This research examines the effect of success and failure results on consumers’ risk preference. Using different manipulations of success and failure and different measurements of risk preference tendency, five experiments were conducted to demonstrate that a clear success increases consumers’ sense of power, which in turn raises their subsequent risk preference; a clear failure, however, decreases consumers’ sense of power, which in turn reduces their subsequent risk preference. Furthermore, a close result can moderate this effect; that is, the difference between narrow-winners and narrow-losers’ risk preference is weakened. This study further enriches the research about the impact of success or failure on individual’s behavior, and provides suggestions on how to use the results of online and offline competitions to carry out marketing activities.

 Packaging always plays a "silent" salesperson role in the sales process of products, especially environmental friendly products, the customer's first impression of product packaging often determines the evaluations of the extent of the greenness of the products.  Based on theories of processing fluency, this research argues that environmental friendly products' packaging characteristics (color, material and with/without environmental claim) will influence consumer's green purchase in­tention.  This research presents three studies that supported the hypotheses and explore how environmental friendly products' packaging characteristics influence consumer's purchase intention, including the mediating role of perceived green value and the moderating role of consumer's environmental cognition.  The experimental results show that changing the packaging charac­teristics of environmental friendly products can make consumers perceive higher green value, improving their green purchase intention.  Specifically, green color is better than red color, fiber material is better than plastic, and with green claims is bet­ter than without green claims.  Meanwhile, the consumer's environmental cognition also plays a significant moderating role.  When the consumer's environmental cognition is high, the impact of these packaging characteristics will be more obvious, but when the consumer's environmental cognition is low, the impact will be relatively weak or even vanish.  The research conclu­sions provides managerial instructions for package strategy of environmental friendly products in green marketing practice.

This research examines the effect of red in the consumption environment on consumer preference for brand image and its underlying mechanism.  Previous studies have shown that red decreases purchase intention.  However, through one preliminary experiment and four experiments, the authors find that red increases consumer preference for competent brands ( but not warm brands) , and competitive spirit plays a mediating role in this effect.  More specifically, red (vs. other colors) activates the concept of dominance, bringing about a desire for dominant status and hence a stronger competitive spirit.  Individuals with a stronger competitive spirit are more eager to express their competence rather than sincerity.  Therefore, they prefer competent brands over brands with sincerity.  This effect will be weakened when consumers make purchases for others ( vs. for themselves) .  Our findings contribute to the relevant literature on brand image preferences, color and competitive spirit, and provide important practical instructions on color selection and design in marketing communication.

Micro blog becomes an important tool of social marketing，challenging companies’ consumer-brand relationship management. Based on grounded theory，66 representative companies’ posts in Sina are collected，with 1395 company posts and 5959 following posts. A influence mechanism model of company micro blog  interaction tactics on consumer-brand relationship is proposed，then the saturation level of this mechanism is tested. Results show that 1) Companies adopt two types of tactics in micro blog interaction: social interaction and task-oriented interaction; 2) Micro blog interaction arises consumer emotional response and cognition toward specific brand and eventually influences consumer-brand relationship. Consumer emotional response includes pleasure and arousal, brand cognition includes perceived quality, perceived relatedness with companies and  brand resonance; 3) The influence mechanism differs among different consumer knowledge level, industry and brand awareness.

Luxurious brands consumption in China is featured by clear conspicuous purposes. This research investigated the phenomenon from the indigenous perspective of social face consciousness. Drawing on Ho’s (1976) framework of gaining versus losing face dynamics, the authors broke down the construct of face consciousness into two dimensions of “desire to gain face” and “fear of losing face”, and developed measurement scales for them. The two scales were then used to examine their effect on conspicuous luxurious brand consumption behavior and found both of them had unique contribution in explaining why Chinese consumers buy luxurious brands.

In social interactions, luxury goods usually work as signal revealing the users’ status. In a market with both authentic luxury and counterfeit goods, how the authenticity of luxury goods is perceived by others is an important issue not only for consumers, but also for producers and the whole society as well. Previous studies more focus on the luxury (or counterfeit) user, who sends out luxury information, to study the motivation of luxury consumption. However, how other consumers recode and interpret the luxury information gets inconsiderable less attention, this issue deciding whether and how the luxury goods user’s social motivation can come true. This article aims to explore how the information of luxury goods is interpreted by other consumers and then become influential. The authors find out that the perception of authenticity of luxury goods is a complicated process in which place scheme, character scheme, incident scheme and product scheme can all influence customers’ perception. Through exploratory and empirical study, this paper formed a theoretical model to explain customers’ perception of authenticity of luxury goods.

Prior research has shown that top managers' marketing background significantly affects firm performance.  Meanwhile ,firm performance is also impacted by external stakeholders such as equity investors.  In this way, will the marketing background of investment firm's top management teams ( TMTs) influence the performance of the start-ups being invested?  Based on a data set covering the information of investment firms and the start-ups being invested in China, this research explores the effect of investment firm’s TMTs’ marketing background on start-ups performance.  We find that the percentage of top managers with marketing background in investment firm's TMTs has a positive effect on the investment returns of the start-ups.  Furthermore, this effect is moderated by the industry and development stage of the start-ups.  Specifically, investment firm's TMTs' marketing background has a more pronounced positive effect on the start-ups in emerging industries than those in established industries.  The positive influence of investment firm's TMTs' marketing background is more prominent on start-ups in the A round, compared with start-ups after the B round.  Overall, this research not only broadens the relevant literature on marketing executives and entrepreneural management, but also provides instructions for investment firms, start-ups, and policymakers.

It is essential for enterprises to adjust brand positioning according to the changes of target customers for sustainable development. The growth of instrumental internet products (internet Apps) presents obvious stages.  From providing free tools (to generate more traffic) to becoming a platfbnn, the connotation of instrumental internet products has changed explicitly. Exploring the growth stages and positioning of internet applications in different stages could help us understand the evolution characteristics of internet App brand positioning and provide inspirations for such enterprises to actively adjust brand positioning for sustainable growth. In addition, this paper explores how internet App brands ( bom and developed in the social media context) apply communication strategies to establish brand positioning, which provides a useful reference for enterprises to improve the efficiency of applying social media.  This research was based on the analysis of brand management practice of Youdao dictionary in 2007-2020.  Finally, this study have the following findings: (1) the internet App brand positioning should actively evolve with different stages of enterprise development.  Specifically, the initial period, the developing period and the extension period are suitable for adopting functional positioning, symbolic positioning and emotional positioning respectively and aiming at core customers, peripheral customers and extensive customers respectively to estahlish a brand image in line with the objectives of the brand stage to realize the development path of "tool-content/community-platform" ；  (2) enterprises should set up appropriate communication goals according to different stages of brand positioning, select and match communication tools with the guidance of communication objectives in the social media context, and evaluate communication effects based on communication objectives.  These findings contribute to the adjustment of brand positioning to achieve long-term development and the improvement of social media communication efficiency for the internet Apps.

Impulse buying has been the focus of attention in the marketing. With the rise of online shopping, online impulse buying phenomenon becomes increasingly serious. The relevant literature is rarely in an online environment, the impulse buying behavior discussed. This paper explores the impact of the type of product and time pressure on consumer online impulse buying intention; this is a relatively new issue in the domestic marketing academics. In this study, the experimental method was adopted to explore the impact of consumer online impulse buying tendencies, the departure from the type of product and the time pressure. The results show that low-involvement emotional products stimulate consumer online impulse buying tendencies. At the same time, there is an interaction effect between time pressure and product type, that is, under the influence of time pressure, low-involvement emotional products to enhance the consumer online impulse buying tendency is more significant.

Regret, as a post-purchase or post-decision experience, has attracted much attention because of its negative impact on consumer's well-being and post-purchase behaviors.  To reveal the occurrence mechanism of regret has important significance in reduceing consumer regret. However, existing literature is limited on the occurrence mechanism of decision regret and differences of purchase types.  Starting from types of purchase, based on decision justification theory, this paper studies how different purchase types ( material versus experiential) influence their respective regret types ( process or outcome) through decision - making styles ( analysis versus heuristic) , and investigates the influence of regulatory focus on this effect.  Three inter-group experiments show that experiential purchase brings heuristic decision - making tendency, which is more likely to produce decision process regret, while material purchase brings rational decision - making tendency, which is more likely to produce decision outcome regret.  Regulatory focus ( promotion versus prevention) moderates the relationships among purchase type, decision regrets and decision-making styles.  This study is of great significance for reducing consumers' post- purchase regret and guiding enterprises to formulate marketing strategies.

This paper carries out a research by content analysis on 247 academic papers published in the Journal of Marketing during the year of 2005-2009, with a purpose to describe the subjects, methods and scholars of Western marketing research. The findings are as following: the main subjects that Western marketing research focuses on are consumer behavior, products, brands, marketing general management, industrial marketing, advertising and promotion, services marketing, and network marketing, Among which research on the general marketing management, products, brands, industrial marketing, network marketing have an escalating trend, and adverse on the prices and marketing channels, and the subjects on consumer behavior and services marketing remain to be the focus of marketing research. As for research methods of marketing, quantitative research keeps dominated and are used in such marketing research domain as brand, product and personal selling, the experimental method has been more widely used to study consumer behaviors, prices, advertising and promotion, the qualitative research and mixed research are seldom used, the former is used in industrial marketing, general marketing management, and the latter focus on the subject of marketing theory and philosophy. In addition, there exists a diversified form of cooperation among marketing scholars, which includes scholars’ cooperation in a university, among different universities, between university and business and among different counties.

Based on the psychological compensation mechanism of consumer behavior, the current research examines how social comparison in ability domain influences people’s conspicuous consumption, and explores the possible interventions. Past research regarded conspicuous consumption as a way of signaling social-economic status, which often derived from wealth comparison. Our research proposes that besides wealth comparison, comparison in consumption unrelated domains would also lead to conspicuous consumption. In this mechanism, conspicuous consumption is a way to compensate for the self threat resulted from upward comparison. 2 studies were conducted to confirm our hypothesis. Study 1 indicates that consumers are more likely to spend on conspicuous items after comparing their own academic performance to those better counterparts. Study 2 replicates the result of study 1 using a more general conspicuous consumption measure. Furthermore, we found that the impact of ability comparison on conspicuous consumption diminished if people engaged in a prior self affirmation.

This research explores how product type (hedonic product and utilitarian product) and reward type (hedonic gift and utilitarian gift) influence customer referral likelihood in referral reward program. The results show as following. Firstly, product type has significant influences on referral likelihood. Compared with utilitarian product, customers are more likely to make referrals when consumed hedonic product. Secondly, product type and reward type have significant interactions to referral likelihood. When rewarded hedonic gift, customers who consumed hedonic product have great willing to make referrals, however, when rewarded utilitarian gift, customer who consumed utilitarian product have great willing to make referrals. Finally, the research offers some marketing implications to the managers.

Prior research has mainly applied Baron & Kenny’s (1986) procedures of causal step regression in mediation tests. However, in recent years many researchers have questioned the rationality and reliability of Baron & Kenny’s procedures. Based on this background, this paper summarized the most recent mediation test procedure and Bootstrap method, and elaborated principle, procedure and offers a step-by-step instruction for data analysis using Bootstrap. We not only introduce the simple mediation test, but also elaborate the rationales and methods for several complex mediation models such as mediated moderation, moderated mediation, multiple mediators, and serial multiple mediators, including steps of performing the bootstrap analysis with SPSS software, data analysis and results reports. The paper will provide effective, scientific and convenient guidance for domestic scholar.

With the rapid development of live streaming industry, live streaming firms try to increase performance by forming users’ payment habits through social network.  This paper collected the live streaming data of nearly 30, 000 users in an online music community.  Based on social presence theory, we tested the impact of the number of strong ties on user's gift-giving decision in user-generated live streaming.  Besides, we studied the moderating effect of audience scale, network centrality of tippers and levels of tipped broadcasters.  When a user engaged in a live streaming, the results show that, ( 1) the number of strong ties has a positive effect on tipping to friends； (2) the increase of the size of live streaming weakens the above effect； (3) when the user has a relatively higher social centrality, the main effect becomes lower； (4) The main effect is more pronounced when the levels of tipped broadcasters become higher.  Overall, this research has significant implications for firms' strategies to facilitate live streaming and achieve competitive advantages.

The rapid development of technology brings opportunities and challenges for marketing management, while, the current research hasn't studied marketing technology ( MarTech) systematically. Thus, it is important to clarify the relationship between marketing and technology, the phases of MarTech evolution, the types of MarTech applications, and the levels of MarTech innovation. In this study, we proposed that MarTech has been developed into five phases. We also built a framework of technology used in marketing. Besides, this study also analysed the NSFC research projects from 1986 to 2021, and summarized the current research. Finally, this paper indicated the future research directions of MarTech and marketing.

There exist studies that focus on the possible negative emotion (depression for instance) brought by mere concentration on out-of-stock. Or others solely study on the attractive effect induced by phantom alternative. What effect, positive or negative, will out-of-stock alternative impact on the purchase intention of similar alternative is still without a definite conclusion. This paper holds that there is not a certain positive or negative effect on the similar alternative purchase intention. Also, a dual mediation pathway model and relevant moderator of such influence mechanism are proposed. Our research shows that when offered the out-of-stock alternative, consumers seem to experience the stronger emotion of perceived scarcity and psychological reactance compared with no information offered. The effects of out-of-stock message on consumers’ similar alternative purchase intention mediated by scarcity and psychological reactance separately are opposite (positive versus negative). In addition, the negative effect mediated by psychological reactance is moderated by the occupation levels of cognitive resource. Psychological reactance is a moderated mediator. Whereas, the positive mediating effect of perceived scarcity is not affected.

Pet has become an important part of many familes and pet related consumptions grows steadly in many countries. However, it is surprising that so little academic attention has been directed to this particular field. Pet consumption reflects how people look at animal, self, and others. It reveals not only the relationship between self and animal, but also the relationships among people. Further, it provides a unique perspective for studying family consumption decision making. As such, scholars both in demostic and abroad have begun to recognize the importance and value of studying pet related consumption behaviors. This paper reviews extensively a variety of literatures of pet-related consumption and attempt to present a picuture of research development in this field. The topics we touch upon include the motivation for pet acquisition, pet acquisition decision-making process, pet-related consumption decision-making, self-construction and crowding-out effect etc. We also discuss such topics as how pets are used in marketing, and what outcomes pet brings to consumers’ welfares. Finally, potential academic contributions and future directions for pet consumpetion behavior study are outlined and discussed.

 With the development of more than 40 years of the reform and opening-up policy, China's service economy has made historic progress. The GDP of China's tertiary industry's contribution rate to the national economy is more than 50%. Thus, China is marching into the service economy era, and the development direction of China's service economy is gradually changing from high-speed development to high-quality development. With it, the service marketing theory is constantly evolving, and profound changes take place in the background of The Times. This paper aims to review and map the research streamline, provide future insights into service marketing in China in the past 30 years, and depict a panorama of service marketing research in China by applying statistical analysis and literature analysis tool CiteSpace. It shows the critical areas of service marketing research institutions and the leading network of cooperation between scholars. Furthermore, we extract the essential research topics and reveal the main direction by establishing the "creation—delivery—improvement" service value chain.

The matching of writing direction and product facing direction in advertising can affect the persuasive effect of advertising  and consumers' attentions. Based on knowledge activation theory and matching theory, three eye-tracking experiments with 280 participants were conducted to investigate the effects of text writing direction and product facing direction on advertising effect.  In experiment 1, we found an interaction between the writing direction and the product facing direction.  The persuasion and attention effects were better when the vertical writing direction matched the left-facing product or the horizontal writing direction matched the right-facing product.  Experiments 2 and experiment 3 found that brand or product positioning further interacted with the matching effect above.  Traditional brand or product ads perfbnn better when texts are written vertically with the product facing left, while modem brand or product ads perform better when the texts are written horizontally with the product facing right.  Three experiments confirmed the mediating role of sense - correctness.  The triple interaction between text writing direction, product facing direction, and brand or product positioning provides guidances for the theoretical system of advertising effect and enterprise practices.