Both face-to-face communication and communication in online environments convey information beyond the actual verbal message. In a traditional face-to-face conversation, paralanguage, or the ancillary meaning- and emotion-laden aspects of speech that are not actual verbal prose, gives contextual...

Previous research has shown that individuals value objects more highly if they own them, a finding commonly known as the endowment effect. In fact, simply touching an object can create a perception of ownership that produces the endowment effect. Through a series of three studies, we extend this...

Marketers are being inundated with social media metrics, but there is little consensus on what one should be measuring, let alone how these measures inform marketing strategy. This article attempts to bring clarity to the situation by adopting an integrated marketing communications perspective....

Purpose – In “Social media’s slippery slope: Challenges, opportunities and future research directions,” Schultz and Peltier (2013) asked “whether or how social media can be used to leverage consumer engagement into highly profitable relationships for both parties.” The purpose of...

This research details the development of the "Comfort with Interpersonal Touch" (CIT) scale designed to measure individual differences in interpersonal touch tendencies and preferences. The CIT construct is defined as the degree to which an individual is comfortable with intentional...

What is the role of touch in consumer behavior? Consumers are especially motivated to touch some products before buying them, and for some people, those high in "desire to touch", touching before buying is especially important. In addition, some situations encourage consumers to touch goods...

The "Perishable Refrigerated Products and Home Practices Survey" was a two-part survey developed to better understand consumers' perceptions and their current level of understanding regarding the proper handling and storage of perishable refrigerated foods. Past studies (e.g. Anonymous, 1997a;...