Social Robots in Retail: Emotional Experiences a Critical Driver of Purchase Intention

The purpose of the current study is to explore whether emotional experiences prompted due to human-social robot interaction in retail environments significantly influence consumers' purchase intentions. This present study focuses primarily on emotional experience, comprising factors, namely, enjoyment, arousal, and emotional involvement. The study tests the conceptual model on a sample of 229 respondents using the PLS-SEM (Partial Least Squares – Structural Equation Modeling) approach. The results reveal that emotional experiences significantly impact consumers’ purchase intentions in retail settings. All three emotional experiences, including enjoyment, emotional involvement, and arousal were significant in shaping consumers' purchase intentions. The study findings offer unique insights for manufacturers developing social robots for the retail sector. The present research extends the current body of work exploring hedonic predictors of consumers' purchase intentions in novel socio-technical contexts, such as social robotics

Implementing Robotic Process Automation in Sales Support

Digitalization has been shaping the ways how we work and live for a considerable length of time. Businesses’ competitiveness is partially determined by their capability to adopt and leverage new technologies. One of the latest trends in digitalization is the automation of repetitive, low-cognitive human tasks in white-collar jobs. A tool that was created to automate low-cognitive hu-man tasks, Robotic Process Automation (further only RPA) utilizes software robots to address this topic. RPA gains attraction because it is easily scalable and implemented at a rather low cost and the use of it doesn’t require prior programming skills. The implementation of RPA has been studied to some extent, however, the studies of implementation in sales and sales support are lacking. Notably, the automation of sales tasks is lagging far behind other business functions, even though a great deal of sales tasks could be automated. To address the limited understanding of automation in sales this study’s objective was to investigate the impact special features on sales might have with automation on a practical level, and the influence of human factors in RPA implementation and addressing employees’ commitment factors to ensure the use of RPA. Reaching the targets of the study was ensured by answering the following research questions: 1) What are the prerequisites for the automation of sales support processes, 2) How to ensure employees’ commitment to RPA, 3) What kind of resources are needed from the organization in the RPA implementation, and 4) How to prioritize the tasks to be automated with RPA. The study was conducted as a single case study at a Finnish technology company. The primary data was gathered through semi-structured interviews and the interviewees were all employees of the case company with a relevant role to the studied issue. Multi-sourced secondary data was used to ensure data triangulation and broaden the insights of the results provided. The data was analysed through a thematic analysis. To understand the main empirical findings some prevailing facts must be known. First, RPA is to be utilised by the Sales Support team for the first time, but RPA is not new in the company. However, the Sales Engineers (further only SE) have been provided with RPA training before this study took place. Second, the RPA process at the case company relies on the individual users and their motivations as it is not mandatory for SEs to use RPA. It was discovered that SEs’ lack of motivation to use RPA is the main reason hindering the automation process in Sales Support. This could be addressed by increasing SEs’ knowledge of RPA by improving the provided training courses and by naming a key user or users to support SEs with the automation design. The importance of the key user should diminish when the use of RPA stabilises. It is also suggested to make the use of RPA temporarily mandatory through KPIs because the voluntariness of use has not led to the adoption of RPA as intended. Lastly, the first tasks to be automated should be prioritized based on task simplicity, as it will support the learning of the individuals and minimize the risk of systems operations being compromised. This study contributes to the literature by increasing the understanding of the factors affecting the new technology implementation within sales and confirming some prior findings in the rather new field of study. In practice, the findings of the study advise managers on how to deal with and support already overloaded salespeople in RPA adoption. The study also investigated the voluntary use of technology at work which has been previously associated with private life only in the literature but could be further studied in the future. The study despite aiming for generalisability covers only a niche area of sales and thus a general study of RPA possibilities in sales could be of interest

E-Commerce and Sales Management in Agribusiness

Der Digitalisierungstrend verändert die Prozesse im Agrarsektor und betrifft alle Akteure in der landwirtschaftlichen Wertschöpfungskette gleichermaßen. Insbesondere die digitale Entwicklung des Agrarhandels wird derzeit von einer Vielzahl unterschiedlicher Anbieter mit Hochdruck vorangetrieben. Dabei sind Fragen nach dem veränderten Einkaufsverhalten seitens der Landwirtschaft und den Auswirkungen für die Agrarhandelsstrukturen derzeit so präsent wie nie. Die vorliegende Dissertation befasst sich daher mit der Rolle des E-Commerce und des Vertriebsmanagements, innerhalb der landwirtschaftlichen Vorleistungsindustrie als einen bedeutenden Teil des Agribusiness. Neben Online-Vertriebskanälen wird in dieser Arbeit auch der persönliche Verkauf, als ein Offline-Vertriebskanal untersucht. Die hier präsentierten Artikel legen dar, dass der E-Commerce als Beschaffungskanal für landwirtschaftliche Betriebsmittel nur unterschiedlich gut angenommen wird und dass der regelmäßige Online-Einkauf nur auf bestimmte, sehr standardisierte Betriebsmittel beschränkt ist. Ein grundsätzliches Interesse der Landwirtschaft am Onlinehandel von Betriebsmitteln ist jedoch gegeben, und lässt darauf schließen, dass der E-Commerce in der Landwirtschaft ein großes, bisher ungenutztes Potential besitzt. Der Online-Einkauf wird am stärksten von den wahrgenommenen Vorteilen des elektronischen Handels beeinflusst, die jedoch von LandwirtIn zu LandwirtIn sehr unterschiedlich bewertet werden. Andererseits wirken sich Misstrauen gegenüber dem Onlinehandel sowie Beziehungen und Loyalität zum lokalen Handel negativ auf die Nutzung des E-Commerce innerhalb der Landwirtschaft aus. Die Ergebnisse verdeutlichen, dass es unterschiedliche Gruppen von Landwirten gibt, die sich hinsichtlich ihrer Einstellung zum E-Commerce und den Verhaltensweisen beim Betriebsmittelkauf unterscheiden. So scheint ein signifikanter Teil der landwirtschaftlichen KundInnen mental nicht auf den Onlinehandel vorbereitet zu sein, während ein anderer Teil bereits besonders aufgeschlossen gegenüber digitalen Vertriebskanälen ist. Die Einstellung der LandwirtInnen zum E-Commerce wird dabei, wie klassischerweise im B2B, stark von kognitiven Faktoren beeinflusst, wobei jedoch affektive Komponenten nicht vernachlässigt werden sollten. Dementsprechend sind Unternehmen der landwirtschaftlichen Vorleistungsindustrie aufgefordert, ihre Vertriebs- und Marketingstrategien auf die Bedürfnisse der individuellen Kundengruppen abzustimmen. Auch wenn sich der stationäre Handel, insbesondere aufgrund persönlicher Kontaktmöglichkeiten, in der hier aufgezeigten Forschung als Benchmark des E-Commerce herauskristallisiert hat, sollten die Unternehmen ihre Geschäftsmodelle anpassen und digitale Vertriebskanäle im Rahmen einer Multi- bis Omnichannel Strategie integrieren, um ihre digitalen KundInnen von Morgen zufriedenstellend bedienen zu können. Aus Unternehmenssicht wirken jedoch Produkteigenschaften und traditionell persönliche Sektor- und Unternehmensstrukturen sowie fehlende finanzielle Mittel und Humankapital oft als Digitalisierungsbremse. Vor allem der landwirtschaftliche Außendienst ist hierbei sowohl von dem Strukturwandel als auch von der digitalen Transformation betroffen und steht unter einem enormen Anpassungsdruck. Seitens der Landwirtschaft wird der Außendienst insgesamt nur mit befriedigend bewertet. Dabei zeigt sich, dass Fachkompetenz allein nicht ausreicht, um auf den landwirtschaftlichen Betrieben zu überzeugen. Vielmehr ist es die Persönlichkeit und die Sozialkompetenz der Außendienstmitarbeitenden, die zu deren langfristiger Reputation bei den KundInnen beitragen. Die Ergebnisse verdeutlichen, dass es dem Außendienst oft an Kundenzentriertheit mangelt, welche es zu optimieren gilt. Dies könnte dadurch geschehen, dass bereits bei der Einstellung von neuem Vertriebspersonal ein stärkerer Fokus auf die verkaufsorientierte Persönlichkeit und soziale Kompetenz der BewerberInnen gelegt wird. Doch gerade die Akquisition neuer Fachkräfte für den Vertrieb gestaltet sich als schwierig. So zeigen die Ergebnisse der Dissertation, dass eine Position im Vertrieb nur eine mäßige Beliebtheit bei Studierenden der Agrarwissenschaften erfährt. Ebenso wird das Thema Vertrieb im agrarwissenschaftlichen Studium nur wenig zufriedenstellend behandelt. Das dem Vertrieb negativ anhaftende „Hard-Selling“ Image schreckt viele Absolvierende ab. Die Attraktivität einer Vertriebsposition für Studierende der Agrarwissenschaften, kann durch das Aufzeigen von Karriereoptionen sowie der Schaffung von Berührungspunkten mit dem Vertrieb gesteigert werden. Es besteht also noch Handlungsbedarf sowohl auf Berufsschul- bzw. Universitätsseite als auch auf Unternehmensseite, um landwirtschaftliche Auszubildende für eine Tätigkeit im Verkauf zu motivieren. Neben der digitalen Transformation und dem Strukturwandel in der Landwirtschaft übt die überwiegend negative bzw. kritische Haltung der Gesellschaft gegenüber der Landwirtschaft zusätzlichen Druck auf die ohnehin schon angespannte Vorleistungsindustrie aus. Ein strategisches Kommunikationsmanagement der Vorleistungsunternehmen, insbesondere der Vertriebs,- und Marketingdepartements, ist daher entscheidend, um die Kundenzentrierung zu optimieren, aber auch damit öffentliche Anliegen frühzeitig aufgegriffen und bearbeitet werden. Die vorliegende Dissertation lässt erkennen, dass das Thema E-Commerce und Vertriebsmanagement im Agribusiness, insbesondere in der landwirtschaftlichen Vorleistungsindustrie, sowohl für die Forschung als auch für den gesamten Agrarsektor ein hochspannendes Thema bleibt, in dem in den nächsten Jahren strukturprägende Veränderungen zu erwarten sind.The digitization trend is changing processes in the agricultural sector and affects all players in the agricultural value chain equally. At present, especially the digital development of agricultural trade is being driven forward at full speed by a wide range of providers. In this context, questions about changes of the agricultural purchasing behavior and the implications for agricultural trade structures are currently much in the spotlight. This dissertation therefore considers the role of e-commerce and sales management within the agricultural input industry as a significant part of agribusiness. In addition to online the sales channel, personal selling, as an offline sales channel, is also examined. The articles presented here demonstrate that e-commerce as a procurement channel for agricultural inputs is well-accepted overall but to different degrees, and that regular online purchasing is limited to only certain, well-standardized, inputs. A fundamental interest of the agricultural sector in e-commerce can be confirmed and suggests that e-commerce in agriculture enjoys significant potential which has not yet been utilized. Online purchasing is strongly influenced by the perceived benefits associated with e-commerce, which, however, vary significantly among farmers. On the other hand, distrust of online commerce as well as relationships and loyalty to local retailers have a negative effect on farmers' e-commerce adoption. The results also illustrate that there are different groups of farmers, who differ in terms of their e-commerce attitudes and shopping behaviors. A significant portion of agricultural customers appears to be mentally not ready for online retailing, while another part is already particularly open-minded towards digital distribution channels. As common in B2B, farmers' attitudes toward e-commerce are strongly influenced by cognitive factors, although affective components should not be dismissed, either. Accordingly, companies in the agricultural input industry are called upon to tailor their sales and marketing strategies to the needs of their individual customer groups. Even though stationary trade has emerged as the benchmark of e-commerce within this dissertation, particularly due to personal contact opportunities, companies should adapt their business models and integrate digital sales channels as part of a multi-, to omnichannel strategy in order to be able to satisfactorily serve their digital customers of tomorrow. However, from the company's point of view, factors such as product characteristics and traditionally personal sector and company structures as well as a lack of financial resources and human capital act as digitalization brakes. The agricultural sales force in particular is affected by both structural change and digital transformation and is under enormous pressure to adapt. Overall, farmers rate the performance of the agricultural sales force as only satisfactory. Professional competence alone is not enough to convince farmers. Rather, it is the personality and social competence of the sales force that contributes to their long-term reputation with the customer. The results demonstrate that the agricultural sales force often lacks customer centricity, which needs to be optimized. This might be done by placing a stronger focus on the sales-oriented personality and social skills of new sales employees as early as the recruitment stage. However, it is precisely the acquisition of new sales specialists that is proving difficult. For example, a position in sales enjoys only moderate popularity among students of agricultural sciences. Likewise, the subject of sales is not dealt with satisfactorily in agricultural studies. The "hard-selling" image negatively attached to sales deters many graduates. The attractiveness of a sales position for students of agricultural sciences can be increased by pointing out career options and creating options to get in contact with sales. Thus, there is still a need for action both at the vocational school or university side and on the company side to motivate agricultural trainees to work in sales. In addition to the digital transformation and structural change in agriculture, society's predominantly negative or critical attitude toward agriculture is exerting additional pressure on the already strained agricultural input industry. Strategic communications management of input companies, especially of their sales and marketing departments, is therefore crucial not only to optimize customer centricity, but also to ensure that public concerns are taken seriously and addressed thematically. This dissertation suggests that the topic of e-commerce and sales management in agribusiness, especially in the agricultural input industry, remains a highly exciting topic both for research and for the agricultural sector as a whole, in which further structural changes can be expected in the coming years.2022-01-1

Redesigning an Effective Pathway to Consumer Loyalty for Sustainable Competitive Advantage

The qualitative case study aimed to study the impact of leadership behaviors on delivering hospitality frontline employee services to customers to sustain consumer loyalty and gain a sustainable competitive advantage in the South Florida hospitality and tourism industry. The flexible design allowed the researcher to develop specific research questions while focusing on the problem statement, which addressed the potential inability of U.S. business leaders in service-related industries to gain customer loyalty, resulting in the possible loss of competitive advantage for the organizations. The researcher selected a highly successful South Florida luxury hotel resort, and twenty-nine professionally diversified participants were interviewed in person during this study. Each participant was asked eight semi-structured interview questions about their experiences at the resort or previous hospitality experiences. The qualitative concepts of bracketing and triangulation used in data collection enabled the researcher to develop an increase of objectivity about the participants. Through this case study, the researcher discovered that hospitality leadership must ensure employees are engaged with their jobs; such actions should help reduce employee turnover and develop a strong culture of employer-employee commitment (Figure 1). Furthermore, this qualitative research discovered the five new critical themes of 1) ensuring proper training, 2) teamwork, 3) leadership engagement with staff, 4) delivering high-quality services, and 5) developing and maintaining a caring organizational culture. Furthermore, this case study proved to fill the gaps in research knowledge on redesigning a practical pathway to customer loyalty for sustainable competitive advantage

Sustainable Value Co-Creation in Welfare Service Ecosystems : Transforming temporary collaboration projects into permanent resource integration

The aim of this paper is to discuss the unexploited forces of user-orientation and shared responsibility to promote sustainable value co-creation during service innovation projects in welfare service ecosystems. The framework is based on the theoretical field of public service logic (PSL) and our thesis is that service innovation seriously requires a user-oriented approach, and that such an approach enables resource integration based on the service-user’s needs and lifeworld. In our findings, we identify prerequisites and opportunities of collaborative service innovation projects in order to transform these projects into sustainable resource integration once they have ended

Marshall Space Flight Center Faculty Fellowship Program

The 2017 Marshall Faculty Fellowship Program involved 21 faculty in the laboratories and departments at Marshall Space Flight Center. These faculty engineers and scientists worked with NASA collaborators on NASA projects, bringing new perspectives and solutions to bear. This Technical Memorandum is a compilation of the research reports of the 2017 Marshall Faculty Fellowship program, along with the Program Announcement (Appendix A) and the Program Description (Appendix B). The research affected the following six areas: (1) Materials (2) Propulsion (3) Instrumentation (4) Spacecraft systems (5) Vehicle systems (6) Space science The materials investigations included composite structures, printing electronic circuits, degradation of materials by energetic particles, friction stir welding, Martian and Lunar regolith for in-situ construction, and polymers for additive manufacturing. Propulsion studies were completed on electric sails and low-power arcjets for use with green propellants. Instrumentation research involved heat pipes, neutrino detectors, and remote sensing. Spacecraft systems research was conducted on wireless technologies, layered pressure vessels, and two-phase flow. Vehicle systems studies were performed on life support-biofilm buildup and landing systems. In the space science area, the excitation of electromagnetic ion-cyclotron waves observed by the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission provided insight regarding the propagation of these waves. Our goal is to continue the Marshall Faculty Fellowship Program funded by Center internal project offices. Faculty Fellows in this 2017 program represented the following minority-serving institutions: Alabama A&M University and Oglala Lakota College

Factors affecting cryptocurrency adoption in digital market of Malaysia

Cryptocurrency plays an important role in today's digital currency environment. Improving cryptocurrency adoption is important for consumers and practitioners, as it improves understanding, enhances behavior, attitude, trust, and increases satisfaction. Though the lack of cryptocurrency adoption is a significant issue that arises in the digital market, cryptocurrency adoption is crucial to the support of technology capability facilitated with appropriate behavioral intention too. Considering the fact, this study intended to investigate the impact of cryptocurrency adoption in the digital market in Malaysia. This empirical study examined the role of trust (TR), social influence (SI), cryptocurrency transaction transparency (CTT), technology awareness (TA), facilitating conditions (FC), performance expectancy (PE), attitude (AT), customer satisfaction on behavioral intention (BI) and cryptocurrency adoption (CA). The study also intended to examine the role of behavioral intention as a mediator in the context of cryptocurrency adoption. In line with the research objectives, systematic random sampling was used in this study. Cross-sectional data were collected using a questionnaire at the cryptocurrency consumer of Malaysia, which produced a total of 349 usable responses. The study employed Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) for data analysis. Findings o the study revealed that TR, SI, CTT, TA, and FC positively affect CA (dependent variable) through the mediation of behavioral intention (BI) in Malaysia's digital market. On the other hand, PE, AT, and CS negatively affect cryptocurrency adoption in Malaysia's digital market. Future researchers may replicate the study in different countries in a different industry context and integrate similar constructs to broaden the current body of knowledge

Digital transformation: A multidisciplinary perspective and future research agenda

Digital transformation has had an unprecedented influence on all sectors of business over the last decade. We are now entering an era characterized by the extensive digital transformation of businesses, society, and consumers. Therefore, digital transformation has become a pivotal focus for organizations across various sectors in recent years. Despite differing scholarly perspectives on the concept and elements of digital transformation, a consensus exists that it significantly impacts consumer decisions and necessitates organizational adaptation. Recent challenges such as the COVID‐19 pandemic have further accelerated the need for digital transformation and its effects on consumers. This necessitates an editorial perspective on this most important topic to establish future research agenda encompassing the various dimensions of digital transformation. The purpose of this editorial perspective is to review research on digital transformation from a multidisciplinary viewpoint and provide insights into several key domains—Internet‐of‐Things, social media, mobile apps, artificial intelligence, augmented and virtual reality, the metaverse, and corporate digital responsibility—that are poised to fuel the pace of digital transformation. Each domain is analyzed through a lens of introduction, role, importance, multifaceted impact, and conclusions. Future research directions are suggested