Contactless marketing management of fashion brands in the digital age

The proliferation of digital technologies and the new era of social distancing have created a flood of opportunities, thereby allowing customers to experience services without interacting with them in person. To provide social distancing services, brands and retailers must first understand how their customers perceive them. This study aims to examine the effects of contactless marketing efforts on satisfaction and revisit intention. An online survey of 182 Korean consumers was conducted when the government implemented social distancing measures. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and an analysis of variance (ANOVA). The researchers developed a model to understand the emerging phenomenon of contactless marketing better and to fill the gap in the available literature. The findings revealed five perceptions of contactless marketing efforts among fashion brands: entertainment, interaction, trendiness, customization, and visual engagement. The benefits of contactless marketing efforts in terms of customer satisfaction and revisit intention have been established. Furthermore, perceived contactless marketing efforts had a greater effect on satisfaction and revisit intention for the identified enjoyment-seeking group than for the identified information-seeking group. These findings can assist researchers in gaining theoretical insights as well as practitioners in managing coherent marketing activities in the digital age.