Understanding hotel visitors’ motives to use hotel gamified applications

While hospitality has been one of the industries that have been keen to adopt and use various technologies, the proliferation of gamification application is still to materialise. It is therefore very interesting to investigate the potential benefits of gamified applications in the area of the hospitality industry by identifying the motives of individuals’ when they use a hotel-gamified application. Hospitality industry is becoming more and more competitive and surviving and marketing a destination has become a challenge, so in order to gain a competitive advantage, the use of modern technology is crucial for many destination-marketing organizations. Gamification can be applied in technology-mediated and non-technology-mediated contexts. Within technology-mediated contexts, gamification is more applicable due to the favourable environment that such context offers. Recent evolutions indicate that mobile devices are becoming travel buddies and their use is profoundly influencing the different phases of a travellers’ journey. Hence, it could be assumed, that a mobile hotel gamified application is now easier than ever to develop and succeed. Since fun has become the requirement to ensure continuous demands for many products or services, companies and organizations feel the need to involve fun in their offerings to secure continuity in consumption and use. Therefore, this study aims to understand the meaning of fun for individuals when they will use a hotel-gamified application, using visual material so the interviewees would have an idea of how a hotel-gamified application would look if it was in existence today based on the current definitions of gamification

The Impact of Online Reviews on the Information Flows and Outcomes of Marketing Systems

Online reviews are changing the way that consumers shop and firms respond to consumer feedback. Viewed more broadly, online reviews are a type of information flow altering the functioning of marketing systems at the micro, meso, and macro levels. A systematic review of the past two decades of research shows great attention to the impact of online reviews on information flows, as well as the nuances of micro-and meso-level efficiency outcomes. However, there is scant consideration for the effectiveness related outcomes of online reviews (such as customer well-being, distributive justice, and externalities). Through a macromarketing lens, online reviews are an information flow with the potential to change well-being outcomes for all stake-holders, rather than just a tool to be exploited by firms or consumers. A theoretical framework and a series of questions are presented for future research on how online reviews and more generally information flows between actors may impact the efficiency and effectiveness of a marketing system

Perceptions of online fraud and the impact on the countermeasures for the control of online fraud in Saudi Arabian financial institutions

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonThis study addresses the impact of countermeasures in the control and prevention of online fraud in Saudi Arabia and the influence of the environmental context. Combatting online fraud is facilitated when the public is fully educated and is aware of its types and of the prevention methods available. People are reliant on the Internet; the possibility of being breached by hackers and fraudsters is growing, especially as socialising, online shopping and banking are carried out through personal computers or mobile devices. Online fraud has been described as an epidemic that has spread to most online activities. Its prevalence has been noted to be in regions where there is high adoption of e-commerce, and, along with it, large online financial transactions. The argument is therefore the measures taken are either are inadequate or have failed to effectively address all the issues because of the organisational and environmental context of the country. This research aims to examine online fraud perceptions and the countermeasures designed and used by financial institutions in Saudi Arabia to control and prevent online fraud in its environmental context, to examine the effectiveness/impact of the countermeasures and to examine the factors that may affect/influence the impact of the countermeasures. The qualitative method approach was chosen to ensure balanced coverage of the subject matter. The nature of the research requires a broader, in-depth, examination of the experiences of the participants from their own perspective. Meanwhile levels of awareness are low, because of lack of knowledge and training, a lack of government sensitisation and the religious inclinations of the population. The findings also confirm the efforts of organisations to put in place countermeasures using various technological means, coupled with procedural controls and checks. The measures create obstacles to most customers, who find it cumbersome to engage in online activities because of those procedures and checks. The findings also show two types of regulations: government and organisational rules, with different foci and purposes, which are mostly centred on the monitoring of Internet operations and operational guidelines. The enforcement of rules in the light of prosecuting offenders has also been minimal and passive. The countermeasures of most banks/organisations mostly focus on prevention and detection. However, the findings suggest that the activities in each component and their interrelationships have a collective impact on combatting online fraud. The success of any effort or approach to combat fraudulent activities therefore depends on the activities of the four countermeasure components

Consumer adoption of access-based consumption services - Case AirBnB

Increasing internet and smart phone penetration has given rise to a new business model, in which the service companies act as intermediaries and allow consumers to exchange value between them. Usually this is done by facilitating resource exchange between the consumers - one party that needs a resource such as a car, a designer bag or a place to stay rents or shares this resource with another party that has no need for the resource at the moment. This phenomenon has been dubbed collaborative consumption, the sharing economy or access-based consumption and is the focus of this research. The current growth of this sector is extremely high, and several companies operating in this field have received valuations in excess of 10 billion USD and are preparing for large-scale initial public offerings. Because this phenomenon is quite a recent one, scant quantitative research currently exists that studies why consumers engage in using these services. This study attempts to fill this gap by studying the consumer adoption process of AirBnB. The main questions are; what factors influence consumer adoption of AirBnB and what is the relative importance of the different factors. By using established theories from marketing, psychology and information systems research, a multi-tiered structural equation model is created based on empirical data from a survey of 124 consumers to test different factors influencing adoption. The results indicate that expected performance and hedonic motivations are the primary drivers of adoption of AirBnB. Social influence is another driver of adoption, albeit to a lesser extent than expected performance and hedonic motivations. In addition, the more materialistic the consumer, the less likely she/he is to adopt AirBnB. Moreover, expected performance is positively influenced by perceived price value and trust. Trust in turn is positively influenced by perceived effectiveness of the feedback mechanisms and the perceived quality of the web site. Based on the results, it can be argued that adopters of AirBnB are willing to exchange regulation and the safety that comes with it - that are inherent in traditional services such as hotels - in exchange for increased price value, increased perceived fun, and a working trust architecture

Value creation in online communities

In recent years, the phenomenon of watch collecting has increased drastically in popularity. With the rise of internet and later social media, information has been more readily available making the hobby more accessible. The meaning of value creation has also changed a lot in the 21st century, so new aspects of the concept have risen to challenge the status quo. This study aims to understand how value is created in online communities, focusing on luxury and vintage mechanical watches. The theoretical section reviews the literature and theories on value, luxury, and value creation and presents a framework that was used for the purposes of this study. The approach used was qualitative since the aim was to understand the phenomena in more detail. Netnographic method was used to extract data from relevant internet discussions and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The main findings were revolved around what value is for mechanical watches in terms of luxury, as well as vintage. For luxury watches quality, self-identity and hedonic values were the most prominent ones whereas in vintage pieces authenticity, nostalgia, design and allegory values were considered to be the most important. All these then intertwine with each other when considering luxury vintage pieces. Value creation in the communities was found to arise from the interactions between the community members the most important ones being information sharing and receiving, hype creation, retention of value through consumer actions and building of allegory. Several different contributors to the community were also identified, with all of them contributing towards the consciousness of the community, which highly increases engagement.Kellojenkeräily harrastuksena on noussut räjähdysmäisesti viime vuosina internetin ja sosiaalisen median ansiosta. Tiedon ja sisällön suuren määrän ansiosta harrastus on tullut helpommin lähestytettäväksi myös tavallisille ihmisille. Samalla arvonluonnin käsite on muuttunut suuresti 2000-luvulla, minkä ansioista uusia suuntauksia on noussut haastamaan entistä ymmärrystä. Tämä tutkimus pyrkii ymmärtämään, miten arvonluonti virtuaaliyhteisöissä tapahtuu keskittyen luksus-, ja vintagekelloihin. Teoreettinen osio tutkii olemassa olevaa kirjallisuutta niin näiden molempien arvojen, kuten myös virtuaaliyhteisöjen osuudesta asiaan, joiden pohjalta tutkimuksen kehys on luotu. Tutkimus on laadullinen, koska virtuaaliyhteisöjen osuutta arvonluontiin haluttiin ymmärtää tarkemmin. Netnografisella metodilla saatiin suuri määrä oleellista dataa tietyn virtuaaliyhteisön relevantimmista keskusteluista, joka analysoitiin sisällöllisesti. Suurimmat löydökset liittyivät arvojen eri komponentteihin. Luksuskelloihin liittyen isoimmat arvokomponentit olivat laatu, identiteetti hedonistinen arvo, kun taas vintagekellojen suhteen suurimmat komponentit olivat autenttisuus-, nostalgia., suunnittelu- ja allegorinen arvo. Vintage luksuskelloissa nämä kaikki taas sitoutuu yhteen vaihtelevasti. Virtuaaliyhteisön rooli arvonluonnissa keskittyy yhteisön jäsenten kanssakäyntien yhteyteen, joista suurimmat arvonluojat olivat tiedonjako, ”hype:n” rakennus, arvon ylläpito kuluttajan toimista ja allegorian rakennus sekä ylläpito. Myös yhteisön rakentamiseen liittyviä tekijöitä pystyttiin osoittamaan, joista kaikki edistää yhteisön ”tietoisuutta”, joka taas rohkaisee edelleen kanssakäyntiin yhteisön sisällä

What Is the Web-Based Interactive Advertising (WIA) to Consumers?: Consumer’s Interpretation and Interaction with WIA

Although numerous research has examined Web-based interactive advertising (WIA) in recent years, few studies have approached this topic from the consumers’ own perspectives. Much of the literature employed managerial perspectives to examine the effectiveness of WIA with the aim of improving practitioners’ performance. Studies that did deal with consumers often merely measured their uses of WIA and motives for using it without viewing the phenomenon from the consumers’ point-of-view. Unfortunately, this one-sided research trend provides little insight into how consumers deal with interactive advertising in the World Wide Web environment and cannot answer a basic question - do consumers really care about WIA. This study aimed to examine consumers’ perspectives toward Web-based interactive advertising. Specifically, the study explored what WIA meant to consumers and how they interacted with it through the actual navigation process. One differentiating characteristic of WIA is that it enables consumers to have an active role in the communication process; therefore, it is necessary to investigate their thoughts and behaviors regarding WIA. To pursue the research purposes, the following research questions were posed. 1) What does Web-based interactive advertising (WIA) mean to consumers? 2) How do consumers navigate through and interact with WIA in Web-based environment? Qualitative research was employed to explore the research questions. Two specific methods were used for data collection: participant observation with an articulation procedure and depth interview. Throughout the participant’s navigation process, the researcher observed how participants interacted with Websites, heard how they articulated their specific navigation behaviors, and had sporadic short interviews regarding specific actions they made. Upon completing the navigation process, the participants were interviewed about their behavior and thoughts regarding how they dealt with WIA throughout the navigation process and what they thought about WIA. Analysis was performed as the data collection was processed. Changes in data collection tactics were made based on the findings from analysis. Using scripts of interviews, articulations, and memos from observations, the consumers’ perspectives were captured and analyzed. Thematic analysis was made with open, axial, and selective coding methods. Nine themes representing consumers’ interaction with and thoughts about WIA were found. They are ‘Intrusive,’ ‘Annoying,’ ‘Informative,’ ‘Easy,’ ‘Controllable,’ ‘Relevant,’ ‘Fun,’ ‘Real-Time Communication,’ and ‘Reliable & Honest.’ Each of these themes was interrelated with some of other themes, and most of them either positively or negatively related to consumers’ evaluation of WIA. Various WIA formats emerged in addition to traditionally recognized formats such as banners and pop-ups. Two formats, ‘Customer review’ and ‘News stories about products,’ appeared frequently. The relationship between themes and WIA formats was also examined; in fact, each theme emerged with certain WIA formats. For example, ‘Intrusive’ was mentioned with traditional WIA formats such as banners and pop-ups, while ‘Relevant’ frequently emerged with corporate Websites and customer reviews. This study found that consumers are very active when using the Web. Any forced-exposure or forced-viewing was actively avoided. With the benefit of taking consumers’ perspectives, some valuable insights were also captured. For example, highly informative and interactive Web content about products usually had a positive influence on preference for WIA (this also usually translated to positive attitude toward the site or banners); however, the preferable amount of information and preferable level of interactivity varied by consumers. The study produced some valuable implications for a variety of stakeholders. Researchers can take full advantage of the findings in helping their theory building, and marketing professionals can apply the consumers’ voices to their strategic planning for interactive marketing. College teachers can integrate the findings into their Internet advertising classes as they develop consumer-based modules in these newly popular classes

Conceptualizing the Electronic Word-of-Mouth Process: What We Know and Need to Know About eWOM Creation, Exposure, and Evaluation

Electronic word of mouth (eWOM) is a prevalent consumer practice that has undeniable effects on the company bottom line, yet it remains an over-labeled and under-theorized concept. Thus, marketers could benefit from a practical, science-based roadmap to maximize its business value. Building on the consumer motivation–opportunity–ability framework, this study conceptualizes three distinct stages in the eWOM process: eWOM creation, eWOM exposure, and eWOM evaluation. For each stage, we adopt a dual lens—from the perspective of the consumer (who sends and receives eWOM) and that of the marketer (who amplifies and manages eWOM for business results)—to synthesize key research insights and propose a research agenda based on a multidisciplinary systematic review of 1050 academic publications on eWOM published between 1996 and 2019. We conclude with a discussion of the future of eWOM research and practice