Bengaluru: The research paper of Dr Preeti Krishnan Lyndem, Visiting Faculty, Marketing area, IIM Bangalore, with three co-authors from the Otago University, New Zealand, has been awarded the ‘Best Paper in Retailing & Distribution Track’ at the ANZMAC (Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy) 2016 Conference, which was held at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand, between 5 and 7 December 2016.

The Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy aims to provide an organization for educators and practitioners interested in marketing theory and research. This year’s conference theme was ‘Marketing in a Post-Disciplinary Era’.

The ANZMAC 2016 conference attracted 413 competitive paper submissions, which resulted in 301 paper presentations in 16 tracks. Participants came from 28 different countries. These papers underwent a formal double-blind review process; all the papers which have passed the competitive review process were accepted for presentation at ANZMAC 2016.

The title of Professor Lyndem’s paper is ‘Beware of Strangers…Unless You’re Looking at Making Connections for Shopping Tips’. The current study examines how real time customer-to-customer (stranger) interactions (C2C) influence a customer’s overall behaviour in the retail context. The research implements a mixed method approach: eight in-depth interviews with sales assistants working in popular clothing retail stores, followed by two focus groups consisting of female customers, ages – 19 to 25 years and 40 years and above, and lastly, a survey with 207 female participants across New Zealand. The findings reveal that customers turn to other customers (strangers) for social support and reassurance with their product choices and purchase-related decisions.

In addition, the research paper also found that real-time C2C (stranger) interaction varied as a function of a customer’s age. In particular, older customers relied on the opinions of other customers (strangers) more so than did younger customers. Professor Lyndem’s research areas are in Brand Management, Consumer Behaviour, Service Failure Contexts, Discrete Emotions, and Cross-Cultural Dynamics. Her previous research has been published in leading national and international journals.