Essays on the effect of retail innovation on consumer behavior

As a result of the convergence of online and offline retailers, and due to the notoriously low margins in the retail environment, innovation and technology have become more and more competitive differentiators. The purpose of this cumulative dissertation is to explore consumers’ behavioral reactions towards those technological innovations in brick and mortar retailing. As it is not feasible to consider every available technology in its own right, the focus of this dissertation is limited to the following three recent technologies: mobile payment, electronic shelf labels, and electric vehicle charging stations. By conducting experiments (Paper 1 and Paper 3) and leveraging real transaction data from a retailer (Paper 2), the author was able to formulate and investigate various research hypotheses, including a positive influence of new technology on the willingness to pay (Paper 1), mere revenue effect (Paper 2), and shopping intentions (Paper 3).:1 Introduction 2 Theoretical foundations 3 Purpose and focus of the dissertation 4 Article summary 4.1 Overview of dissertation articles 4.2 Summary of first article 4.3 Summary of second article 4.4 Summary of third article 5 General contributions and implications of this dissertation 6 Limitations and future research 7 Outlook References Appendix I: The effect of credit card versus mobile payment on convenience and consumers’ willingness to pay Appendix II: Behavioral consequences from converging channel capabilities: the effect of mere electronic shelf label presence on store revenue Appendix III: Recharge while you shop: the impact of free electric vehicle charging on shopping intention and shopping duratio

Sustainability in the Age of Platforms. CEPS Special Report. June 2019

Over the past few decades, new digital platforms such as China’s Alibaba, Japan’s Rakuten and the U.S.’s eBay have grown from startups into multinational giants. With a few clicks of the keyboard, these online marketplaces bring together a seller and a buyer from anywhere in the globe. This study examines the transformative impact of online marketplaces on economic, social and environmental sustainability. It finds great opportunities. Platforms promote growth, break down barriers of distance and leap over rigid class structures, bringing marginalized outsiders into the mainstream. The study also identifies dangers stemming from the growth of e-commerce, from the reduction of labor protection to an explosion of shipping waste. What are the responsibilities of platforms? How can they promote sustainability? Policymakers are asking these questions, but struggling to find the correct balance between the opportunities against the dangers. Until now, these questions have received little attention from scholars. This study fills a much-needed void by providing some initial answers and recommendations for improvement

Contemporary Issues in Digital Marketing

Web-marketing;Customer services;International busines

Real-world Deployability and Usability of Bitcoin

We live in an era where Internet is one of the daily needs of human life. People use Internet banking instead of going to banks, they use email rather than postal mail.This leads to a robust digital way of living, but this also means people are trusting middle companies and third parties for their online services. The need of having a digital form of money that is not being controlled by one entity is plain to see. Bitcoin is the first and the most popular decentralized virtual currency. It is based on cryptographic functions to remove the need of a central bank and regulates the generation of new units. In this thesis, we would like to look at available tools to facilitate users in holding and using Bitcoin by a perspective on usability and security, and then evaluate the possibilities for a small business to accept Bitcoin payments. Our focus is on the usability of these tools and developing a useful framework for comparing and eval- uating future tools. While many security tools have been studied from a usability perspective, our work is the first to look at Bitcoin

Metaverse beyond the hype: Multidisciplinary perspectives on emerging challenges, opportunities, and agenda for research, practice and policy

The metaverse has the potential to extend the physical world using augmented and virtual reality technologies allowing users to seamlessly interact within real and simulated environments using avatars and holograms. Virtual environments and immersive games (such as, Second Life, Fortnite, Roblox and VRChat) have been described as antecedents of the metaverse and offer some insight to the potential socio-economic impact of a fully functional persistent cross platform metaverse. Separating the hype and “meta…” rebranding from current reality is difficult, as “big tech” paints a picture of the transformative nature of the metaverse and how it will positively impact people in their work, leisure, and social interaction. The potential impact on the way we conduct business, interact with brands and others, and develop shared experiences is likely to be transformational as the distinct lines between physical and digital are likely to be somewhat blurred from current perceptions. However, although the technology and infrastructure does not yet exist to allow the development of new immersive virtual worlds at scale - one that our avatars could transcend across platforms, researchers are increasingly examining the transformative impact of the metaverse. Impacted sectors include marketing, education, healthcare as well as societal effects relating to social interaction factors from widespread adoption, and issues relating to trust, privacy, bias, disinformation, application of law as well as psychological aspects linked to addiction and impact on vulnerable people. This study examines these topics in detail by combining the informed narrative and multi-perspective approach from experts with varied disciplinary backgrounds on many aspects of the metaverse and its transformational impact. The paper concludes by proposing a future research agenda that is valuable for researchers, professionals and policy makers alike

A first-hand experience for a second-hand product : the success of online luxury resellers

The purpose of this research is to understand how luxury resellers successful create value-added propositions within the online context, posing a challenge to the exclusivity inherent to the luxury reality. We used a qualitative approach to analyse three online second-hand players and drew our conclusions on the Business Model Canvas. The findings of the present research show that the success of luxury online resellers is built on (1) a diversified, personalised and curated luxury assortment, (2) wider customer reach enabled by online, (3) trusted authentication processes, (4) powerful network effect, (5) proprietary technology and in-house skilled staff. These are assets difficult to replicate which raises barriers to entry and are further complemented with offline expansion and partnerships with luxury brands. This research is relevant for both incumbent companies and new entrants alike, as well as luxury companies to better understand the value of the second-hand luxury market.O objetivo da presente tese é compreender como os revendedores de luxo são bem-sucedidos a criar propostas de valor acrescentado no contexto online, colocando um desafio à exclusividade inerente à realidade do luxo. Utilizámos uma abordagem qualitativa para analisar três operadores de segunda mão online e chegámos às conclusões com base no modelo Business Model Canvas. Os resultados da presente pesquisa mostram que o sucesso dos revendedores de luxo online se baseia (1) numa oferta de produtos de luxo variada e personalizada, (2) maior alcance de clientes viabilizado pelo online, (3) processos de autenticação fidedignos, (4) poderoso efeito de rede, (5) tecnologia própria e equipa interna qualificada. Estes ativos são difíceis de reproduzir, o que levanta obstáculos à entrada de concorrentes, e são reforçados com a expansão offline, assim como parcerias com marcas de luxo. Esta pesquisa é relevante tanto para empresas estabelecidas como novas no mercado e também para empresas de luxo, de modo a se compreender melhor o valor do mercado de luxo em segunda mão

Tokenized: The Law of Non-Fungible Tokens and Unique Digital Property

Markets for unique digital property--digital equivalents of rare artworks, collectible trading cards, and other assets that gain value from scarcity--have exploded in the past few years. At root is the next iteration of blockchain technology, unique digital assets called non-fungible tokens. Unlike bitcoin, where one coin is the same as another, NFTs are unique, each with different attributes. An NFT that represented ownership of Boardwalk would be quite different from one that represented Baltic Avenue. NFTs have grown from a few early breakout successes to a rapidly developing market for unique digital treasures. The attraction to buyers is that, unlike digital assets like e-books or licensed movies, NFTs can be bought, sold, displayed, gifted, or even destroyed just like personal property. Yet law has not kept pace with demand for unique digital property. In particular, the rules designed for the 2000s internet focused on expanding intellectual property licenses and online contracts to the point that consumers are mere users, not owners, of digital assets. This “end of ownership” legal structure stands in stark contrast to the expectations of those who create, buy, sell, and invest in NFTs. This article proposes a clear path for the evolution of the legal underpinnings of NFTs. It argues that NFTs are personal property, not contracts (despite the “smart contracts” popular nomenclature) or pure intellectual property licenses (despite the currently governing law of digital assets like e-books). Because transactions in NFTs are in the form of a sale, the law of sales of personal property should apply. And finally, the article notes that NFTs will serve as a powerful, grounding example of digital personal property, a legal form of ownership that is both sorely needed and has not yet been clearly established online. That example will ground others, and permit law to again characterize those who buy scarce and valuable digital assets as true owners rather than mere users