment as reasons for engaging in ATS. For secondary school students, ATS was seen as a way to become more independent. All three highlighted fun and enjoyment as important benefits of ATS, and suggested positive and lighthearted messaging. Segmenting into different audiences highlighted how campaign segmentation would resonate with different audiences based on core values and beliefs. Further segmentation of the audience could result in different core values and beliefs held by diverse groups.

Introduction

Despite the strong connection between physical activity (PA) and lifelong health, only 7%–9% of Canadian children and youth participate in 60 min or more of moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA) daily, putting them at risk for developing chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular disease (CVD) and Type II diabetes (Barnes et al., 2016; Patnode et al., 2010; Spurr et al., 2016; Tremblay et al., 2016). Regular exercise is known to have effects on academic and mental health outcomes in children, and positive PA behaviours track into adulthood (Lees and Hopkins, 2013; Malina, 1996). Research shows that girls do less PA than boys including physically active travel (Davison et al., 2008; Dumith et al., 2011; Pearson et al., 2015; Spurr et al., 2016; Trost et al., 2002). Thus, girls do not benefit as much from the association between active transportation to school (ATS) and PA (Buliung, Flora, & Fusco, 2009; Patnode et al., 2010). ATS includes walking, cycling, skating, as well as taking public transportation to school (Frazer et al., 2015). Girls who use ATS report 4.7 to 40 min more MVPA than non-ATS users (Faulkner et al., 2009). Estimates are that 24–26% of Canadian 5–17-year olds use ATS regularly, but inactive modes of travel have steadily eclipsed active modes since 2000 (Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute, 2012; Mammen et al., 2014; ParticipACTION, 2016). Along with gender, major determinants of ATS include distance of more than one kilometer from school and age (Panter et al., 2008). Other behavioural change determinants may influence ATS, such as the built environment, weather, family dynamics, modelling, and independent mobility (Bere et al., 2011; De Meester et al., 2013; Mitra and Faulkner, 2012; Pang et al., 2017; Pont et al., 2009). Determinants are sometimes framed by theory with socio-ecological and social cognitive theory (SCT) the most prevalent (Buttazzoni et al., 2018). Two recent reviews have found extremely varied intervention effectiveness (Pang et al., 2017; Villa-González et al., 2018).

Offline social interactions and online shopping each have been studied extensively. Despite the importance of each construct, little is known about the effects of offline social interactions on online shopping. This study examines three research questions: (1) how offline social interactions affect online shopping in general, (2) how active and passive offline social interactions exert different influences on online shopping, and (3) how online shopping preferences moderate the influences from the two types of offline social interactions. Our empirical analyses provide three substantive findings. First, overall offline social interactions have a positive impact on online shopping demand. Second, while active offline social interactions have a positive informational influence on online shopping demand, passive offline social interactions have a negative normative influence on it. Third, online shopping preferences weaken both the positive informational and negative normative influences from both of offline social interactions. We also discuss theoretical and managerial implications.

Introduction

Consumers are influenced by their social interactions before making purchase decisions (Chen, Wang, & Xie, 2011; Godes & Mayzlin, 2009; Lee & Bell, 2013; Ong & Yap, 2017). Motivation for social interactions may be to reduce perceived risk and to make better purchases by getting information and sharing experience (Choi, Bell, & Lodish, 2012; Gu, Park, & Konana, 2012; Lee & Bell, 2013; Lewis, Brown, & Billings, 2017). Note that information from offline social interactions can be perceived to be more reliable, as they (as we define them here) are based on face-to-face interactions while online social interactions are based on device-mediated interactions (e.g., text-based chatting) (Ramirez & Wang, 2008). The online shopping channel, a devicemediated channel, carries relatively higher risk and uncertainty (Cho & Workman, 2015; Lee & Bell, 2013; Yaoyuneyong, Foster, & Flynn, 2014). Thus, purchasing high involvement products via the online shopping channel may exacerbate consumer perception of higher risk and uncertainty, which can result in a greater reliance on offline social interactions. The impact of geographical variation on online shopping has been well established in the marketing arena (e.g., Choi, Hui, & Bell, 2010; Forman, Ghose, & Goldfarb, 2009).

This study aimed to examine the effects of awareness of paid endorsements by social media influencers on followers’ cognitive persuasion knowledge (ad recognition), attitudinal persuasion knowledge (relationships with the influencer), and behavioral intentions, specifically eWOM intention and purchase intention. Employing an online survey (N = 269), this study found that awareness of paid endorsement relates to ad recognition, which is correlated with purchase and eWOM intentions. We also found that awareness of paid endorsement is correlated with influencer-follower relationship, which is associated with purchase and eWOM intentions. However, ad recognition does not affect influencer-follower relationship. Implications for public relations theory, practice, and policy are discussed.

Introduction

Building strong relationships between organizations and their multiple publics through open, authentic, and transparent communication has been regarded as the touchstone of excellent public relations (Taylor & Kent, 2014). An essential part of building these relationships has been through media relations, often regarded as the raison d’etre of public relations (Sriramesh & Vercic, 2009). However, the rapid hybridisation of the media environment, the ubiquity of social media, and the rise of social media influencers have challenged traditional notions of media relations, demanding that practitioners tasked with building effective relationships with their organizations’ publics engage with these new sets of gatekeepers, opinion leaders, and influentials (Booth & Matic, 2011; Pang, Tan, Lim, Kwan, & Lakhanpal, 2016; Smith, 2010; Walden, Bortree, & DiStaso, 2015). Social media influencers, a type of opinion leader, engage in self-presentation on social media, accomplished through the creation of their online images employing rich multimodal narration of their personal, everyday lives, and leverage these images to attract attention, and a large number of followers (Khamis, Ang, & Welling, 2016; Senft, 2013). Pivotal to their success are the relationships between their personal brand and their followers, upon which is premised the potential for deep influence (Abidin & Ots, 2015) leading to positive outcomes such as followers’ electronic-word-of-mouth (eWOM) communication and purchase intention (Boerman, Willemsen, & Van Der Aa, 2017; Evans, Phua, Lim, & Jun, 2017; Wojdynski et al., 2017). However, organizations’ engagement of social media influencers through paid endorsements, and the subsequent blurring of lines between paid and earned media add complex dimensions to the ethical practice of public relations.