This chapter provides a roadmap for the study of word-of-mouth (WOM) in marketing and consumer behavior. First, it presents a basic model of WOM and foreshadows the mixed method approach that is used frequently to study WOM. Second, it summarizes recent literature in WOM, focusing on the past five years and highlighting representative papers that use mixed methods. Third, it discusses key trends in the literature and identifies pathways for future research.

This chapter turns its attention to the underlying infrastructure that constitutes the material foundation of the global TV system. Technology is the application of science and knowledge to accomplish a task inside a domain, while infrastructure consists of the material elements that actualise it: it is the buildings, cables, servers, switches, and routers needed to transport data packets from point A to point B; it is the firms, machinery, engineers, and technicians who design, build, update, and repair these material components. This chapter examines the cloud infrastructure that sustains streaming, focusing on two key components: undersea cable networks and data centres. The final section describes the contours of the video ecosystem that technology and infrastructure have created, and within which television operates today.

People often engage in shared consumption experiences with other people, including romantic partners, friends, family, coworkers, neighbors, and acquaintances. Although the field of consumer psychology has traditionally focused on the perspective of an individual consumer, researchers are increasingly recognizing the importance and relevance of studying shared consumption (also known as joint consumption, dyadic consumption, or group consumption). In this chapter, we first discuss common methodological paradigms for studying shared consumption, given that studying shared consumption poses unique methodological challenges relative to studying solitary consumption. We then discuss prior research on shared consumption, organizing our review around the potential benefits and potential costs involved in shared consumption as compared to solitary consumption. Finally, we delineate four main areas for future research on shared consumption that we view as particularly promising.

Two shifts are transforming television: digitisation and globalisation. Internet-based video delivery, the uptake of cloud computing in the industry, mobile video consumption, and the rise of streaming platforms, are all phenomena connected to the process of digitisation. Internet protocol (IP)–based video transport is powering the transition from broadcasting to streaming, thereby changing the way content is distributed and accessed. The use of cloud computing is growing fast because it delivers an unprecedented amount of computing power and capacity to media firms at a fraction of the infrastructure costs (Chapters 3, 4, and 8). Video is increasingly accessed via mobile devices, and streaming is among the most popular activities for mobile users (Chapter 6). The digital shift is evolving business models. Platforms dominate television’s streaming age the way networks prevailed in the broadcasting era (Chapters 3 and 4). Media conglomerates are edging towards a direct-to-consumer (DCT) business model, revolutionising the way content rights are distributed and monetised (Chapters 3 and 9).

This chapter examines the policy issues that influence the shape and contours of the TV GVC. As with any trading system, the global TV industry is based on a set of social and political values that are predominantly those of open societies and market economies. These values are not universal and the nature and amount of participation of a country into the TV GVC depends on its elites’ degree of adherence to such values. Thus, the first section devotes special attention to China, which has largely shut its doors to the global TV industry. The second section examines the policy alternatives that exist for those countries that wish to embark on the path of GVC participation and economic upgrading. The chapter argues that such a policy has three key prongs: it must take into account the globalised nature of the TV industry and support firms that are best positioned to perform in the global marketplace, harness the benefits of trade, and incentivise creativity through regulation.

This chapter reviews the emerging literature on consumer interactions with artificial intelligence (AI) in marketing. Over the past decade, the rapid proliferation of AI technology has dramatically altered how businesses deliver products and services to consumers, giving rise to a groundswell of research. Consumer research has revealed important differences in attitudes and behaviors resulting from AI interactions as compared to human to human interactions. First, the chapter reviews domains where AI interactions are preferred as compared to domains where consumers are more averse to AI interactions. Next, the chapter identifies key process mechanisms that have been identified linking AI with key consumer outcomes. The chapter concludes with the enumeration of predictions about future directions for AI research in consumer behavior and marketing.

This chapter applies the GVC framework in order to progress our understanding of the global TV system. Among the drivers that are changing the TV industry, three stand out: digitisation, consolidation, and vertical disintegration (also known as de-verticalisation). While the first two trends have long been identified as driving forces, the same cannot be said about the third. The phenomenon of segmentation is less known and associated with the formation of GVCs. The chapter expands on its prevalence in television and explain its role in globalising the industry. The final section provides an introductory outline of the TV GVC and its segments.

The present chapter proposes an organizing framework for understanding the effects of political ideology on consumer behavior. We first summarize how political ideology is conceptualized and operationalized in the literature. We then describe three levels at which political ideology shapes consumption decisions. At the individual level, the political ideology of consumers has wide-ranging effects on their acquisition, consumption, and divestment decisions. At the company level, the political ideology of companies with which consumers interact influences corporate political actions (such as lobbying) and activism (such as taking a stand on sociopolitical issues and events), with tangible implications for consumer behavior and company outcomes. At the system level, the political ideology of systems, reflected in the media, cultural, policy, and social environments that consumers and scholars navigate, has far-ranging implications for consumer decision-making, well-being, and even the body of knowledge generated on the topic of political ideology.

This chapter covers the value-adding segments of television GVC’s media delivery phase. Media delivery begins when the final production master has been approved and the programme is ready to be distributed to audiences via various channels and platforms. The segments are: publication, transmission, and reception. The chapter argues that broadcasters had been in charge of the full transmission process of tasks deemed core to their business. Today, media delivery is externalised to the market and devolved to a network of suppliers that collaborate along the value chain. While some suppliers work solely for the media and entertainment sector, some are no ordinary firm, but tech giants that have developed deep global capabilities and can leverage an unprecedented infrastructure to deliver content to and from (almost) any location in the world. They gain further leverage by being cross-sectoral, serving clients across multiple industries. The chapter identifies these global (or transnational first-tier suppliers) and analyses their key features.