Transhumanism and Engagement-Facilitating Technologies in Society
Journal of Promotion Management ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/wjpm20 Transhumanism and Engagement-Facilitating Technologies in Society João Guerreiro, Sandra Maria Correia Loureiro, Jaime Romero, Omar Itani & Sara Eloy To cite this article: João Guerreiro, Sandra Maria Correia Loureiro, Jaime Romero, Omar Itani & Sara Eloy (2021): Transhumanism and Engagement-Facilitating Technologies in Society, Journal of Promotion Management, DOI: 10.1080/10496491.2021.2009615 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/10496491.2021.2009615 Published online: 29 Nov 2021 Submit your article to this journal Article views: 17 View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=wjpm20 JOURNAL OF PROMOTION MANAGEMENT https://doi.org/10.1080/10496491.2021.2009615 Transhumanism and Engagement-Facilitating Technologies in Society Jo~ao Guerreiroa, Sandra Maria Correia Loureirob Omar Itanid , and Sara Eloye , Jaime Romeroc , a ISCTE-Instituto Universitario de Lisboa and Business Research Unit (BRU-IUL), Lisboa, Portugal; ISCTE-Instituto Universitario de Lisboa and Business Research Unit (BRU-IUL), Socius, Lisboa, Portugal; cUniversidad Autonoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain; dLebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon; eISCTE-Instituto Universitario de Lisboa and ISTAR, Lisboa, Portugal b ABSTRACT KEYWORDS Transhumanism is a movement that explores the possibilities that arise from integrating technology in the human body Neurostimulators and smart prosthetics are some of the technologies that may soon change the way Humans interact with their surrounding environment and enhance their well-being The current paper presents a framework for stakeholder wellbeing through transhumanism and engagement-facilitating technologies on four major blocks, namely: reality-virtuality continuum as stimuli, from stimuli to adoption of transhumanism at individual level, stakeholder engagement and technologies at firm level and stakeholder well-being and technologies Finally, we propose a future research agenda for exploring such changes in society transhumanism; engagement-facilitating technologies; reality-virtuality continuum; stakeholder engagement; stakeholder well-being Introduction Engagement-facilitating technologies and how they may affect stakeholder well-being are topics of growing interest in marketing and business (e.g., Burroughs & Burroughs, 2012; Callaghan, 2018; Diener et al., 1999; Huang & Rust, 2017) The use of advanced technology such as the use of neurostimulators and neuroprosthetics to improve the human body is increasing rapidly The Global Neuroprosthetics market is projected to rise to $10.5 billion by 2023, and Neurostimulation devices will have an expected $5 billion worth of market by 2024 (Statista, 2019) Although such advances are still growing and some of them are currently under research development, there are some commercial applications being tried - particularly in the case of medical research – that could soon change the way human beings engage with technology (Abbot, 2019; Edwards et al., 2017) Adopting the lens of transformative service research (hereafter, TSR), Ostrom et al CONTACT Sandra Maria Correia Loureiro sandramloureiro@netcabo.pt Lisboa and Business Research Unit (BRU-IUL), 1649-026 Lisboa, Portugal ß 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISCTE-Instituto Universitario de J GUERREIRO ET AL (2010) clearly express that improving well-being through technologies requires every involved partner to be engaged in the co-creation of such improvement (Brodie et al., 2013; Harmeling et al., 2017; Hollebeek, 2011a; Vivek et al., 2012) Given such promising technological advances, the current paper explores the following question: how can emerging technologies contribute to transhumanism, stakeholder engagement and well-being? In the current paper we (i) present a framework for stakeholder well-being through transhumanism and engagement-facilitating technologies and (ii) propose a future research agenda on the blocks of such framework, namely technologies (from a perspective of a reality-virtuality continuum), transhumanism, stakeholder engagement and stakeholder well-being Procedure for searching relevant literature In order to present a framework, a first analysis of the existing literature was conducted Our comprehensive search for relevant literature focused on three main areas of research that we grounded our proposed framework on: transhumanism, engagement, well-being and technology (see Figure 1) Three different queries are conducted in Web of Science (WoS) between 1900 and 2019 After the initial extraction, articles that are not relevant to the current topic were eliminated and a further analysis lead to the inclusion of relevant papers cited in the core articles First, we focus on literature pertaining to “transhumanism and technology” A total of 127 articles were extracted Most of them were found in areas related to Philosophy (23.58%) and Religion (21.95%) In fact, so far, most research has been conducted in studying the implications of a posthuman society – a society in which humans extend life through the use of technology - from a more philosophical point of view For example, the Figure Process for selecting the final papers JOURNAL OF PROMOTION MANAGEMENT most cited work by Bostrom (2005) addresses the fears of the post-human society and how such fears can be overcome in the future if the sense of moral status (dignity) is shared between both humans and post-humans The most relevant journals to this topic are the Journal of Medicine and Philosophy and Futures A second stream of research focuses on engagement and technology Our search for relevant literature is conducted by querying WoS about three areas of engagement research that together group “stakeholder engagement” that we use as a broader term of engagement as compared to “customer engagement” and “employee engagement” which are more specific in approach The search is also complemented with the term “technology” and focused on business and management articles From a total of 127 articles on the link between stakeholder engagement and technology, Sashi (2012) is the most cited paper in which the author discusses how technology has influenced customer engagement and buyer-seller relationships The most relevant journals in this topic are Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Computers in Human Behavior, and Academy of Management Review Finally, our set of research topics considered are expanded to address studies focused on the impact of technology on well-being Therefore, articles addressing the terms (“well-being” or “well-being”) and “technology” in business and management were extracted from WoS Only 136 papers meet the criteria for analysis, being the most cited paper, Ostrom et al (2010) article where the authors put forward a set of research priorities that included improving well-being through TSR and leveraging technology to advance service Such seminal research article has opened the way for further discussions on the impact of technology for well-being The most relevant journal in this topic is the Social Indicators Research Figure shows the process for selecting the final core papers for (i) transhumanism and technology (ii) stakeholder engagement, customer engagement, employee engagement and technology and (iii) well-being and technology Theoretical framework Using the aforementioned literature, the proposed framework for stakeholder well-being through transhumanism and engagement-facilitating technologies (see Figure 2) is composed of four major blocks All four major blocks are detailed in the following sections From the left to the right, the first block represents the what we define as Reality-Virtuality Continuum Expanded (RVCE) stimuli This block explores all sorts of technological stimuli and how they affect a person’s everyday life, which J GUERREIRO ET AL Figure Theoretical framework can include both real world experiences, more immersive virtual experiences, and biotechnologies The RVCE represents a process of technological evolution where human and non-human elements gradually integrate to enhance greatly human intellect and physiology (transhumanism) This process evolves to societies where human beings, robots and hybrids (half humans and half technological beings, which could be both organic and inorganic elements) may co-exist The second block describes the process by which a person may develop an acceptance of transhumanism, culminating in the individual’s adoption of the technology The third block refers to the engagement of stakeholders at the firm level Driven by the adoption of the principles of transhumanism among individuals, this opportunity for exchange of information will lead to the co-creation and continuous improvement of new products/services/experiences, keeping stakeholders connected, engaged, and striving for better ecosystems We argue that well-being will be more intense as people in society embrace the concept of transhumanism (fourth block) Figure presents the theoretical framework First block: Reality-virtuality continuum as stimuli Milgram et al (1995) original concept of Reality-Virtuality Continuum (RVC) suggests that Real Environment and the Virtual Reality are at the opposite ends of a reality spectrum, while other types of virtual combinations are in the middle along with a large class of Mixed Reality (MR) In the RVC, a virtual reality (VR) environment is a completely synthetic world JOURNAL OF PROMOTION MANAGEMENT that may or may not mimic the real world in which participant are immersed (Milgram et al., 1994); while in artificial reality (AR), the observer sees the real world alongside the virtual objects overlaid on the real world, usually by wearing an in-between device (e.g., transparent glasses, a smartphone, or a tablet) (Bimber & Raskar, 2005; Feng & Mueller, 2019) Although the most immersive condition of the RVC is VR, today only sight and hearing senses are controlled in the virtual environment while, touch, smell and taste are still under the realms of the real environment Despite those current technological limitations, research shows that using a multisensory approach provides a more realistic and engaging experience (Martins et al., 2017) Thereby, all the five senses may allow companies to replicate a real environment much more accurately or even create a completely different scenario in which consumers may have a high telepresence feeling There has been a growing interest in the use of new technology to enhance human capabilities using neuro-stimulators and neural implants both in terms of noninvasive and invasive techniques of enhancement Just as an example, regarding noninvasive techniques, research has shown that memory may be enhanced using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) (Wang et al., 2014), and that repetitive TMS may help people change their individual emotional traits and focus their moral judgments more on consequences and not so much on others’ mental states (Young et al., 2010) In terms of invasive techniques, brain-computer interfaces (BCI) through the use of neuro-implants have recently been used to help people interact with computers to enhance their individual capabilities (Martınez-Cagigal et al., 2019) Such systems are being tested to reduce disabling symptoms of diseases such as Parkinson (Saniotis et al., 2018) or to allow people to perform synchronized tasks just by sharing brain waves using brain-to-brain interfaces (BBI) (Maksimenko et al., 2018) Such post-biological evolution is poised to ignite a change in the humankind that may extend not only memory, but life itself (Cirkovi c, 2018) in what the literature defines as a post-human reality In the current paper we suggest that life will evolve to exist between the real environment with which people will continue to interact between a more in-depth virtual environment (post-human reality) that may be in control of our five senses through the use of neuro-stimulators and extended prosthetics For example, we may have the opportunity to visit the calmness of the Red Sea and have an experience of diving into a Second World War ship by immerging into a VR experiment Yet, in the future, such immersion will not only be limited to controlling our sight and hearing, but we could also trick the brain to experience a wet-like experience under the water 6 J GUERREIRO ET AL We propose that much like what Milgram et al (1995) suggested, people will have the possibility to adopt more or less immersive environments depending on their need to be more or less in contact with reality However, we extend the original RV continuum to include a post-human reality that has specific characteristics such as the possibility of cognitive enhancement that triggers higher performance, modified individual traits and less physical and mental limitations, which may increase life expectancy and increase human well-being (e.g., Goodnight, 2019; Hopkins & Fiser, 2017) These neural enhancement technologies, although still highly debated for their ethical implications (Vaccari, 2019), may extend the human capabilities beyond average and bring transhumanism ideals to life Second block: From stimuli to adoption of transhumanism: Individual level Transhumanism may be defined as the movement that “understands and evaluates the opportunities for enhancing the human condition and the human organism opened up by the advancement of technology” (Bostrom, 2005, p 3) In this way, Bostrom demonstrates that the spectrum of human thinking, emotions, perceptions and behaviors currently available to us is very small As technology enhances the human brain to a new level, a post-biological human coined the homo sapiens technologicus (Zehr, 2011) is set to emerge, thus creating a two-tiered class society (Zehr, 2015) Such enhancements that have so far been researched mainly in the realm of clinical treatments, ethical implications, psychology and engineering; may have big impacts on businesses and more specifically on Marketing These enhancements provide new ways for people to go beyond their physical and cognitive limitations by engaging with technology These advancements may further help specific segments of consumers to have experiences that were impossible without overcoming such limitations; which in turn may have implications for the current models of human behavior in general and consumer behavior in particular Technology performance –particularly on a biological technology frontmay create a sense of an efficacy and capable self The sense of efficacy is not only associated to the strict meaning of technology performance (e.g., ease of use, effort to learn to use and technical functionally of the device or equipment) and usefulness (e.g., cognitive enhancement, performance enhancement, life extension enhancement and less physical limitations), to the individual’s own assessment of the self Thus, when technology makes individuals feel in control of their autonomous selves, the psychological distance between technology and individuals is shortened (Giles & Maltby, 2004) and consumers feel attached (e.g., Thomson et al., 2005; Whan Park JOURNAL OF PROMOTION MANAGEMENT et al., 2010), which suggests that they later on adopt the expansion of RVCE, thereby, culminating in the adoption of transhumanism The stronger the attachment, the greater the willingness to accept and integrate the technology as part of the self and the body On the other side, consumers may not feel attached to the technology, but rather may develop aversion toward it When consumers regard technology as a threat for self-contraction, they will not have a favorable hedonic/aesthetic experience and will not consider the technology to be enhancing their cognitive and/or physical performance, leading them to avoid it (Mallick & Mccandless, 1966; Markus & Nurius, 1986) Here consumers may even develop a negative relationship, and eventually develop hate speech and citizens movements against such technology, culminating in tribes living outside and against transhumanism In this process of technology approach/avoidance and eventual adoption, the assessment of such technology may not be the same for everyone in terms of enhancing their cognitive and physical bodies(Zehr, 2015) Thus, ethical considerations stem from the implications of human enhancements in both philosophical and practical perspectives (implications for the workforce environment, for the consumer environment, and for the society at large) For example, in the work environment, cognitive enhancements may lead to unfair and discriminating effects for those that not possess such technologies (Hopkins & Fiser, 2017) In the consumption environment, as consumers move from a more traditional based reality to a more digitally connected post human-based reality, privacy issues become more important and also act as barriers for adoption (Belk, 2013; Yetisen, 2018) Regarding the society, people that will possess the possibility to become immersed in an alternative world may become disconnected from the real environment as a way to eliminate risk and vulnerabilities in the real environment (Coeckelbergh, 2012; Van Den Eede, 2015) which may detract people to adopt such technologies (Van Den Eede, 2015) Moderators Cognitive flexibility (CF), which is “the ability to switch cognitive sets to adapt to changing environmental stimuli” (Dennis & Wal, 2010, p 242) can also influence the association between hedonic/aesthetic experience and the adoption of transhumanism As an ability, CF implies a learning process and involves the adaptation of cognitive processing strategies and a sequence of operations to analyze and solve problems (Martin & Rubin, 1995; Payne et al., 1993) On the other side, moderate levels of noise and positive emotional states (Nadler et al., 2010) can foment cognitive flexibility However, switching thinking requires that J GUERREIRO ET AL individuals consider relevant situational stimuli Indeed, CF represents a shift in the attention control level leading to change in task performance Yet, the question remains: could more cognitive minds be more apt to the ear of transhumanism? Skepticism about the future negative implications of using technology to enhance cognitive and physical limitations may also play an important role on the reality-virtually continuum expanded adoption When talking about transhumanism, several moral issues emerge in discussion One is how far we are from developing secure and reliable technologies for cognitive enhancement and AI deployment For example, AI is being used today as a tool for recruitment (van Esch et al., 2019) which is increasing anxiety and skepticism among potential candidates The same is set to happen when cognitive enhancement is a requirement for employees to thrive in the marketplace (Hopkins & Fiser, 2017) Perceived Behavior Control (PBC) may also influence the association between hedonic/aesthetic experience and the adoption of Transhumanism PBC refers to the degree in which a person feels in control of the surrounding environment and serves as the driver of behavior in the TPC model (Ajzen, 1991) In our framework we suggest that individuals who perceive transhumanism as being a facilitator for them to be in control of their environment will be more willing to accept and use the technology for their human enhancement, while those who feel that technology is controlling them rather empowering them, will restrain from adopting such change Individualism/Collectivism Cultural values have been regarded as a vehicle to shape individuals’ behaviors (Frazee, 1996; Hofstede et al., 2010) Thus, different cultural values -particularly collectivist/individualism-can create different predisposition to RVCE adoption Hofstede et al (2010), for instance, argue that the way collectivist cultures perceive and accept novelty and innovation is different from individualistic cultures Therefore, it is crucial to understand the influence of culture in the era of transhumanism? Subjective Norm/Psychological Distance Subjective norm is an important part of the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991) and refers to the social pressure for people to behave in the same way as their in-groups (Ham et al., 2015; Sood et al., 2017) For example, people that relate to other peers (e.g., other transhumanists) who accept using technology for such purposes would have a greater propensity to adopt the reality virtuality continuum expanded as a way to conform to the social norm and pressure of their environment On the other hand, those who are surrounded by people that oppose the use of technology for any kind of human enhancement would be more far apart from adopting it themselves JOURNAL OF PROMOTION MANAGEMENT In the case of transhumanism, we suggest that such goal is similar to the “exploration” dilemma in which there is an uncertain benefit of using technology to enhance the human condition Having a more abstract construal (high psychological distance) may lead to a faster adoption (wanting to explore) than having a more concrete construal (low psychological distance) Lifestyle: Education Level and Income Technological driven human enhancements are still in the realms of research and prototypes However, when technology progresses and becomes commercially available it comes at a cost For example, Market Research Engine Report (2018) predicts that the global neuro-prosthetics devices and implants market is expected to exceed $11B by 2024 However, today we still witness the difficulty of some people to get access to medical treatments and prescription drugs due to their low income (Carvalho et al., 2019) Such low incomes are often associated with lower grade education levels that constraint the access to better paid jobs In the future, we suggest that such a limitation may also constraint the access to the use of technology for human enhancement, thus limiting the adoption of transhumanism for some classes of society Third block: Stakeholder engagement and technology: Firm level Stakeholders include “any group or individual who can affect or is affected by the achievement of the firm’s objectives” (Freeman, 1984, p 25) For instance, customers, employees, suppliers, shareholders, local communities, social interest groups, and social media (Cova & Salle, 2008; Drummond et al., 2018; Torvinen & Ulkuniemi, 2016) Stakeholder theory (e.g., Strand & Freeman, 2015) posits that the main goal of an organization is to create the maximum value for its stakeholders (e.g., Atkinson et al., 1997; Barnett, 2007; Carroll & Nasi, 1997; Clarkson, 1995; Donaldson & Preston, 1995; Edward Freeman, 2010; Harrison et al., 2010; Mitchell et al., 1997; Phillips, 2003).The term engagement has been employed in several research fields with different scopes, which stakeholder is one of them Focusing on business contexts, engagement has been used predominantly in reference to either consumers (Brodie et al., 2011; Kumar, 2020; Pansari & Kumar, 2017; Pina et al., 2019; Rosado-Pinto et al., 2020; van Doorn et al., 2010), employees (Kahn, 1990; Rich et al., 2010; Rodrigues da Costa & Maria Correia Loureiro, 2019), or stakeholders (V Kumar & Pansari, 2016; Storbacka et al., 2016) The object of stakeholders engagement is mainly brand-related for customers (Brodie et al., 2013; Hollebeek, 2011a, 2011b; Raïes et al., 2015; van Doorn et al., 2010) or job-related for employees 10 J GUERREIRO ET AL Technology is a “frequent guest” in engagement research, as it clearly facilitates engagement This occurs through three different mechanisms First, technology eases stakeholder interactions Second, technology can generate engagement objects Third, technology increases the visibility of engagement manifestations We posit in our model that the higher the embracement of transhumanism in society, the higher this threefold effect is We next discuss these three aspects First, engagement-facilitating technology eases interaction between stakeholders The technological advances in the last decades have expanded the chances of stakeholder to cooperate more closely and interchange information Customers can share opinions with others about good/services through several digital means based on the Internet at increasing rates and speeds, without traditional face-to-face contact (V Kumar et al., 2016) Customers can communicate with others who are in different locations and even see each other with smartphone apps (e.g., Skype, WhatsApp, WeChat) They can interact with others through social media platforms (Verhoef et al., 2017), online platforms including online networks (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn), blogs (Blogger, WordPress), microblogs (Twitter, Tumblr), social bookmarking sites (Pinterest, Delicious, Reddit), video/photo sharing platforms (YouTube, Instagram, Flickr), and online brand communities (Islam et al., 2018; Men & Tsai, 2012) Engagement-facilitating technology can also generate “engagement objects” based on brands, including companies’ websites, online communities, and social media accounts, among others (Algesheimer et al., 2005; Brodie et al., 2013; Raïes et al., 2015) For example, customers follow their favorite companies on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook Employees follow their firms’ accounts in LinkedIn, as well as the ones of business partners, competitors and peers workers The information shared in these contexts can create engagement, not only involving transactions but also interactions of stakeholders with such information (Ng & Wakenshaw, 2017) The Internet of Things (IoT) is the connection of smart everyday objects that communicate with each other and with customers Some of these objects are natively smart (such as digital assistants) while others, formerly dumb, are now capable of interacting with others and with customers by adding sensors and activators on them (Verhoef et al., 2017) Smart TVs, phones, fitness wearables, health monitoring devices, locks, plugs, glasses, etc are just a few examples of such products Technology can be used to “relationalize” and enrich service experiences (Huang & Rust, 2017) and therefore to engage customers This occurs because technology supports cognitive and emotional states of individuals (Rafaeli et al., 2017), two of JOURNAL OF PROMOTION MANAGEMENT 11 the main components of engagement Smart objects interact with customers and provoke their mental and emotional reactions with the surrounding (Huang & Rust, 2017) In other words, these objects can also become the focus of engagement Engagement-facilitating technology increases the visibility of manifestations and hence the impact of stakeholder engagement Thanks to the increasing connectivity among stakeholders that arises from digital technologies Such impact is more immediate, reaches more people and lasts longer than in offline settings (van Doorn et al., 2010) For example, customers in a digital environment share information not only with close friends but also with strangers (Phung et al., 2020) Reviews on products, brands, etc., posted on websites and social networks reach a higher number of potential customers Such information can have a larger and a richer content (e.g., Kannan & Li, 2017) and lasts longer than offline word-of-mouth In sum, technology may have a major impact on different areas of stakeholder interaction We believe that this influence will be more pronounced in people who support transhumanism Technological progress is not only an impetus for increased well-being but the results can also be selfreinforcing We next discuss the impact of such technological advances on stakeholder well-being Forth block: Stakeholder well-being in the shadow of technological advancements According to Gillett-Swan and Sargeant (2015, p.143), well-being is an accrued process in which a person (or community, group, culture, and society) has the long-term ability to manage “the range of inputs, both constructive and undesirable that can, in isolation, affect a person’s emotional, physical and cognitive state in response to a given context.” Yet, as Fattore et al (2017, p.11) claim, “well-being is socially contingent, a construct embedded in society and culture and prone to change and redefinition over time” Hence, we argue that any elaboration regarding stakeholder well-being concept should take a multidimensional perspective, be context specific, include sentiment to what is positive and negative, catch a lifespan view, be global, and multifaceted including emotional, financial, intellectual, environmental, occupational, physical, social, and spiritual dimensions The increasing number of interactions among stakeholders, the rise of technology-based engagement objects, and the increasing visibility of engagement manifestations play an important role in stakeholder wellbeing At the same time, engaging-facilitating technologies can impact stakeholder both positively and negatively 12 J GUERREIRO ET AL On the positive side, technology facilitates everyday tasks through monitoring and activation of items such as thermostats, plugs, locks or security systems, among others (Verhoef et al., 2017) For example, L’Oreal “UV SENSE” is a battery-free sensor to detect ultraviolet radiation in a tiny size that can be stacked to sneakers, watches, or even nails The “SmartHub 3.0” developed by Samsung is another example and represents a refrigerator that reduces kitchen labor to minimal, simplifies connected home control right from the refrigerator screen (e.g., checking on a sleeping baby in another room, adjusting the thermostat, keeping eye on the front door), enhances food management (e.g., food checking, tracking expiry dates to reduce food waste, provide food recipes based on diet restrictions, save money through connected third parties deal apps), strengthens family connections, and find new ways of fun at home Furthermore, technology is helping brain and health science by allowing better sleep which individuals need for well-being It is known that sleeping deprivation leads to lack of motivation, poor memory, fatigue, clumsiness, and increase hunger and carbohydrates cravings For example, “Nokia Sleep” is mattress pad (gadget) that monitors sleep and snoring, and synchronizes data to Nokia’s Health Mate app It also provides a “sleep score” and tracks sleeping habits to automatically turn light off and adjust room temperature In the same area, Philips produced the “SmartSleep” headband device to detect brain activity while sleeping Regarding society as a whole, engagement-facilitating technology can also have a positive impact on well-being Citizens –either customers or other stakeholders– have constant connectivity that helps them learn about traffic conditions, events, and public transport etc Governments can be aware of local facilities malfunctioning, and capture citizens’ needs to take decisions regarding public policies (Verhoef et al., 2017) On the negative side, the increasing number of interactions and the visibility of engagement manifestations can provoke privacy and intrusiveness problems Customers generate a vast amount of individual-level information through the searches, reviews, social media activities, and other behaviors they have while connecting Companies can share such information if they state it in their privacy policies (Kannan & Li, 2017) The usage of this granular information can be even creepy for customers (Huang & Rust, 2017) For example, Amazon employees can potentially listen to users of Alexa, as admitted by the company By default, Android offers unsolicited information about surrounding businesses, asks opinions about stores or bars in the area where the user lives and can even spontaneously offer information about schedules of trains regularly taken by the user Many mobile apps request access to cameras, microphones, text messages, location, and contacts etc., in the sake of providing a service or in exchange of providing a service Finally, customers are developing dependence and are JOURNAL OF PROMOTION MANAGEMENT 13 gradually addicted toward technology and online media (e.g., Dong et al., 2018; Osatuyi & Turel, 2018) Such issues can lead to family, work, and personal problems (Zheng & Lee, 2016), involving even health issues (e.g., Mabe et al., 2014) Future research agenda In the next lines we provide research suggestions and questions based on the proposed framework We focus on two major groups of research questions: how consumers may adopt the RVCE and transhumanism (individual level) and how will that affect stakeholder engagement (firm level) and well-being Reality-virtuality continuum expanded and adoption of transhumanism Reality-virtuality continuum expanded represents the gradual but continuous transformation of technologies in order to enhance cognitive and physical states of human beings, and even extend their lifetime through transhumanism In this process not all human beings will pass through such transformation (even if it occurs in continuously from a generation to another) In the future, one may assist to the simultaneous existence of tribes with human beings without technology incorporated in the body, hybrid individuals (with more than 50 percent of the body not human) and robots The way each of these tribes perceive values/believes, experience product/brands/technologies and behave will be a challenge for future research Thus, we raise some research questions/thoughts as avenues for future research: Can these tribes live and interact together? How they interact with each other? Although with physical and cognitive differences, are they going to live in as one community? With the whole process of continuous technological innovation, will current theories on psychological individual behavior and consumer behavior still be able to capture such behavior? Or should researchers develop new theories? How will individuals deal, feel, think and behave with the gradual incorporation of technology into their body, leading to transhumanism? Stakeholder engagement and well-being Engagement-facilitating technologies have transformed how stakeholders interact among themselves and react toward brands/firms The advances we have seen in the last two decades have affected stakeholder well-being, both positively and negatively Presumably, such advances will keep on modifying stakeholders’ relationships and operations, hence opening interesting 14 J GUERREIRO ET AL research avenues for marketing academics Next, we present specific research questions concerning the main stakeholder entities identified in our literature review: customers, other stakeholders and society at large Customers Customers can benefit from engagement-facilitating technologies to interact with firms, hence deepening the bond between both parties To understand these interactions some questions require further research The adoption of engagement-facilitating technologies by firms requires a clear identification of which specific technologies engage customers more and create more value to customers How can firms identify such technologies? How to measure customer value provided by engagementfacilitating technologies? How to link such value with behavioral measures that are relevant for firms (e.g., customer loyalty, price sensitivity, word-of-mouth, etc.)? How to link such value with financial measures, such as customer lifetime value, return of investment, or firm value? Smart products and the IoT open new possibilities to provide customers with new product and services experiences Yet, customer usage of smart products remains overlooked in literature How customers adopt these products? What behavioral models are appropriate to understand such adoption and how to extend such models to accommodate smart products? What barriers prevent customers from adopting these products? How to overcome such barriers? Will smart products drive customers to engage more with the firms and how? Regarding the connection of smart products among customers, how to design a smart “universe” of products? What smart products should be connected in order to increase customer engagement and well-being? In order to allow customers decide how far they want to go in terms of smart product connectedness, how to make information regarding such connectedness available and understandable for most of the customers? Other stakeholders Engagement-facilitating technologies enhance interactions among employees, business partners, and other stakeholders However, this increase in interaction involves data collection, usage and protection that these stakeholders must manage properly Considering big data, these stakeholders need rules to establish optimal types and amount of data to collect For example, what type of data will JOURNAL OF PROMOTION MANAGEMENT 15 lead to improvement in profitability? In case of resources scarcity, how marketers can establish priorities among different types of data? The measurement of marketing profitability is a major concern among marketing academics and practitioners (Hanssens & Pauwels, 2016) Engagement-facilitating technologies collect information that can assist marketing academics and practitioners in this measurement task What type of information should be considered for marketing profitability measurement purposes and what should be discarded? How can marketing employees and managers integrate this information in appropriate dashboards for decision-making? What marketing models and econometric techniques can accurately forecast profitability from information collected through engagement-facilitating technologies? Top management and employees require a clear understanding of how their use of information can influence other stakeholder engagement and well-being Technology supports customization (mass and personalization) Thus, what will be the impact of marketing customization in terms of customer engagement and well-being? For example, will customization reduce or enhance engagement and well-being? These two questions are very relevant in a context where customers increasingly share information about firms Research concerning the service failure and recovery paradox (e.g., van der Heijden et al., 2013) could be a starting point to answer these questions Additionally, further research should consider the role of employee engagement in the link between customization, customer engagement, and profitability Does employee engagement enhance such links? If so, how can technology can further strengthen the role that employee engagement plays in such context? Society Society can benefit from engagement-facilitating technologies to increase its well-being Policy makers can encourage its usage At the same time, governments should offer an adequate legal framework that allows stakeholders to safely use and enjoy such technologies How can policy makers support the well-being of citizens by implementing engagement-facilitating technologies that firms and government use? How can policy makers evaluate the success of such implementation? What success measures are adequate in this regard? What is the impact of regulations for the protection of customers on marketing decision-making? How these regulations influence marketing profitability? The environmental impact of engagement-facilitating technologies is gaining attention of policy makers (e.g., the European Commission 16 J GUERREIRO ET AL through the European Framework Initiative for Energy & Environmental Efficiency in the ICT Sector) What business opportunities and threats can arise from such concerns in terms of engagement-facilitating technologies? How can policy regulations influence marketing decision-making and profitability? What is the environmental impact of marketing actions that involve engagement-facilitating technologies? In this vein, how can firms cooperate with policy makers and other stakeholders, including customers, to decrease the environmental impact of engagement-facilitating technologies? How firms can manage technological obsolescence to take care of stakeholder well-being both in the short and in the long term? Concluding thoughts In this paper, we propose a framework for stakeholder well-being through transhumanism and engagement-facilitating technologies We ground our proposal on previous literature on psychology, sociology, marketing and three major theories, namely the self-expansion model, the extended self and the TSR theory Together with the definitions of the main key concepts we provide researchers and practitioners with the seeds to understand (1) the way individual may adopt new technologies in a continuous to transhumanism; (2) how the embracement of transhumanism boost the impact of engagement-facilitating technologies; and (3) how stakeholder engagement may accelerate the technological evolution and, consequently, influence stakeholder well-being Indeed, emerging technologies are disruptive forces that are changing many things in our daily life Despite that, pioneering marketers who believe in transhumanist technology and science are the ones who will take the most advantage of these technologies To be able to benefit from transhumanism, we need to think about it as a thought experiment that demonstrates our values and visions to engage with emerging technologies to radically transform human beings and achieve optimal levels of well-being Disclosure statement No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s) ORCID Sandra Maria Correia Loureiro http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8362-4430 Jaime Romero http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7563-2964 Omar Itani http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2258-7837 JOURNAL OF PROMOTION MANAGEMENT 17 References Abbot (2019) Living with a neurostimulator Retrieved from https://www.neuromodulation.abbott/us/en/chronic-pain/living-with-neurostimulator.html Ajzen, I (1991) The theory of planned behavior Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211 https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T Algesheimer, R., Dholakia, U M., & Herrmann, A (2005) The social influence of brand community: Evidence from European car clubs Journal of Marketing, 69(3), 19–34 https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.69.3.19.66363 Atkinson, A a., Waterhouse, J H., & Wells, R B (1997) A stakeholder approach to strategic performance measurement Sloan Management Review, 38(3), 25–38 https://doi org/10.1108/17410400610702133 Barnett, M L (2007) Stakeholder influence capacity and the variability of financial returns to corporate social responsibility Academy of Management Review, 32(3), 794–816 https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2007.25275520 Belk, R W (2013) Extended self in a digital world Journal of Consumer Research, 40(3), 477–500 https://doi.org/10.1086/671052 Bimber, O., & Raskar, R (2005) Spatial augmented reality: Merging real and virtual worlds Taylor & Francis https://doi.org/10.1201/b10624 Bostrom, N (2005) Transhumanist values Journal of Philosophical Research, 30(supplement), 3–14 https://doi.org/10.5840/jpr_2005_26 Brodie, R J., Hollebeek, L D., Juric, B., & Ilic, A (2011) Customer engagement: Conceptual domain, fundamental propositions, and implications for research Journal of Service Research, 14(3), 252–271 https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670511411703 Brodie, R J., Ilic, A., Juric, B., & Hollebeek, L D (2013) Consumer engagement in a virtual brand community: An exploratory analysis Journal of Business Research, 66(1), 105–114 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2011.07.029 Burroughs, B., & Burroughs, W J (2012) The Masal Bugduv hoax: Football blogging and journalistic authority New Media & Society, 14(3), 476–491 https://doi.org/10.1177/ 1461444811420270 Callaghan, C W (2018) Surviving a technological future: Technological proliferation and modes of discovery Futures, 104, 100–116 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.futures.2018.08.001 Carroll, A B., & Nasi, J (1997) Understanding stakeholder thinking: Themes from a Finnish conference Business Ethics: A European Review, 6(1), 46–51 https://doi.org/10 1111/1467-8608.00047 Carvalho, N., Petrie, D., Chen, L., Salomon, J A., & Clarke, P (2019) The impact of Medicare Part D on income-related inequality in pharmaceutical expenditure International Journal for Equity in Health, 18(1), 57 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-019-0955-9 Cirkovi c, M M (2018) Post-postbiological evolution? 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In the current paper we (i) present a framework for stakeholder well-being through transhumanism and engagement- facilitating... society transhumanism; engagement- facilitating technologies; reality-virtuality continuum; stakeholder engagement; stakeholder well-being Introduction Engagement- facilitating technologies and how