Holistic Marketing Management, Volume 13, Issue 2, Year 2023

Editorial Board of “Holistic Marketing Management”

(Arefereedjournalpublishedfourtimesannuallybythe SchoolofManagement-MarketingoftheRomanian-AmericanUniversity)

Editor-in-Chief

Theodor Valentin PURCĂREA

Bernd HALLIER

President of European Retail Academy; President of EuCVoT; Member of the Astana Economic Scientists Club; Former Managing Director EHI Retail Institute, Germany, Chairman of the Advisory Board of EuroShop, Chairman of the Board of the Orgainvent, Trustee of EHI Retail Institute at GLOBALG.A.P.

President - Association of Global Management Studies (USA); Editor-in-Chief, JournalofEntrepreneurshipandSustainabilityIssues &FormerEditor-in-Chief, Journal of Management Systems, USA; Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship, the Facultyof Business and Enterprise, Swinburne University of Technology; Member of France’s National Academy of Scientific Research (CNRS); Director - ESB International Teaching and Research Exchanges, Reutlingen University, Germany

John L. STANTON

Professor of Food Marketing, Erivan K. Haub School of Business, Saint Joseph’s University Philadelphia, USA; Director, Institute of Food Products Marketing, Editor, Journal of Food Products Marketing; Hall of Fame of the European Retail Academy, Honored Personality 2016

Léon F. WEGNEZ

William PERTTULA

Levent ALTINAY

Secretary General, International Association of the Distributive Trade, AIDA Brussels; Member of France’s Academy of Commercial Sciences; Doctor Honoris Causa of NUPSPA (SNSPA) Bucharest; Hall of Fame of the European Retail Academy, Honored Personality 2015; Administrator Secretary General of the Diplomatic Club of Belgium

Internet Marketing Professor, College of Business, San Francisco State University, USA

Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Research Area Leader, Oxford School of Hospitality Management, Faculty of Business, Oxford Brookes University, UK

Andrew KILNER

First MBA Director at the Rennes Graduate School of Business in France; Director of RAFME Research into Management Excellence; PhD (Cambridge), MBA (City, London)

Dana ZADRAZILOVA Faculty of International Economic Relations, University of Economics, Prague, Czech Republic

Riccardo BELTRAMO University of Turin, Italy

Sinisa ZARIC University of Belgrade, Yugoslavia

Gabriela SABĂU Memorial University, Grenfell Campus, Corner Brook, Canada

Hélène NIKOLOPOULOU University of Lille 3, France

Vasa LÁSZLÓ Szent Istvan University, Hungary

Peter STARCHON Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia

John MURRAY Faculty of Business, Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland

John SAEE

Kamil PÍCHA Faculty of Economics, University of South Bohemia in Ceske Budejovice

Irena JINDRICHOVSKA Deputy Head of Department of Business Economics, University of Economics and Management, Prague, Czech Republic

Norbert HAYDAM Faculty of Business, Marketing Department, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, South Africa

Hans ZWAGA Kemi-Tornio University of Applied Sciences, Finland

Roxana CODITA Technische Universität München, TUM School of Management

Valeriu IOAN-FRANC

Corresponding Member of the Romanian Academy, General Deputy Director, National Institute for Economic Research “Costin C. Kiriţescu”, Romanian Marketing Association; Romanian Distribution Committee

Dumitru MIRON Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest, President of RAFPEC (FRAPEC)

Iacob CĂTOIU Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest

Virgil BALAURE Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest

Gheorghe ORZAN Academy of Economic Studies in Bucharest

Luigi DUMITRESCU Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu

Marius D. POP Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca

Constantin ROŞCA President of Romanian Scientific Society of Management - SSMAR

Petru FILIP Dimitrie Cantemir University, Bucharest

Ion VOICU SUCALA

Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, Management and Economic Engineering Department; University of Glasgow, UK, College of Social Sciences, School of Social & Political Sciences; Managing Editor, Review of Management and Economic Engineering

Virgil POPA Valahia University of Târgovişte

Alexandru NEDELEA Ştefan cel Mare University of Suceava

Olguța Anca ORZAN Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest

Ana-Maria PREDA

Ovidiu FOLCUȚ

Doinița CIOCÎRLAN

Costel NEGRICEA

Tudor EDU

Alexandru IONESCU

Andreea Elisabeta BUDACIA

Marius Dan DALOTĂ

Mihai PAPUC

Gheorghe ILIESCU

Oana PREDA

Olga POTECEA

Nicoleta DUMITRU

Monica Paula RAȚIU

Alexandra PERJU-MITRAN

Romanian-American University

Romanian-American University

Romanian-American University

Romanian-American University

Romanian-American University

Romanian-American University

Romanian-American University

Romanian-American University

Romanian-American University

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Associate Editors

Dan SMEDESCU

Irina PURCĂREA

Art Designer Director

Alexandru BEJAN

Valentin-Marius STOICA - Researching the Behavioral Elements of Online Video and Tudor EDU Game Players. A Detailed Analysis Using SPSS. Part IV: Research Conclusions and Recommendations..........................31

SANABUNA 2023 – Eliot SOREL and Costel NEGRICEA. Exploration of a Range of New Projects and Innovative Ideas at Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C. 24 Years from the ‘Opening the Gates to Romania’ project at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., in 1999.................34

2023 – Romanian-American University represented at the official opening ceremony of Thai Festival 2023 in Bucharest...................................................43

impact of AI and especially of GenAI in CX, growth, and productivity, personalization being key in all the actions involved in the above-mentioned areas of marketing and sales, considering B2C company-specific data and context, as well as going beyond (in case of B2B companies) account-based marketing. Asked about their perspective on use cases and the role of GenAI in marketing and sales widely, commercial leaders proved to be cautiously optimistic, as shown in figure below. And taking into account the very fast evolution of the AI landscape, in order to make a map of AI transformation in marketing and sales, McKinsey recommends six actions for the necessary advancement, as shown the next figure below.

Source: Deveau, R., Joseph Griffin, S. and Reis, S., 2023. AI-powered marketing and sales reach new heights with generative AI. [pdf] McKinsey & Company, Capabilities, May 11, 2023, p. 6 (Work cited)

Source: Deveau, R., Joseph Griffin, S. and Reis, S., 2023. AI-powered marketing and sales reach new heights with generative AI. [pdf] McKinsey & Company, Capabilities, May 11, 2023, p. 9 (Work cited)

Figure no. 2: Commercial leaders are cautiously optimistic about gen AI use cases, anticipating moderate to significant impact

Figure no. 3: The way forward: Six “no regrets” AI strategies

In our last HMM issue we made reference (Purcarea, 2023), among other aspects, to Fares (2023), who analyzed the great interest of both businesses and consumers in the new technology ChatGPT, considering its possibilities for both enhancing marketing processes (supporting content creation and data analysis, enhancing customer service twenty-four hours a day, and automating repetitive marketing tasks), and limitations (only a human-like tool but without emotional intelligence, not error free, and lacking humans’ lived experience and understanding of the complex human nature).

On the other hand, as recently shown by BCG’s representatives (Beauchene et al., 2023), a new order for business and society is starting, this being suggested by the explosive popularity of GenAI forms and mainly ChatGPT. And to understand workers’ thoughts, emotions, and fears about this technology BCG surveyed nearly 13,000 people in 18 countries (from executive suite leaders to middle managers and frontline employees) to understand their thoughts, emotions, and fears about AI. Research findings were significant: companies need to address to the vast differences identified between leaders at the top and employees on the frontline, despite the fact that they are both more optimistic than concerned about this technology (but there is no doubt about the need for responsible AI and regulation), and there is a clear employees’ recognized need for training and upskilling (only a few of them having actually received it).

It is interesting to note, with regard to the Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs), that another research by BCG (being surveyed over 200 CMOs from several sectors in 8 countries in North America, Europe, and Asia – April 2023) revealed that there is no doubt about GenAI’s future ability to enhance productivity, create competitive advantage, and to enable both launching new products, and implementing new business models, but it is necessary to explore not only its transformative power and benefits, but also its potential risks (Ratajczak et al., 2023). In the opinion of BCG’s representatives it is depending on each organization whether GenAI is a disruptive innovation or a sustaining one, but its disruptive potential seems to be foundational (being compared to what has been done by search engines and other online platforms which upended business models and unleashed creativity three decades ago): “It may have the power not only to revolutionize how companies perform certain marketing tasks, but also to redefine the role of marketing itself.”

Theodor Valentin Purcărea Editor-in-Chief

References

Beauchene, V., De Bellefonds, N., Duranton, S. and Mills, S., 2023. AI at Work: What People Are Saying, BCG, June 07, 2023. [online] Available at: <https://www.bcg.com/publications/2023/what-people-are-saying-about-ai-atwork?> [Accessed 9 July 2023].

Deveau, R., Joseph Griffin, S. and Reis, S., 2023. AI-powered marketing and sales reach new heights with generative AI. [pdf] McKinsey & Company, Capabilities, May 11, 2023, pp. 1-10. Available at: <ai-powered-marketing-andsales-reach-new-heights-with-generative-ai> [Accessed 17 May 2023].

Fares, O.H., 2023. ChatGPT Could be a Game-Changer for Marketers, but it won’t Replace Humans any Time Soon, European Business Review, February 7, 2023, originally published in The Conversation on 22 January 2023. [online] Available at: <https://www.europeanbusinessreview.com/chatgpt-could-be-a-game-changer-for-marketers-but-itwont-replace-humans-any-time-soon/> [Accessed 8 February 2022].

Purcarea, T., 2023. Disrupted and Reshaped Global Supply Chains, Marketing Performance, and Marketers’ New Tool ChatGPT and Its Competition, Holistic Marketing Management, vol. 13(1), pp. 04-11, February.

Ratajczak, D., Kropp, M., Palumbo, S., De Bellefonds, N., Apotheker, J., Willersdorf, S. and Paizanis, G., 2023. How CMOs Are Succeeding with Generative AI, BCG, June 15, 2023. Available at: <https://www.bcg.com/publications/2023/generative-ai-in-marketing> [Accessed 9 July 2023].

Samet, A., 2023. How AI transforms the customer journey at each stage, Insider Intelligence, Jul 6, 2023. [online] Available at: <https://www.insiderintelligence.com/content/how-ai-transforms-customer-journey-each-stage?> [Accessed 6 July 2023].

Shukla, A., 2023. The State of GenAI Chatbots in Marketing, In Business Magazine Phoenix, Arizona, June 2023. [online] Available at: <https://inbusinessphx.com/technology-innovation/the-state-of-genai-chatbots-inmarketing> [Accessed 18 July 2023].

The Effect of Positive and Negative Nutrition/Health Advertising Label Claims on Intention to Buy

Dr. John L. STANTON, Professor of Food Marketing Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia PA

Dr. Stephen BAGLIONE, Professor of Marketing St. Leo University

Dr. Ekaterina SALNIKOVA, Research Associate, Aarhus University, Denmark

Abstract

This study aims to determine which of the benefits and attributes expressed as the front of the package claims can have the greatest impact on consumers’ willingness to buy milk and to understand the role of stating these in either a positive or negative fashion. Focus groups were conducted throughout the U.S. to identify attributes and benefits most and least important for fluid milk purchase. This information was used in a discrete choice experiment. Over 2,000 respondents were recruited from MTurk nationally and asked to complete the survey online. The quantitative results show that negative attributes and benefits are most important. However, producing GMO-free or rBST-free milk is more expensive and may not be cost-effective in a declining market.

Keywords: labeling, discrete choice experiment, focus groups, GMO, fluid milk, health claims

JEL Classification: L66; L81; M31; M37

Introduction

This research aims to examine the impact that positively stated nutrition/health claims on the front of packages (e.g., builds strong bones) and negatively stated label claims (e.g., no antibiotics) have on consumer likelihood to buy. The product used for this analysis is fluid milk, as it is ubiquitous and can be associated with a significant number of positively and negatively stated product claims. This document is more than a report on a single research study, but rather harmonized research results from the secondary, qualitative, and quantitative analysis. The qualitative analysis included focus groups with fluid milk users, and the quantitative analysis is based on discrete choice experiments. This study aims to determine which of the benefits and attributes expressed as front of the package claims can have the greatest impact on consumers’ willingness to buy milk and to understand the role of stating these in either a positive or negative fashion.

Background

Nancarrow et al. (1998) state that effectiveness in labeling would help consumers, as the Financial Times suggests, to choose "between rows and rows of almost identical products." Since advertising business is expensive, the knowledge gained about the psychology of their consumers is important to assist manufacturers to understand the "how" and "whys" of consumer responses to their packs and advertisements. Effective labeling on the packaging would underpin the main forms of marketing communications of advertising, personal selling, publicity, public relations, direct marketing, and sponsorships (Nancarrow et al., 1998).

In-store marketing captures shoppers’ attention and increases impulse buying (Inman et al., 2009). Impulse buys are 40 to 80 percent of all purchases and account for approximately 50 percent of grocery sales (Kossman, 2021). Impulse buying varies by category and online vs. brick-and-mortar (Nielsen, 2017). Online grocery has higher impulse buying than brick-and-mortar, but the reverse is true for frozen food. The label on the packaging provides a company with the final opportunity to persuade

prospective buyers before purchase. Shoppers, as they pass down the aisles, are “exposed” to packages just as they are to any other forms of promotion (Kottler and Armstrong, 2021).

Current consumers, market trends, and numerous academic researchers suggest a growing role for product packaging, which includes labeling, as a brand communication vehicle (Holmes and Paswan, 2012; Kotler and Armstrong, 2021; Prendergast and Pitt, 1996; Underwood et al., 2001; Wells et al., 2007; Vergura and Luceri, 2018). When consumers pay attention to nutrition and health claims on food products, sales are estimated to increase by 10 to 20 percent (Aschemann-Witzel and Hamm, 2010). A meta-analysis found 20 of 31 studies with health-related claims increase purchasing and/or consumption (Kaur, Scarborough, and Rayner, 2017). Health claims may dramatically increase sales: chocolate’s positive effects on cardiovascular disease and diabetes increased sales by 49 percent in three years (Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter, 2007), while scientific evidence is refuting the medicinal benefit of St. John’s Wort to treat depression reduced sales from $400 to $59 million in four years (Saldanha, 2007). Nutritional claims on packages have been shown to be positively related to a firm’s stock performance and sales (Cao and Yan, 2016). Nutrition and health claims provide differentiation opportunities (Verbeke, Scholderer, and Lahteenmaki, 2009).

There are three main sources of nutrition claims on packages: i) nutrition information panel (NIP); ii) front-of-package labels (FOP); and iii) health claims (Talati et al., 2016). The NIP is on the back or side and details nutritional information and usually nutrient’s recommended daily intake and serving percentages. FOPs provided condensed information on multiple nutrients. Research indicates that consumers rely on FOP to make decisions, especially for food (Bublitz, Peracchio, and Block, 2010; Wansink and Chandon, 2006).

Andre, Chandon, and Haws (2019) categorize FOP claims as nature vs. science or presence vs. absence of attributes resulting in four combinations. Natural is unaltered or the “absence of human intervention” (p. 176), and science means improvement through human intervention by science. They applied its categorization to breakfast cereals because cereals make a “wide range of FOP claims,” are frequently purchased, and have poor nutritional value (p. 173). Their results indicate that these contrasts explain most healthy food claims in the category. Most cereals make one claim and “seldom mix claims from different categories” (p. 180). They found that this affects health too. “Claims based on nature were rated as healthier and less tasty than claims based on science” (p. 186). “Claims based on the presence or positive attributes (e.g., high antioxidants,” “wholesome,” “organic” were rated as both healthier and tastier than those based on the absence of a negative attribute” (p. 186). They speculate that consumers believe healthy means removing something from food and results in healthy food being perceived as tasting worse.

Nutritional claims may include: i) content (presence or absence); ii) health (benefit of nutrient); and iii) combined (links nutrient and disease prevention) (Talati et al., 2016). A study of 80 million food and beverage purchases in the U.S. found 13 percent of food and 35 percent of beverages had low-content claims (Tallie, et al., 2017). Shorter claims were better than longer ones. Health-based claims explicitly link diseases and nutrients (Mitra et al., 1999), activate more general claims in memory (Andrews et al., 1998), for example, low cholesterol versus lowersus lowers risk of heart disease. Claims linked to disease-related health benefits are preferred to “softer” psychological-based claims such as stress relief or increased energy (van Kleef et al., 2005). Health-based claims can favorably affect product attitudes and purchase intentions; however, stronger effects were found through nutrition facts panels on packages (Kozup et al., 2003). A review of breakfast cereal and prepared meal products in the U.S. over a fouryear period found that a number of claim types were not good indicators of healthy (Schaefer, Hooker, and Stanton, 2015).

Nutrient-content claims (e.g., no transfat) have decreased slightly in the marketplace, while healthy-based claims (e.g., lower fat reduces the risk of high blood pressure) have increased, although the

latter is still rare (Caswell et al., 2003). Nutrient-content claims can be classified as specific or general. Consumers more easily understand specific claims (e.g., no transfat) than general claims (healthy) (Andrews et al., 1998). The labels were most effective when nutrient-content claims and content labels were used (Miklavec et al., 2015).

Nutrition health claims on the front of packages are one of the factors that make packaging a more effective marketing tactic, especially for food products. These claims are potentially powerful tools in consumer communication as they convey information on food characteristics (e.g., “contains calcium”) and health-related food benefits (e.g., “contributes to a heart-healthy diet”) that might otherwise remain unknown to the consumer (Parker, 2003; Reboucas et al., 2017). As such, nutrition and health claims may influence consumer preference and facilitate well-informed food choices (Ippolito and Mathios, 1993). Its effect may be influenced by whether processing is system 1 (thinking quickly and automatically) or 2 (thinking slowly and deliberately) (Sanjari, Jahn, and Boztug, 2017).

Three potential biases with nutritional claims exist where consumers rate the product: i) better merely because of the claim (positivity); ii) on unrelated attributes (halo); and iii) where consumers attribute inappropriate health benefits (magic bullet) (Andrews et al., 2000; Andrews et al., 1998; Chandon and Wansink, 2007; Mayer and Scammon, 1993; Roe, Levy, and Derby, 1999). In general, “health claims on foods are seen by consumers as useful and when a product features a health claim they view it as healthier and state that they are more likely to purchase it” (Williams, 2005, p. 260). Consumers may not use the information appropriately. Low-fat claims have led to underestimating calories (Wansink and Chandon, 2006). Health claims have been criticized because they focus on the positive and may induce a positivity bias (Gorton et al., 2010; Saba et al., 2010), induce more consumption (Faulker et al., 2014), or reduce the likelihood of viewing the NIP. Many unhealthy children’s snacks have nutrition claims such as “made from fruit juice” (Wirtz, Ahn, Song, and Wang, 2013). Health claims endorsed by third parties have increased purchase intentions (Bennett and McCrohan, 1993). Merely having health claims on the product label may inflate its importance (Brown and Carpenter, 2000). Packaging has been shown to influence taste and preference (Robinson and Matheson, 2007). Using FOP visuals and verbal claims, one study found that “parents were also easily led to believe the product was healthier based on visuals of fruit, more realistic pictures, health claims, cross-branding with healthier foods, and visuals suggesting the product is more natural” (Abrams, Evans, and Duff, 2015, p. 20). Taste can be positively influenced by taste claims (Bialkova, Sasse, and Fenko, 2016). Nutrient-content claims were evaluated as healthier but less tasty than taste claims which were perceived as less healthy (Choi, Paek, and King, 2012).

Fluid Milk Market

Per capita, fluid milk consumption declined from 2010 to 2020 (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2020). The cause of the decrease has been attributed to various reasons from economic pressure and price increases to consumer desires, changing demographics, and ineffective advertising. More Americans are dieting than a decade ago (The Associated Press, 2020). The largest competitor to fluid milk comes not exclusively from other dairy farmers but non-dairy milk options and other popular beverages presented on the market, such as soda, soy beverages, sports drinks, smart water, tea, juice, etc. Per capita cheese consumption (Cheddar, Colby, washed curd, stirred curd, Monterey, and Jack) has increased annually since 2010 (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2021). Fluid milk was chosen to study because it is declining in sales, it has a large household penetration rate, and is purchased mostly in retail stores where packaging’s influence on purchase is growing, and impulse buys are prevalent. Finally, it is associated with a significant number of positively and negatively stated product claims.

Demographics are equally important. Households with children are key consumers of milk. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, the rate of households with children under 18 has been steadily declining: 40 percent of all households in 2020 from 56 percent in 1970 (United States Census Bureau, 2020). Even more significant is that the size of the Hispanic population is growing. This would not be an issue if the milk industry targeted the Hispanic market; very few milk processors have taken that step. The Hispanic population has grown from almost 10 million in 1970tonearly61millionin2019(Noe-Bustamante,Lopez,andKrogstad,2020). Thispopulationwaschosen because

the American Hispanic population is growing, and few competitors are targeting them. Historically, children consume more fluid milk than adults (Hayden and Fred Kuchler, 2022).

Methodology

The study is a three-step research process and includes an extensive secondary research study (comprehensive literature overview of the importance of packaging, labeling, and front-of-package nutrition health claims, regulatory overview, and consumer behavior, and attitudes toward milk) conducted to identify previous research on milk label claims. The secondary research objective was to verify the critical areas in current research to include in future research studies.

The second step was qualitative research, which included consumer focus groups to discuss the attributes and benefits most or least important to consumers in a qualitative setting. Focus groups were held in two U.S. cities with various demographic groups. The Denver focus groups consisted of mothers with children under the age of 18 living in the household and another with millennials. In Baltimore, there were again mothers with children under the age of 18 living in the households and Hispanics.

At the end of the focus groups, consumers were presented with the index cards exercise that involved the free sorting technique (Bech-Larsen and Nielsen, 1999). Respondents were given index cards with various attributes and benefits of fluid milk to identify their important benefits sought from milk (after a discussion of all benefits including “made without the use of artificial hormones,” i.e., aided): “made without the use of artificial hormones” was the eighth attribute listed in the group of important attributes while the most common attribute on the label and “made without the use of toxic pesticides” was the top-rated by consumers using the index card methods and top even on the list of attributes actually included.

The third step was a quantitative survey of consumers using Discrete Choice Experimentation (DCE) using logit analysis to measure the extentto which the previously identified attributes and benefits were important in the purchase decision. Attributes were ascertained from the focus groups (besides taken from the open discussion, an index card technique was used to rank potential attributes), the secondary research, and the Mintel GNPD. An incomplete block design was used utilizing a fractional factorial where the 40 milk labels were separated into 13 choice sets consisting of four milk label profiles per set.

These surveys used DCE to examine relative weights for nutrition claims that enhance willingness to buy milk. DCE has been widely used in marketing to evaluate consumer preferences for products and services (Silayoi and Speece, 2004) and as a type of experimental design, was found to be a very effective method used in the food industry to evaluate package design (and its different elements), to measure consumer preferences on the importance of packaging attributes and to optimize new products (Gofman and Moskowitz, 2012; Hollywood et al., 2013; Moskowitz, 2012; Silayoi and Speece, 2004). The data was collected using an online questionnaire which included:

(1) Screener: to ensure the participants were in the correct age range (from 18 years old), were the primary shopper in the household, and had purchased fluid milk in the past three months;

(2) Discrete choice experiment (DCE): including an open-ended question on messages and/or benefits on the milk label that influence their purchase decision to discover respondents’ perception in unaided situation; and two sets of milk label profiles to quantify how much importance consumers place on different front-of-package attributes and claims;

(3) Milk purchase behavior questions: to learn about milk purchase behavior of the respondents (i.e., frequency of milk purchases, average consumption of the milk, at which types of stores milk is usually purchased, organic and private label milk usage, and the types of milk preferred); and

(4) Socio-demographic questions: to provide a better description of the respondents regarding various sociodemographic groups, such as size of the household, presence of the children under 18, marital status, education, income, education, employment status, income, state residence, race, and origin.

Amazon Mechanic Turk (MTurk) was used to perform the email broadcast of the questionnaire. MTurk offers the ability to recruit large and diverse samples, quick survey completion, cost efficiency, and better quality than undergraduate students (Miller et al., 2017). A study comparing MTurk to samples from: students, Qualtrics, and panel providers (Kees et al., 2017) and found MTurk superior to the panel surveys and comparable to the student samples. Mortensen and Hughes (2018) found that “the vast majority of the studies supported the use of MTurk for a variety of academic purposes.” Compared to Craigslist, Facebook, and Google Ads, MTurk and Craigslist were more cost-efficient, and respondents were more committed but less demographically diverse than Facebook and Google Ads (Antoun et al.,2016).1 A criticism of MTurk is the same respondents complete surveys for different topics. Using a “capture-recapture” technique, one study estimated that 26 percent of workers retired and 36 percent completed a survey for one of seven laboratories recruiting respondents, and each lab can reach 7,300 workers (Stewart et al., 2015). MTurk has been shown to have good reliability and validity for self-reported data for socially unacceptable behavior (Kim and Hodgins, 2017). Another study found a large proportion of imposters when using self-reported screeners (Wessling, Huber, and Netzer, 2017).

Kacey Culliney in his article “Out with the bad, in with the good: Consumers seek positive nutrition” discusses the findings of Packaged Facts research (Culliney, 2013) and says that consumers are seeking more positive attributes in their food, particularly with positive nutrition, as opposed to claims that indicate removing negative ingredients, which are still important. David Sprinkle, director of Package Facts, said a look at the restaurant sector (which is really a precursor to industry claims)reveals a clear trend towardpositive food claims, like high infiber, and they are gaining traction in place of reduced fat or low calories.

A Mintel report on “Beverage Packaging Trends” (Mintel, February 2014) indicates that displaying claims on positive packaging traits, such as being “a good source” could further encourage the idea of health attributes, instead of “low” or “no” claims, which may suggest something was taken away. More than a third of all respondents look for beverage packaging that stated being “a good source.”

Additionally, Mintel report on “Food Packaging Trends” (Mintel, July 2014) shows that parents are significantly more likely than the average consumer to look for food claims that discuss positive nutritional attributes of food products, e.g., “good source of vitamins, fiber, calcium, etc.,” then the absence of negative nutritional attributes. However, parents pay about average attention to claims of “low or no” and functional health claims. Therefore, it is concluded: “food brands will want to position products as supportive of overall health rather than claiming to have little or none of a specific ingredient that may be considered unhealthy” (Mintel, July 2014). Prior research shows that “claims based on the presence or positive attributes (e.g., high antioxidants,” “wholesome,” “organic” were rated as both healthier and tastier than those based on the absence of a negative attribute” (Andre, Chandon, and Haws, 2019, p. 186).

Presence of negative or free-form labels

Free-formlabelsornegativeattributesindicatetheabsenceofan ingredient. Consumersmay misinterprettheselabels: appropriate for only certain consumers, unpalatable, or a healthier option (Siegrist and Keller, 2011). Consumers have misperceptions about GMOs (Siegrist, Hartmann, and Sutterlin, 2016). Consumers believe GMO-free food products to have slightly higher nutritional values (Loureiro and Hine, 2002), and pay more for them (Lusk, Jamal, Kurlander, Roucan, and Taulman, 2005). In a study comparing free-form labels to identical products without labels, the former was viewed as healthier (Hartmann et al., 2018).

Hypotheses

Below are our hypotheses for fluid milk, and below that is our justification for the hypotheses.

Ho1: Positive attributes/benefits are more frequently mentioned in an unaided recall than negative claims.

Ho2: Positive attributes/benefits expressed on the FOP have a greater impact on consumers’ willingness to buy.

Ho3: When the same claim exists on the label in both the positive and negative wording form, the impact of the positive claim outweighs the impact of the negative on consumers’ willingness to buy.

Ho4: Placing a negative statement on the label decreases the overall perception of the product category.

Findings: Secondary data analysis (GNPD)

Using GNPD2, of the 73 new milk products introduced from January 2013 to May 2014, there were 65 new milk products (89%) to examine what claims were actually made on new milk products.3 While consumers may have varying responses to claims on milk labels, the GNPD data shows what the industry must believe motivates consumers to buy. The number one claim used on milk labels among 35 different claims used in the same period was “hormonefree,” and it was the result of the new milk product claim’s analysis are shown in Table 1. This result can be compared to the consumer response to the potential milk claims.

TABLE

These claims can be classified by prior research. Among the top five front-of-package claims on new milk labels, and using the classification of Andre, Chandon, and Haws (2019), two are scientific (hormone-free; vitamin/minerals fortified) and three natural (total*fat; Kosher, and organic) and one includes the absence (hormonefree and total fat) and two the presence (Kosher, organic and vitamin/mineral fortified).

Findings: qualitative research

2 GNPD is the Global New Product Database that monitors product innovation and retail success in consumerpackaged goods markets worldwide http://www.gnpd.com/sinatra/home/

3 7 products had no claims on the label

1: Frequency of front-of-package claims on new milk labels

Free sorting Technique (Index Card Exercise)

Note: The positive attributes (“excellent source of vitamin D” and “good source of protein”) had more mentions than the “made without the use of artificial hormones” attribute; and “excellent source of calcium” had the same number of mentions as the “made without the use of artificial hormones” attribute (see Table 2).

Participants were asked to pick their top three claims out of the important attributes and benefits that have picked before: “made without the use of artificial hormones” was the seventh attribute listed in the group of the top important ones. Taste, freshness, organic, all-natural and quality had more mentions than the “made without the use of artificial hormones” attribute (see Table 3), which was the attribute with the highest frequency of attributes on new products.

Unaided milk benefits question

To compare the results of an aided response to important attributes/benefits to an unaided response, respondents were asked in an open-ended format which message they remembered on the milk label or signage at the dairy case that influenced their decision to purchase the type/brand of milk before any questions about milk attributes/benefits were asked. The results are shown in Table 4. It is important to note that the first recalled (top of mind) attribute/benefit that is negative number 7 hormone-free (6.3% of the mentions; 13.7% for vitamin content), number 14 no artificial ingredients and rBST (1% mentions for both). Regarding unaided top of mind, the positive claims far outweigh negative claims. The difference between vitamins and hormone mentions in top-of-mind mentions using TwoProportion Z-test was statistically significant with (Z-score=7.8, p-value=.000).

TABLE 2: Important attributes (Index cards exercise)

TABLE 3: Top three the most important attributes (Index cards exercise)

TABLE 4: Percentage of mentions in unaided open-ended question on milk benefits

Discrete choice experiment (DCE)

DCE was performed to determine the benefits and attributes expressed as FOP claims, which can be displayed on a milk label that would have the greatest impact on consumers’ willingness to buy milk by forcing consumers to trade offsomeattributestogetotherattributes. Theattributesandlevelsforthisstepweredeveloped basedonthesecondary research and focus groups as shown in Table 5. There were 2,011 respondents used for the final data analysis for the study. The average time of survey completion was 6 minutes and 49 seconds. The average time of DCE completion was 53.25 seconds per set.

vitamin B12 in milk helps maintain the body's red blood cells

3 Health Adequate calcium and vitamin D throughout life, as part of a wellbalanced diet, may reduce the risk of osteoporosis

4 Negative Our farmers pledgenottouse artificial growth hormones

Diets low in sodium may reducetheriskof high blood pressure, a disease associated with many factors

Made without the use of toxic pesticides

- -

GMO-free From cows not treated with antibiotics

5 Production Organic All-natural Producedlocally

6 Quality/ Freshness Highest quality guaranteed Guaranteedfresh

7 Sustainability From grass-fed cows Sustainably raised Supports local farmers

8 Taste Tastesgreat Taste from your childhood

No artificial ingredients

The ordered relative importance of factors (attributes) tested is shown in Table 6. Factors with greater relative importance play a more significant role in encouraging buying milk than those with smaller importance.

TABLE 5: Attributes and levels used in DCE

TABLE 6: Relative importance of milk claims

An example of the structure of the DCE labels is shown in Appendix 1.

Aided versus unaided milk claims importance

The label attribute in the DCE of “from cows not treated with antibiotics” was the most effective; however, the word antibiotic appeared in only .8 percent of unaided influences by the same respondents who rated the labels. Thus, the label claim was far more prevalent than the frequency that consumers mentioned it. The second most effective attribute in the DCE study was “no artificial ingredients,” but had only 1 percent of the word appeared in the unaided influences. The third most was “our farmers pledge not to use hormones;” however, the word hormone appeared in 6.2 percent of the unaided influences. rBST was mentioned by name in the unaided influences in 1 percent of the mentions. The fourth most effective attribute was “GMO-free,” and that had only .5 percent of the mentions in the unaided influences by the same respondents who rated the labels. The fifth most effective attribute in the DCE was the most effective attribute in the DCE was “made without the use of toxic pesticides,” and there were 0 (none) mentions in the unaided influences by the same respondents who rated the conjoint labels. The sixth most effective attribute in the DCE was” grass-fed cows,” and the word grass was mentioned .4 percent in the unaided influences by the same respondents who rated the labels.

Effect of negative claims on the product category

Anissuehasexistedastowhethermakingnegativeclaimsonalabelforaspecificcompanyorbrandcreates anunwantedsenseofconcernamongconsumers. Forexample,whengeneralfoodsplaceda“noGMO”claim onjustafewproducts,e.g.,Cheerios,whateffectdidthathaveonalltheotherbrandsthatwerenotlabeled“no GMO?”

In the case of fluid milk, one can look at U.S. Department of Agriculture data to see that fluid milk sales have been declining. The question with respect to negatives is to look at how the negative slope has changed during the introduction of a negative claim. For this example with fluid milk, the authors used “no rBST” as the negative claim.

Hypothesis Testing

H

o1: Positive attributes/benefits are more frequently mentioned in an unaided situation than negative claims. The index card method used in the quantitative part of the qualitative part of this study indicates that when considering just what was important the top attribute was the negative attribute “made without the use of toxic

persistent pesticides” (see Table 3). However, when respondents were asked to pick the three most important claims, with the highest picks being “tastes great,” “guaranteed fresh,” and “organic.” However, taste, freshness, organic, all-natural and quality all positive claims had the highest number of respondents consider them the most important had more mentions than the “made without the use of artificial hormones” attribute. Additionally, using an unaided top-of-mind process in thequantitative part, thepositive concepts were the most frequently mentioned in terms of being important to the consumer (see Table 3). The most frequently mentioned negative concept was hormone-free, but that was number seven on the list overridden by vitamin, organic, calcium, etc It appears as if based on the unaided importance in top-of-mind studies one can accept the hypothesis that positive attributes/benefits are more frequently mentioned in an unaided situation than negative claims

Ho2: Positive attributes/benefits expressed on the FOP have the greater impact on consumers’ willingness to buy. The results of the discrete choice experiment show that negative claims, in general, were much more effective than the positive attributes regarding affecting the likelihood to buy (see Table 6). Although the evidence is contradictory, one is not in the position to accept the hypothesis that positive attributes/benefits expressed on the FOP have the greater impact on consumers’ willingness to buy. Hypothesis two is rejected.

Ho3: When the same claim exists on the label in both the positive and negative wording form, the impact of the positive claim outweighs the impact of the negative on consumers’ willingness to buy The issue concerning hypothesis three is whether the most influential aspect of the attribute is the use of a negative term or the actual attribute itself. In Table 6, the same concept is expressed twice. The negative expression is “no artificial ingredients,” while the positive expression is “all-natural.” While the authors agree there may be some individual interpretation, it is generally accepted that all-natural suggests no artificial ingredients. As shown in Table 6, the negative expression is significantly more highly rated by consumers than the positive expression. One can conclude that it is the negative expression and not the benefit or attribute that has the impact on the consumer. Hypothesis three is rejected.

Ho4: Placing a negative statement on the label decreases the overall perception of the product category. One can see in Table 6, that when the negative claims dominate the positive claims when they are added to the label claims. The positive traits drop significantly in utility value in forming preference. Ironically, making the dairy more desirable by including positive claims is lost when negatives are added to the label. Hypothesis four is accepted.

Conclusions

Consumers want to identify healthy food choices and may use labels to partially achieve this (Zhang, Carlton, and Lo, 2016). Our results confirm prior research that nutrition claims can alter sales (Aschemann-Witzel and Hamm, 2010; Cao and Yan, 2016; Saldanha, 2007; Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter, 2007b). It appears that there is a paradox emanating from the results of this study. Not all label claims have the same impact on willingness to buy and for some consumers may actually have the opposite effect. The paradox is while consumers in an unaided research environment do not overwhelmingly mention negative claims, most mentioned, the positive aspects of dairy, and discrete choice experiments indicated that the negative attributes and benefits dominated significantly the positive attributes and benefits. This does contradict other findings about positive packaging traits and claims are better than negative (Mintel, February and July, 2014). It does support prior research showing that free-form labels and identical products without the labels, the free-form was more positive (Hartmann et al., 2018). It provides conflicting support that consumers perceived GMO foods as better (Loureiro and Hine, 2002). GMO was high in the discrete choice model but low in front-of-pack claim and unaided recall.

One might argue that consumers really do not care about these negative attributes and benefits, but when it is positioned on the label, it increases their awareness, and they respond more to those negative claims. However, it would be naïve to assume consumers do not find negative claims important, because we live in an age and world where labels announce both the positive and negative attributes of the products.

The issue related to how deeply or significantly consumers hold these negative claims to be important can be resolved somewhat by the willingness to pay analysis. It appears as if for rather small amounts of money, consumers are willing to shift from the rBST-free for a lower price. As would be expected, there was a portion of the consumer population that would not change under any circumstance. Most likely, these people are driving the dairy industry to make the negative claims on the label attractive to the 10 percent or so people who are truly committed to these types of foods.

However, this does not imply that dairy processors should jump on to the negative claims such as GMO-free or rBST-free or no antibiotics. It appears from the data presented that while consumers may react to negative claims, it also seems to set a negative perception of the entire category. This may be extremely important. In the process of using negative claims and attracting an audience who values those claims you may also be sensitizing others in a nondesired way. For example, when you put “no antibiotics” on chicken labels, those who value that claim may be more likely to buy that brand or product. However, you are raising the awareness level of all those who may not have originally cared or thought about this issue. If it is more profitable to sell “no antibiotics” chicken, good, but generally that is not the case.

One can use the orange juice (OJ) example. Researchers discovered that consumers wanted augmented OJ like “heart healthy” OJ. The product was put on the shelf and did not sell when priced higher than regular OJ. While consumers wanted the added value of “heart health,” they did not want to pay for it. When the OJ alternatives were all priced the same, the augmented ones sold more. Of course, the augmented cost more to make, and it was less profitable. This moved consumers from a high-profit product to a lesser profitable one.

There is also a very basic business issue to conclude from this analysis. It is quite obvious that the cost of producing GMO-free or rBST-free milk is more expensive than normally produced milk, and since category sales are declining, it would be expected that total dairy revenues would similarly be declining.

There is also an experimental conclusion. Two different levels of primary research were performed for this project. The qualitative research was numerous focus groups in different parts of the country, and the quantitative was a nationwide online survey. The results differed significantly and dramatized the need to have a thorough examination of the data from various views. This type of research is like a Rubik’s cube. Each type of research, (secondary, qualitative, and quantitative) provided a partial solution, just like getting one side of the cube, but it is not until you have completed all three types of research does the full solution reveal itself, just like the completed cube!

Future Research and Limitations

Future research should examine whether these nutritional claims would better be expressed in evaluative FOPs (Goodman et al., 2012; Graham, Heidrick, and Hodgin, 2015; Hawley et al., 2013; Hersey et al., 2013; McLean et al., 2012; Sacks et al., 2009; Smith-Edge et al., 2014; Talati et al., 2016). Manipulating processing, system 1 or 2, could influence results (Sanjari, Jahn, and Boztug, 2017). Would the healthier label influence taste (Bialkova, Sasse, and Fenko, 2016; Andre, Chandon, and Haws, 2019)?

Limitations include the respondent, halo effects, and stimuli. We cannot guarantee respondents did not bypass the screeners just to make money for survey completion (Wessling, Huber, and Netzer, 2017). Could a halo effect have occurred (Chandon and Wansink, 2007; Andrews et al., 2000; Roe, Levy, and Derby, 1999; Andrews et al., 1998; Mayer and Scammon, 1993; Williams, 2005)? Stimuli were limited to visuals and text-based. Prior research has indicated that consumers want more FOP information, and ours was limited (Edge, Toner, Kapsak, and Geiger, 2014). Finally, the results were from a controlled experiment making external validity low.

Fluid Milk Product Sales (millions pounds)

Appendix 1

In this question, you'll be asked to choose between only two labels. Suppose you are doing your regular grocery shopping in the store. Suppose you are going to buy a gallon container of 2% Reduced Fat Milk. You get to the dairy case and see there are two 2% Reduced Fat Milk products available for sale. Both products are available at the same price, have the same expiration date, the same amount of milk and the same kind of plastic container. The products are the same in all other respects except one is labeled "Our farmers pledge not to use artificial growth hormones" and the other is not.

Below there are two labels of the milk available, please select the one you would be most likely to choose assuming these were the only options available by placing a mark in the box next to the answer choice.

If you would not purchase milk (or would delay your purchase) assuming these were the only options available, check the box provided the last ("If these were the only options available, I would choose none of them")

Acknowledgements

Eli Lilly and Company provided funding for this study. They had no role in any aspect of this study. A report was provided, and there was no further interaction. The authors had no personal relationships with any corporation.

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E-Commerce Business Under Pressure To Grow

Drd. Ioan Matei PURCĂREA

Abstract

There is a real need to prevent churn in e-commerce business by better understanding its customers, and affordances of e-commerce live streaming. We are witnessing an increasing role of e-commerce platforms in facilitating sustainable consumption by bridging the existing attitude-behavior gap, being interesting to see the evolution from SHIFT to SEER. There is also a growing role of blockchain in the development of e-commerce and consumers’ willingness to adopt and use this disruptive technology, going beyond common blockchain myths. Businesses are under pressure to master e-commerce conversion rate, better understanding how blockchain is leveraged by mobile apps, and how to take advantage of blockchain in the metaverse economy.

Keywords: E-commerce business, Churn prevention, E-commerce platforms, Sustainable consumption, Blockchain, Mobile apps, Metaverse

JEL Classification: D83; L81; L86; M15; M31; O32; O33

Preventing churn in e-commerce business by better understanding its customers, and affordances of e-commerce live streaming

According to Shobana et al. (2023), in order to sustain a Business-to-Consumer (B2C) ecommerce business (as confirmed by multiple marketing studies) the greatest option is retaining existing consumers, which is nearly five times more inexpensive compared to the rising cost of acquiring new customers, also taking into account that only after a long time and many transactions e-commerce business can consider a new customer as valuable. Within the context of the increased competition (determined by competitors having advanced penetration strategies)

it is recommendable to use temporary retention measures so as to prevent churn, based on better understanding customers, by analyzing their behavior, and paying attention to potential client churn opportunities, via churn prediction being expected the likelihood of attrition.

A very interesting to study customer behavior is for instance in e-commerce live streaming. As demonstrated by (Lu et al., 2023), there is still insufficient literature on the affordances of e-commerce live streaming, understanding the affordance as defined by Volkoff and Strong (2013) based on the core principles of critical realism. Allow us to provide here some explanatory information:

- In 1966 J.J. Gibson (who developed a theory of affordances in 1977 and 1979) pledged for understanding perception in terms of perceptual systems (rather than channels of sensation), coining the term affordance by considering both the environment, and the observer who finds the information for perception primarily in this environment (Wells, 2002);

- There was a continuous debate on the ontology of affordances (Parchoma, 2014) within the context in which the research on the technological affordances was hindered by the ontological debates on affordances

Coming back to Lu et al., who explored the affordances of e-commerce live streaming (where products are endorsed by sellers based on the most suitable streamers) from affective affordances (in order to promote consumers’ goodwill toward the streamer, making them feel as in the real shopping scene by both real time guidance shopping, and fully interacting, enjoying immersive experiences) and cognitive affordances (in order to assist consumers in their purchasing decisions, improving purchases’ quality based on direct and timely personalized services), they tried to cover the still unclear connections’ formation mechanism (as social network of close and pervasive interpersonal relationship) between streamers and consumers, based on affordance theory Their research findings showed that both affective and cognitive affordances have positive impacts on buyers’ perception of a swiftly formed interpersonal relationship with sellers, these swift connections being an antecedent of consumers’ both purchase intention, and gift-giving intention.

The role of e-commerce platforms in facilitating sustainable consumption by bridging the existing attitude-behavior gap: From SHIFT to SEER

Purcarea et al. (2022) brought to attention a significant linkage between: the fact that in considering the sustainability the main consumers’ motivation (31%) is a low enough product price to have enough money to buy it (being no single sustainable consumer, according to the EY Future Consumer Index 2021 insisting on “affordability first”); despite consumers’ higher levels of purchasing decisions based on brand strength, mission, and values there is a disconnection between perception and reality caused by various aspects (according to Allison+Partners’

research study of more than 1000 technology marketing and PR decision-makers); the welldocumented discrepancy (considering the intense analyzed attitude-behavior gap) between consumers’ attitudes towards sustainable consumption and their behavior in purchasing sustainable products; sustainable consumption can be encouraged by using the so-called SHIFT framework; how sustainability has caused doubts about our consumption patterns (according to Islam, 2017).

New research by Islam et al. (2023), offered preliminary evidence with regard to how by redesigning e-commerce platforms can be facilitated sustainable consumption in context of online shopping, bridging the existing attitude-behavior gap concerning environmental sustainability. They introduced for this purpose a concept design named Sustainable E-commerce with Environmental-impact Rating (SEER) to address three key factors (inconvenience, lack of knowledge, and lack of trust) responsible for the above-mentioned gap observed in sustainable consumption literature. The SEER prototype confirmed significant ways of working with environmental impacts, and the system proposed is very useful not only to directly informing about different purchase decisions, but also to both detect, and capture ecofriendly purchases, offering policy makers the necessary basis the possibility to encourage sustainable consumption by providing additional incentives or rewards.

The role of blockchain in the development of e-commerce and consumers’ willingness to adopt and use this disruptive technology, going beyond common blockchain myths

As shown by McKinsey (2022), the secure sharing of information is enabled by the blockchain technology, the three central attributes of blockchain (it is cryptographically secure, it happens fully online, and it is a database shared across a public or private network) being considerable. Anything that has value it is possible to be exchanged based on this type of distributed database or ledger (as account book recording transactions), updates being made with the help of nodes incentivized with digital tokens or currency, and new opportunities for businesses can be created on this basis (not only by decreasing risk and reducing compliance costs, as well as by creating more cost-efficient transactions, but also by driving automated and secure contract fulfillment, and increasing network transparency).

It is worth remembering that five years ago McKinsey’s representatives (Carson et al., 2018) brought to our attention the need to pay attention to the fact that there are misconceptions about the advantages and limitations of the technology created by common blockchain myths, as shown in figure below.

Four years later, the by CB Insights acquired (in 2020) software company tracking the global blockchain economy, Blockdata (2022), underlined the increased enterprise adoption of blockchain solutions by the top 100 companies based on market cap, showing that 77 of the top 100 public companies are using blockchain technology, these companies experiencing the benefits of decentralized technologies Among companies using multiple distributed ledger technology (DLT) solutions are, for instance, Microsoft, The Home Depot, and the Ali Baba Group. And as blockchain solutions are used by enterprises to make their business operations

Figure no. 1: Five common blockchain myths create misconceptions about the advantages and limitations of the technology

Source: Carson, B., Romanelli, G., Walsh, P. and Zhumaev, A., 2018. Blockchain beyond the hype: What is the strategic business value? [pdf] McKinsey & Company, Digital McKinsey, June 2018, p. 3 (Work cited)

more efficient Blockdata compared some of the most popular blockchain solutions, as shown in figure below.

Source: Blockdata, 2022. The State of Enterprise Blockchain in 2022, General, Nov 14th, 2022 (Work cited)

According to Esfahbodi et al. (2022), there is no doubt about the importance of ecommerce in today’s world economy, a pivotal role in promoting the growth of e-commerce being played by including the advancement of the disruptive technology of blockchain. Within this general context, based on the technology acceptance (TAM) model they focused on the important factors of blockchain technology adoption in e-commerce, and investigated the intention of individual users to adopt blockchain. They took into account the limited evidence on these above-mentioned factors, trying to identify these determinants, while starting from an empirically assessment (based on a developed conceptual framework) in order to present the relationships between blockchain’s core characteristics and consumers’ adoption intention. Research findings revealed a positive effect on perceived usefulness of cost saving and traceability (as well as minor associations between data privacy security and perceived

Figure no. 2: Enterprise infrastructures compared

usefulness), and the proposed model confirmed the strong impact of the perceived usefulness on consumers’ adoption intention.

Instead of conclusions: e-commerce conversion rate, blockchain leveraged by mobile apps, and taking advantage of blockchain in the

metaverse economy

According to the UK behavioral marketing company SaleCycle (2023), an essential metric in measuring businesses’ effectiveness and success of their online activities is the socalled conversion rate, which in e-commerce business means the conversion rate of orders on a store (e-commerce conversion rate = orders / visits to the website). It is expected that a major disruptor in the coming years will be m-commerce (already accounting for 75% of online users), one-click checkout being already introduced to their sites by many retailers, and well-known social media sites already introduced shortcuts for shoppers to buy products (without having to leave the platforms).

On the other hand, as underlined by Sharma and Bhargav (2023), blockchain can be leveraged by mobile apps so as this technology to offer secure transactions, identity verification, and data integrity. And that within the context of the increasing impact of mobile apps on customer engagement and overall customer experience Of course, without forgetting other aspects such as that at Vibes (Hinman, 2023) so-called engagement gap between low-reach, high-engagement mobile app marketing, and high-reach, low-engagement email marketing

And as shown by BGC’s representatives (Lellouche Tordjman et al., 2023), in order to broaden the current metaverse e-commerce funnel (on the path to embrace the metaverse as a new end-to-end channel) companies can – by taking advantage of blockchain (or other decentralized transaction technologies) – achieve a trust revolution that both ensures the safety of metaverse transactions, and guarantees their authenticity.

References

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Islam, M.S.; Proma, A.M.; Wohn, C.; Berger, K.; Uong, S.; Kumar, V.; Korfmacher, K.S.; Hoque, E., 2023. SEER: Sustainable E-commerce with Environmental-impact Rating, Cleaner Environmental Systems, Volume 8, March 2023, 100104, pp. 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cesys.2022.100104.

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Researching the

behavioral elements of online video game players. A detailed analysis using SPSS. Part IV: Research Conclusions and Recommendations

Valentin-Marius STOICA and Tudor EDU

Abstract

It is well-known that communication was always encouraged by interactivity generating knowledge and meaning, while active participation is enabling valuable content, deeper immersion being created by better video game players’ experience Marketers are challenged to reach online video gamers by leveraging new opportunities identified on the relevant market, the rapidly increasing video game industry offering an interesting example of relationship between the sales of both hardware, and software. The very competitive and dynamic video game market is influenced by both the continuous technological advance, and the changes in trends and preferences of video game consumers, who are attracted by innovation in this video game industry which has become one of the largest entertainment industries globally. That is why a coherent analysis of the video game users’ behavior it is really useful. This paper is divided into four chapters, as follows. Part I is an introduction to the video game industry, presenting the economic power of the industry, the main factors influencing the video game consumers’ behavior, as well as particularities of the marketing strategies in the industry. Part II presents the marketing environment of one of the largest video game companies, namely Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. The main aspects analyzed are the microenvironment and the macroenvironment of marketing, each with its particularities. The SWOT analysis of the company was also presented. Part IV contains the research conclusions and recommendations for Ubisoft Entertainment SA company based on the results obtained in Part III.

Keywords: Online video game players; Users’ behavior; Video game market

JEL Classification: D83; L82; L83; M31

Chapter IV. Conclusions and recommendations

This study, although exploratory, shows that the profile of video game consumers is a complex one and a subject that needs to be analyzed in detail, especially by video game companies such as the Ubisoft Group. Taking into account the results of the analysis of the study for the Romanian respondents, it can be seen that the majority of Romanian gamers started playing video games before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, are employed full-time, are between 18 and 27 years old, are considered avid gamers, play between 3 and 4 hours per session and follow video game-related activities very often. From the point of view of preferences in terms of video game genres, it can be observed that the Romanian player prefers action / adventure games, role-playing games (RPGs), but also online games. As a device, the Romanian gamer uses the personal computer the most to play video games. The main things he likes about a game are creativity and plot, and he doesn’t take into account the popularity of the game or the company that makes the game. The Romanian player rarely buys video games and makes transactions in video games, when they choose to do so, they prefer to pay between 5 and 25 euros for a game. When it comes to in-game micro-transactions, he prefers to spend between 5 and 15 euros per month.

In the paper, various correlations between variables were analyzed to see if there are significant relationships between variables and their outcomes. These correlations were analyzed only for Romanian respondents. The main variable that was analyzed is the frequency with which video games are purchased and video game transactions are made. From the results of the

applied correlation tests, this variable has statistical correlations with other variables in the research, namely the frequency of watching video game activities, the distribution of gamer types, the duration of video game use per session. From the point of view of players of other nationalities, the following details about the consumer profile can be observed: Most international users started playing video games before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, are full-time employees or students, are between the ages of 18-27 years old, consider themselves expert or avid gamers, play between 1 and 2 hours per session, and watch video game-related activities very often. Analyzing the preferred game genres, the international gamer prefers action or adventure games, followed by role-playing games and online games. The preferred device to play on is the personal computer, however, mobile phones are also quite popular among international players. The main important aspects for international players are achievements and plot and story. The least important are the popularity of the game and the company that created the game but also the social aspect. They rarely buy video games or trade in video games, but when they do, international players prefer to spend between 16 and 25 euros per game. For the budget allocated monthly on micro-transactions, they are willing to pay between 5 and 15.

Comparing the profile of Romanian consumers with that of consumers of other nationalities who participated in the research, it can be seen that the profiles are similar in most aspects analyzed. The only major difference between the two profiles is in the in-game aspect preferences. Instead, the number of similarities is greater. The main similarities are found among age, occupation, preferences of video game genres, devices used for video games, frequency of purchase, frequency of following activities related to video games, but also among the budget willing to pay for micro-transactions. At the same time, the majority of respondents in both consumer groups started playing video games before the COVID-19 pandemic began and restrictions were imposed. This similarity is very beneficial for video game companies that want to operate in the Romanian video game market, as they can use marketing strategies similar to

Graph 4.1. Chart with answers to questions related to the monthly allocated budget for video games.

those used internationally. A trend that can be seen from the study results is the low frequency of purchasing video games.

This frequency is mainly caused by piracy, one of the biggest problems for the video game industry. For this reason, video game companies must create games that are unique and catch the attention of players. At the same time, online games that are free but contain microtransactions are becoming more and more popular. By eliminating direct costs, the game becomes accessible to many more players, however, a marketing plan is necessary to make the game known to as many players as possible. Based on the results of this research, I propose the following four recommendations for the Ubisoft group in order to increase the company’s market share. First of all, creating video games that contain micro-transactions is a good starting point to increase the availability of the game to more and more people and reduce the use of piracy.

An increasingly popular method to increase awareness of a game is to create video and audio materials that quickly capture and retain players’ attention. Such materials often take the form of animations that outline the game’s story and plot, but music videos are also increasingly used. Another means that Ubisoft can use is influencer marketing. More and more people access video streaming platforms dedicated to video games more and more often, thus, by partnering with various well-known personalities on these platforms, Ubisoft can promote its products effectively, while also increasing trust in the company and brands.

And last but not least, the interactions between the company and the players are also very important. By organizing events, contests, tournaments, live shows and participating in conventions, Ubisoft can create unforgettable interactions for players, making it much easier for them to become brand ambassadors.

I believe that this research and its results can be an important starting point for the Ubisoft company, as the analysis of consumer behavior and preferences becomes a vital factor for the positive evolution of the company and for increasing its market share.

Graph 4.2. Chart with answers to questions related to the monthly allocated budget for video games.

SANABUNA 2023 – Professors Eliot SOREL and Costel NEGRICEA. The Exploration of a Range of New Projects and Innovative Ideas at Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C. 24 Years from the “Opening the Gates to Romania” project at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., in 1999

RAU Rector URA Costel NEGRICEA was very honored to have been given an invitation by the distinguished Professor Eliot SOREL at Cosmos Club, Washington, D.C., June 2023, the reputed private social club, incorporated in Washington, D.C. in 1878 by men distinguished in science, literature and the arts.

The discussions allowed the exploration of a range of new projects and innovative ideas with the distinguished Professor Eliot Sorel generously sharing his vast expertise. The significant meeting offered valuable perspectives for the continuation of the collaboration, teamwork and intelligence enabling to adapt perspectives and consistently achieve high standards.

On January 14, 2022 RAU Rector Costel NEGRICEA has received a “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest (UMF) distinction, the distinguished UMF Rector Viorel JINGA expressing on this occasion best birthday wishes to RAU Rector Costel NEGRICEA

(https://www.crd-aida.ro/2022/01/prof-dr-costel-negricea-rector-of-the-romanian-americanuniversity-has-received-a-carol-davila-u-m-f-bucharest-distinction/ ).

The “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest (UMF) honored Professor Eliot SOREL with Doctor Honoris Causa in October 2009 Eliot SOREL MD is an innovative

global health leader, health systems performance expert, practicing physician, and Clinical Professor of Global Health, Health Policy & Management and of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the George Washington University. Dr. Sorel has served as a subject matter expert on World Health Organization (WHO), Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/WHO), U.S. National Institute of Health (NIH Fogarty International Center), National Institute of Mental Health, (NIMH), World Bank Group (WBG), the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), and the Organization for Economic Cooperation & Development (OECD) projects. He is founding editor in chief of the Global Mental Health and Psychiatry Review and a cofounder of the Africa Global Mental Health Institute.

On June 05, 2014, the Senate Hall of University Politehnica of Bucharest hosted the ceremony dedicated to granting the title of “Doctor Honoris Causa” of University Politehnica of Bucharest (UPB) to the honorable Professor Eliot SOREL from George Washington University, USA (see the last picture below). The acceptance speech “Lectio Prima” given by Professor Eliot SOREL stimulated the audience reflection, thanks to Professor’s powerful arguments concerning the central place occupied by the School within the society, and his pledge with intellectual vigor for: Educate to Innovate, Innovate to Educate – 21st Century Trans-Disciplinary Challenges and Opportunities; Systemic Trans-Disciplinary Innovation Opportunities; New Education Models –New Economic Models; Excellence in STEM; Learning by Doing; Academic and business collaboration; opening up new major opportunities for collaboration among students, scholars, policymakers and professionals across disciplines and continents; to connect action to thought and implementation to formulation, while right thinking and learning about the actual serious World matters.

Professor Eliot SOREL, well-known as a catalyzer in promoting Romania’s culture in the United States of America (the Romanian monasteries, food, crafts, music and dance), initiated and led the so-called “Opening the Gates to Romania” project at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., in 1999. On that occasion, a wooden Maramures church was also built piece by piece on the National Mall in the center of Washington as part of the year 1999’s Festival. The world’s largest museum and research complex, the Smithsonian (founded in 1846), is a true steward and ambassador of cultural connections, its generous work wisely promoting understanding of world cultures (please see the first picture below) It is also well-known (https://www.sanabuna.ro/dr-eliot-sorel-received-the-2021-romanians-of-washington-dccommunity-award/ ) that on 3rd October 2008, at the Romanian Academy, the Aspen Institute Romania – Mr. Mircea GEOANA, the President of the Aspen Institute Romania, became NATO Deputy Secretary General in October 2019, after a distinguished domestic and international career – organized the Book Launch: “The Marshall Plan: Lessons Learned for the 21st Century” edited by Eliot SOREL and Pier Carlo PADOAN and published at OECD (please see the second picture below).

Professor Eliot SOREL just informed us that the work of Romanian potters (artisans in Horezu) was highlighted in an article (entitled “When Traditions Meet Trends”) that appeared in the prestigious New York Times on Sunday, June 4, 2o23.

Congratulatory letter from Professor Peter Štarchoň on the occasion of the 30th Romanian-American University Anniversary

‘Marketing Science and Inspirations’: Overcoming branding challenges, and Successful digital marketing campaigns

Dr. Dan SMEDESCU

Associate Editor of the “Holistic Marketing Management” Journal

Member of the scientific association Romanian Distribution Committee

JEL Classification: Y30

The “Marketing Science and Inspirations” Journal is continuing to prove its valued vocation of giving its savvy, affluent and implied readers a holistic perspective on modern marketing issues. This well-known brand of the Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia, is always ready to generate awareness and to build lasting connections with its target audience, improving customer experience by identifying new ways to overcome marketing challenges. That is why we are witnessing our partners’ hard and smart work to provide to both current and new readers truly relevant and useful content on current business situations and key challenges faced by agile marketers, making marketing perspective happen.

We were happy to receive by post the new Issue 1, Volume XVIII, 2023, of our Partner Journal “Marketing Science and Inspirations” , Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia

The new challenging issue of this valuable academic journal (addressing to academics and practitioners) covered again, a wide range of interesting topics in the marketing research field, such as:

• “Process of developing the international city branding strategy: Case study city of Kharkiv. ” Based on the world practice of forming well-known city brands the author Nataliia Parkhomenko determined the sequence of stages for the development of Kharkiv’s international branding strategy, obtaining the approbation of this procedure for one of the largest cities in Ukraine. Brand evaluation took into account a mix of experiments and interviews made it possible to evaluate the brand of the city of Kharkiv. There were revealed the strengths and weaknesses of the development of this city brand, as well as the prospects for brand positioning, based on the SWOT analysis Research findings allowed to make practical recommendations to improve the strategy for the development of international branding of the city based on the use of a spectrum of offline and online branding tools

• “Short-term and seasonal time series models for online marketing campaigns ”

The authors Mária Bohdalová and Miriama Křížková focused on demonstrating how to use behavioral modelling of potential customers in online marketing campaigns, starting from

the fact that the mathematical models have become the main tools for marketing decisionmaking, and predictions of future traffic for online marketing campaigns can be based on data analysis and market response models. They evaluated the TBATS and Prophet models – in addition to the basic ARMA model for short-term website traffic forecasting – both models comprehensively capturing seasonal and holiday fluctuations. Consequently, they showed how time series modelling can be incorporated into the evaluation of online marketing campaign traffic forecasts for marketing agency clients.

• “A study of the consumer behavior as the key to expanding the museum audience. ”

In order to build an effective marketing strategy that will help to expand the museum audience, the author Firuz Kurbanov focused on the analysis of various factors impacting museum visitors’ consumer behavior, proposing to divide them into two main categories, sociodemographic factors and factors of value orientations that form personal motives. A survey using questionnaire method was conducted in order to identify the importance of each category in the decision-making process. Research findings showed the connection between frequency of the museum visits and family history of going to museums, as well as the fact that visitors are coming to the museum in order to satisfy some of their personal motives. He identified the importance of value orientations forming personal motives, and consequently proposed to take it into consideration when building a viable museums’ marketing strategy

• “Application of marketing principles for HEIs: A perspective of Pakistani universities. ” The authors Ayesha Zafar, Musa Mazhar and Yahya Sultan focused on the application of marketing principles for higher education institutions (HEIs) in Pakistani universities. They started from a review of the current marketing practices in the higher education sector and analyzes the challenges faced by HEIs in attracting and retaining students. They have chosen a research methodology including a mix of qualitative and quantitative data collection techniques (such as surveys and interviews with stakeholders). Research findings allowed to make significant marketing recommendations (including segmentation of target audiences, identification of unique selling propositions, development of communication channels, and implementation and evaluation of the marketing plan), revealing that in order to increase both visibility and brand awareness of HEIs it is important to use digital marketing tools (such as search engine optimization and social media marketing). With regard to the need of ensuring the successful execution of the marketing plan they recommended the creation of a specialized marketing team (providing training to both staff and faculty members), and regularly monitoring and evaluating the efficacy of the marketing efforts.

The new issue of the “Marketing Science and Inspirations” Journal also included other sections such as:

▪ “Marketing Briefs” : Pavel Štrach

“Screenagers or Generation Alpha: How do the youngest consumers shape the future of marketing?”;

▪ “REVIEW”, Magdaléna Samuhelová, “Dutton, Edward a Woodley of Menie, Michael A.: With reason at the ends (Why do we become less intelligent and what it means for the future).” ;

▪ “DICTIONARY OF USEFUL MARKETING TERMS” , Dagmar Weberová.

It is well-known that on the occasion of celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Romanian-American University (RAU), “Holistic Marketing Management” Journal (HMM) was awarding an HMM Diploma of Special Merit to Professor Peter Štarchoň, for outstanding contribution in the field of Holistic Marketing and Talent Management And we always remember with pleasure that the Editor-in-Chief of the “Marketing Science and Inspirations” Journal – Professor Peter Štarchoň, Faculty of Management, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia – is also a Member of the Editorial Board of both the “Holistic Marketing Management” Journal, and of the “Romanian Distribution Committee Magazine”.

It is again our honor and pleasure to remember the significant meeting in Koln, Germany, in 2011, on the occasion of the working meeting of the European Retail Academy (ERA) We will all miss (https://www.crd-aida.ro/2023/06/the-distinguished-professor-bernd-hallier-passedaway/) our Great Friend Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier

Honoured to receive an invitation, sent by Her Excellency Ambassador Dao Vibulpanich, Embassy of the Kingdom of Thailand in Romania, to attend the the official opening ceremony of Thai Festival 2023 in Bucharest, the Romanian-American University was represented on May 20, 2023 at this significant event that took place at “Dimitrie Gusti” National Village Museum.

The official opening ceremony of Thai Festival 2023 in Bucharest was attended by His Excellency Ambassador Luca Niculescu, State Secretary/National Coordinator for Romania’s OECD Accession Process, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania.

The event enjoyed traditional artistic performances specific to a cultural universe recognized on a global scale, confirming the connection of aesthetic value with beauty, grace and harmony.

Romanian-American University represented at the official opening ceremony of Thai Festival 2023 in Bucharest at “Dimitrie Gusti” National Village Museum