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Drawing on the social presence theory, this study aims to explore how supplier–customer social media interactions influence supplier observers’ trust in the customers and what mechanisms contribute to variation in trust experience.

A total of 36 semi-structured interviews were conducted with Chinese suppliers using WeChat for business-to-business interactions. Data were analyzed in three steps: open coding, axial coding and selective coding.

Findings reveal that varied trust is based not only on the categories of social presence of interaction – whether social presence is embedded in informative interactions – but also on the perceived selectivity in social presence. Observer suppliers who experience selectivity during social and affective interactions create a perception of hidden information and an unhealthy relationship atmosphere, and report a sense of emotional vulnerability, thus eroding cognitive and affective trust.

The findings contribute new understandings to social presence theory by exploring the social presence of interactions in a supplier–supplier–customer triad and offer valuable insights into business-to-business social media literature by adopting a suppliers’ viewpoint to unpack the mechanisms of how social presence of interaction positively and negatively influences suppliers’ trust and behavioral responses.

The article explores how servitization influences firms' foreign market entry mode decisions. This relationship is researched under the contingent effect of macroenvironmental factors in the host country, namely, market attractiveness, institutional environment and national culture differences between the home and host country.

The study employs a conceptual framework typology that interrelates, contextualizes and conceptualizes extant knowledge to develop explicit propositions.

Based on the extant literature, using a 2 × 2 matrix, the authors delineate the influence of two dimensions of servitization on entry mode decisions: customer relationship focus and digitalization focus. They conceptualize that relationship management and digitalization-based servitization have an antagonistic effect on the need for entry mode resource commitments, and macroenvironmental factors' favorability moderates this tension.

The study extends and incorporates the servitization literature into the context of international marketing by exploring the combined effect of the two most significant dimensions of servitization, i.e. investment in customer relations versus investment in digitalization on entry mode, thus delivering valuable new insights and perspectives, as well as explicit propositions toward empirical testing.

The authors’ framework increases foreign market managers' awareness of how servitization drives entry mode decisions of firms in international markets. Also, the framework explicates how the host country's market attractiveness, institutional environment and difference with the home country's national culture tangibly influence the relationship.

The study provides novel insights into the implications of servitization on international marketing, particularly regarding foreign market entry mode. The study also elucidates the combined effect of two servitization dimensions, i.e. customer relations and digitalization – a critical research area in which the literature is scant.

The authors combine institutional theory with resource-based theory to explain how emerging market firms (EMFs) manage their technological knowledge capital by venturing into international markets. The authors further explore the contingency effect of international marketing knowledge and competitive intensity in the home country in influencing technological knowledge capital and internationalization relationship.

The study employs multiple linear regression analysis using a dataset consisting of 326 Bombay Stock Exchange-listed A and B category stocks for a six-year period (2010–2016).

The study finds that with an increase in technological knowledge capital, the internationalization of Indian firms increases. Furthermore, international marketing knowledge and competitive intensity positively moderate this relationship.

The study finds that with an increase in technological knowledge capital, the internationalization of Indian firms increases. Furthermore, international marketing knowledge and competitive intensity positively moderate this relationship.

The authors’ findings increase international marketing managers' awareness of how internationalization acts as a knowledge management tool for EMFs under the contingency effect of international marketing knowledge and competitive intensity.

The study provides novel insights into the technological knowledge capital management strategy by EMFs through internationalization and the role of international marketing knowledge and competitive intensity in increasing firms' ability to even better manage technological knowledge capital.

Given the increased significance and rapid growth of an ageing population, this review paper aims to define the mature consumer segment chronologically to resolve definitional inconsistencies found in prior marketing communications literature, identify the current state of the marketing communications field in terms of mature consumer research and highlight future research directions on mature consumers for marketing communications academics and practitioners.

A synthesis of existing marketing communication research on mature consumers (those aged 50+), published in top-tier journals since 1972, is provided. In total, 106 papers were identified in 21 marketing journals.

Three existing research themes were identified: market segmentation of mature consumers (we ground this theme in three inter-related facets: chronological age, health [physical and neurological] and self-perception of age [also referred to as cognitive age]); attitudes and behaviours of mature consumers; and marketing to mature consumers. This paper also proposes several future research themes: further definition of mature consumers and widening the scope of examination; segmenting mature consumers to account for heterogeneity; information processing of mature consumers cannot use a one-size-fits-all approach; the influence of marketing mix elements on mature consumers; and alternative methodologies to better understand mature consumers.

Recognising the heterogeneity within the chronologically based mature consumer segment, this paper proposes an extended mature consumer definition which includes biological, psychological and social dimensions, as well as life events and life circumstances, rather than biological age alone.

In practical terms, understanding information processing of mature consumers cannot use a one-size-fits-all approach and marketing mix elements may affect behaviour differently within this segment. This will require alternative methodologies to understand these processes fully.

This synthesis of mature consumers research within the marketing communications field provides key research questions for future research to better understand this market segment and its implications for marketing communications, theory development and practice.

The purpose of this study sets out to examine (1) how have conflicts been conceptualized and operationalized within the context of online consumption communities? (2) what are the main conflict management, resolution strategies and frameworks that have been identified? and (3) what are the gaps in the relevant body of work in terms of theoretical and methodological dimensions, and what implications do they have for future research.

This study adopts a systematic and multidisciplinary literature review of online conflicts. Following a descriptive and thematic content analysis, it examines 79 peer-reviewed scholarly articles of the past 20 years within 6 scientific databases.

The authors propose a literature-based conceptualization of online conflicts and a multi-level conflict resolution matrix based on the different governance structures and social control mechanisms investigated in extant research.

The originality of this study lies in the integrative and interdisciplinary view of online conflict in global consumption communities.

The paper seeks to explore empirically the lived experience of trust in consumer brands and to develop a model focusing on functional and symbolic brands.

The paper presents an exploratory, grounded theory approach and the study conducted in‐depth interviews.

The findings reveal that when consumers are facing buying choices of functional brands that do not involve much risk and the price is low, familiarity is sufficient for their action. When risk and price levels increase, consumers seek a safe purchase choice regarding functional brands through confidence and dependability, while in the case of symbolic brands consumers have to trust the brand in order to make a purchase choice.

By exploring the concept of trust within the consumer domain and in particular in relation to functional and symbolic brands, this study offers insights into an area that has received noticeably limited research up to today. Furthermore the development of the psychosocial model of trust in brands offers opportunities to theoreticians for further research regarding the factors that influence trust in each stage, as well as ways to restore or transfer trust when needed.

The study presents a tool to marketing practitioners, which will assist them in building and preserving long‐term trusting customer relationships.

The value of our research lies in the development of a psychosocial model of trust in brands by drawing on both social theory and on the psychology of human relationships.

Based on Landowski’s sociosemiotics theory, this paper aims to propose an alternative outlining of online brand communities’ social dynamics, not for their collective behaviors but for their discursive interactions.

Data were collected during a three-year netnographic immersion into a Disney-related Facebook group and authors’ trips to Walt Disney World.

The findings point to four styles of discursive interactions that shape an online brand community’s social dynamic. On the one hand, utterances based on the guiding and following styles of discursive interactions inform desired behaviors, which subsequently become tacitly routinized. On the other hand, utterances based on the adapting and venturing styles of discursive interactions mark random and unusual communicational situations.

This work expands current theoretical discussions on online brand communities by unveiling an unexplored linguistic dimension of them.

Research into the dark side of online brand-managed communities (OBCs) and, specifically, consumer-to-consumer (C2C) conflicts within this context are scarce. This paper aims to explore the different forms of C2C conflicts in OBCs, measure their direct impact on observing consumers and brands and investigate their appropriate moderation by exclusively focusing on two actors: brands versus consumers.

This research adopts a sequential exploratory approach. First, the authors capture different forms of C2C conflict via netnographic observations of five brand-managed communities. Second, the identified forms of C2C conflict are used in an online experiment to examine their impact on OBCs’ social and commercial outcomes. Third, further two online experiments were used to assess how brand versus consumer conflict moderators impact perceived credibility and conflict de-escalation.

The authors uncover three prominent forms of C2C conflict based on whether conflict occurs between supporters, non-supporters or outsiders of the OBC. The authors further show that these affect consumers’ engagement behaviours and emotional responses, while brands suffer from diminished credibility and could be targets of unfavourable electronic word-of-mouth. Finally, for managing C2C conflict, the findings confirm that brands are perceived as more suitable, while under certain conditions consumers can also be viewed as appropriate moderators.

This research used a range of participant self-selected brands and is limited to brand-managed (as opposed to consumer-managed) communities on Facebook. While beyond the scope of this paper, the dynamics for consumer-managed communities may differ.

This article offers guidance to marketing practitioners on the different nuances of undesirable consumer interactions in brand-managed communities on social media, their impact on customer engagement and brand perceptions and when/whether brands or consumers may be suited to moderating these.

This paper makes novel contributions to the literature on consumer (mis)behaviours and OBC management. The findings are among the first, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to examine the direct social and commercial consequences of C2C conflicts and to provide comparative insights into the appropriateness of two different moderators in OBCs.