What causes social media users to engage and mimic virtual influencers? The role of self-congruity

A Correction to this article was published on 13 July 2023

Many apparel retailing brands use e-service marketing tools such as a chatbot (a system that is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week) to increase their competitive advantage in today’s world of digitalization. During the COVID-19 pandemic, chatbots gained more power to serve as a communication tool that provides information and maintains customer experience. Therefore, this study is conducted to investigate the influence of chatbot e-service agents’ marketing efforts (involving interaction, entertainment, trendiness, and problem-solving) on Thai customers’ perceived communication credibility and satisfaction in apparel retailing, as research in this area is limited. In order to test the hypotheses, the paper employed structural equation modeling using Amos. In addition, an online survey of 400 Thai consumers who had previously used chatbots in the apparel retailing industry was conducted. The results showed that chatbot e-service marketing efforts, including interaction, trendiness, and problem-solving, affected customer satisfaction without entertainment elements. Beyond this, a chatbot, viewing interaction and entertainment, was found to have an insignificant effect on communication credibility. Thus, the coefficient value proved that information regarding communication credibility is more dominant in customer satisfaction. Therefore, the chatbot e-service marketing effort is essential in motivating communication credibility in customer satisfaction. These findings delivered managerial implications for understanding consumers in the field of digitalization.

The study investigates the extent to which customer value affected brand loyalty among mid-sized automobile customers in Thailand. It`s focused on assessing whether customer brand engagement acted as an intervening variable in the relationship between customer value and brand loyalty. A questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of 380 current users of medium-sized passenger automobiles in Thailand; these participants were drawn from the list of automobile customers using a multistage sampling technique. The dealership customers were asked to complete an electronic survey using their cell phones. Structural equation modeling was applied to prove the theoretical model. All the model fit indices revealed that the model was reasonably consistent with the data. Results validated customer brand engagement composed of three dimensions using confirmatory factor analysis and its role as a mediator. The findings also provided novel insight into the interplay of the relevant variables and could be used as a guideline for managing automobile customers and promoting automobile marketing in the country.

Nowadays, brand storytelling is an important element of successful brand management on the business-to-consumer market. Based on brand storytelling, consumers create their own brand stories. Therefore, consumer storytelling becomes an essential component of word-of-mouth communication. The objective of the paper is to evaluate the possibility of using consumer storytelling as an element of word-of-mouth communication of nostalgic brands. The results of the empirical studies concerning 24 international and Polish, generational and transgenerational nostalgic brands, conducted among 1,000 Polish consumers, are presented. The research is based on a personal interview technique, an online survey technique and a focus group interview. Research results confirm that nostalgic brands – that reflect personal history – generate stories more often than their non-nostalgic counterparts. Consumer storytelling is more common among older respondents. Consumers create stories about nostalgic brands and are happy to share them. Given the strength of consumer storytelling, it is worth encouraging consumers to share stories about the brand that can be an important element of word-of-mouth communication.

Acknowledgement
The research project was funded by the National Science Centre (project Opus 9, No. 2015/17/B/HS4/00945, “Nostalgia in brand management”) for the period 2016–2020.