Page 16 - IIM(V)Issue_10 Feb_V4

RESEARCH @ IIMV

Unveiling customer intentions: exploring factors driving
engagement with hospitality virtual influencers

Nivin Vinoi, Amit Shankar, Ebtesam Abdullah Alzeiby,Pragya
Gupta &Vaishali Agarwal

Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management (ABDC-A)

In the dynamic realm of influencer marketing, hospitality virtual
influencers (HVIs) are emerging as a prominent player. Grounded in
Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) model, this study explores the
factors influencing users’ intention to adhere to HVIs recommendations.
Data were collected from a cohort of 290 participants through an
online crowdsourcing platform. SmartPLS were used to run SEM,

mediation and moderation analysis. Results indicate that the
intention to follow HVIs recommendations is positively affected by
interest fit, perceived credibility, and virtual flow experience. Mimetic
desire mediates the relationship between homophily, virtual flow
experience, and intention to follow recommendations. Moreover,
charisma significantly moderates the relationship between interest
fit, perceived anthropomorphism, and mimetic desire. Furthermore,
parasocial relationships significantly moderate the association
between perceived anthropomorphism and mimetic desire. The study
provides practical insights that are valuable for hospitality brands
to leverage HVIs in their marketing strategies, ultimately enhancing
overall user engagement.

Click here to read the paper.

Implementing enterprise metaverse as a means of
enhancing growth hacking performance: Will adopting
the metaverse be a success in organizations?

Aman Kumar, Amit Shankar, Abhishek Behl , Vijay Pereira ,
Payal Kapoor , Armando Papa

Journal of Business Research (ABDC-A)
This study examines the factors influencing the implementation of the
enterprise metaverse within organisations and aims to define how
this implementation can assist organisations in achieving growth
hacking. The study employed a mixed-methods research design,
utilising structural equation modelling (SEM) and artificial neural
network (ANN) techniques to analyse the framework. The results
show that real-time analytics capability, operational excellence,
industry pressure, and stakeholder pressure are significantly

15 VOL.6/ ISSUE 1, SEP-DEC 2024