Offline and online search in used durables markets

This study examines how different information sources are used by consumers prior to their purchase of used durable goods, specifically used cars. We examine how online and offline search are related. Categories of online sources are dealer websites and resale websites, and of offline sources are print media and dealer visits. Prior research on new car purchases finds that online sources substitute for traditional, offline sources such as dealer visits. We examine whether this theory extends to used-car purchases and distinguish between dealer websites and resale websites (a distinction relevant to used-goods markets) by collecting data from a sample of used-car buyers. Because search in different sources can be interrelated, and due to data censoring, we build and estimate a simultaneous equations Tobit model. In contrast to existing research, we find that online search on dealer websites is complementary to and not a substitute for dealer visits. This complementary effect highlights the importance of dealers' web presence in used markets. © 2014 New York University

How Marketing Factors Influence Online Browsing and Sales: Evidence From China's E-Commerce Market

As the e-commerce market evolves from being primarily transactional to being more subtle, sellers now seek to form online strategies. Previous studies have investigated buyers’ purchasing patterns, online transaction trust, electronic word-of-mouth, online resale behavior as well as online auctions. However, less is known about the antecedents that effect store traffic and sales. By using real market data from a major Chinese C2C e-commerce site, this article investigates C2C transactional formation and identifies sellers’ performance payoffs that result from various marketing factors. Marketing factors that influence store traffic and sales will be analyzed by means of the Negative Binomial model and Tobit model. Results point out that strong store reputation and high service quality are crucial indicators for increasing number of browsers and sales amount. In accordance with the results of prior research, advertising is confirmed as an effective tool for positively influencing both store traffic and sales. In addition, we found that guarantee policies can positively impact store sales only by interacting with reputation ratings. Drawing on empirical findings, we also discuss the managerial implications for C2C sellers and put forth some recommendations

Self-gifting and consumer perceived values : development and validation of a scale to measure consumer perceived values in self-gifting and applied to consumer satisfaction

Self-gifting has become a popular consumption practice. Self-gifts can take various forms, such as products, services, or experiences, and provide special meanings in certain contexts. Consumers’ desire for the psycho-social functions of self-gifting can be fulfilled by the values embodied in a self-gift. Consumer perceived values (CPVs) have been frequently detected in self-gifting behavior. These CPVs influence consumer choice behavior in various consumption circumstances and for different product/service types. Despite the important role of CPVs in self-gifting, a valid measurement of self-gifting behavior informed by CPVs is lacking in the literature. Furthermore, existing studies have focused on antecedents of self-gifting behavior, paying little attention to consumer satisfaction at the post-purchase stage. Given the research gaps, the purpose of this dissertation was two-fold: (1) to develop a self-gifting scale from the CPV perspective and (2) to test the developed scale to examine whether CPVs in self-gifting influence consumer satisfaction. A conceptual framework was developed based on the literature on self-gifting behavior, CPVs, the theoretical framework of Expectancy Disconfirmation Theory (EDT), and the concept of consumer satisfaction. To address the first part of the purpose, Churchill’s (1979) paradigm was adopted. Based on the paradigm, scale item generation, scale purification, and scale validation steps were conducted by examining how CPVs influence self-gifting behavior. The exploratory investigation included an extensive literature review and in-depth interviews conducted to define the dimensions of CPVs in self-gifting, which resulted in an initial pool of items across nine dimensions. Content validity of the items was confirmed through expert reviews and a pilot test. Survey data were then collected and subjected to EFA, Item Analysis, and CFA for scale purification and scale validation. This series of testing resulted in a new scale of CPVs in self-gifting (CPVS-G) with satisfactory reliability and validity. The final CPVS-G scale was comprised eight CPVs and 47 items: 4 items for satisfying quality (SQ), 7 items for social connection and social identity (SI), 7 items for sustainability (ST), 7 items for new knowledge (NK), 6 items for work/life balance (WL), 6 items for security through resale (RS), 6 items for new experiences (EX), and 4 items for mood diversion (MD). To address the second part of the purpose, the CPVS-G scale was then used to test the hypotheses using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The survey data were collected from Amazon Mturk and yielded 355 valid responses. A two-step approach (i.e., measurement and structural models) was adopted to test the proposed hypotheses. The results of the hypotheses testing indicated significant relationships between satisfying quality (SQ), work/life balance (WL), security through resale (RS), and mood diversion (MD) and consumer satisfaction (SF). The relationships between social connection and social identity (SI), sustainability (ST), gaining new knowledge (NK), and gaining new experiences (EX) and consumer satisfaction (SF) were nonsignificant. This dissertation provides several important contributions. First, the primary contribution of this study is the development of a reliable and valid scale to test CPVs in self-gifting. The resulting CPVS-G scale developed in this study expands upon the existing shopping motivation self-gifting scales. The CPVS-G scale can assist the implementation of targeted marketing by investigating the primary values relative to self-gifting. Second, in addition to the previously defined CPVs, this dissertation discovered new CPVs (i.e., security through resale, work/life balance, and sustainability) that reflect the diversification of self-gifting as a growing consumption phenomenon. Third, the results provide evidence of the theoretical and managerial significance of the relationships between CPVs in self-gifting and consumer satisfaction. The current study found that satisfying quality (SQ), work/life balance (WL), security through resale (RS), and mood diversion (MD) were significantly related to consumer satisfaction. Fourth, this dissertation offers theoretical insight into the Expectancy Disconfirmation Theory (EDT) and particularly within value-oriented self-gifting. Consumer post-purchase satisfaction was found to be determined by comparing expectations with outcomes of CPVs relative to the self-gifts purchased. Lastly, the CPVS-G scale exhibited excellent reliability and construct validity across the entire analyses. Therefore, it can be used in studies on self-gifting across categories of products, services, and experiences in various disciplines and industries, including fashion, tourism, hospitality, consumer needs, and entertainment, to name a few

Trust and Experience in Online Auctions

This paper aims to shed light on the complexities and difficulties in predicting the effects of trust and the experience of online auction participants on bid levels in online auctions. To provide some insights into learning by bidders, a field study was conducted first to examine auction and bidder characteristics from eBay auctions of rare coins. We proposed that such learning is partly because of institutional-based trust. Data were then gathered from 453 participants in an online experiment and survey, and a structural equation model was used to analyze the results. This paper reveals that experience has a nonmonotonic effect on the levels of online auction bids. Contrary to previous research on traditional auctions, as online auction bidders gain more experience, their level of institutional-based trust increases and leads to higher bid levels. Data also show that both a bidder’s selling and bidding experiences increase bid levels, with the selling experience having a somewhat stronger effect. This paper offers an in-depth study that examines the effects of experience and learning and bid levels in online auctions. We postulate this learning is because of institutional-based trust. Although personal trust in sellers has received a significant amount of research attention, this paper addresses an important gap in the literature by focusing on institutional-based trust

Extended model of sport spectator goal-directed behavior: The role of event prestige in non-major sport events

Although the importance of destinations' image has been explored in the extant literature, little is known about the influence of event prestige on spectators' intention to attend recurring sport events, especially in the case of nonmajor international events. Given the situation, the current study incorporated spectators' perception of event prestige on the basis of the Model of Goal-directed Behavior (MGB) as a research framework to investigate their behavioral intention to attend nonmajor sport events. An on-site survey was conducted for spectators (N = 371) who attended the 2016 William Jones Cup Tournament held in Taipei, Taiwan. The results revealed that attitude, subjective norm, positive anticipated emotion, negative anticipated emotion, and perceived behavioral control played significant roles in influencing spectators' desire to attend sport events. Moreover, event prestige and desire have significant influences on spectators' intention. Theoretical and practical implications of the study results were discussed

Understanding the impact of relationship disruptions

Personal relationships between salespeople and customers are essential for the success of business-to-business relationships, and research has shown that a change of the salesperson can severely harm financial performance. However, such interpersonal relationship disruptions may also have positive effects by encouraging vitalizing reexplorations of the relationship. Using multilevel loyalty theory and relationship life cycle theory, the authors offer a comprehensive conceptualization of potentially countervailing consequences of relationship disruptions. In particular, disruptions may have different effects on resale revenue (from previously sold products) versus new sale revenue (from newly sold products), contingent on both the history and expected future development of the relationship. Therefore, this study examines moderators on the firm-level relationship prior to disruption and salesperson relationship management afterward. Longitudinal data from 2,040 customers of an international business-to-business firm reveal that a disruption can increase overall performance by more than 29%, depending on the firm-level relationship before disruption and the new salesperson’s relationship management. Managers can use these findings proactively to evaluate and manage the risks and opportunities involved in relationship disruptions

Sustaining Homeownership Through Education and Counseling

This paper addresses a two-fold problem. First, some families are struggling to sustain their home ownership, yet market responses are inadequate. Second, postpurchase education and counseling, potential tools to assist vulnerable homeowners, are inadequately provided. This paper presents a conceptual framework for the effect of postpurchase education and counseling in assisting homeowners. It then examines information needs and strategies that can drive the provision of postpurchase services. In particular, the analysis assesses the current effectiveness and implementation of postpurchase programs. It also draws implications from prepurchase counseling and private sector loss mitigation. Finally, current stakeholders in home-ownership outcomes are identified. This paper recommends postpurchase education and counseling that are integrated into the lending models of the financial services industry and comprehensive over the timeline of the mortgage. A series of models ranging in scope are suggested, including potential actors and challenges involved

Analyzing Product Efficiency : A Customer-Oriented Approach

The purpose of this study is to provide a broader, economic perspective on customer value management. By developing an efficiency-based concept of customer value we aim at contributing to the presently underrepresented research field of marketing economics. The customer value concept is utilized to assess product performance and eventually to determine the competitive market structure and the product-market boundaries. Our analytical approach to product-market structuring based on customer value is developed within a microeconomic framework. We measure customer value as the product efficiency viewed from the customer’s perspective, i.e., as a ratio of outputs (e.g., resale value, reliability, safety, comfort) that customers obtain from a product relative to inputs (price, running costs) that customers have to deliver in exchange. The efficiency value derived can be understood as the return on the customer’s investment. Products offering a maximum customer value relative to all other alternatives in the market are characterized as efficient. Different efficient products may create value in different ways using different strategies (output-input-combinations). Each efficient product can be viewed as a benchmark for a distinct sub-market. Jointly, these products form the efficient frontier, which serves as a reference function for the inefficient products. Thus, we define customer value of alternative products as a relative concept. Market partitioning is achieved endogenously by clustering products in one segment that are benchmarked by the same efficient peer(s). This ensures that only products with a similar output-input structure are partitioned into the same sub-market. As a result, a sub-market consists of highly substitutable products. In addition, value-creating strategies (i.e., indications of how to vary inputs and outputs) to improve product performance in order to offer maximum customer value are provided

Intelligent CRM on the cloud

This paper presents a new conceptual framework and practical solution for Customer Relationship Management(CRM) and E-Loyalty programs for cutting edge M-Commerce. CRM has come to the world of technology to help companies maximise technology usage. CRM means disciplined business strategy to create and sustain long-term, profitable customer relationships. To this aim, it must concentrate on customer. This paper introduces the notion of Intelligence CRM (i-CRM), and will define and develop i-CRM, E-Loyalty for the M-Commerce environment including Cloud services. The conceptual framework will include solutions for customer complaints and evaluation of the solution through perceived value, interactivity, and acceptance of i-CRM, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, loyalty and E-Loyalty. This paper shows how i-CRMcan foresee the threshold of customer feedback creating an innovative solution to minimize negative customer feedback and increase the loyalty and E-Loyalty of an organization