Structured AbstractCategory: Conceptual paper Purpose This conceptual paper explores the implications of the selfie for marketing management in the era of celebrity. The purpose is to show that the facilitation of the creative performance of consumer identity is a key element of the marketing management task for the media convergence era. ApproachThe paper uses the selfie, the picture of oneself taken by oneself, as a metaphor to develop a conceptual exploration of the nature of marketing in the light of the dominance of celebrity and entertainment in contemporary media and entertainment. Findings 2The paper suggests that marketing management in the era of convergence should facilitate consumers' identity projects through participatory initiatives. Marketers must furnish and facilitate not only the props for consumers mediated identity performances, but also the scripts, sets and scenes, plot devices, cinematographic and other visual techniques, costumes, looks, movements, characterizations and narratives. Research limitations/implicationsThis is a conceptual paper that sketches out the beginning of a re-framed, communicationfocused vision of marketing management in the era of media convergence. Practical implicationsMarketing managers can benefit from thinking about consumer marketing as the stage management of consumer visual, physical, virtual, sensory and psychic environments that enable consumers to actively participate in celebrity culture. Originality/valueThis paper suggests ways in which marketing practice can emerge from its pre-digital frame to embrace the new digital cultures of consumption. management practice has been under-explored and we conduct a conceptual exploration that draws out some of the implications for marketing management. We begin by establishing a key theme of the paper-the selfie (and other forms of digital participation) as link node between the self, celebrity culture, and marketing.
Purpose This paper aims to investigate children’s experience as consumers of video games and associated digital communication technology, and the role this experience may play in their evolving senses of identity. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative depth interviews and discussions were conducted in a convenience sample consisting of 22 children of both genders aged 6-12 years, parents and video games company executives in the southwest of the UK. The fully transcribed data sets amounting to some 27,000 words were analysed using discourse analysis. Findings The findings revealed the heightened importance that the knowledge of video games plays in children’s strategies for negotiating their nascent sense of identity with regard to peer groups, family relationships and gender identity. Video games were not only a leisure activity but also a shared cultural resource that mediated personal and family relationships. Research limitations/implications The study is based on an interpretive analysis of data sets from a small convenience sample, and is therefore not statistically generalisable. Practical implications This study has suggested that there may be positive benefits to children’s video game playing related to aspects of socialisation, emotional development and economic decision-making. An important caveat is that these benefits arise in the context of games as part of a loving and ordered family life with a balance of activities. Social implications The study hints at the extent to which access to video games and associated digital communications technology has changed children’s experience of childhood and integrated them into the adult world in both positive and negative ways that were not available to previous generations. Originality/value This research addresses a gap in the field and adds to an understanding of the impact of video games on children’s development by drawing on children’s own expression of their subjective experience of games to engage with wider issues of relationships and self-identity.
Purpose Empirical studies using the technology acceptance model (TAM) have mainly focussed on utilitarian technologies. The purpose of this paper is to extend the TAM in order to develop a more nuanced understanding of the family dynamic around video game acceptance within households. Design/methodology/approach This paper proposes a new and unique adaptation of the TAM to study the acceptance of hedonic technologies in the context of parents’/carers’ acceptance and integration of video games within family-life dynamics. This adaptation of the TAM attempts to shed light on the social influences and intrinsic motivations behind parents’ and carers’ intentions to purchase video games for their children’s consumption. Findings The usefulness of video games lies in how enjoyable and entertaining they are, and this seems to be influenced by the convenience and ease of use that ultimately affects the behavioural intention towards video games. Convenience of use brings in social influences on perceived enjoyment and on parents’ actual behaviour towards video games. Some social influences seem to play a direct role in affecting children’s behaviour towards video games. Research limitations/implications The authors acknowledge that using Facebook as a tool for data collection has limitations attributed to selection bias. Another limitation is not giving voice to the children to account for their own subjective experience of video games and relying on their parents’ perceptions on the matter. Social implications This study advocated extending TAM within a hedonic framework in the context of examining parents’/carers’ acceptance of video games, while re-validating past theories of TAM and introducing new contextual variables adapted to address hedonic technologies. Originality/value Empirical studies using TAM have focussed on the utilitarian nature of technologies and very few considered hedonic technologies. This study’s key contribution to research lies in explaining the effects of parents’ perceived enjoyment, ease of use and convenience on the intention to purchase and play video games. The findings feed into work on the ethics and developmental issues around the marketing of video games to and for children.
The paper integrates a theoretical review with a selective sample of case exemplars to illustrate the novelty, salience and contribution of the liminoid advertising appeal. Findings:The study finds that the liminoid appeal is a novel and under-recognised yet widely deployed advertising and branding approach that manifests in many differing creative executions, whilst clearly carrying great resonance for consumers, and can potentially have negative social implications. Research limitations:The empirical case examples are selective and few in number and a limited basis for generalisation.Practical implications: Advertising agencies and brand managers have been practicing liminoid appeals without a theoretically grounded label with which to better understand the underlying consumer motivations. Having this knowledge will enable brand professionals to generate insights that improve training, execution and targeting of creative strategies. Social implications:The liminoid appeal resonates powerfully with consumers because of its ostensibly liberatory and self-actualising potential, but on a social level the proliferation of such appeals could contribute to rising social disharmony and psychological distress. Originality/Value: The Liminoid advertising appeal is a new, theoretically grounded label for a well established yet hitherto poorly understood category of advertising appeal. The study contributes a novel and previously neglected source of insight to the practice of creative brand communication strategy, whilst also contributing to the development of anthropologically informed marketing and consumer research.
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