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The purpose of this paper is to understand how firms may be segmented with respect to their attitudes towards the use of mobile instant messaging (MIM) apps (e.g. WhatsApp, Messenger, WeChat, etc). in their marketing practices to identify the main approaches to the use of MIM in business. Moreover, this paper identifies the key factors which can motivate or hinder the adoption of these digital platforms.

Firms are segmented on the basis of their attitudes (perceived usefulness and perceived effectiveness of performance) towards the use of MIM apps in the business. Categories for size, age of the firm and the organization’s predisposition towards MIMs are explored using data from 311 firms and latent class analysis. Threats, triggers and their real usage are also identified to describe the different approaches towards the application of MIM apps in marketing practices.

Four clusters are identified – lukewarm, cold, believer and unaffected – along with significant covariates such as the importance of conversation with the client, the use of MIMs in the business, the threats and triggers that can foresee adherence. The results help to understand how to approach the client using social messenger applications. MIM apps can be used for strategic marketing and not only for operative marketing.

This paper offers a more nuanced understanding of how firms engage through MIM apps by focusing on the firms’ attitudes towards MIM apps. It extends the knowledge on the firms’ reactions to these disruptive technologies and profiles the firms according to their social innovation attitudes, something that has not yet been investigated in the extant marketing literature.

Because engagement platforms are becoming an emerging service research context, the purpose of this paper is to understand how consumers may be segmented with respect to attitude towards the mobile instant messaging (MIM) apps used as channels for customer service.

Consumers are segmented on the basis of perception of MIM apps by means of data from 478 consumers. A two-step cluster analysis was used to individuate groups according to the similarity of their attitudinal variables and their chat experience with organizations using MIM, while the discriminant function analysis was used to assess the stability of the cluster solution.

Three segments were identified – benevolent, proactive and hesitant – along with significant descriptive variables, such as interaction with organization, opinion regarding effort expectancy, perception of usefulness and perceived ease of technology use. The most engaged, the proactive (30%), are most open to interaction with the organization by means of MIM, while the benevolent (51%) look favourably on the use of instant messaging to communicate with organizations, even if this cluster has never used it with an organization.

Understanding how potential customers receive the opportunities offered by MIM as a new channel for improving, extending or completing the service helps to guide the efforts of marketing investments towards a better relationship with customers.

This study explores the use of MIM apps on the part of the customer/organization as engagement platforms from the customer point-of-view. The study highlights how MIM apps can be valuable channels for weaving together relations with customers.

Mobile instant messaging (MIM) is changing how we communicate with customers transforming what we used to buy as products into services. Servitization is the strategy by which the services offered in combination with a product become a central part of the offer and the value. This paper aims to focus on a new way to do business by means of mobile conversational commerce identified as a unique touchpoint for customers who wish to experience the product/service.

This research uses the case study method and mobile content analysis of WhatsApp conversations between customer and manufacturing firm to illustrate how an artisan company succeeded with customers using MIM to track the customer journey and engage the customer during the conversation. The customer journey theory and customer engagement cycle were used to detecting the main themes

The results demonstrate that by channeling a mix between engagement and service practices into one direct touchpoint, it is possible to follow the customers throughout their journey and detect their satisfaction. Nevertheless, the research finds that new skills are needed: two-way communication skills, suitability and social CRM skills.

The results provide guidance for services providers on how to improve customer experience management by allocating investment to conversational commerce as a new way of promoting the customer experience for the digital transformation of manufacturing firms.

This research investigates the importance of human interaction in the digital servitization as a pillar of commerce in this type of service. The paper analyzes the results from the perspective of the supplier of the service and from the perspective of customer experience.

The last ten years have shown a significant upward trend of engagement in public management reflecting a significant increase in interest in the topic. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the benefits and factors affecting the construct of civic engagement that thus far are missing in the current literature through the analysis of studies published in the main journals of management.

Through a systematic literature review, the current research tries to advance the progress in the understanding of the civic engagement construct analyzing a sample of 96 papers published in the main journals on the subject areas of “communication,” “marketing” and “public sector management.”

The literature was codified and characterized as follows: level of analysis, variables that affect civic engagement; benefits of civic engagement; and theoretic and methodological approach. This research explores the construct through an analysis of the literature found in the main scientific journals to intercept its various profiles and facets alongside the mechanisms that precede and follow its manifestation.

Public organizations can no longer do without engaging citizens in decision-making processes. Public managers can use these findings to establish a connection with their citizens and influence their publics through commitment and managerial actions that guarantee direct democracy.

This is the first research that aims to study the phenomenon in the public sphere from a multidisciplinary perspective that is as yet incomplete. An integrated vision can highlight current and future developments and eventual opportunities for further research.

This paper examines the communication modalities on Twitter to broadcast content to citizens and measures the effectiveness of the posted content in activating the citizens’ political participation proposing an retweetability rate.

Through content analysis of the European Commissioners’ posts, this paper identifies the most used communication modalities to broadcast content to the citizens. A retweetability rate is proposed to measure the effectiveness of the posted content in activating the political citizens’ engagement. The methodology is applied to the tweets posted by European Commissioners, who are currently facing democracy legitimation issues and Euroscepticism.

Empirical results show that Twitter is not fully used yet as a citizen engagement tool. However, the paper highlights the potentiality of Twitter to broadcast contents of value and build a relationship of citizens and institutions.

Measuring citizen engagement based on the posted messages can help the institutions to evaluate the effectiveness of the posted social media content. Moreover, the paper gives suggestions regarding how governments might implement social media content capable of fostering a dialogic communication with citizens.

A measurement of citizen engagement permits the identification of which kinds of public communication stimulate the engagement and favor a closer bond between citizens and public institutions.

In recent years, marketers have adopted new technologies to engage customers and better meet customer needs throughout the customer journey. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of consumer engagement on satisfaction and behavior-based CRM performance generated by mobile instant messaging (MIM) services. The objective is to verify which aspects of consumer engagement generate satisfaction and optimize customer relationship management.

Data were made available for analysis from an online survey on customers who had been contacted or had contacted an organization by means of MIM. Based on literature analysis, relations between customer engagement dimensions, satisfaction and behavior-based CRM performance were studied by using structural equation modeling.

The cognitive engagement dimension and the emotional engagement dimension affect the level of satisfaction, but only the emotional engagement dimension has an effect on the behavior-based CRM performance, while social engagement does not affect satisfaction and CRM performance. Moreover, this study confirms the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer behavior-based relationship performance.

MIM used as support to the relationship with customers contributes to generating customer satisfaction and increases the value of service performance revealing it an excellent marketing tool in support of the customer journey.

This research extends our understanding of customer engagement in the ambit of the instant messaging application used for business that so far has not been investigated. This work shows how instant messaging can be a valid instrument for customer relationship management in optimizing the benefits deriving from the adoption of disruptive innovations.

Even if the relationship between travel bloggers and followers has implications for tourists’ decision-making process, the literature does not individuate the main determinants of this relationship. This paper aims to study the drivers and motivations to follow travel bloggers and the main consequences. Moreover, the paper seeks to highlight the metamorphosis of travel bloggers and their role in the tourism industry.

A systematic literature review was used, and 76 papers were selected. A thematic map of the literature and a summary of key findings are proposed.

Although authenticity is the main trigger for following travel bloggers, other factors (e.g. transparency and credibility), if lacking, can erode the relationship with followers. Results demonstrate that hygiene factors are important but that the relationship with followers can be compromised if motivational factors are lacking. Loyalty and the continued use of travel blogs are the main consequences of a relationship based on trust, credibility and engagement.

Tourism and hospitality managers must define sophisticated segmentation procedures to select the right travel blogger with which to engage for destination promotions. Travel bloggers must clearly define the role that they want to have in the market if they are to instill loyalty in their followers.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper that attempts to identify the pillars of the follower–travel blogger relationship in the tourism and hospitality literature.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the construct of online public engagement by identifying the modalities universities use to give visibility to their approach on institutional websites.

An exploratory factor analysis outlined the principle dimensions that explain online public engagement starting from the analysis of a sample of American and English universities. To finish, a t-test shows the differences in the approaches to online public engagement in the sample universities.

The results of this analysis show that the construct of public engagement used for online communication has been investigated through three dimensions and that the American and English universities have different approaches in its declination.

The analysis was conducted on a sample of American and English universities; however the study underlines the fact that the traditional approaches to public engagement can assume different connotations for online communication.

Coherent organization of the online communication of public engagement activities can reinforce the perception of the university in the eyes of both internal and external stakeholders. For this reason, research offers interesting input for evaluating which kind of strategy should be adopted for online public engagement in line with the desired positioning and as defined by the governing bodies of the university institutions. However, the universities still need to institutionalize public engagement.

This work constitutes the first attempt to investigate public engagement in the university context through the web, using quantitative methodologies in order to highlight the different strategic orientations and operative declinations.