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Marketing is perceived as both a solution and a problem, depending on one's perspective, the context, and the source of the narrative. For instance, media agents portray marketing at its worst: as a superficial and manipulative practice designed to dupe consumers; or at its best as a “trick” instead of a process that requires cutting-edge knowledge and analytical, strategic, and creative skills. In this essay, I examine the image of marketing among various market actors (i.e., digital players, influencers, media agents) as well as academics. The goal is to understand both the rising interest and skepticism towards marketing as an organizational activity and a scientific discipline. The objective is to restore the poor image of marketing by shifting the focus towards a more comprehensive understanding of what is inside the “black box” of marketing. I then propose a restoration process through legitimization and diffusion involving both marketing academics and marketplace agents. The goal is to help restore the image of marketing and unveil its power as a major force for positive social change, creativity, competitiveness, and well-being.

This article lays the foundations for an emerging research stream introducing a new framework: transformative luxury research (TLR). The framework conceptualizes the relationship between the luxury ecosystem and people's well-being, which is affected by the interaction between luxury production and consumption entities as well as macroenvironment elements. The TLR framework lies at the intersection of luxury research, macromarketing literature, and transformative consumer research. The framework focuses on the well-being of individuals and communities involved in the luxury field. TLR provides a holistic view of how interactions between the luxury consumption sphere, including different profiles of consumers, and the entities of the luxury production sphere (e.g., employees, suppliers, organizations, and communities), are shaped by macro-level luxury stakeholders. Among them are institutions, public policymakers, academics, and technology firms. How do they all affect the individual and collective well-being at the economic, cognitive, emotional, and social levels? This framework helps scholars embrace a transformative luxury research mindset to advance the literature examining the impact luxury has on people's well-being.

PurposeBecause new-age technologies are gaining a broader interest among service scholars and practitioners, it is critical to identify these technologies and examine the roles they play. The examination needs to be conducted to design engaging customer and service experiences in new phygital settings that connect physical and digital environments. This review article aims to provide researchers with a new comprehensive and integrative extended reality technology (ERT) framework. The framework serves as the basis for an all-inclusive view of ERT types in order to explore the different types of technology used to design phygital customer and service experiences.Design/methodology/approachThis article reviews prior works on the role technology plays in terms of customer experiences across various fields of research, including consumer, marketing and service literature. Adopting an experiential and phygital perspective as well as considering a consumer standpoint, this article defines the scope of the ERT framework by identifying categories of new-age technologies and their effects related to the design of phygital customer and service experiences.FindingsThe ERT framework proposed in this article offers directions for future research by adopting an experiential approach to technologies in order to categorize additional technological devices, platforms and tools that can be considered in the design of phygital experiences following several extension processes. These processes can enhance the cognitive, social, sensory and contextual dimensions of the phygital experience and thus create a continuum in terms of customer value from physical to digital settings and vice versa.Research limitations/implicationsCompanies and service providers may benefit from a new, comprehensive, focused framework that assembles different types of technology. The technologies can be utilized to design engaging customer and service experiences that deliver customer value from physical to digital spaces and inversely.Originality/valueNo prior works have proposed a comprehensive ERT framework for service research following an experiential perspective and a consumer view of the experience occurring in a new setting: phygital. By embracing the ERT framework provided in this article, future service scholars can examine the dynamics and types of technologies that can positively or negatively affect the design of consumption and service experiences in phygital settings.

Drawing on a consumer perspective, this article identifies the types of brand extension strategies in the luxury hospitality and foodservice field and their spillover effects on consumers’ evaluations of the image of the parent brand of the luxury restaurant. Using a multi-method approach combining focus groups and in-depth interviews, we conducted an exploratory qualitative research study utilizing 35 participants to examine their perceptions of Michelin-starred restaurants’ extension strategies and how they can affect customers’ attitudes towards the images of Michelin-starred chefs and the luxury gastronomic sector overall. The study found that not only brand extension types count when examining the spillover effects ‐ positive, negative and mixed ‐ on customers’ evaluation of the parent brand image. Two other elements should be considered: a brand’s strategic focus (i.e. personal, social or functional) and customers’ acquaintance and levels of knowledge of the consumption field in which the parent brand operates. Our results contribute to the literature on brand extensions and spillover effects that mainly focus on products. Thus, the findings provide valuable insights into service brand extension factors that influence customers’ perceptions and attitudes towards luxury service brands and thus contribute to scholars’ calls for more studies on brand extensions and their effects in the service field ‐ ones combining hospitality, luxury and the foodservice industry.

PurposeThis conceptual review paper aims to extend the human resource (HR) management literature by introducing a holistic employee experience (EMX) framework to conceptualize the relationship between EMX entities and employee well-being. Thus, the EMX framework stimulates future research in HR and organizational studies by incorporating a transformative impact of experiences designed by organizations on the overall well-being of their employees.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on the customer experience literature in the marketing literature and reviews the existing conceptualizations of the EMX construct in HR management studies, along with other disciplines through an extensive and in-depth analysis of the academic and business literature that examines EMX.FindingsThe EMX framework provides a comprehensive outlook on the relationship between EMX and well-being, where the latter is considered both a driving force and an outcome of the overall EMX. EMX is a multilevel model offering a big-picture view of how the three entities – personal, social and cultural – of the organization referring to different levels of the EMX can affect employees' well-being in terms of their functional, emotional, hedonic and eudaimonic needs.Research limitations/implicationsThe EMX framework utilizes a richer definition of the EMX and highlights the need for research that bridges other disciplines and paradigms outside of and within HR management. This research develops the understanding of each component of the EMX framework with the ultimate goal of moving the field towards the EMX approach. This research identifies some unanswered questions related to a new management tool that enhances employee well-being, improves the delivered customer experience and contributes in making the current body of knowledge on the EMX more organized. The analysis of the different issues addressed by the literature suggests avenues for future research.Originality/valueThe paper contributes to the HR literature and the emerging research on the EMX by presenting a comprehensive framework that incorporates a holistic understanding of the concept in the HR field. The paper offers scholars and organizations that struggle with engaging employees, a modern and practical perspective – one that helps organizations develop an in-depth understanding of today's workplaces in a globalized context to implement successful and engaging customer and EMXs.

Purpose This paper aims to draw on the sociocultural dimensions of food luxury consumption as a new theoretical foundation to explore the consumers’ perceptions of ethical food production and consumption practices within luxury gastronomic restaurants. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted a contextualized, qualitative exploration of French luxury dining settings among 35 consumers with different profiles, food cultural backgrounds and gastronomic knowledge. Drawing on Thompson’s analysis framework, the authors captured the narratives beyond the stories told by participants that describe their perceptions and the meanings they assign to ethical food practices in Michelin-starred restaurants. Findings The results illustrate how consumers with different profiles perceive ethical food practices within luxury restaurants. The authors identified three segments: novice, advanced and confirmed according to participants’ acquaintance with luxury gastronomy codes and values. These three profiles served as a framework to examine consumers’ perceptions of ethical food forms – environmental sustainability, food well-being and cultural heritage – within the luxury dining setting. Research limitations/implications The study revealed no one dominant form of ethical food practices as emphasized in prior studies. Rather, there are multiple forms, including functional, hedonic and symbolic values, related to the degree of familiarity and knowledge of consumers in terms of their luxury gastronomic experiences. The findings show that the perception of ethical food practices within luxury restaurants can encompass additional dimensions such as food well-being and cultural preservation and transmission. This information can enrich the restaurant sustainability literature that principally focuses on health, community and the ecological aspects of food ethics in restaurants. Although this study suggests numerous new insights, there are limitations related to focusing on the French food culture. However, these limitations can help us develop other opportunities for future research. Practical implications The findings of this study provide luxury professionals and marketers with key insights into effective strategies to integrate sustainable practices while enhancing the luxury experience. The findings show that to encourage luxury businesses and restaurants to promote sustainable practices, it is necessary to enhance the functional, social, emotional and cultural dimensions of the perceived benefits of offering sustainable luxury experiences and reducing the constraints related to sustainability. Social implications With its focus on the luxury dining settings underpinning the ethical food practices from the perspective of consumers, this research offers novel insights for researchers and luxury professionals interested in ethical and sustainable business practices. Originality/value This research suggests a new way to study sustainability and ethical food production and consumption practices in luxury dining settings – namely, as multiple, culturally embedded perceptions related to three main profiles of luxury gastronomy consumers: novice, advanced and confirmed.

Purpose Previous research on sustainability in the foodservice industry has emphasized its environmental, social and economic dimensions predominantly studied within a Western context or in developed countries. This paper aims to question this positioning by considering the MEA (Middle East and African) context. Second, this paper examines sustainability forms according to the type of restaurant and explains how these forms compare with and contribute to the broader scholarship on sustainability in the service marketing literature and practice. Design/methodology/approach The paper follows a phenomenological perspective and a grounded theory approach. The authors conducted in-depth interviews with 40 owners of different types of restaurants (traditional, modern and fast-food) in the capital city of Lebanon, Beirut. Findings This paper identifies four dimensions that are expressed in different ways depending on the type of restaurant. This paper also found that sustainability in the foodservice industry in the MEA region has some differences and similarities relative to the literature where current studies mainly focus on the Western context. While the most dominant form of sustainability in the MEA context is related to the social dimension implemented by restaurants through philanthropy and community support activities, the less important aspect refers to activities about ecology and environmental protection. Research limitations/implications The research highlights that sustainable activities in the MEA context are shaped by deep-rooted traditions of philanthropic offerings and community-based activities profoundly embedded within the Arab region. Second, the study contributes to current practices and research related to the foodservice literature by emphasizing the dynamics of the change in terms of sustainability perceptions across different kinds of restaurants and how the type of restaurant can affect the adoption and implementation of sustainable activities. The limits of this study are related to its small sample size and the exclusion of psychographic factors, such as age and gender, which can deepen the knowledge of sustainable actions implemented by female and male restaurant owners and people of different age ranges. Social implications With its focus on the foodservice industry in the MEA underpinning restaurateurs’ lack of ecological sustainability, this research shows that nongovernmental organizations could play a vital role in terms of raising awareness about ecological issues and how restaurateurs can be involved in eco-friendly initiatives. Originality/value The paper contributes to the foodservice literature and the emerging research on sustainability in restaurants by presenting an approach based on examining sustainable restaurants in a developing country context. The paper does so by adopting a restaurant owner’s perspective and analyzing three types of restaurants, namely, traditional, modern and fast-food restaurants.

Cet article explore la perception des produits de terroir et locaux a travers une etude qualitative interculturelle effectuee aupres d’un groupe de 30 consommateurs en France et au Quebec. Les resultats mettent en avant cinq dimensions expliquant les perceptions differenciees dans les deux cultures : fonctionnelle, identitaire, resistance, emotionnelle et relationnelle. Au-dela de l’interet managerial pour les producteurs de bien connaitre leurs cibles en identifiant leurs significations culturelles, les resultats de cette etude contribuent a la comprehension des techniques de promotion en adaptant le discours et les offres en matiere de produits de terroir/locaux francais aux caracteristiques des differentes cultures alimentaires au niveau international.

PurposeThe purpose of this research is to examine response strategies and the change in Michelin-starred chefs' practices to adapt to the global pandemic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis that has strongly affected the foodservice sector.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted an exploratory qualitative research that used mixed-method, combining online interviews with 12 French Michelin-starred chefs and archival data. A manual thematic analysis method was used to analyze the data and identify relevant themes following an iterative coding process.FindingsThe findings show that Michelin-starred restaurants implement multilevel response strategies by developing dynamic capabilities while playing a social role through the development of new forms of business practices. The results show that Michelin-starred chefs adopt social bricolage entrepreneurial thinking to deal with the extreme situation and use diverse resources and response strategies to tackle social issues and improve the collective and individual well-being. The authors identified three major response strategies implemented by luxury restaurants: philanthropic activities targeting the well-being of the community, socially responsible business practices to support the foodservice actors and initiatives centered on consumer's food well-being.Research limitations/implicationsThe limits of this study are related to the small sample size and the elimination of psychographic criteria such as age and gender, which can extend our understanding of response strategies implemented by female and male owners or by age range during crises in the foodservice sector. Also, given that France is the country of Haute gastronomy, the conclusions of this study may not be generalizable to other countries where the gastronomic culture might be different.Practical implicationsRestaurants with high-end or luxury positioning must use multilevel – i.e. individual, sector and societal – response strategies to play a social role while sustaining their businesses during times of crisis. These insights seek to provide a roadmap which can be applied to other sectors to assess response strategies driven by various motives, resources and capabilities.Social implicationsThis research contributes to transformative service research literature by providing insights regarding how service providers can rethink their activities during the crises to play an active social role. Also, the findings point to several ways in which service actors can help customers and the community to improve their well-being.Originality/valueTo our knowledge, no prior research examined both the type of response strategies deployed by companies to survive and the importance of playing a social role and developing socially responsible business practices during times of crisis.

Purpose So far, most studies in cultural tourism have looked at visitors in relation to the experience itself. This study aims to bring a broader view on what constitutes the daily environment of younger visitors and how museums could use this knowledge to develop a service delivery that is more adapted to their needs without sacrificing the museums’ integrity and authenticity. As such, this research brings a unique and deeper analysis of young visitor behavior, in relation to arts and cultural practices that could be expanded to other areas of tourism experiences. Design/methodology/approach The present study examines the main art and cultural tourism activities among adolescents. Using 32 in-depth interviews with adolescents between 13 and 18 years of age, this research takes a closer look at their experience and perceptions of art museums and exhibitions. Findings The findings show that adolescents’ perception of arts and exhibitions do not correspond to museum art criteria held by cultural tourism professionals. Based on the key theoretical themes emerging from the empirical investigation, a conceptual framework of adolescents’ attitudes toward arts and exhibitions is now presented to provide insights into the dimensions of adolescents’ art consumption in today’s western consumer society. Figure 1 provides a graphic model that visualizes adolescents’ art consumption experiences and summarizes the main findings and marketing implications in the arts field. Originality/value Based on these findings, new ways of engaging with adolescents in the field of arts are suggested to create new business opportunities for the museum. The findings lean toward the necessity to develop a more youth-centric approach, which differentiates between how adults define art and what adolescents believe art is supposed to be. Thus, the findings demonstrate that adolescents’ art consumption experiences are deeply anchored within the context of their social environment and the value judgments of their peers. The adolescent-centric logic within the arts experiential context is taken into account to underline the gap existing in many current arts marketing strategies that are targeting young visitors – and especially adolescents.

Purpose The purpose of this paper introduces entomophagy as an alternative food consumption (AFC) capable of contributing to food well-being (FWB) among Western consumers. Specifically, it provides a conceptual framework where key factors related to the acceptance and adoption of insects and insects based foods are identified. This paper takes a sociocultural, symbolic and contextual perspective to offer marketers and public policymakers a set of recommendations to promote entomophagy as a sustainable and healthy food practice to help consumers achieve their FWB. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, first, the authors review the literature on entomophagy from its rise to establishment in different food cultures by considering two main perspectives as follows: historical and sociocultural. Second, the authors review the salience of entomophagy as an important AFC capable of addressing sustainability and food health issues. Finally, the authors propose a framework in which the authors define key factors related to the acceptance and adoption of an insects-based diet in Western food cultures. The identification of these factors will help marketing and public policymakers to set up educational programs and strategies to promote entomophagy as a sustainable and healthy food practice within different Western food cultures, and thus, help consumers to achieve their FWB. Findings To identify the key factors influencing the acceptance of entomophagy as AFC, this paper provides a summary of the core motivators characterizing the acceptance and adoption of insects and insect-based foods in Western food cultures. Specifically, the authors identify the key factors influencing the acceptance of entomophagy as food consumption in Western food cultures and based on the extant literature by Batat et al. (2017) the authors provide an entomophagy framework that includes both idiocentric and allocentric factors considering the adoption of insects and insect-based foods in Western food cultures. Table I provides a summary. Social implications The authors believe entomophagy has the potential to generate societal benefits, as its appeal at the social (hunger in the world), environmental (reducing meat consumption and its impact on ecology) and health (less calories and nutritive food) level. Originality/value The research contributes to creating new knowledge that simulates debate among public policy and marketing scholars about entomophagy as a novel food in Western food cultures. The focus on key factors related to its acceptance and adoption of Western food cultures calls for empirical evidence to be tested in the marketplace using possibly different insect categories and other novel foods. Further, the framework should stimulate thinking about ways the authors can change consumers’ negative perceptions of disgusting food. Marketers and policymakers can achieve it by making their practices more efficient in terms of promoting sustainable AFC, as well as with efficient policy initiatives focused on supporting AFC, including the regulation of insect introduction.

Consumer (in)vulnerability is studied via a quasi-ethnographic longitudinal study of adolescents aged 11–15. The study focuses on how adolescents define their vulnerabilities within their adolescent consumption subcultures, the factors enhancing this vulnerability, and the social actors involved in their experience of vulnerability. The findings contribute to consumer vulnerability literature in three ways. First, by adopting an adolescent-centric approach based on an emic perspective, we go beyond the monolithic approach of studying one source of vulnerability at a time seen in present marketing literature. Instead, we introduce a polyadic or multiple simultaneous approaches that can consider risk sources. Second, the findings show that adolescents’ perceptions of consumer vulnerability are anchored within their consumption subcultures. This study introduces the concept that young consumers experience vulnerability in multiple ways, including imposed by adults or by adolescents deliberately engaging in risky behaviors. Third, this research provides ethics policy-makers and scholars with the conceptual framework of adolescent-centric vulnerability, which can help them to develop actions based on both imposed and deliberate sources of vulnerability from the perception of the adolescent.

This paper introduces experiential pleasure of food (EPF) as a journey that involves the enduring cognitive and emotional pleasure consumers gain from savoring the multisensory, communal, and cultural meanings of food experiences. Specifically, our paper extends work by Cornil and Chandon (2016a and 2016b) on epicurean eating pleasure (EEP) and identifies and defines three stages (contemplation, connection, and creation) and its determinants as they lead to consumers' food well-being (Block et al., 2011). EPF (vs. EEP) aims to promote enduring (vs. improved) consumer well-being and explores marketing and public policy implications and future research areas that might help achieve food well-being (FWB) (Block et al., 2011). EPF offers a clear path to connect pleasure and EEP with FWB. Specifically, our conceptualization of EPF will serve scholars, public policymakers, and marketers who are interested in understanding enduring healthy eating through the perspective of food as pleasure rather than as a health deterrent.

Cet article examine comment l’artification (transformation du non-art en art) et les strategies marketing-mix basees sur l’art peuvent aider les marques du luxe a creer des experiences emotionnelles pour leurs clients et a partager leurs valeurs avec eux. Le defi lie a la croissance du marche du luxe et a la numerisation de la societe conduit les maisons du luxe a utiliser l’art pour ameliorer leur caractere unique et exclusif tout en offrant des experiences emotionnelles a leurs clients. La relation entre le luxe et l’art n’est pas nouvelle, mais aujourd’hui les strategies mises en œuvre par les entreprises de luxe sont en train de changer. Cette recherche conceptuelle s’appuie sur une perspective experientielle, a travers laquelle nous explorons les strategies d’artification mises en œuvre par les maisons du luxe pour transformer l’experience client, et ainsi creer des experiences artistiques emotionnelles et importantes qui fidelisent leurs clients et en attirent de nouveaux. Cette recherche defend l’idee selon laquelle les strategies d’artification mises en œuvre a travers une approche marketingmix sont susceptibles d’aider les marques du luxe a creer de la valeur et a marquer leur difference en offrant a leurs clients des experiences uniques a travers le luxe artistique.Classification JEL : M30, M31.

In this chapter, I revise and advance the traditional design thinking process applied to food innovation. The widespread of food experiences and the expected increasing urgency of food problems ask for an innovative approach to create healthy and pleasurable food experiences for consumer well-being. Indeed, today’s food consumption has evolved from the focus on products to a focus on experiences, and design thinking as, nowadays, applied to food does not emphasize enough design experiences according to the different stages of the experiential food journey (Batat et al. 2019) that lead consumers to achieve their food well-being. I argue that the current design thinking as an approach to food innovation and problem-solving does not embed food consumption within the changing experience of consumers and thus has a narrow vision and a limited perspective, which does not focus on the whole food experience and consumer well-being as both a driver and an outcome throughout the experiential food journey.