Select Research
International Journal of Consumer Studies
Virtual reality: A review and a new framework for integrated adoption
Omar H. Fares, Joseph Aversa, Seung Hwan (Mark) Lee, Jenna Jacobson
Scholarly research on virtual reality (VR) is characterized by a dynamic tension between VR's potential and the challenges impeding its adoption. Grounded in a mixed-methods systematic review, this research examines the drivers influencing consumer VR adoption by rigorously combining qualitative and quantitative analyses of 158 scholarly articles ranging from 1996 to 2023. Based on an extensive analysis of VR adoption literature, we introduce the Virtual Reality Integrated Adoption Framework (VRIAF), which is the first mixed-methods systematic review focusing exclusively on VR adoption. This empirically substantiated model integrates key determinants of VR adoption such as consumer attitudes, perceived enjoyment, ease of use, social influences, and previous user experiences. The research identifies four pivotal themes through qualitative exploration, further elucidated by quantitative meta-analyses and weight analyses. These themes encompass the user experience in VR environments, the role of VR in construction and design, the immersive attributes of VR technologies, and the ongoing technological advancements influencing adoption patterns. This research contributes significantly to the theoretical understanding of VR adoption and provides practical insights for VR professionals. By delineating future research directions, the study bridges the gap between theoretical exploration and practical application, offering a valuable resource for both scholars and practitioners in the field of VR.
Journal of Marketing Analytics
The digital divide: psychographic segmentation in the Canadian banking context
Omar H. Fares, Joseph Aversa, Seung Hwan (Mark) Lee
In this research, the authors conduct a psychographic segmentation analysis within the Canadian banking context to identify segments at risk of marginalization during the digital banking transition. Utilizing a survey, the authors reveal three distinct consumer groups—visionaries, skeptics, and conservatives—each defined by unique psychographic traits influencing their digital banking engagement. Our findings provide actionable insights for bank marketers, enabling them to develop targeted strategies that address these vulnerable segments’ specific needs, promoting inclusivity and enhancing customer loyalty. By shifting the focus from solely demographic and socioeconomic factors to psychographic attributes, this study offers a deeper understanding of the barriers consumers face in adopting digital banking solutions. This research enriches the marketing analytics literature by emphasizing the crucial role of psychographic segmentation in understanding consumer behaviour, particularly within the digital banking landscape. It assists marketers in navigating evolving market dynamics, adapting to changing conditions, and responding effectively to new competitors, ensuring that no consumer is left behind in the digital transformation of banking services in Canada.
Journal of Higher Education Theory & Practice
Remote Work Integrated Learning (RWIL) Field Placement in Retail Management
Juan Marcelo Gomez and Omar H. Fares
Integrative projects have gained recognition in higher education institutions and the business community by providing valuable experience to students through immersive practice, bridging the gap between education and the business profession. This study provides a detailed analysis of students’ experiences in Remote Work Integrated Learning (RWIL) - field placement within the business area of retail management. Given that the study occurs during the COVID-19 pandemic, how remote working supports or hinders the WIL experience is investigated. The findings are extended to propose a framework for the practical implementation of RWIL design. This study offers new perspectives for higher-education professionals, specificity in retail management, and novelty of the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count technique for sentiment analysis.
IGI Book Chapter - Revolutionizing the Service Industry With OpenAI Models
Consumers' Drivers of Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (GPT) Conversational Bot Adoption
Omar H. Fares, Queenie Zhu, Seung Hwan (Mark) Lee, and Joseph Aversa
This chapter examines the relationship between society and artificial intelligence (AI), emphasizing the factors driving consumer adoption of AI conversational bots. The authors examine how societal norms, past experiences, and trust in technology influence the acceptance and usage of generative-pre trained transformer (GPT) bots. They provide a theoretical framework, integrating key concepts from social influence and technology acceptance theory, to understand the complex dynamics of GPT bot adoption. Conducting a survey, they analyze data from 412 participants in North America to test various hypotheses. The findings broadly support the proposed model, highlighting the significant roles of social norms, word of mouth, and trust in shaping consumer behaviour towards AI conversational bots. However, an intriguing exception is found in the lack of a direct relationship between behavioural intention and actual technology usage, pointing to the need for further investigation into the factors that bridge the gap between the intention to use and the actual use of AI technologies in everyday contexts.
Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management (JFMM)
Social media fashion influencer eWOM communications: understanding the trajectory of sustainable fashion conversations on YouTube fashion haul videos
Shelley Haines, Omar H. Fares, Myuri Mohan, and Seung Hwan (Mark) Lee
Purpose This study aims to examine YouTube comments relevant to sustainable fashion posted on fashion haul videos over the past decade (2011–2021). It is guided by two research questions: (1) How have sustainable fashion-related comments posted on YouTube fashion haul videos changed over time? and (2) What themes are relevant to sustainable fashion in the comments posted on fashion haul videos? Design/methodology/approach A data set of comments from 110 fashion haul videos posted on YouTube was refined to only include comments with keywords related to sustainable fashion. Leximancer, a machine learning technique, was employed to identify concepts within the data and co-occurrences between concepts. Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count software was employed to assess the prevalence of concepts and identify sentiment over time. Findings Over the decade, the authors identified increased comments and conversations relevant to sustainable fashion. For instance, conversations surrounding sustainable fashion were linked to “waste” and “addicted” between 2011 and 2013, which evolved to include “environment” and “clothes” between 2014 and 2016, to “buy” and “workers” between 2017 and 2019 and “sustainable” between 2020 and 2021, demonstrating the changes in conversation topics over time. Practical implications With increasing engagement from YouTube viewers on sustainable fashion, retail-affiliated content that promotes sustainable fashion is proposed as one approach to engage viewers and promote sustainable practices in the fashion industry, whereby content creators can partner with retailers to feature products and educate viewers on the benefits of sustainable fashion. Originality/value The findings suggest that consumers are becoming more aware of and responsive to sustainable fashion. The originality of this research stems from identifying the source of this interest.
Computers in Human Behavior
Defining digital fashion: Reshaping the field via a systematic review
Eunsoo Baek, Shelley Haines, Omar H. Fares, ZhiHong Huang, Yuwei Huang and Seung Hwan (Mark) Lee
The field of digital fashion is rapidly evolving, yet what constitutes digital fashion, and how it should be defined has not been firmly established. This study aims to conceptualize and define digital fashion and its components (themes). Applying an inductive approach, we initially identified 10 keywords linked to digital fashion via a Twitter analysis. Then, a systematic literature review was conducted (n = 116 articles). Six themes related to digital fashion were identified: design, consumer, virtual, body, printing, and supply. Themes include topics relating to the advancement of digital technologies in the fashion design process, innovation to enhance consumer experiences, and improvements to the value chain. Inspired by the six themes, we define digital fashion as “the virtual creation, production, and representation of one's identity via computer-generated design.” An overview of each theme and its contribution to the field of digital fashion is discussed. Future research developments to extend this domain are considered.
Journal of Financial Services Marketing (JFSM)
Utilization of artificial intelligence in the banking sector: a systematic literature review
Omar H. Fares, Irfan Butt, and Seung Hwan (Mark) Lee (2022)
This study provides a holistic and systematic review of the literature on the utilization of artificial intelligence (AI) in the banking sector since 2005. In this study, the authors examined 44 articles through a systematic literature review approach and conducted a thematic and content analysis on them. This review identifies research themes demonstrating the utilization of AI in banking, develops and classifies sub-themes of past research, and uses thematic findings coupled with prior research to propose an AI banking service framework that bridges the gap between academic research and industry knowledge. The findings demonstrate how the literature on AI and banking extends to three key areas of research: Strategy, Process, and Customer. These findings may benefit marketers and decision-makers in the banking sector to formulate strategic decisions regarding the utilization and optimization of value from AI technologies in the banking sector. This study also provides opportunities for future research.
Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, 1-22
Essential item purchases during COVID-19: A cluster analysis of psychographic traits
Ng, P., Quach, X., Fares, O. H., Mohan, M., & Lee, S. H. (2022).
This research seeks to profile consumer segments formed during the COVID-19 pandemic via a set of psychographic consumption traits: Narcissism, Psychological Entitlement, Status Consumption, Fear of Embarrassment, and Fear of Missing Out. Based on a cluster analysis of 281 consumers, the data generated four distinct groups: Egalitarians, Agentic Egoists, Communal Egoists, and Conformists. Further, we compared the segments in their acquisition behavior as it pertains to importance of purchase, quantity of purchase, sharing of purchase, and willingness to pay for essential items. Our results showed that each cluster was associated with a unique set of consumer preferences. For instance, Egalitarians placed less importance on medical items. Conformists placed greater importance on acquiring disposable masks than others. Communal Egoists were interested in food-related items such as bottled waters and snacks. Agentic Egoists reported that they would spend more money on cold/cough medicines than Egalitarians and Conformists. Overall, our findings provide key insights and recommendations to retail managers. Some limitations include our sampling approach (i.e. US consumers) and determining clusters based on select psychographic traits. We acknowledge that there are other characteristics that can differentially influence consumers’ acquisition behavior during the pandemic.
Select Conferences
Accepted at the American Collegiate of Retailing Association-ACRA, Virtual
Blockchain EV Payment Systems: A Systematic Literature Review in Retail Energy Trading
Juan Marcelo Gómez, Quennie Zhu, Omar H. Fares
Accepted at the American Collegiate of Retailing Association-ACRA, New Orleans, USA
Let’s Eat In, Not Out: A Psychographic Segmentation on the Behaviours Observed in Mobile Food Ordering App (MFOA) Tipping Culture
Myuri Mohan, Seung Hwan Mark Lee, Omar H. Fares
Accepted at the Administrative Science Association of Canada-ASAC, Halifax, Canada
Consumers’ involvement with the Metaverse
Omar H. Fares, Seung Hwan (Mark) Lee, and Myuri Mohan
Accepted at the Administrative Science Association of Canada-ASAC, Halifax, Canada
Students Experiences from Work Integrated Learning (WIL) Field Placement in Retail Management - Leading Retail Organizations
Juan Marcelo Gómez, Omar H. Fares
Presented at the Korea Distribution Association, Seoul, South Korea. *Best paper award*
What is digital fashion? Defining Digital Fashion via Systematic Literature Review
Eunsoo Baek, Omar H. Fares, Shelley Haines, ZhiHong Huang, Yvette Hong, and Seung Hwan (Mark) Lee. (April 2022)
Accepted at the American Collegiate of Retailing Association-ACRA, New Orleans, USA
Systematic Literature Review of Slow Fashion: Looking Back to Look Forward
Nayeema Ahmed, Seung Hwan (Mark) Lee, Irfan Butt and Omar H. Fares (2022)
Accepted at the American Collegiate of Retailing Association-ACRA, New Orleans, USA
Psychographic Segmentation of Retail Banking Customers: A Cluster Analysis
Omar H. Fares and Seung Hwan Mark Lee (2022)
Accepted at the American Collegiate of Retailing Association-ACRA, New Orleans, USA
Retail Student Perceptions of Benefit and Challenges of Peer E-Mentoring Programs
Frances Gunn, Tony Hernandez, Omar H. Fares and Janice Rudkowski (2022)
Accepted at the American Collegiate of Retailing Association-ACRA, New Orleans, USA
Shopify Store Hacker Challenge: Using International Charrettes in Retail Education
Frances Gunn, Janice Rudkowski, Tony Hernandez, Omar H. Fares, Therese Kirrane, Leah Dagg and Valerie van Acquoij (2022)
Accepted at the American Collegiate of Retailing Association-ACRA, New Orleans, USA
Segmenting Consumers in the Cosmetics Industry: A View on Racial Inclusivity
Myuri Mohan, Seung Hwan Mark Lee, and Omar H. Fares
Accepted at the American Collegiate of Retailing Association-ACRA, New Orleans, USA
*Best Track paper: Digitalization in Retailing and New Retailing
Blockchain in the Food Industry: Integrating Machine Learning in a Systematic Literature Review
Juan Marcelo Gómez, Omar H. Fares, Seung Hwan Mark Lee and Myuri Mohan (2022)
Presented at American Collegiate of Retailing Association-ACRA, Virtual conference
The Panic Buying Surge of Essential Items during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Segmentation Analysis
Xuan Quach, Pearlyn Ng, Omar H. Fares and Seung Hwan Mark Lee (2021)
Invited Presentations
Getting started with Meta analysis
Toronto Metropolitan University, Masters of Science in Management, Research Methods I, Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto, Ontario, 2022.
Outsourcing of client financial services in a large retail/distribution firm
Humber College, Supply Chain Postgraduate program, International Graduate School, Toronto, Ontario, 2022.
Utilization of Artificial Intelligence in the Banking Sector: A Systematic Literature Review
Toronto Metropolitan University, Marketing Department Research Brown Bag, Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto, Ontario, 2022.
Psychographic Segmentation of Retail Banking Customers: A Cluster Analysis
Toronto Metropolitan University, Retail Department Research Brown Bag, Ted Rogers School of Management, Toronto, Ontario, 2022.