Research insight 3.1

Source: Arsel, Z. and Bean, J. (2013), ‘Taste regimes and market-mediated practice’, Journal of Consumer Research,39, 5, 899–917.

Insight: Taste has been conceptualized as a boundary-making mechanism, yet there is limited

theory on how it enters into daily practice. In this article, the authors develop a practice-

based framework of taste through qualitative and quantitative analysis of a popular home

design blog, interviews with blog participants, and participant observation. First, a taste

regime is defined as a discursively constructed normative system that orchestrates practice

in an aesthetically oriented culture of consumption.

URL: http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.1086/666595?uid=3738032&uid=2&uid=4&sid=21105053897433 or a PDF is available from here: http://www.academia.edu/549871/Taste_Regimes_and_Market-Mediated_Practice

 

Research Insight 3.2

Source: Holt, D. (2016) Branding in the Age of Social Media, Harvard Business Review, March, 41- 50

Insight: This conceptual paper highlights how consumers are rejecting the branded content of big brands like McDonalds, Coca-Cola and even Red Bull, who try to develop online relationships - instead, young people’s online relationships are with digital broadcasters and vloggers. Holt discusses a number of vloggers within the video-gaming-as-entertainment sector, with its star vloggers (many of whom are not widely known) achieving massive online presence very quickly and thus having significant impact; the YouTube channels of these star gamers typically have subscription in the region of tens of millions. Compare this with McDonald’s, one of the largest social media spenders, who have just over 204,000 subscribers.

URL: https://hbr.org/2016/03/branding-in-the-age-of-social-media

 

Research Insight 3.3

Source: Edelman, D and Singer, M. (2015) The New Consumer Decision Journey, www.mckinseyquarterly.com

Insight: In this development from McKinsey’s earlier ‘The Consumer decision journey’ (2009) which questioned the traditional funnel approach, the updated article shows how firms can use automation, proactive personalization, contextual interaction and journey innovation to build customer value during the decision-making process. The New Consumer Decision Journey can be viewed in Figure 3.9 of the book. From this, we can consider examples, such as how automation might be using a phone image rather than a paper ticket, proactive personalization means using information you have on a customer to give them a better experience, such as an automatic upgrade for a loyal customer, contextual interaction can be as simple as keeping a customer updated on where their order is, and journey innovation is looking for useful synergies and innovations such as an airline app that integrates with a taxi service to pick them up at the airport.

URL: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/marketing-and-sales/our-insights/the-new-consumer-decision-journey

 

Research Insight 3.4

Source: Close, A.G and Kukar-Kinney, M. (2010), ‘Beyond Buying: Motivations behind consumer’s online shopping cart use’, Journal of Business Research, 63, 9-10, 986-992

Insight: In this paper, the authors examine motivations for placing items in an online shopping cart with or without buying. The authors identified a number of utilitarian and hedonic motivations for online cart use including securing online price promotions, obtaining more information on certain products, organizing shopping items, and entertainment.

URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296309002197