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Targeting specific audience segments has emerged as an important practice in online advertising strategies. For advertisers, the primary appeal of online ads is their capacity to target users based on characteristics such as user demographics and online behavior. Recent research supports the notion that targeted ads are more effective, with product users more likely to click. However, as advertisers increasingly pursue targeting, one fundamental question looms—who to target? 

As algorithms continue to determine more and more of what we interact with on the Internet every day, questions arise as to the effectiveness, ethicality, and impartiality of these same algorithms. In our research, we undertake a set of studies to determine to what extent algorithms are presenting biased recommendations and further, to what extent people are going along with those biased choices and reinforcing the algorithms’ bias.

It is now rare to base buying decisions purely on personal recommendations; rather, consumers place significant value on online reviews (both positive and negative). However, consumers do not perceive all online reviews as equally valuable. Reviews can be objective, subjective, or a mix of both. Our research examines which type of review is perceived as more valuable for consumers.

When posting online content, sellers want to hold audience attention and make sure readers engage with and remember their content. It turns out that the strategies required to capture sustained engagement can be different from the those which will garner clicks and initial exposure. Our research examines the factors that contribute to holding an audience’s attention, especially with the use of emotional language and textual simplicity.

The advertisement landscape is evolving. While positive advertising appeals often dominate, a new trend has emerged—the rise of audience-targeted negative advertisements, which, in contrast to traditional approaches, employ moderately negative messages directly targeting the audience. The emergence of these advertisements presents a unique opportunity for advertisers to connect with consumers in unconventional ways.

While technology has undoubtedly brought many benefits to the workplace, it has also brought a new form of stress known as "technostress." By understanding how technostress negatively influences employee turnover, work-family conflict, and family burnout, firms can better manage potential stressors and create a more positive and productive work environment.

Humans are wired to seek out social interaction, and the Internet gives us endless opportunities to connect. But, contrary to the goal of bringing people together, recent research links increased social media usage to loneliness and perceived isolation. We studied social media use and examined whether it is how social media is used (passively vs. actively) that determines its effects on users’ perceived social connection and well-being.

Social media is the fastest-growing advertising media class in the world and is an incredible tool that can be leveraged to grow business, even when promoting your business organically via non-paid promotions. In this research, we answer two questions: What is the optimal time to post? How are engagement and effectiveness of an organic post affected by the visual location of the web link in the post?

Social media has become a core component of communication within our society, and as social media has positively impacted personal life, it has also positively impacted business. Our study focuses specifically on the relationship between social media usage, key selling tasks, salesperson performance, and peer social media usage as a relationship moderator.

The benefits of earned media–or zero-cost advertising through social media sharing–within the real estate industry are invaluable. Contrary to prior studies, our research finds that specific emotional expressions have distinct effects on social sharing, allowing firms to more easily pinpoint what emotions an advertisement should aim to evoke and thus what content is more likely to be shared.

The goal of your social media marketing should not be to simply increase social media impressions, but instead, to increase positive impressions. In this study, we examine the role of trust and commitment in driving positive relationships and customer engagement in social media.

Every successful firm knows that understanding consumer sentiment, both positive and negative, is essential for success. Our team conducted multiple studies to uncover tendencies concerning consumer-to-brand sharing and steps managers can take to receive unbiased information that is vital for a firm’s success.

Research confirms that 360-degree video ads increase social media click rates by 29% as compared to similar videos in standard format. Our research
identifies the optimal scenario and mechanisms in which 360-degree video ads outperform standard version videos, and we provide suggestions on how to create videos that will drive engagement in promising new ways.

Consumers are faced with more advertisements than ever, leading to consumer fatigue and ineffective marketing strategies. We explain how improvised marketing interventions—highly effective social media actions which utilize quick wit in real time in response to a situation or event—can help you attain a competitive advantage, even in an overly saturated environment like social media.

Roughly 50 million businesses have a Facebook profile, and users share more than 2.5 billion comments a month on those business profiles. Consumer engagement with these businesses on social media is a significant marketing goal, and our study explores how businesses’ Facebook posts, both informational and emotional, affect customers’ electronic word-of-mouth.

Images are likely a key component to your social media strategy, but are you using the right images in the right manner? Our research quantifies the impact of image content and makes recommendations to help increase your client engagement on social media.

Robert Rietveld, PhD Candidate, Willemijn van Dolen, PhD, Masoud Mazloom, PhD, and Marcel Worring, PhD Do your Instagram posts contain emotional or informative appeals? This research defines the difference and examines which type best influences customer engagement on social media.

Reaching consumers on Facebook through organic or non-paid advertising has become a challenge. Our research finds a three-part social media viral framework to help you write more engaging posts to reach more buyers.

Your Twitter followers can be some of your best brand ambassadors, but are you actually capturing their attention with your tweets? Our study analyzes whether the occurrence of topic-related words at the beginning of the tweet affects your number of retweets.

Internet addiction is regarded as a growing health concern in many parts of the world. Our research examines how social media can drain resources in the workplace and how employees react to social media posts by their colleagues, ultimately impacting job performance.

When you post social media content is just as important as what you post. In this article, we examine the impacts of social media posts based on time of day, emotionality of your content, and the results of boosting posts.

Virality is the new ad currency. The key driver of virality is sharing of videos, but what drives sharing among your followers? Our research reveals that sharing is not a matter of luck or art, but it can be ascertained by scientific research. In this article, we examine what type of videos you should create to maximize sharing of and virality of your ads.

As a real estate agent, you're familiar with managing your own business. In this Insider article, we explore Cliff Lerner’s Explosive Growth strategies to help you grow your real estate business and stay ahead of the competition.

Do you have the right social strategy to reach the right people? In his book One Million Followers, author Brendan Kane examines concepts and processes that are simple and require no major investment—but that have proven to build social media followings in the millions.

Voice and tone are powerful ways to differentiate connotation, importance, and legitimacy of your messaging. Finding the right balance will make your social media campaigns that much more effective in connecting with customers and reaching the right audience.

Social media has become increasingly important in driving sales. Our research suggests that understanding who receives your outreach is just as necessary as what you post.

In the growing social media marketing landscape, interacting with customers on Facebook is at the forefront of businesses’ higher spending, but are your Facebook page likes actually driving client engagement and spending?

A strong social media presence is critical to cultivate relationships with potential clients and build credibility in the public eye. Effective use of social media platforms will help convert views into sales, retain those clients over long periods of time, and build a lasting business.

Viral ad campaigns have become a necessity in the digital world. Our research examines the key factors driving valuable virality and shows how the sharing of an ad and brand evaluation of a product are dependent on ad content.

In the simplest of transactions, the exchange of goods and services between a buyer and a seller develops a relationship that is dependent on trust. This study examines how direct and indirect impressions influence the development of trust in social relationships.

When a customer clicks the like button on a brand’s Facebook page, what happens? Do these likes have value to a company, or are they merely the click of a button?

Social media has revolutionized communication and advertising and is a useful tool for keeping up with news, family, and friends. As a real estate professional, though, understanding how to best use each social media platform can have a positive impact on your business.

Today, consumers can express their opinions about a product, a property, or almost anything. A few lines written by an anonymous user in a completely different geographic location and time zone can impact success or failure in the marketplace.

The art of being a successful real estate agent largely depends on the need to interact socially. How you interact with your own clients indeed effects their opinion of the services you provide and ultimately shape their opinions about you or your company.

Boasting by real estate agents can produce negative and positive reactions from their clients. However, boasting combined with a strategy to develop trust can be advantageous to a real estate agent.

Do you know that what people say about you on the Internet impacts your business? Having a strong online presence is becoming increasingly important. So, how do you accomplish that?

With the advancement in storage technology and the rise of Internet and social media, more and more information is becoming readily available to both customers and agencies. Today, customers are able to get almost all the information they need to make a purchase decision through websites both of the focal company and their competitors, feedback and ratings of other customers and users, through blogs, online product reviews and social media...

It’s a fairly common experience - that desperate moment when you search the crowd for whoever said your name. We are constantly clued into our names, especially when it’s added to personalized greetings or comments. People use our names as a way of engaging with us and getting our attention...

Are you curious about the likelihood of clients using your real estate services in the future given pervasive '"e-information?" There is definitely a mouse in the house and action is imperative...

Do you check your cell-phone every 6.5 minutes and up to 150 times a day? Do you have 6,234 Facebook friends? Or, spend the majority of your waking hours with your cell-phone on your body?

With social media becoming the fastest growing area of marketing today, real estate professionals can attract more clients by expanding their reach across...

Understanding how to push your products, services, and ideas to catch on is essential for success. To do so, users need to discover how to...

With the increase in the number of blogs, consumer websites, and word-of-mouth outlets available to homebuyers, consumer-generated media is attracting...

In a recent issue of the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, four scholars report on a research initiative involving sales practitioners in the United States and the United Kingdom. Exploring the role of technology and social media in the selling process, the authors identify six major themes of interest to the academic community: connectivity, relationships, selling tools, generational, global, and sales/marketing interface.

Questions are a part of our everyday life and we can often overlook the importance and power of questions we ask. This is often because the person being asked...

Today, the smartphone is central to the lives of most consumers regardless of age, gender or education level. In fact, many consumers cannot seem to live apart from...

Promotion and lead generation are two essential functions for a successful real estate agent. However, many agents lack the time and financial resources to promote ...

Pinterest has all the elements for a right brain, visual thinker. Images, pin boards, minimal word content and high quality visuals that makes staying on the site feel like you are ...

By now, most consumers are familiar with social media. It is easy to track how many Facebook friends, Twitter followers and LinkedIn connections exist on an individual ...

In order to overcome the challenging housing crisis, real estate professionals have had to become more innovative in the way they reach prospective customers. One of ...