Matthew A. Hawkins and Anastasia Thyroff
Despite the rich history of examining the connections between symbolic consumption and identity formation, nearly all the research has focused on brands and possessions; the role…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the rich history of examining the connections between symbolic consumption and identity formation, nearly all the research has focused on brands and possessions; the role of activities has been critically overlooked. This study aims to expand marketing’s understanding of identity formation by examining it in conjunction with attribution theory, exploring the relationship between activity engagement and separation distress.
Design/methodology/approach
A pilot study (n = 90) using a thematic content analysis reveals six themes (i.e. separation distress, negative emotions, indifference, adapting, positive decision and acceptance), providing support for the conceptual model. The main study (n = 347) tests the conceptual model via five hypotheses.
Findings
Self-worth match with an activity predicts the perceived separation distress of stopping the activity. Furthermore, self-activity connection mediates this relationship, but only if consumers believe they are in control of or the cause for stopping the activity.
Research limitations/implications
This research provides critical baseline understanding of activity consumption. Yet, future research on the topic of activities is needed to advance activity engagement as a unique category of consumer behavior.
Practical implications
To craft effective messaging and strategies, marketers should consider the meaning and value embedded in consumer activities (not just possessions and brands).
Originality/value
This research reveals that consumers use activities to construct their identity and manage their self-worth. It also demonstrates that stopping an activity may lead to separation distress.
Details
Keywords
Matthew A. Hawkins and Fathima Z. Saleem
Recent literature identifies the importance of influencer-brand fit, a congruence between the narrative of the social media influencer (SMI) and the branded product being…
Abstract
Purpose
Recent literature identifies the importance of influencer-brand fit, a congruence between the narrative of the social media influencer (SMI) and the branded product being reviewed, on purchase intentions. In creating brand-related content, SMIs can post content that can be either sponsored by the brand or unsponsored. This research merges these literature streams to examine how influencer-brand fit impacts purchase decisions and whether sponsorship status moderates this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a 2 (poor vs good influencer-brand fit) × 2 (sponsored vs unsponsored post) experimental design (n = 198), the relationship between influencer-brand fit and purchase intention, the mediating role of SMI trust and the moderating role of perceived sponsorship are tested. The PROCESS macro was used to analyze direct and indirect paths.
Findings
The results demonstrate that influencer trust mediates the relationship between influencer-brand fit and purchase intention, highlighting the importance of a congruent influencer and brand image in both increasing influencer trust and purchase intentions. Surprisingly, despite the reductions in purchase intentions from conducting a poor-fitting review, purchase intentions are the same between a poor-fitting unsponsored review and a good fitting sponsored review.
Practical implications
Decision-makers of both corporations and SMI personal brands should consider influencer-brand fit when selecting SMI partners to sponsor and brands to work with, respectively, and should aim for good fit between both parties. SMIs should avoid conducting sponsored, poor-fitting product reviews to limit reductions in trust. Influencers seeking to branch out of their area of expertise can initially consider unsponsored content before venturing into sponsored partnerships. Companies seeking to widen their reach through poor-fitting SMIs should consider alternative strategies to sponsorship.
Originality/value
As sponsored content is common, it is necessary to merge the influencer-brand fit and influencer sponsorship literature. Additionally, this study considers the mediating role of influencer trust, an important variable in predicating purchase intentions as well as helping SMI grow their audience.
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Keywords
Fathima Z. Saleem and Matthew A. Hawkins
Situated between the literature on internal branding and user-generated content, this study aims to demonstrate the effect of employee-generated content (EGC) on consumers’…
Abstract
Purpose
Situated between the literature on internal branding and user-generated content, this study aims to demonstrate the effect of employee-generated content (EGC) on consumers’ purchase intentions and positive word of mouth (WOM).
Design/methodology/approach
The conceptual model was empirically tested using structural equation modeling based on a sample of 442 participants.
Findings
The findings support a sequential mediation model in which employee-created social media content impacts perceptions of brand citizenship behavior (BCB) and perceptions of expertise, which in turn increases purchase intention and WOM.
Practical implications
Based on the findings, this research suggests that employee ambassador programs can work to attract employees with an interest in brand-related social media content creation. Facilitating EGC through support, empowerment and reinforcement rather than traditional control mechanisms is recommended.
Originality/value
This research introduces the concept of EGC and employee content creators while extending the literature on perceived BCB by empirically demonstrating its relationship with perceived expertise and positive consumer behavior outcomes.
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Matthew A. Hawkins and Mohammad H. Rezazade M.
This paper seeks to advance the study of knowledge boundary spanning by approaching spanning as a process that involves four spanning mechanisms.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to advance the study of knowledge boundary spanning by approaching spanning as a process that involves four spanning mechanisms.
Design/methodology/approach
Building on the insights from practice‐based view of knowledge and knowledge management literature more generally, the authors formalize and articulate two spanning mechanisms (boundary practice and boundary discourse), in addition to two other previously established spanning mechanisms (boundary object and boundary spanner).
Findings
The paper formalizes two further spanning mechanisms and suggests an integrative framework for examining the mutual and compounding effect between the four spanning mechanisms. Building on the suggested framework, the process of spanning is analysed as a time‐based combination of various mechanisms which evolve over time. The framework opens new windows to look at the projective and emergent mode of spanning mechanisms as a duality, rather than a dualism.
Research limitations/implications
Researchers are freed to explore the deployment order of the spanning mechanisms and the conflicting or synergistic effects. Practitioners would benefit from tracing successful spanning processes for replicating in similar contexts to advance collaboration efforts.
Originality/value
Boundary practice and boundary discourse are introduced as well as synthesizing the mechanisms into a coherent framework. Viewing boundary spanning as a process that includes dynamic combination of four spanning mechanisms is a particularly novel insight that can stimulate future research avenues.
Details
Keywords
Matthew A. Hawkins and Fathima Z. Saleem
Stories draw meaning from narratives. The resulting narrative component in a story is entirely personal or contains fragments of organizational and/or societal narratives…
Abstract
Purpose
Stories draw meaning from narratives. The resulting narrative component in a story is entirely personal or contains fragments of organizational and/or societal narratives. Therefore, understanding how stories obtain these narrative fragments is critical to offering valid interpretations of narratives based on stories. In an effort to advance narrative research, the purpose of this paper is to address this fundamental question: How do stories obtain their reflected narrative fragments? Without a firm understanding of how stories draw meaning from narratives, the critical role of disentangling compound narratives from stories – interpretation – remains suspect.
Design/methodology/approach
The findings are drawn from extant research and prior conceptualizations, and the story formulation model is introduced.
Findings
Through the introduction of the story formulation model, it is shown that personal narratives are omnipresent within collective narratives. Additionally, the analysis indicates there are two stages in which narrative interaction occurs, during the formulation of stories and during the formulation of narratives.
Originality/value
The findings have significant impact on the interpretation of stories, as well as furthering the understanding of how stories draw their meaning from narratives. In particular, the omnipresence of personal narratives within stories is particularly relevant for interpreting stories and narratives. Therefore, this paper offers a framework in which to conceptualize the story formulation process and contributes to story and narrative analysis research methodologies.
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Keywords
Nicholas P. Lovrich, Michael J. Gaffney, Edward P. Weber, R. Michael Bireley, Dayna R. Matthews and Bruce Bjork
We assessed attempts by federal and state agencies to utilize a Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving (COPPS) approach to address endangered species and natural resource…
Abstract
We assessed attempts by federal and state agencies to utilize a Community Oriented Policing and Problem Solving (COPPS) approach to address endangered species and natural resource protection issues in two watersheds in Washington State involving listed species of salmon, steelhead and bull trout. In the wake of the listing of these species, NOAA Fisheries and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) joined to implement a multi-party collaboration to enforcement termed Resource-Oriented Enforcement (ROE). We sought to determine if federal and state resource agencies can collaborate effectively and if collaborative approaches can achieve short- and long-term resource protection goals. A citizen mail survey (n=800+ in each location) and extensive personal interviews with key actors were conducted to assemble evidence on the degree of success achieved in implementing ROE. Observed results suggest that collaboration can
Despite the widespread attribution that stressful crucible experiences result in important individual developmental change within leaders, a deeper exploration of the mechanisms…
Abstract
Despite the widespread attribution that stressful crucible experiences result in important individual developmental change within leaders, a deeper exploration of the mechanisms of that change is warranted. Likewise, literature linking the crucible and individual change to social and organizational considerations, including how organizations can plan for and sponsor institutionalized crucibles, is sparse. Thus, the intent of this chapter is to begin to synthesize the crucible, cognitive development, and stress literatures to show important linkages, risks, and outcomes, then provide a basic blueprint of planning considerations for organizations that desire to establish their own crucible events that target leader development.
The institution of an annual series devoted to current and ongoing research in economics and business should be considered one of the notable developments during the period under…
Abstract
The institution of an annual series devoted to current and ongoing research in economics and business should be considered one of the notable developments during the period under review. Long standing need for such a reference not withstanding, there has been until this year no systematic attempt to organize a continuing series which concentrated on selected areas of ongoing research, especially adapted to the Jahrbucher format. By facilitating the publication of research papers which are longer than the conventional journal‐length article yet shorter than a monograph, publishing outlets available to scholars in the field have been infinitely expanded. Two years ago, the Royal Economic Society and the Social Science Research Council of Great Britain, developed an experimental series, published by Macmillan, entitled Surveys of Applied Economics. The JAI Press, Greenwich, Conn., has now come out with an annual series, which is expected to fill the gaps in at least seventeen areas of economic theory and business. These are briefly listed below, with pertinent bibliographical citations: Research in Economic Anthropology: An Annual Compilation of Research. Series editor, George Dalton. vol. 1. Sept. 1977‐ $22.00 ISBN 0‐89232‐040‐9; Research in Economic History: An Annual Compilation of Research. Series editor, Paul Uselding. vol. 1. Sept. 1976‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐001‐X; Research in Health Economics: An Annual Compilation of Research. Series editor, Richard M. Scheffler. vol. 1. Sept. 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐042‐7; Research in Human Capital and Development: An Annual Compilation of Research. Series editor, Ismail Sirageldin. vol. 1. June/July 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐019‐2; Research in International Business and Finance: An Annual Compilation of Research. Series editor, Robert G. Hawkins. vol. 1. May/June 1977‐ $23.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐031‐1; Research in Labor Economics: An Annual Compilation of Research. Series editor, Ronald G. Ehrenberg. vol. 1. March 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐017‐6; Research in Law and Economics: An Annual Compilation of Research. Series editor, Richard O. Zerbe. vol. 1. Sept. 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐028‐1; Research in Marketing: An Annual Compilation in Research. Series editor, Jagdish N. Sheth. vol. 1. June 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐041‐9; Research in Philosophy and Technology: An Annual Compilation of Research. Series editor, Paul T. Durbin. vol. 1. March 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐022‐2; Research in Political Economy: An Annual Compilation of Research. Series editor, Paul Zarembka. vol. 1. Sept. 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐020‐6; Research in Population Economics: An Annual Compilation of Research. Series editor, Julian L. Simon. vol. 1. April 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐018‐4; Applications of Management Science. Series editor, Matthew J. Sobel. vol. 1. 1977‐ $22.50. ISBN 0‐89232‐023‐0; Research in Econometrics. Series editor, Dennis J. Aigner. vol. 1. 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐039‐7; Research in Experimental Economics. Series editor, Vernon L. Smith. vol. 1. 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐030‐3; Research in Finance. Series editor, Haim Levy. vol. 1. 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐043‐5; Research in Organizational Behavior. Series editor, Barry Staw. vol. 1. 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐045‐1; Research in Public Policy and Management. Series editor, Colin Blaydon. vol. 1. 1977‐ $22.50 ISBN 0‐89232‐044‐3.
Katrina A. R. Akande and Claudia J. Heath
Nonresident fathers have the task of negotiating childrearing responsibilities while residing away from their children. Parenting stress arises when nonresident fathers perceive…
Abstract
Nonresident fathers have the task of negotiating childrearing responsibilities while residing away from their children. Parenting stress arises when nonresident fathers perceive childrearing power differentials as maternal gatekeeping behaviors. In this pilot study, a mediation model was tested with a sample of Black fathers who reported coparenting a nonresident child or children with only one mother (n = 80). The proposed mediation model tested two hypotheses: (1) coparenting relationship and coparenting support, respectively, each have a direct effect on paternal stressors and (2) the effects of coparenting relationship and coparenting support on fathers’ paternal stressors are mediated through maternal gatekeeping behaviors. Findings indicate that cooperative coparenting lessens parental stressors such as concerns about role functions and concerns about their child’s behavior in the presence of controlling maternal gatekeeping behaviors.