Holistic Marketing Management, Volume 14, Issue 1, Year 2024

Editorial Board of “Holistic Marketing Management”

(A refereed journal published four times annually by the School of Management-Marketing of the Romanian-American University)

Editor-in-Chief

Theodor Valentin PURCĂREA

Bernd HALLIER

John SAEE

John L. STANTON

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

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

Andrew KILNER

Dana ZADRAZILOVA

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

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

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

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)

Costel NEGRICEA Romanian-American University

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 Romanian-American University

Ovidiu FOLCUȚ Romanian-American University

Doinița CIOCÎRLAN Romanian-American University

Tudor EDU Romanian-American University

Alexandru IONESCU Romanian-American University

Andreea Elisabeta BUDACIA Romanian-American University

Marius Dan DALOTĂ Romanian-American University

Mihai PAPUC Romanian-American University

Gheorghe ILIESCU Romanian-American University

Oana PREDA Romanian-American University

Olga POTECEA Romanian-American University

Nicoleta DUMITRU Romanian-American University

Monica Paula RAȚIU Romanian-American University

Alexandra PERJU-MITRAN Romanian-American University

Associate Editors

Dr. Dan SMEDESCU

Dr. Irina PURCĂREA

Art Designer Directors

Alexandru BEJAN

Dr. Ioan Matei PURCĂREA

“Holistic Marketing Management”

(A refereed journal published four times annually by the School of Management-Marketing of the Romanian-American University) Volume 14, Issue 1, Year 2024

Contents

Theodor PURCĂREA - At the Confluence of Disruptive Technologies and Leadership by Collaboration and Correct Consensus, Combining ICT/AI with Human Intelligence/Values....................................................................4

Dominic Elena MAGNO - The Influence of Social Media on Contemporary Consumer and Tudor EDU Behavior: Part III, Research Findings and Discussion.....................9

Ioan Matei PURCĂREA - Challenges for Modern Marketing and E-Commerce Merchandising..................................................................................17

Dan SMEDESCU - ‘Marketing Science and Inspirations’: Green Marketing, Neuromarketing, and Consumer Behavior..............................................................................24

The responsibility for the contents of the scientific and the authenticity of the published materials and opinions expressed rests with the author.

In our last HMM issue we brought to our skilled readers’ attention valuable recommendations for marketers, such as to use multiple metrics in significant programs’ performance measurement when trying to keep in equilibrium several competing performance dimensions, and rebuild their organizations for AI, by discovering their best way to use AI, and doing a better customer-centric work based on a digital and AI-driven transformation strategy put into practice (Purcarea, 2023). According to McKinsey & Company (2023), a business transformation has as its high-level orchestrator a Chief Transformation Officer (CTO, who can be a Responder, a Revitalizer or a Reinventor, but not only these types) making decisions (about priorities, investments, talent, and operations) based on the mandate (and authority) received from the CEO. While in the opinion of Professor Victor Greu (2023): “… now, any improvement/ solution should include a more comprehensive/holistic approach, which inherently will consider in model/equation more complicate and changing “actors” / factors, but unfortunately more of them contain more uncertainty – a crucial feature of actuality and future… Analyzing and eventually mitigating (part of) uncertainty, including ICT advances help, where AI has an increasing role, it is also approached by Eric Heim (in ‘Knowing When You Don’t Know: Engineering AI Systems in an Uncertain World’, 2021), where the known problems of uncertainty are transferred at the level of AI/ML, but, for facing ML concrete limitations, a principle solution for the AI/ML model confidence improvement is to add reference data in order

to calibrate the uncertainty, as, in a deeper domain/approach (a deeper learning), we have to choose/identify those added reference data, among the alternate or closed probabilities of events (contingencies). Finally, finding the most probable scenarios/events, in every ICT/AI/ML application case or system, is not only a complex problem of modelling, but, since the human nature and human decisions are largely implied, we consider that harmonizing and synchronizing all relevant data/actions is paramount for the best results at Earth scale and we have to notice the importance of every little step on such long and winding road, which could be reached by timely analyses and combining ICT/AI with human intelligence/values” .

Recently, BCG experts (Seppä et al., 2024) highlighted the current companies’ always active transformation mode to continue reinvention, boards’ role within today’s difficult business environment (considering various factors such as cost pressure, high interest rates, geopolitical disruptions, new technology, evolving customer preferences etc.) being to undertake adequate measures to ensure companies’ needed competitive position by more frequently, actively, and detailed engagement with the management team (see figure below). On the other hand, let’s remember that according to McKinsey’s experts (Boudet, et al., 2023), resilient marketers’ role is seen as essential during uncertain times, by diagnosing, setting a goal, crafting a plan, and unifying the C-suite, acting decisively on that basis, a key to companies’ long-term growth being considered to invest in marketing. McKinsey’s research also demonstrated that in order to capture the incremental sales potential of marketing-led growth (Brodherson et al., 2023), marketing can be repositioned at the core of organizations’ growth engine, the conviction in modern marketing being built by CEOs and CMOs working jointly, and the impact of a better marketing measurement framework for growth being ensured by CEOs, CFOs and CMOs working together.

Source: Seppä, T., Klemmer, D.C., Ramachandran, R. and Abreu, J., 2024. Boards Can Make or Break a Transformation, Boston Consulting Group, February 20, 2024, p. 3 (Work cited)

Figure no. 1: Boards have critical responsibilities during all phases of transformation

Revisiting their globally embraced book “CEO Excellence” (Publisher: Scribner, March 15, 2022), Dewar, Keller and Malhotra (2024), remembered the six roles of a CEO (set the direction, align your organization on that direction, mobilize your leaders to deliver on that direction, work with your board, connect with a group of stakeholders, manage your personal effectiveness), widely comprehended by starting from seeing concrete patterns, identifying the role of a courageous and daring mindset in separating the best from the rest, leading with rigor and discipline by collaboration and consensus, considering dynamics, the needed help by the board to help their business, and stakeholders’ motivations, being accountable and adding good value in a volatile world, factoring differences in certain countries. It is significant that the above-mentioned tree authors were invited to be guest lecturers at the reputed Wharton, Stanford, Harvard, and INSEAD business schools.

It is interesting to note that in the same period of time we received an e-mail through LinkedIn from a LinkedIn ‘Top Voice’ & influencer Customer Experience & Marketing, Colin Shaw (2024), regarding a challenging article entitled “Overcoming Gridlock in decision making: Unraveling the Paradox of False Consensus”. He concluded his remarks by saying as follows: “The Abilene Paradox often happens because everyone is going along to get along . So, to avoid finding oneself on the road to Abilene at work, leadership needs to get comfortable with not knowing what to do at all times. Also, learning to create an environment where the team can discuss solutions together rather than mindlessly following the leader is crucial. Finally, leadership must draw out the input of all the team members, not just the loudest voices in the room”. And as John F. Kennedy said: “Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other”.

Coming back to BCG experts (MacDonald et al., 2024), it is worth mentioning the converging technology trends (Emotional intelligence – EQ-X / Emotional quotient – EQ; Agentto-Agent CX; Generative user interface – GenUI; XR+AI; Screenless CX) recently identified by them and which are ready to move so as to transform CX, consequently, in order to build their companies’ competitive advantage, leaders being recommended to consider some top priorities (think big, start building, embrace the unknown, be mindful, and follow the frictions).

Allow us to end by making reference to some reflections recently expressed by the global thought leader Hamilton Mann (2024), in the European Business Review, on the concept of artificial integrity (AI future benefitting of a critical framework proposed by this new introduced concept): “In this age of swift technological advancement, the philosophy of artificial integrity provides a guiding light, ensuring that our navigation through the AI-powered matrix of the world not only celebrates the synergy of human and machine but also protects the human ethos at the heart of true innovation. In introducing artificial integrity to the discourse, we set out to explore the potential transformation of tasks, jobs, and the collective workforce across industries

and, importantly, how the confluence of AI and human destiny can be guided with vision, accountability, and a deep-seated dedication to the values that are quintessentially human”.

So, let us think carefully ahead, considering the above-mentioned valuable ideas, continuing to develop critical thinking and making better judgements based on evidence and reasoning!

Theodor Valentin Purcărea

Editor-in-Chief

References

Boudet, J., Brodherson, M., Robinson, K. and Stein, E., 2023. Beyond belt-tightening: How marketing can drive resiliency during uncertain times, McKinsey & Company, June 26, 2023, pp. 1-9. Available at: <https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/ourinsights/beyond-belt-tightening-how-marketing-can-drive-resiliency-during-uncertain-times?>

[Accessed 29 June 2023].

Brodherson, M., Ellinas, J., See, E. and Tas, R., 2023. The power of partnership: How the CEO–CMO relationship can drive outsize growth, McKinsey & Company, October 26, 2023, pp. 1-14. Available at: <https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/ourinsights/the-power-of-partnership-how-the-ceo-cmo-relationship-can-drive-outsize-growth>

[Accessed 31 October 2023].

Dewar, C., Keller, S. and Malhotra, V., 2024. The CEO’s secret to successful leadership: CEO Excellence revisited, McKinsey & Company, Interview conducted by Raju Narisetti, the leader of McKinsey Global Publishing, March 15, 2024, pp. 1-21. Available at: <https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/our-insights/the-power-ofpartnership-how-the-ceo-cmo-relationship-can-drive-outsize-growth> [Accessed 15 March 2024].

Greu, V., 2023. Using information and communication technology advances to leverage the search of the World new balance with less resources -Part 4-, Romanian Distribution Committee Magazine, vol. 14(4), pp. 14-26, December.

MacDonald, D., Gerrard, P., Astorino, C., Hess, J., Rushworth, A. and Peterson, M., 2024. Converging Forces: The Next Frontier in Experience Design, BCG X, February 2024, pp. 1-8. Available at: <https://www.bcg.com/publications/2024/next-frontier-in-customer-experiencedesign?> [Accessed 2 March 2024].

Mann, H., 2024. Introducing the Concept of Artificial Integrity: The Path for the Future of AI, European Business Review, January 26, 2024. Available at:

<https://www.europeanbusinessreview.com/introducing-the-concept-of-artificial-integrity-thepath-for-the-future-of-ai/> [Accessed 13 March 2024].

McKinsey & Company, 2023. What does a chief transformation officer do? McKinsey Explainers, December 4, 2023, pp. 1-8. Available at: < https://www.mckinsey.com/featuredinsights/mckinsey-explainers/what-does-a-chief-transformation-officer-do> [Accessed 10 March 2024].

Purcarea, T., 2023. Embracing AI-Driven Transformation as a Comprehensive Mindset, Better Serving Customers, Holistic Marketing Management, vol. 13(4), pp. 04-08, December.

Shaw, C., 2024. Overcoming Gridlock in decision making: Unraveling the Paradox of False Consensus, LinkedIn Newsletter, March 12, 2024, 2:17 PM. Available at:

<https://www.linkedin.com/comm/pulse/overcoming-gridlock-decision-making-unravelingparadox-colin-shaw-xrpne?> [Accessed 12 March 2024].

Seppä, T., Klemmer, D.C., Ramachandran, R. and Abreu, J., 2024. Boards Can Make or Break a Transformation, Boston Consulting Group, February 20, 2024, pp. 1-8. Available at: <https://mkt-bcg-com-public-pdfs.s3.amazonaws.com/prod/boards-can-make-or-breaktransformation.pdf> [Accessed 2 March 2024].

The influence of social media on contemporary consumer behavior: Part III, Research Findings and Discussion

Dominic Elena MAGNO and Tudor EDU

Abstract

The significance of social media in today’s world cannot be understated. It has significantly altered how we connect, communicate, and obtain information. Regardless of distance, online communication has made it simpler for people to stay in touch with friends and family. Today's society is heavily reliant on social media, with billions of users regularly using sites like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Customers are once again in the forefront in the business world thanks to the widespread usage of social media, which also provides marketers with a brand-new set of tools for connecting with customers and inventively integrating them into businesses. In essence, marketers need to be aware of the impact social media has had on customers' buying behavior. Understanding how social media affects consumer behavior can offer useful insights on consumer tastes, inclinations, and decision-making processes, which can guide marketing initiatives and promote company expansion. Businesses can more effectively communicate with customers, better focus their marketing campaigns, and keep on top of consumer trends by researching the effects of social media. Additionally, companies that comprehend how social media affects consumer behavior are at a competitive edge over rivals. Overall, social media has both positive and negative consequences on society, but it has unquestionably altered how we connect and communicate with one another, and it is sure to continue to develop and have potentially interesting implications on our daily lives. Recognizing that consumer behavior is a fairly comprehensive and broad topic, it would be difficult to gather, examine, and draw all relevant data and findings into single research; consequently, the research has concentrated on how decisions are made as it applies to social media marketing. The study’s goal is to identify the causes, timing, and ways in which social media’s influence on consumer decision-making. Additionally, possibly with this specific perspective, the research can help identify the chances and problems businesses are confronting with this impact on customers’ decision-making in order to capture and embrace the opportunities in the new marketing era. Our study used two research questions within this context: 1. How do consumers receive, interpret, and choose the information before making a decision? 2. How social media today affects on consumer behavior? This paper is divided into four chapters, as follows. Part I contains Introduction and Chapter II, the relevant literature review with regard to the consumer decision making process, social media, social media and consumer behavior, and figures about social media. Part II presents the research methodology (qualitative research; research variables connected to the discussion topics). Part III contains research findings and discussion, and Part IV presents the research conclusions.

Keywords: Social media; Consumer behavior; New marketing era

JEL Classification: D10; D80; L81; L82; M31

Chapter IV: RESEARCH FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

This part presents the results of the 20 in-depth interviews that were performed in order to lay the groundwork for a discussion with the already-available secondary data.

The inductive study based on the researcher's original research is included in the section below that is primarily based on qualitative observations. In this section, 10 hypotheses are validated or rejected based on the original study.

4.1 Hypothesis 1

Question 1. How often do you use social media platforms?

Mostly frequent answers:

Everyday

The most common response from the respondents, every day, gave the researcher a clearer understanding of the important role that social media plays in our daily lives.

4.2 Hypothesis 2

Question 2. What social media platforms do you use the most?

Mostly frequent answers:

Instagram

Facebook WhatsApp

Tik Tok

The top three social media platforms worldwide at the start of January 2023 are Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Tik Tok, as also mentioned in section VII of table 2. The majority of people worldwide do utilize these social networks, according to respondents.

4.3 Hypothesis 3

Question 3. How do you feel when you use social media?

Mostly frequent answers:

Connected with other people

Entertained, great

Based on findings, respondents feel “connected with other people” while using social media. This demonstrates to the person conducting the study how profoundly social media use has changed the ways in which individuals communicate, interact, and gather information. Consumers are once again at the center of the enterprise world because to the growing use of social media. Marketers may now communicate with clients and inventively integrate them into their businesses thanks to a new set of technologies at their disposal.

4.4 Hypothesis 4

Question 4. What kind of content do you engage with the most on social media?

Mostly frequent answers:

Video reviews

Fashion

Travel Based on findings, most of the respondents spend time on social media watching videos reviews about products. “The perceived information quality and persuasiveness of online product reviews, as well as the perceived amount of feedback, are discovered to have a significant positive impact on consumers' purchasing behavior”. These evaluations provide consumers with a resource for researching and comparing products and services as well as a tool to base decisions on the opinions and experiences of others. Reviews created by actual customers are generally more authentic and impartial than those produced by paid marketing.

4.5 Hypothesis 5

Question 5. Have you ever purchased a product or service based on an advertisement you saw on social media?

Mostly frequent answers:

Yes

According to the results, the majority of respondents who were asked if they had ever bought something after seeing an advertisement for it on social media said yes. This demonstrates how social media advertising can be a potent tool for businesses to utilize.

4.6 Hypothesis 6

Question 6. How do you feel about targeted advertising on social media?

Mostly frequent answers:

Based on findings, most of the respondents believe that targeted advertising is a useful tool on social media. Instead, the other part of the respondents answered saying that they perceive targeted advertising as an “aggressive” way of promoting on social media. If in finding conclusions in chapter 5.1 consumers feel comfortable revealing their information on social media websites, in this study a quarter of the respondents don’t feel comfortable with this way of advertising.

4.7 Hypothesis 7

Question 7. Do you feel like social media has changed the way you make purchase decisions?

Mostly frequent answer:

Yes

According to the results, the majority of respondents who were asked if social media had impacted the way they made judgments about purchases said yes. The researcher can comprehend that social media is having an impact on how consumers make decisions.

4.8 Hypothesis 8

Question 8. How do you feel about influencer marketing on social media?

Mostly frequent answers:

Useful

Based on the findings of the study, the respondents believe influencer marketing to be a beneficial social media strategy. Their responses confirm the main study’s hypothesis that social distance limits are the reason why customers choose to spend greater amounts of time engaging with social networking platforms and consuming more material from influencers. This is indicated in chapter 3.4.

4.9 Hypothesis 9

Question 9. Have you ever unfollowed or stopped following a brand on social media?

Mostly frequent answer:

Yes

Based on the results, the majority of the respondents indicated yes. To help readers understand the motivation behind this reaction, the researcher questioned respondents why they would

unfollow a brand on social media. Based on research, several insights and findings were obtained. A common reason for unfollowing or stopping following a brand on social media was the perception of excessive promotional content. Interviewees expressed a preference for brands that strike a balance between promotional messages and content that provides value, such as educational or entertaining posts. This suggests that brands need to adopt a more subtle and strategic approach to promotional content to retain their followers. Further many interviewees reported that they unfollowed or stopped following a brand on social media due to dissatisfaction with the content being posted, as feeling like the brand didn't resonate with their own way of being. It is obvious how each customer's own personality and beliefs influence whether or not they choose to follow a brand on social media. This information can help brands better understand consumer preferences, refine their social media strategies, and cultivate meaningful and lasting relationships with their followers.

4.10 Hypothesis 10

Question 10. How do you think social media affects your overall perception of brands and products?

Mostly frequent answers:

Buy more products based on reviews

Easily influenced by reviews/influencers

Social pressure

According to research, most respondents are making more purchases as a result of social media. Another group of respondents believes they are readily persuaded to purchase a product after reading a review or seeing an influencer advertise it. Not to mention, some of the responders had to deal with the social pressure brought on by the widespread usage of social media in modern society. “In today’s world, people buy things in order to appear “liked” .

The results of this qualitative research study are consistent with earlier studies in the subject, highlighting how social media has a significant impact on consumer behavior. For instance, according to research by D. Lakshmanan and Dr. S. Rabiyathul Basariya (2017) on the effectiveness of social media platform advertising, the caliber of the messages or contents, the company's involvement, and its connections to other marketing platforms all significantly affect how effective social media marketing is. Similarly, the qualitative study found that most respondents who were questioned about whether they had ever purchased something after seeing an advertisement for it on social media replied yes. This exemplifies how effective a tool social media advertising can be for businesses.

In addition, the qualitative study supports research by Mass Relevance, a business that provides clients with a social media curation platform, which found that 64% of the consumers

interviewed had already made purchases based on social media presence and reviews and that 59% of consumers are more likely to trust a brand that is active on social media. The majority of respondents in the qualitative survey routinely spend time on social media watching product review videos. These reviews give customers a resource for learning about and comparing goods and services, as well as a way to make decisions based on the experiences and opinions of others. Reviews written by genuine customers are typically more trustworthy and objective than reviews provided by paid marketing.

The findings, however, also go against several of the accepted theories. The qualitative study found that consumers believe they are easily persuaded to buy a product after reading a review or seeing an influencer advertise it, which is in contrast to the claims made by Loredana Di Pietro and Eleonora Pantano (2012) who argued that using social networks as a tool to support a purchasing decision is heavily influenced by enjoyment. Not to add, some of the respondents had to deal with the peer pressure that resulted from social media’ pervasive use in contemporary society. This difference highlights the need for additional research into the contextual elements that influence how purchasing decisions on social media affects consumer behavior.

In conclusion the research additionally found that social media has a big impact on customer attitudes and views. Participants stated that they have developed aspirational tastes and wants as a result of the carefully curated and frequently idealized depictions of lifestyles and goods on social media platforms. As a result, consumer expectations have changed, and people now look for goods and experiences that reflect the trends and principles presented on social media. This finding highlights the transformative power of social media in influencing consumer attitudes and shaping their perception of what is desirable and appealing.

The study also clarified how social media helps customers feel more connected to one another. Through social media platforms, participants showed a desire to interact with brands and other customers, resulting in the creation of online communities. This sense of belonging and the desire of recognition from society through online networks have a considerable impact on consumer behavior. It stresses the influence of social networking sites on decision-making processes and underscores the value of social approval and acknowledgment in influencing consumer choices.

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Challenges for Modern Marketing and E-Commerce Merchandising

Dr. Ioan Matei PURCĂREA

Abstract

There is a real challenge today for CMOs to harmonize customers’ needs with their business strategy, and an imperative for CEOs to recognize the priority of marketing, becoming more discerning on the path to driving revenue growth. It is necessary to reflect on roles’ redefinition of marketing and e-commerce within the technological shift for both marketers and merchandisers, improving omnichannel marketing automation and omnichannel fulfillment accordingly. It is also important to consider shoppers’ enablement by the evolving merchandising storytelling, and their conversion based on personalized product merchandising strategies. There is no doubt about the imperative for e-commerce merchandising to strategically approach the rising shoppers’ expectations.

Keywords: Marketing Capabilities, New Technologies, E-Commerce Merchandising, Shoppers’

Conversion

JEL Classification: D83; L81; L86;

CMOs’ challenge to harmonize customers’ needs with their business strategy, and CEOs’ imperative to recognize the priority of marketing, becoming more discerning on the path to driving revenue growth

In our last HMM issue we underlined the increase in marketing focus on the quality of being practical, while holistically approaching the buying experience, including by considering

M15; M31; O32; O33

AI impact on marketing transformation and the rising role of e-commerce personalization and digital merchandising strategy (Purcarea, 2023). According to Tas, Fusaro and Rahilly (2024), now it’s the real time to reduce the strategic disconnect between CEOs and CMOs, between data analytics and business impact (valorizing customer insights in demand creation and capture) by ensuring marketing placement at their growth strategies’ center, better understanding modern marketing capabilities’ levers (seeing CMO as both chief customer advocate, and growth unifier).

In order to ensure marketing-led growth (Gartner, 2024), CMOs are struggling to better respond to the current economic uncertainty, proving marketing’s value (by ensuring cost optimization on marketing spend), evaluating budget versions across multiple KPIs (by increasing marketing efficiencies), and establishing marketing investment triggers (by achieving marketing-led innovation). As revealed by Gartner, in approaching marketing investments’ delivery CMOs should not rely on ROI alone, but also on valorizing the return on objectives (calculating market share and consumer sentiment-type metrics), making difference between beliefs and objective facts, thinking long term, reprioritizing (including by experimentation based on new skills), reinforcing triggers (such as: loss of market share, declines in new customer value, increased acquisition costs, erosion of conversion rates etc.).

According to Boston Consulting Group (BCG, the pioneer in business strategy), marketing organizations’ rethinking and redesigning is a must, this transformational approach being guided by clear principles (structure driven by strategy; strong match for in-house capabilities and external support; finding the right level of agile; giving special importance to both training, and development; progress monitoring, and adjusting how much you need to do it), and driving growth being based on choosing marketing capabilities (a core marketing capability being, for instance, customer insights), as shown in figure below (Agrawal et al., 2024).

Source: Agrawal, R., Senzer, S., Simon, J., He, S. and Trout, L., 2024. How CMOs Can Lead Transformations in an Era of Change, BCG, January 10, 2024, p. 5 (Work cited)

Figure no. 1: Choosing marketing capabilities to drive growth

On the other hand, Gartner (Schell, 2024) brought to marketers’ attention how marketing function’s efficiency and creativity is continuously reshaped by the artificial intelligence (AI), all (from search behavior to carefully thinking about staffing) being changed by AI. CMOs will need to pay more and more attention, for instance, to the new reality in which governance is increasingly being outpaced by the adoption of Generative AI (considering including its rising negative impact on social media), consequently being necessary to valorize content authenticity technology so as to avoid Generative AI usage that would cause their brands’ reputational risk.

Roles’ redefinition of marketing and e-commerce within the technological shift for both marketers and merchandisers, improving omnichannel marketing automation and omnichannel fulfillment

A marketers’ and merchandisers’ higher business impact and value is made possible today by using GenAI (integrating it into company’s operations), improving content creation, customer journeys, and merchandising, and delivering tailored CX (identifying sensitive and influenceable points on it), based on the symbiotic relationship between GenAI and an improved general experience and changed role of marketers and merchandisers (Bohan, 2024). Being in the center of this rapid evolution by adopting the right mindset, e-commerce marketing professionals are better positioned to remodel their businesses function, keeping pace with advancements as active participants, boosting creativity and efficiency (Donnelly a, 2024), and ensuring a seamless shopping experience by connecting online and offline commerce and unifying it (Donnelly, 2023), as well as refreshing and adjusting marketing strategy, improving omnichannel marketing automation (Donnelly b, 2024).

According to CB Insights (2024), in better serving a wider customer base can be produced powerful customer loyalty on the basis of a skillfully omnichannel fulfillment strategy, today’s retailers’ omnichannel fulfillment (rapidly and accurately orders’ fulfilment) being a true battlefield (taking into account the imperative of bridging both physical and digital retail channels seamlessly. To increase e-commerce sales and store traffic, for instance, grocery retailers are adjusting their marketing strategies (such as: demand forecasting and inventory management, automated distribution centers, micro fulfillment, on-demand delivery, drone delivery) and valorizing the new technologies.

It is interesting to note that a recent study by 84.51° (a retail data science, insights and media company, a subsidiary of Kroger company) revealed that Kroger’s omnichannel shoppers have done in the past 52 weeks most of their shopping in-store (40%) and online (40%), while 20% of them shopped equally divided, in-store and online (Newman, 2024). Kroger’s omnichannel shoppers also said that they are considering shopping online less stressful (58%, up from 39% in 2023) than in-store, the majority of them preferring: to get free from crowds (53%, up from 51% in 2023); to pick their own grocery and household items (56%, up to 46% in 2023); to not pay extra fees for delivery or pickup (51%, compared to 33% in 2023).

Shoppers’ enablement by the evolving merchandising storytelling, and their conversion based on personalized product merchandising strategies

According to the host of Bloomreach’s Digital Merchandising Community Meet-ups, Roxanna Couse, Director of CX Group (and with experience in e-commerce merchandising), last year was marked (beyond economic uncertainties and continuing consumers’ heightened price sensitivity) by significant aspects (such as the shift toward personalized shopping experiences, storytelling merchandising, mobile commerce etc.) and key trends (like the social commerce platforms’ rise and the pop culture and commerce fusion), some of these to be confirmed in the new year (Couse, 2024). So, shoppers (included as a story’s character) will be enabled to imagine how products integrate into their lives by a merchandising storytelling creating not only value comprehension and relevance.

The recent Etail West 2024, that took place on 26-29 February in California, at Palm Springs (Flaherty, 2023; Evans, 2024; Sharma, 2024) – recognized as “the hub for cutting-edge eCommerce and digital marketing strategies”, “the premier e-commerce and omnichannel retail conference” – confirmed the traditional opportunity of for retail executives to reflect on “the best personalized product merchandising strategies”. The conversion of shoppers based on personalized product merchandising strategies was one of the important particular discussions on that occasion.

As shown by (Shopify Staff, 2023), in order to enhance CX, increase sales, and drive both customer retention and brand loyalty it is essential to know how to develop the merchandising strategy (which is extending into strategic product placement tapping into consumer psychology, going beyond aesthetic appeal), in phygital stores. An improved memorable in-store and online shopping experience can be created by a cohesive retail merchandising strategy aligned with brand ethos, advancing on the path to make customers feel valued and understood based on tailored experiences. And in order to meet their business goals the phygital retailers can optimize their merchandising strategies by researching merchandising trends, conducting ongoing customer research, keeping track of their inventories, and optimizing their websites for mobile.

Instead of conclusions: The imperative for e-commerce merchandising to strategically

approach the rising shoppers’ expectations

It is well-known that merchants and retailers can benefit of SaaS (software-as-a-service) services provided by the hosted e-commerce platform BigCommerce offering significant features for the facile running of an online store (ClickPost, 2024). BigCommerce (n.d.) highlighted the importance of strategies for ecommerce merchandising excellence (product management and curation, utilizing product videos, enhancing credibility through social proof, crafting a cohesive

brand identity, and optimal site-search techniques), leveraging personalization in ecommerce merchandising (product recommendations and retargeting strategies), and properly measuring ecommerce merchandising success (website traffic and conversions, customer lifetime value, seasonal and promotional analysis). It was also revealed the trends shaping ecommerce merchandising (leveraging AI for enhanced personalization, utilizing user-generated content, advanced searchandising tactics, prioritizing a comprehensive CX, emphasis on social commerce, adapting to omnichannel retail, importance of sustainability, and advances in supply chain optimization).

A recent custom report (accurate data as of February 20, 2024) by the reputed Coresight Research – in partnership with Humankind (a leading conversational commerce, SaaS platform, launched in 2021, known as enabling e-commerce brands/retailers to launch 1:1 human-led personalized shopping experiences via SMS both profitably, and at scale) – and entitled “ECommerce for the Modern Consumer: Building Trust in a Digital Age” (Coresight Research, 2024) focused on finding out more information about “shopper journey abandonment in ecommerce and consumer perceptions of online customer services”. The above-mentioned report revealed important aspects, such as: when shopping online, shoppers are always expecting something extra, valuing a personal approach; e-commerce retailers’ need of marrying datadriven insights with the human touch; when they visit online stores, most shoppers are browsing with intent; if shoppers are experiencing challenges on a website or app, they are less likely to shop with it in the future (53% of respondents); shoppers are made more loyal by a better online or mobile shopping experience (74% respondents); personalization, assisted shopping and postpurchase engagement are key areas in creating an online shopping experience that encourage the development of loyalty; CX should be enhanced strategically (from discovery to checkout) by centering on both product information availability, frictionless navigation, and conversational commerce

Without doubt, within the context of the rising savvy shoppers’ expectations in the evolving digital age it is imperative for e-commerce merchandising to reflect on the objectives necessary to be achieved, and implement the activities developed accordingly.

References

Agrawal, R., Senzer, S., Simon, J., He, S. and Trout, L., 2024. How CMOs Can Lead Transformations in an Era of Change, BCG, January 10, 2024, pp. 1-12. Available at: <https://www.bcg.com/publications/2024/how-cmos-can-lead-transformations-in-an-era-ofchange> [Accessed 3 February 2024].

BigCommerce, n.d. Effective Ecommerce Merchandising Tactics to Scale Online Stores. Available at: <https://www.bigcommerce.com/articles/ecommerce/merchandising/> [Accessed 12 March 2024].

Bohan, D.-M., 2024. How the Role of the Marketer and Merchandiser Changes With AI, Bloomreach, Commerce Experience, 04.01.2024. Available at:

<https://www.bloomreach.com/en/blog/2024/how-the-role-of-the-marketer-and-merchandiserchanges-with-ai?> [Accessed 9 January 2024].

CB Insights, 2024. How Kroger, Target, Amazon, and Walmart stack up in omnichannel grocery fulfillment, Research, January 25, 2024. Available at:

<https://www.cbinsights.com/research/omnichannel-fulfillment-strategies-grocery-retailers/?> [Accessed 1 February 2024].

ClickPost, 2024. Everything You Need to Know About BigCommerce, 20 Jan, 2024. Available at: <https://www.clickpost.ai/blog/bigcommerce> [Accessed 12 March 2024].

Coresight Research, 2024. E-Commerce for the Modern Consumer: Building Trust in a Digital Age, Custom Report, March 5, 2024, pp. 1-17. Available at:

<https://9302266.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/9302266/ECommerce%20for%20the%20Modern%20Consumer_Building%20Trust%20in%20a%20Digital %20Age.pdf?> [Accessed 5 March 2024].

Couse, R., 2024. Crucial Trends From 2023 Shaping E-Commerce’s Landscape in 2024, Bloomreach, E-Commerce Site Search and Merchandising, 07.02.2024. Available at: <https://www.bloomreach.com/en/blog/2024/crucial-trends-shaping-e-commerces-landscape?> [Accessed 29 February 2024].

Donnelly, I., 2024. Upskilling in the Age of AI: How Marketers Are Taking the Lead With Artificial Intelligence, Bloomreach, Commerce Experience, 03.01.2024. Available at: <https://www.bloomreach.com/en/blog/2024/upskilling-in-the-age-of-ai?> [Accessed 25 January 2024].

Donnelly, I., 2023. How AI Can Bridge the Gap Between Offline and Online Commerce, Bloomreach, Real-Time Personalization, 13.10.2023. Available at: <https://www.bloomreach.com/en/blog/2023/how-ai-can-bridge-the-gap-between-offline-andonline-commerce?> [Accessed 22 February 2024].

Donnelly, I., 2024. Machine-Learning Marketing: How Loomi Can Accurately Predict the Perfect Campaign, Bloomreach, Omnichannel Marketing Automation, 20.02.2024. Available at: <https://www.bloomreach.com/en/blog/2024/machine-learning-marketing-how-loomi-canaccurately-predict-the-perfect-campaign> [Accessed 22 February 2024].

Evans, M., 2024. eTail West 2024, Euromonitor International, 27 Feb 24. Available at: <https://www.euromonitor.com/events/etail-west-2024> [Accessed 11 March 2024].

Flaherty, S., 2023. Your Guide to eTail West 2024 in Palm Springs, CA: Event Tips & Tricks, Groove Commerce, Dec 07, 2023. Available at: <https://www.groovecommerce.com/ecommerce-blog/your-guide-to-etail-west-2024-in-palmsprings-ca-event-tips-tricks> [Accessed 11 March 2024].

Gartner, 2024. 3 Techniques to Prove Marketing's Value, Gartner for Marketing, 2024, pp.1-12. Available at: <https://emt.gartnerweb.com/ngw/globalassets/en/marketing/documents/prove-thevalue-of-marketing-ebook.pdf?> [Accessed 8 February 2024].

Newman, A.A., 2024. How omnichannel shoppers divide their allegiances between e-commerce and brick-and-mortar stores, Retail Brew, E-Commerce, February 29, 2024. Available at: <https://www.retailbrew.com/stories/2024/02/29/how-omnichannel-shoppers-divide-theirallegiances-between-e-commerce-and-brick-and-mortar-stores?> [Accessed 29 February 2024].

Purcarea, I.M., 2023. E-Commerce Personalization and Digital Merchandising Strategy, Holistic Marketing Management, vol. 13(4), pp. 14-22, December.

Schell, L., 2024. How Marketing Can Capitalize on AI Disruption, Gartner, February 14, 2024. Available at: <https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/how-marketing-can-capitalize-on-aidisruption?> [Accessed 7 March 2024].

Sharma, J., 2024. At Etail West, retail executives ponder the best personalized product merchandising strategies, Retail Brew, Marketing, March 8, 2024. Available at: <https://www.retailbrew.com/stories/2024/03/08/at-etail-west-retail-executives-ponder-the-bestpersonalized-product-merchandising-strategies?> [Accessed 11 March 2024].

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Tas, R., Fusaro, R. and Rahilly, L., 2024. Analyzing the CEO–CMO relationship and its effect on growth, McKinsey & Company, Growth, Marketing & Sales, Podcast, pp. 1-12, March 7, 2024. Available at: <https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/growth-marketing-and-sales/ourinsights/analyzing-the-ceo-cmo-relationship-and-its-effect-on-growth?> [Accessed 8 March 2024].

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

‘Marketing Science and Inspirations’: Green Marketing, Neuromarketing, and Consumer Behavior

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 successfully reconfirming 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, the “Marketing Science and Inspirations” Journal firmly stands on the path of generating awareness and building lasting connections with its target audience, improving customer experience by identifying new ways to overcome marketing challenges. Using those considerations, 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 again happy to receive by post the new Issue 4, 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 a wide range of interesting topics in the marketing research field, such as:

• “Understanding reference points to make purchase decisions: overview, phases, and time-features. ”

The author Theodore Tarnanidis started from the lack of research regarding the investigation of the use of reference points in a wider variety of attributes, targeted to specific decision-making sequences. The investigation hasn’t been made in a thorough manner from the domain of consumer decision-making process, as in the literature. Consequently, the author introduced a new approach of the effects of reference points (RPs) on consumer buying decision process that rely on three-time frame dimensions, ex-ante, ex-interim and ex-post. From

methodological point of view, it has been adopted a case study analysis following the principles of Bayesian analysis that tries to bring out the effects of RPs in the consumer purchasing decision process. Research findings show that consumers’ preferences for RPs are established and structured throughout the entire buying decision process, and can be modified based on potential signals and biased approaches. The author investigated the crafting of RPs beyond their physical or tangible attributes due to these implications. He showed how he knowledge of the consumers’ assessment with regard to the use of the triangle framework of RPs could be effectively used by different policy makers to promote and guide consumers in a more efficient way. As a consequence, the way is now open for many possibilities for casual modeling practice in the future.

• “Leveraging beauty pageants for brand exposure: An analysis of sponsorships and advertising opportunities in Philippine pageantry ”

Based on quantitative research method, the author Nelson B. Guillen Jr. focused on examining how beauty pageant sponsorships impact brand exposure and brand equity among Filipino consumers. A survey (n=450) measured unaided and aided brand recall, attitudes, and purchase intent based on exposure to real and simulated pageant sponsorships. Research findings demonstrated significantly higher recall for sponsored brands compared to non-sponsored brands (unaided 67% vs 23%; aided 93% vs 62%). Brand attitudes were more positive for sponsored brands, especially on attributes like prestige and reputation. Purchase intent also increased for brands aligned with cultural values. Overall, findings show that pageant sponsorships are an effective marketing platform for increasing brand awareness, enhancing brand image, and driving consumer behavior. Given pageantry’s prominent role in popular culture, associating with events like Miss Universe Philippines is a solution to provide branding opportunities in the Philippines. However, marketers must authentically connect sponsorships to local values. This empirical research quantifies pageantry’s impact on key branding metrics such as: awareness, image, and purchase intent. Also, it highlights the importance of strategic alignment with sociocultural meanings. And in order to optimize sponsorship strategy, marketers can leverage these consumer-focused metrics and quantitative approaches. While to expand evidence on pageants’ marketing potential across developing contexts further research could build on this abovedescribed framework.

• “An overview of ethical issues in neuromarketing: Discussion and possible solutions. ”

The authors Yahia Mouammine and Hassan Azdimousa started from the division of opinion among the scientific community within the context of the emergence of new areas of investigation, bringing to readers’ attention a plethora of ethical predicaments and moral uncertainties in academic circles generated by the consumer neuroscience (neuromarketing) They show how in the absence of intervention these obstacles possess the capacity to impede the advancement of this nascent discipline, being imperative for both researchers, and

neuromarketing firms to maintain rigorous data protection protocols and honor the confidentiality of study participants, despite the fact that certain ethical concerns may appear exaggerated. As commonly portrayed in scholarly works, the concept of neuromarketing indicates the intersection of two significant fields, neuroscience and marketing, the definition serving as a catalyst for this close examination of ethical considerations as expressed in neuromarketing literature, being located within the theoretical constructs of neuroethics and marketing research ethics. The authors focused on the ethical dilemma from two perspectives, namely marketing research and neuroethics, reaching inside the ethical concerns derived from the existing neuromarketing literature, and searching to provide viable solutions and guidelines to effectively navigate this unexplored ethical landscape.

• “Green marketing and its impact on consumer buying behavior in city of Muntinlupa, Philippines. Part I.”

Based on a comprehensive literature review of green marketing, eco-friendly products, and green consumers, the author Maria Jewdaly L. Costales focused on the effect of green marketing on customers purchasing behaviors, approaching the pressing environmental problems and explaining then the concepts of green marketing and green consumer. It was underlined the role of green marketing businesses in significantly helping environment, including from the point of view of its impact on consumers buying behavior in city of Muntinlupa. Quantitative research allowed the adequate data collection, and as tool to compute statistical power analyses the author used G*Power. Research findings revealed among other aspects how the environmental awareness, green product features, green promotion activities and green product price conclusively affect consumers’ green purchasing behaviors.

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

▪ “Marketing Briefs”: Pavel Štrach –“Native advertising: “Nativity” goes beyond matching the publisher’s design”;

▪ “Short Communications” :

• “COINTT 2023 Conference”;

• “An announcement of the 19th year of the Marketer of the year contest”;

▪ “REVIEW”, Andrea Čajková, “Jakubíková, Dagmar and Janeček, Petr: Strategic marketing. Strategy and trends – 3rd revised and expanded edition.”

▪ “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. In the below image (in the upper right part) you can see a memorable moment with Prof. Dr. Bernd Hallier together with RAU Chief

Administrative Officer Dumitru Smedescu (who was an important support for the RAU Founding Rector: https://www.rau.ro/in-memoriam-dlui-dumitru-smedescu-director-generaladministrativ/). Unfortunately, they both left us last summer.