Ali Besharat

Leveraging Virtual Attribute Experience in Video Games to Improve Brand Recall and Learning

This article extends the concept of virtual direct experience (VDE) from a product to an attribute as video gamers can virtually experience an attribute within a gaming environment. Using a 2 (VAE: present versus absent) x 2 (order of brand presentation: first or second) between subjects experimental design, we find that associating a brand with virtual attribute experience (VAE) by exposing consumers to the brand name and the virtual experience simultaneously has a positive effect on brand recall, brand extension acceptance, overall attitude, and purchase intention. In addition, our results demonstrate a significant interaction between VAE and telepresence on brand recall.

When Motivation Is Against Debtors' Best Interest: The Illusion of Goal Progress in Credit Card Debt Repayment

The authors explore the illusion of goal progress by consumers who own multiple credit cards and pay off their debt balances to facilitate the achievement of their subgoal rather than the superordinate goal of being debt-free. The first experiment shows that debtors use their savings toward the credit card debt they can pay off entirely or substantially, even if it is associated with the smallest balance and the lowest annual percentage rate rather than toward the debt with the highest annual percentage rate. The second experiment reveals that when the income available to pay down the debt is in the form of effortless money (i.e., windfall or reward money) as opposed to hard-earned savings, the tendency to allocate money toward the smallest credit card debt is exacerbated. However, people tend to pay their debt more rationally when the number of debt accounts increases. Finally, the third experiment shows that credit card debt repayment decisions depend on the nature of the debt (hedonic vs. utilitarian) and the timing of consumption benefits (past vs. future). The article concludes with a discussion of managerial and public policy implications.

Contextual and competitive interference: : Inhibition or facilitation?

Existing literature has found two sources of advertising interference, competitive and contextual, that decrease the effectiveness of an ad in a cluttered environment. However, to date, the negative impact of competitive and contextual interference has been examined independently. This research explores advertising effectiveness when these sources exist concurrently. Contrary to the supposition concerning the additive effects of both sources of interference when simultaneously present, our findings indicate that viewing ads for the same product category with similar executional elements leads to the dissipation of interference effects (Study 1). Consistent with the process rationale, when a product-brand cue (versus a picture cue) is provided, this novel effect disappears (Study 2). The implications of these findings for advertising are highlighted in the discussion section.

Management Response to Online WOM: Helpful or Detrimental?

Firms are shifting their social media emphasis from passive listening to active intervention. Despite the proven importance of online word-of-mouth (WOM) on customer satisfaction and engagement as well as firm performance in prior literature, when and how should firms utilize management responses to leverage the wisdom of online crowds remains unknown. This paper investigates various conditions in relation to polarized valence and volume of online WOM, under which management responses manifest the performance-improving effects. Our empirical strategy hinges on an instrumental variable approach, in which we employ user characteristics to instrument the endogenous online WOM and management responses. We find that it is at the firms’ best interest to provide management responses when (1) the volume of online WOM is low but its valence is high and (2) the volume of online WOM is high but its valence is low. Our findings are managerially relevant to firms’ social media strategies and provide actionable implications on when and how management responses to online WOM improve firm performance.

Exploring Consumer Spending When Redeeming Online Daily Coupons: An Abstract

Online daily coupons (ODCs) (e.g., Groupon) offer a large discount with a long redemption period when consumers prepay for given products or services. While these popular coupons present exciting new opportunities, retailers must understand how different factors under their control may impact consumers’ spending at redemption. Building on anchoring and adjustment effect and semantic cue concreteness, the present research investigates the impacts of the coupon structure (e.g., acquisition cost and face value), the specificity of the coupon deal, and the specificity of the product or service information on consumers’ spending at redemption. The results from four experiments demonstrate that consumers tend to adjust their spending according to the coupon face value rather than the coupon acquisition cost. Furthermore, the specificity of the deal information on the voucher during the acquisition increases consumers’ spending. Finally, the specificity of the product information during the redemption escalates total spending, especially when the hedonic consumption goals are primed.

The Influence of Online Product Review Variance on Consumer Evaluations: An Examination of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Cues

This research examines the potential for variance in online product reviews to have differential effects on consumers’ product evaluations depending upon the type of intrinsic and extrinsic cues employed by the consumer. Drawing on the accessibility-diagnosticity framework, we predict that higher levels of variance among product review ratings (e.g. 1-star vs. 5-star) will have a deleterious effect on consumers’ product evaluations; however this effect may be offset depending upon the type of intrinsic and extrinsic cues involved in consumer’s evaluation of the product. Our results suggest that in the absence of additional diagnostic information, greater variance among product review ratings creates uncertainty, thereby diminishing purchasing intentions. Evidence is also found for an interaction between the online reviews variance and product attribute type, such that when review variance is low, no difference is observed between search and experience attributes; however when variance is high, the diagnosticity of search attributes is diminished, resulting in lower purchase intentions. From an extrinsic cue perspective, our study finds that only the credibility of the reviewer source and not brand equity, serves to offset the negative influence of product review variance on consumers’ purchase intentions.