Browsing by Author "Hess A"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Curbing Adolescents’ Risky ‘Drinking’ Behavior with Authenticity
    (American Marketing Association, 2024-10-08) Hess A; Dodds S; Jaud D; Garnier C; Gergaud O
    Adolescents’ risky drinking behavior continues to be a public policy concern and insights into effective messages and behaviors that resonate with adolescents is needed. Evidence points to the potential of tapping into adolescents’ need for authenticity. Drawing on authenticity literature and implementing a mixed methods approach using family group interviews, followed by a 1x3 between-subject experiment with adolescents, this research conceptualizes a novel authentic engagement framework for reducing adolescent risky behavior. The findings identify and test that messages about drinking need to acknowledge positive aspects while warning of the negative consequences (i.e. mixed messages) across three dimensions - social, hedonic and safety. Alongside mixed messages, parents need to be honest about past experiences and align their behavior by acting as positive role models. Importantly, adolescents need an environment which enables them to experiment while having clear boundaries. Together this translates into openness and authenticity; critical for trust and the ability for adolescents to be true to themselves. The research has implications for parents and policy makers/marketers engaging with adolescents authentically about risky behavior, by providing information on message type and behaviors for effective training/educational programs and responsible drinking campaigns. The framework can be transferred to other contexts involving risky behavior.
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    Handle with care! Service contract termination as a service delivery task
    (Emerald, 12/06/2022) Wetzel H; Haenel C; Hess A
    Purpose: Profitability considerations lead service providers to terminate service contracts with low-value customers. However, customers targeted by service contract terminations often take revenge through negative word-of-mouth (NWOM). Presently, it is unclear how service contract termination initiatives prevent this harmful side effect. The purpose of this study is to compare the effectiveness of common service contract termination initiatives for reducing NWOM of customers whose service contracts are being cancelled. The study results provide guidance for minimizing the downside of service contract termination. Design/methodology/approach: This study distinguishes between service contract termination initiatives common in practice (preannouncement, explanation, financial compensation, apology and support in finding an alternative provider). Drawing on a multi-industry survey of 245 customers who have experienced service contract terminations in real life, the authors estimate regression models to link perceived service contract termination initiatives to NWOM. Findings: All else equal, only preannouncement and support in finding an alternative are effective to reduce NWOM. This study also shows that the right choice of service contract termination initiatives depends on the context of the termination. Making a preannouncement, offering an explanation and providing support in finding an alternative are more effective in reducing NWOM when these actions are aligned with the contextual factors of relationship duration and competitive intensity. Research limitations/implications: This study shows that service contract termination needs to address several aspects of the service termination experience. The key implication for future research is that it matters in terms of NWOM how service contract terminations are performed. Practical implications: This research identifies the service contract termination initiatives that are most effective to reduce NWOM after service contract termination in general and under consideration of the moderating roles of relationship duration and competitive intensity. Originality/value: While most related studies have considered customer responses to the cancellation of other customers’ contracts, this study contributes to the scarce literature on the undesirable customer responses (such as NWOM) to the termination of their own contract. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first study in this emerging stream of research that accounts for the effects of process- and outcome-oriented contract termination initiatives on NWOM. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is also the first study to account for moderators of the effect of contract termination initiatives on NWOM, namely, relationship duration and competitive intensity.
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    The development of reputational capital–How social media influencers differ from traditional celebrities
    (Wiley, 9/06/2022) Hess A; Dodds S; Rahman N
    Social media influencers (SMI) have grown in importance as a promotional channel. However, little is known about how they build reputational capital and thus endorsement effectiveness, particularly compared to traditional celebrity endorsers. From a consumers' perspective, this research investigates both types of endorsers in different stages of the Celebrity Capital Life Cycle (CCLC). Across three studies, we find that parasocial relationships and interactions with consumers are paramount for SMIs reputational capital and endorsement effectiveness, yet not critical for traditional celebrities. Further, a consumer's perceived weak parasocial relationship/interaction with SMIs can be detrimental to their effectiveness yet has little impact on traditional celebrities' influence. We find that the positive effect of a SMI with high parasocial relationship/interaction with consumers on Word of Mouth (i.e., endorsers effectiveness) is mediated by expectation fulfillment and brand endorsers' credibility (i.e., reputation capital). This research discovers how important parasocial relationships with consumers are for SMIs in comparison to traditional celebrities; importantly this is the first research that empirically identifies how SMIs can gain and maintain reputation capital and subsequently be more effective as brand endorsers. Our findings have important implications for marketing professionals who are managing SMIs.