Conspicuous and inconspicuous consumption of luxury goods in a digital world: implications for advertisers this special issue focuses on the very intriguing types of luxury consumption that are shaping industry paradigms and trends, especially given the digital marketing revolution that is impacting the way luxury firms create and implement strategies to engage customers and drive sales.luxury brands communicate style, exclusivity, identity, uniqueness, superior quality, and hedonic value, all of which signal status to extended networks (Shukla and Purani 2012;Pangarkar, Patel, and Kumar 2023).While recent events, such as the CoVid-19 pandemic and the economic recession have impacted economic conditions, as per a Euromonitor international report, the luxury industry continued its impressive growth to reach USd 1.2 trillion in 2022, with a steady growth rate of around 6% (roberts 2022).according to a Kearney (2022), Chinese luxury consumers were at the forefront of this recovery, followed by US and German consumers, which led to many luxury brands such as Kering, lVMH, and Herms experiencing resurgence after a temporary setback.Most luxury brands were skeptical initially as the digital landscape started evolving and social media surge transformations were observed (Heine and Berghaus 2014).However, through being flexible and adaptive, luxury brands have employed a number of most advanced digital tools and techniques to target, attract, engage, and retain customers through digital marketing strategies and technologies such as phygital, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, influencer advertising, and non-fungible tokens (NFts).For instance, Gucci has created a virtual world on roblox, a popular game among young generation and also develop Gucci Vault which is an experimental online concept space that holds its NFts and other Web3 projects.Similarly, Balenciaga, made a pioneering move by unveiling their 2020 collection through a video game fashion show and dressed Fortnite game characters in the new Fall 2021 collection, which demonstrates their readiness to adopt themselves in the metaverse.against the backdrop of this digital marketing revolution, luxury advertisers need to create, adapt, and introduce innovative new strategies targeted at the various segments of luxury consumers.While luxury has long been associated with conspicuous consumption reflecting ostentatious behavior targeted at earning social recognition and signaling of wealth (Shukla 2012;Pangarkar, arora, and Shukla 2022), there are other types of consumers, such as inconspicuous consumption consumers (Berger and Ward 2010) and inconspicuous minimalism consumers (Pangarkar, Shukla, and taylor 2021) that are rapidly gaining attention, experiencing growth, and therefore warranting further exploration.in particular, the focus of such luxury consumers is on muted designs, subtle logos, discreet styles and fashions, and simple cuts, all of which signal distinction and differentiation to insiders or those in the know (Han, Nunes, and drze 2010; Pangarkar, Shukla, and taylor 2021).While luxury scholars have conducted research in these areas, it is important to explore, investigate, and analyze the impact of these different types of consumption on
Open access
Consumer Retail Behavior Studies
Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
Despite its relatively brief history, cryptocurrency has already had a profound impact on the economy, with some predicting that it will eventually replace traditional fiat currencies. Historically, it had dark associations with illegal activities in the early days, although perceptions and associations likely have, in recent years, changed for the better. Thus, understanding how people perceive the morality of cryptocurrency currently forms the motivation of the current research. We, in particular, examine associations dependent on political ideology. Across both a large-scale analysis of Twitter posts ( N = 959,393) and controlled survey research ( N = 487), we find that cryptocurrency is currently best understood as being more strongly linked to conservative vs. liberal moral foundations. Cryptocurrency-related posts were more likely to express conservative moral foundations (Authority, Purity, and Loyalty) rather than liberal moral foundations (Fairness and Care), and individual endorsement of these conservative moral foundations was associated with increased interest in crypto investment.
Nils Augustin, Andreas Eckhardt, Alexander Willem de Jong
Abstract Blockchain technology is argued to drastically change the way we operate within an organizational context, with decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) representing a first manifestation of this ongoing trend. DAOs are characterized by an online community that builds the organizationâs backbone by providing knowledge and human resources in a transparent, virtual manner, as well as the use of blockchain technology to coordinate their endeavor. Nevertheless, current research highlights the conceptual ambiguity of this emerging phenomenon, leading to potential issues for practitioners and researchers. To provide further clarity on the phenomenon, we study DAOs through the perspective of their members with a two-staged approach by combining elements of a netnographic approach and structural topic modeling. Our findings highlight several contextual features surrounding DAOs, such as their membersâ underlying beliefs and views, helping to embed DAOs in existing research streams.
Abdou Illia, Assion LawsonâBody, Simon Lee, Gurkan Akalin
Cryptocurrencies have become a global phenomenon, and the number of registered users of cryptocurrency exchange platforms has grown worldwide. However, only a small number of the registered users are active users that engage in actual transactions. In this study, the authors used a multi-theory approach to identify the key factors of the adoption of cryptocurrency exchanges and to develop a conceptual model that would have a potentially high explanatory power. The proposed model emphasizes the role of psychological innovation resistance, functional innovation resistance, technology readiness and trust, perceived risk and risk propensity, subjective norms, and critical mass of users. The authors discuss the model along with the research propositions it implies and the theoretical and practical implications of the study.
Purpose This paper reviews the extant research on Web3.0 published between 2003 and 2022. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a topic modeling procedure latent Dirichlet allocation to uncover the research themes and the key phrases associated with each theme. Findings This study uncovers seven research themes that have been featured in the existing research. In particular, the study highlights the interaction among the research themes that contribute to the understanding of a number of solutions, applications and use cases, such as metaverse and non-fungible tokens. Research limitations/implications Despite the relatively small data size of the study, the results remain significant as they contribute to a more profound comprehension of the relevant field and offer guidance for future research directions. The previous analysis revealed that the current Web3.0 technology is still encountering several challenges. Building upon the pioneering research in the field of blockchain, decentralized networks, smart contracts and algorithms, the study proposes an exploratory agenda for future research from an ecosystem approach, targeting to enhance the current state of affairs. Originality/value Although topics around Web3.0 have been discussed intensively among the crypto community and technological enthusiasts, there is limited research that provides a comprehensive description of all the related issues and an in-depth analysis of their real-world implications from an ecosystem perspective.
Marten Risius, Christoph F. Breidbach, Mathieu Chanson, Ruben von Krannichfeldt ¡ 5 authors
Abstract Initial coin offerings (ICOs) and initial exchange offerings (IEOs) are distinct blockchain-based token offerings. Following multiple frauds associated with decentralized and unregulated ICOs, IEOs are emerging as a novel pathway that relies on centralized crypto exchange platforms acting as intermediaries. However, the question as to how this shift affects fundraising processes in what has traditionally been a decentralized environment remains unresolved. We here address this issue by empirically comparing the performance of ICOs and IEOs through the lens of signaling theory, focusing specifically on the impact of social media information across 305 token offerings (ICOs and IEOs). Our work introduces IEOs and explains how and why the volume and sentiment of social media signals may serve as predictors of fundraising performance. We furthermore find that the impact of these electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) media signals is reduced in the case of IEOsâin the presence of a central cryptocurrency exchange platform mediator. We delineate implications for investors, ventures, platform providers, and regulators alike.
Yong Eui Kim, SangâMin Choi, Dongwoo Lee, Yeong Geon Seo ¡ 5 authors
Personalized recommender systems are used not only in e-commerce companies but also in various web applications. These systems conventionally use collaborative filtering (CF) and content-based filtering approaches. CF operates using memory-based or model-based methods; both methods use a user-item matrix that considers user preferences as items. This matrix denotes information on user preferences, which refers to the user ratings for items. The model-based method exploits the fact that the input matrix is factorized. CF approaches can effectively provide personalized recommendation results to users; however, cold-start problems arise because both these methods depend on the usersâ ratings for items to predict usersâ preferences. We proposed an approach to alleviate the cold-start problem along with a methodology for utilizing blockchain that can enhance the reliability of the processes of the recommendations. We attempted to predict an average rating for a new item to alleviate item-side cold-start problems. First, we applied the concept of word2vec, treating each userâs item-selection history as a sentence. Then, we derived genre2Vec based on the skip-gram technique and predicted an average rating for a new item by utilizing the vectors and category ratings. We experimentally demonstrated that our approach could generate more accurate results than conventional CF approaches could. We also designed the processes of the recommendation based on the concept of blockchain addressing the smart contract. Based on our approach, we proposed a system that can secure reliability as well as alleviate the cold-start problems in recommender systems.
This paper explores the sociological and cultural implications of blockchain technology, specifically focusing on three prominent blockchain ecosystems: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Algorand. The study utilizes the concept of the lifeworld, which encompasses collective human perceptions and everyday communicative social interaction, to analyze the formation and perpetuation of lifeworlds within these ecosystems. By employing scene theory as an analytical framework, the research identifies structural and thematic aspects of the lifeworlds represented in the discourse on Reddit and Twitter. The analysis reveals how these virtual spaces shape the unique social orderings, normative politics, and cultural identities associated with each blockchain. The study emphasizes the role of identity expression, cultural attitudes towards money, and the dynamics of boundary work within these scenes. Overall, the paper provides insights into the distinct lifeworlds and dynamics of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Algorand, showcasing the significance of sociocultural factors in blockchain ecosystems and illustrating how a scenes lens offers insights into dynamics at the ecosystem level that may not be visible in an exploration of blockchain technology at the level of technological category.
Moritz T. Bruckner, Dennis M. Steininger, Jason Bennett Thatcher, Daniel Veit
Abstract Many firms use social media (SM) to solicit online investments. In this study, we examine the interaction between SM attributes and online-investment attributes to determine how this interaction shapes usersâ investment decisions. Specifically, we investigate initial coin offerings (ICOs) as an application domain of distributed ledger technology for peer-to-peer investment. We use signaling theory to develop a context-specific explanation for how the interplay of persuasion signals found in SM and technology-enforced lockups shapes individualsâ ICO investment decisions. To evaluate this interplay, we conducted a 2 Ă 2 factorial experiment with 473 participants. The results show that when an investment does not require a technology-enforced lockup, persuasion signals encourage investments in ICOs; however, when an investment requires a technology-enforced lockup, persuasion signals do not affect investments in ICOs. Furthermore, our analyses suggest that combining a technology-enforced lockup and persuasion signals reduces the ICOâs plausibility. This is the first study to investigate how the willingness to invest in ICOs is influenced by the relationship between technology-enforced lockups and persuasion signals. The findings have practical implications for individuals attempting to make sound decisions on ICO investments, policymakers regulating online investments, and firms seeking to attract investors.
Adrian Stanciu, Mariana Bernardes, Melanie Viola Partsch, Clemens M. Lechner
Cryptocurrency is an attempt to create an alternative to centralized financial systems using blockchain technology. However, our understanding of the psychological mechanisms that drive cryptocurrency adoption is limited. This study examines the role of basic human values in three stages of cryptocurrency adoption-awareness, intention to buy, and ownership-using the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Logistic regression analysis was conducted on a quota sample of 714 German adults, and the results showed that openness-to-change values increased the likelihood of cryptocurrency awareness, while self-enhancement values increased the likelihood of intention to buy and ownership. These findings were consistent even after controlling for demographic characteristics, attitudinal beliefs, and perceived behavioral control, which are important factors in the TPB. The results suggest that basic human values may influence an individual's decision to adopt cryptocurrency, but the transition from awareness to ownership may be influenced by socio-economic opportunities available to interested individuals.
Achraf Boumhidi, Abdessamad Benlahbib, El Habib Nfaoui
Reputation generation systems are decision-making tools used in different domains including e-commerce, tourism, social media events, etc. Such systems generate a numerical reputation score by analyzing and mining massive amounts of various types of user data, including textual opinions, social interactions, shared images, etc. Over the past few years, users have been sharing millions of tweets related to cryptocurrencies. Yet, no system in the literature was designed to handle the unique features of this domain with the goal of automatically generating reputation and supporting investors’ and users’ decision-making. Therefore, we propose the first financially oriented reputation system that generates a single numerical value from user-generated content on Twitter toward cryptocurrencies. The system processes the textual opinions by applying a sentiment polarity extractor based on the fine-tuned auto-regressive language model named XLNet. Also, the system proposes a technique to enhance sentiment identification by detecting sarcastic opinions through examining the contrast of sentiment between the textual content, images, and emojis. Furthermore, other features are considered, such as the popularity of the opinions based on the social network interactions (likes and shares), the intensity of the entity’s demand within the opinions, and news influence on the entity. A survey experiment has been conducted by gathering numerical scores from 827 Twitter users interested in cryptocurrencies. Each selected user assigns 3 numerical assessment scores toward three cryptocurrencies. The average of those scores is considered ground truth. The experiment results show the efficacy of our model in generating a reliable numerical reputation value compared with the ground truth, which proves that the proposed system may be applied in practice as a trusted decision-making tool.
Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) have gained widespread attention in academia and industry as potential future models for decentralized governance and organization. In order to understand the trends and future potential of this rapidly growing technology, it is crucial to conduct research in the field. This research aims at a data-driven approach for the objective content analysis of big data related to DAOs, using text mining and Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA)-based topic modeling. The study analyzed tweets with the hashtag #DAO and all Reddit data with âDAOâ. The results were from the identification of the top 100 frequently appearing keywords, as well as the top 20 keywords with high network centrality, and key topics related to finance, gaming, and fundraising, from both Twitter and Reddit. The analysis revealed twelve topics from Twitter and eight topics from Reddit, with the term âcommunityâ frequently appearing across many of these topics. The findings provide valuable insights into the current trend and future potential of DAOs, and should be used by researchers to guide further research in the field and by decision makers to explore innovative ways to govern the organizations.
Marco Francesco MazzĂš, Rumen Pozharliev, Alberto Andria, Angelo Baccelloni
Abstract Blockchain technology has been designed to improve the transmission of transparent information across a variety of industries and products. Yet, consumers tend to perceive product information provided by blockchain technology (vs. humans) as less credible. As this may not apply to all consumers, it becomes critical for companies to understand how to improve blockchain perceived credibility. This work investigates how individual differences and marketing actions shape consumer responses to product information provided by blockchain technology (vs. humans). Four controlled experiments demonstrate that consumers perceive the information provided by blockchain technology (vs. humans) as having less credibility, which in turn decreases wordâofâmouth and intention to share information about the product on social media (Study 1). This effect is stronger for consumers with lower need for cognition (Study 2a), which in turn affects willingness to buy and actual behavior (Study 2b). Providing social proofâthat is, the number of satisfied customers who recommend blockchain technologyâincreases blockchain perceived credibility (Study 3). These insights deepen the understanding of how individual differences shape consumer's responses to product information provided by blockchain technology and offer actionable insights on how to boost technology credibility.
The current online social network landscape is characterized by competition to get larger audiences leading to massive user migrations which will determine the shape of the future Web. However, user migration phenomena have not been fully understood and their driving mechanisms are still not well identified; in particular, the behaviors of hubs and the influence they exert on their followers are unclear. In this work, we focus on these aspects by analyzing the propensity of hubs to migrate towards a new social platform as a consequence of a shocking event; and the influence they exert on the decision of their neighbors of migrating to a new platform or staying on the native one. We conducted analysis on data made available after a user migration consequence of a hard fork involving two Web3 online social networks based on the blockchains Steem and Hive. Due to the blockchain nature of these Web3 platforms, we got detailed data about social and financial interactions among the users, along with information that allowed a precise reconstruction of the context surrounding the migration. The main findings suggest that different types of hubs apply different strategies when choosing to migrate, e.g. financial hubs diversify their strategy by staying and migrating at the same time. As for hub influence, results suggest that users directly interacting with hubs tend to migrate. In general, findings on influence indicate that understanding the activity and the influence of hubs is crucial in monitoring and controlling the user migration process.
Purpose The potential growth in cryptocurrencies has raised serious ethical and religious issues leading to a new investment rethinking. This paper aims to identify the influence of religiosity on cryptocurrency acceptance through an extended technology acceptance model (TAM) model. Design/methodology/approach In the first phase, this research develops a conceptual model that extends the theory of the TAM by integrating the religiosity component. In the second phase, the proposed model is tested using search volume queries in daily frequencies from 01/01/2018 to 31/12/2022 and structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings The empirical results demonstrate a significant positive effect of religiosity on the intention to use cryptocurrency, the users' perceived usefulness (PU) and ease of use (PEOU). Besides, the authors note that PEOU positively influences the intention. Furthermore, religiosity indirectly affects the intention through the PEOU and positively impacts the intention through the PU. In the same way, PEOU has a considerable indirect effect on the intention through PU. Practical implications This study has practical and theoretical contributions by providing insights into the cryptocurrency acceptance factors. In other words, it contributes to the literature by extending TAM models. Practically, it helps managers determine factors affecting the intention to use cryptocurrencies. Therefore, they can adjust their industry according to the suitable characteristics for creating successful projects. Social implications Identifying the effect of religiosity on cryptocurrency users' choices and decisions has a social added value as it provides an understanding of the evolution of psychological variants. Originality/value The findings emphasize the importance of integrating big data to analyze users' attitudes. Besides, most studies on cryptocurrency acceptance are investigated based on one kind of religion, such as Christianity or Islam. Nevertheless, this paper integrates the effect of five types of faith on the users' intentions.
This chapter examines the marketing trends and strategies used in the cryptocurrency industry. A qualitative research design was used, with case studies of five cryptocurrency firms as the primary data source. Secondary data sources such as websites, social media accounts, articles, and blogs were also analyzed. The study found that content marketing, social media marketing, and influencer marketing are the industry's most commonly used marketing strategies. Community building and brand reputation were also found to be essential for the success of companies operating in the cryptocurrency industry. However, the study's limitations including the limited sample size, reliance on secondary data, the potential for researcher bias, and lack of triangulation should be considered when interpreting the findings. The insights gained from this study can inform the development of marketing strategies in the cryptocurrency industry and guide future research in this area.
Open access
3 source records
Blockchain Technology Applications and Security
Digital Marketing and Social Media
Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
This study aims to design and implement an online blockchain-based and real-time parcel monitoring and tracking system for cross-border runners and the customer via an online platform, during and post the COVID-19 pandemic. A blockchain is a distributed ledger system that serves as a transparent, understandable, and trustworthy store of data and analysis on the platform for participants to engage with each other. The result of proposing a blockchain-based tracking system is promising. The result and UAT show positive feedback on the use and features of the blockchain-based tracking system. As the world reacted to the pandemic, many organizations provided monitoring with their deliveries, which is a terrific method for businesses to prevent losing valuable customers. According to the findings of the study, organizations prefer to have blockchain-based tracking systems.
Juan F. Prados-Castillo, JosĂŠ Manuel Guaita MartĂnez, Agnieszka ZieliĹska, Dolores Gorgues Comas
The deployment of Blockchain technology in the tourism industry is already becoming a reality with the gradual emergence of innovative business models. At its core is the promise of improving the efficiency of the tourism service value chain and enhancing the quality of the service provided to the end customer. This paper analyses research trends focused on using Blockchain technology in tourism. The aim is to determine how this technology impacts the tourism sector and its sustainability. A systematic review, descriptive bibliometric analysis, and network analysis based on co-authorship, co-citation, and keyword analysis criteria, among others, have been used. The results reveal that the subject matter analysed is generating a growing trend in academic research in the fields of sustainable management and supply chain efficiency. The activities in the tourism sector that are incorporating this technology to a greater extent are those related to the areas of marketing, logistics, and smart business models, according to the data extracted from the analysis. This technology already enables the application of solutions that predict and promote tourist behaviour based on sustainable behaviour and consumption habits, generating value for the different stakeholders.
With growing interest toward investments in the cryptocurrency market, prediction of the volatility of the price increasingly becomes important. Given the popularity of social media activity to reflect market trends in recent years, sentiment analysis has been recognized as a great contributing factor to predict financial markets. Using a sample of Bitcoin and Ethereum trade data, this study intends to provide insights on the association between twitter activity about cryptocurrencies and fluctuations of their price. To this end, we implement regression analysis alongside Vector Autoregression method to examine to what extent sentiment-related measures are capable of explaining the volatility of the prices of cryptocurrencies and whether the mutual influence of sentiment and volatility improves the accuracy of the model. Results indicate that the accuracy of predictions vary across the two tested cryptocurrencies, and also two different lexicon approaches used to calculate sentiment scores.
Paul Gerrans, Sherin Babu Abisekaraj, Zhangxin Liu
Abstract The âFear of Missing Outâ or FoMO has become an accepted motivator of behaviours extending from the purchase of limited-edition sneaker brands to social media use and cryptocurrency investment. As a motivator of individual financial behaviours, such as cryptocurrency and stock investment, it is unclear how FoMO relates to consumer financial literacy and other consumer traits, including risk tolerance and personality. We propose, and assess, a model of reported investment behaviour and investment behaviour intention. We find a larger association between FoMO and crypto ownership, both current and intended, compared with stocks. FoMO has a small association with current stock ownership, relative to the association of financial literacy and risk tolerance. Context matters when measuring FoMO with the more context-specific measures having the largest associations with investment behaviour and investment intentions. Finally, our results suggest financial literacy is an antecedent of FoMO, more so for stocks.
It is essential to continually assess and find new ways to recruit and retain participants for research studies. Cryptocurrency is growing in popularity and may be a novel way to incentivize research participants. 100 participants, 50 of whom already had a cryptocurrency wallet and 50 of whom did not have a cryptocurrency wallet, were recruited through Facebook ads and completed a survey that asked about their experience with cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and potential interest in use of it for compensating research participants. The majority of respondents (79%) had some experience with cryptocurrency and 85% said they were comfortable trading cryptocurrency. Many participants had exchanged cryptocurrency within the past month (62%) and over their lifetime (70%). Respondents, however, were less familiar with NFTs, with only half having some experience with them. 18% of those without a cryptocurrency wallet and 42% of those with a cryptocurrency wallet chose to be compensated by cryptocurrency and NFT. Results suggest that, although cash and gift card incentives are preferred, there is an interest in cryptocurrency and NFTs. More studies will need to be done on a larger sample size and some of the challenges discussed (like cryptocurrency volatility) need to be addressed.