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• 2026 Volume 6 Issue 3
  Published: 29 June 2026

    

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  The Construction Mechanism of Intelligent Digital Solutions from the Perspective of User Demand Insights:A Dual Case Study of Daxin and Xiaocheng

  Tian Xuan，Xu Hui，He Hui Yuan

  2026, 6(3): 1-19.

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  As market competition intensifies and user demands become increasingly personalized,companies are transitioning from merely offering products or services to providing digital and intelligent solutions driven by user needs. However, in the context of differentiated and personalized user demands, how businesses can meet these needs through customized digital and intelligent solutions remains insufficiently explained in theory. This paper, from the perspective of user demand insights, conducts a comparative case study of two digital solution providers, Daxin Home and Little Orange Group, to explore the mechanisms and path characteristics in the development of digital and intelligent solutions. The study finds: first , in the context of differentiated and personalized user needs, companies use digital platforms to gather insights into user demands. Companies conducting algorithmic searches based on functional needs show characteristics of accuracy and immediacy , while heuristic searches based on hedonic needs display characteristics of agility and interactivity. Second, depending on the types of user needs, companies adopt differentiated strategies, either design-driven or process-driven, showing either chain-like or loosely coupled path characteristics. Third, digital and intelligent solutions encompass three core elements:“ product+service+platform, ”which exhibit differentiated synergies and symbiotic relationships. This study provides theoretical support and practical insights into how companies can develop digital and intelligent solutions based on different user demand types via digital platforms.
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  A Relationship Marketing Bonding Strategy Centered on Subculture of Consumption: A Longitudinal Single Case Study Based on Pop Mart

  Zhang Chuang，Si Haolun，Sheng Zhenhui，Hao Lingyun

  2026, 6(3): 20-39.

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  With the rise of subcultures of consumption among Generation Z, for both industry and academia, it has become an important question about which corporation leverages these subcultures to establish and manage relationships with consumers. This research conducts a longitudinal single-case study of Pop Mart to explore the implementation process and underlying mechanisms of a relationship marketing bonding strategy centered on subculture of consumption. The research finds that, driven by different relationship marketing objectives, firms have formulated a relationship marketing bonding strategy in three stages: subculture relationship identification, subculture community relationship reinforcement, and subculture ecosystem relationship enhancement. In these contexts, the subculture of consumption functions as a "pivotal cue", "emotional bonds", and "spiritual pillars", respectively. These strategies are achieved through mechanisms of "cue guiding""relational identification" and "cultural identification and innovation". Furthermore, the company's approach to providing value to consumers has progressively shifted from "one-sided" to "co-creation", offering consumers a more diverse range of economic and emotional values. This research identifies the special cultural and cognitive connections of consumer subcultures, revealing their implementation processes and role as a mechanism for executing a relationship marketing bonding strategy centered on the subculture of consumption. It represents a ground-breaking attempt to integrate subcultures of consumption into relationship marketing bonding strategy research, creating a theoretical bridge for dialogue between the two research fields.
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  Internal Attribution vs. External Attribution: The Mixed Effects of Social Density Information in the Digital Intelligence Era

  Huang Rui，Du Jianhao，Xie Xiaodong

  2026, 6(3): 40-57.

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  In the age of digital intelligence, the ease of access to information has prompted retailers to place more emphasis on customer engagement in online networks to build richer consumer experiences. Social density, a crucial atmospheric element of consumer experience, has transcended the boundaries of traditional physical spaces to become an easily retrievable and evaluable information dimension in online environments, profoundly influencing consumer decision-making processes. Based on this, this study aims to deeply analyze how consumers understand and recognize social density in the current era background, and then reveal their potential psychological processing mechanism. According to attribution theory, this research analyzes the online review data through machine learning, and combines two situational experiments to find that social density information and attribution patterns have interactive effects on consumers’ patronage intention. Specifically, high social density (vs. low social density) information increases consumer willingness to patronize when external attribution occurs. When internal attributions or no other informational cues are provided, high social density (vs. low social density) information will reduce consumers’ patronage intention. Perceived prominence mediates this process. These findings not only provide strategic guidance for companies in service processes and communication perspectives, but also expand academic discussions on social density.
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  Matching Social Comparison Advertising Strategies with Social Media Contexts: The Role of Consumers’ Self-Awareness States

  Fei Xianzheng，Wang Haiyan，Li Yaoyue

  2026, 6(3): 58-77.

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  Social comparison advertising is a marketing communication strategy commonly used by enterprises. This study mainly discusses the matching effect between, and the potential mechanism under the advertising strategy and consumers’ different self-awareness states. Four experiments show that: (1) when consumers experience the state of objective self-awareness (OSA), downward (vs. upward) social comparison ads work better by lessening people’s self-threat perception; (2) when consumers experience the state of subjective self-awareness (SSA), upward (vs. downward) social comparison ads produce better advertising effects by stimulating people’s greater motivation for self-improvement. The current research advances knowledge of how consumers in different self-awareness states respond to social comparison advertising and carries important implications for marketers and policymakers to optimize advertising strategies.
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  Unethical Pro-organizational Behavior of Manufacturers’ Salespeople in Marketing Channels: Multi-level Determinants and Effect on Distributors’ Trust

  Zhang Chuang，Liu Mengxiao

  2026, 6(3): 78-98.

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  In marketing channels, the unethical pro-organizational behavior of manufacturers’ salespeople can negatively impact channel partners and even the entire channel system. However, research on the antecedents and consequences of such behavior remains limited. Drawing on the individual ethical decision-making model and attribution theory, this study constructs a conceptual model to examine the antecedents of unethical pro-organizational behavior among manufacturers’ salespeople and its impact on distributors’ trust. We empirically tested the hypotheses by collecting primary survey data from matched triads of manufacturer sales managers, manufacturer salespersons, and distributor managers. This study finds that deontological factors-manufacturer ethical values and relational norms-can mitigate unethical pro-organizational behavior, while teleological factors-manufacturer outcome control and relative dependence-respectively promote and inhibit such behavior. Such unethical behavior by salespeople reduces distributors’ trust in the manufacturer, and distributors’ attribution moderates this negative effect. Finally, this study concludes with an analysis of the theoretical significance of the research and its practical implications for channel management practices.
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  Multimarket Contact and Consumer Satisfaction: The Moderating Role of Strategic Distance

  Deng Xinming，Tan Yong，Qin Yi，Cui Xiaomin，Long Xianyi，Jiang Yuanling

  2026, 6(3): 99-116.

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  This study focuses on star-rated chain hotels in China as a research example to establish a critical linkage between corporate dynamic competition and consumer-side responses. It examines the impact of multimarket contact on consumer satisfaction, along with the moderating effects of strategic distances, specifically capacity, quality, and location distances. The primary findings reveal that: first, multimarket contact between corporates reduces consumer satisfaction; second, the congruence of capacity distance attenuates this negative relationship; third, differentiation in quality and location distances mitigates the adverse association between multimarket contact and consumer satisfaction; fourth, the dispersion of capacity distance, quality distance, and location distance collectively weakens the negative correlation between multimarket contact and consumer satisfaction. These findings contribute to strategic management literature by elucidating the consumer-facing implications of competitive dynamics in service industries.
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  Research on the Influence of Luck Cues on Consumer Stickiness in Live Streaming

  Zhao Jianbin，Deng Junlong

  2026, 6(3): 117-134.

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  As an important situational cue, luck cue has not been fully explored in the current research on live marketing, especially the research on its impact on consumer behavior is still insufficient. Based on the mood-consistent effects theory and the elaboration likelihood model, this paper constructs a research model on the influence of luck cues on consumer stickiness in live streaming rooms, and proposes three research hypotheses, which are verified by three experiments. The results show that luck cues have a positive impact on the customer stickiness of live stream, that is, when consumers are stimulated by luck cues, the stickiness of live stream is higher. Positive emotions and trust play a continuous mediating role between luck cues and consumer stickiness. Anchor type (corporate anchor vs. celebrity anchor) plays a moderating role in the influence of luck cues on consumer engagement. The research results enrich the theory of luck cues and consumer stickiness, and provide guiding practical suggestions for live marketing.
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  Breaking the Paradox of Online Customization: A Study on the Role of Artificial Intelligence Recommendation Systems

  Ran Yaling，Chu Tianshu，Fu Xiaorong

  2026, 6(3): 135-156.

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  Firms increasingly leverage product customization to bolster consumer satisfaction. However, this strategic pursuit frequently encounters a trade-off between process satisfaction and outcome satisfaction—a phenomenon conceptualized as the “customization paradox”. This paradox creates a strategic dilemma for manufacturers when determining optimal customization strategies. This study constructs a conceptual model integrating online customization strategies (by-attribute vs. by-alternative) and consumer satisfaction to empirically validate the existence of this paradox. Furthermore, the research explores the mitigating role of Artificial Intelligence Recommendation Systems (AIRS) in alleviating the deleterious effects of the paradox. Utilizing a multi-method approach comprising one natural experiment and two scenario-based experiments, the findings reveal that the customization paradox is prevalent across both customization strategies. Crucially, AIRS significantly mitigate the strategic dilemma, with intelligent recommendations exhibiting superior efficacy compared to virtual assistant recommendations. Additionally, the study identifies distinct variations in the effectiveness of virtual expert versus virtual friend recommendation personas in addressing the paradox. By deconstructing the mechanisms of the customization paradox and identifying actionable pathways for resolution, this research provides robust theoretical insights and practical frameworks for online vendors to optimize the design of customization interfaces.