Influence of Taiwanese Consumer Beliefs in Web Site Attributes and E-Shopping Attitudes on E-Shopping Intentions

This study aimed at investigating Taiwanese consumers\u27 beliefs in Web site attributes and their e-shopping attitudes that influence their intentions to shop for books in e-bookstores. This study utilized the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) as the framework to explain the interrelationships among belief in Web site attributes, e-shopping attitude, and e-shopping intention. This study, using the method of two-stage quota sampling, used a sample of male and female students at different levels of several departments of Far East College. The survey questionnaires were non-randomly distributed to the voluntary participants. The survey was administered to a sample of undergraduate and graduate students who were students at Far East College of Taiwan and had purchased books in e-bookstores. The procedure of this non-experimental study guaranteed participants\u27 anonymity. Three hundred and fifty-one questionnaires were usable for data analysis. The three most important variables in this study were belief in Web site attributes, e-shopping attitude, and e-shopping intention. Independent variables were belief in Web site attributes and e-shopping attitude, and the dependent variable was shopping intention. Web site attributes consisted of four dimensions: Web site content, trustworthiness, interactivity, and marketing mix. In the questionnaire, six important constructs (belief in Web site content, belief in trustworthiness, belief in interactivity, belief in marketing mix, e-shopping attitude, e-shopping intention) were measured on a five-point semantic differential scale. The scale items for these six constructs were developed by modifying instruments in prior studies that had been conducted by different scale developers. The content of the questionnaire was composed of two parts: the first part contained three items inquiring about participants\u27 gender, age, and length of e-shopping experience; the second part contained 26 items to inquire about participants\u27 beliefs in Web site attributes, e-shopping attitudes, and e-shopping intentions. The collected data were processed on SPSS to conduct reliability analysis, factor analysis, descriptive analysis, simple regression, t-test analysis, analysis of variance, and multiple-regression. Findings indicated that e-shopping attitude was a predictor of e-shopping intention and had a positive and significant effect on e-shopping intention. Also, belief in Web site content, belief in trustworthiness, and belief in interactivity were antecedents of e-shopping attitude, but belief in marketing mix did not have an influential effect on e-shopping attitude. Furthermore, belief in marketing mix played an important role in affecting e-shopping intention. Practical implications, limitations, and recommendations for future research are further discussed

THE CONSUMER CHOICE OF E-CHANNELS AS A PURCHASING AVENUE: AN INVESTIGATION OF THE COMMUNICATIVE ASPECTS OF INFORMATION QUALTIY

A conspicuous paradox is evident in the statistics concerning purchases over the internet. While a majority of the US population uses the internet to seek product information for purchasing decisions, less than two percent of actual retail sales occur on the Internet. To explain this small ratio of e-channel choice for purchase, a comprehensive model that extends DeLone and McLean\u27s (2004) e-commerce success model was developed. The model centers on the importance of perceived information quality and its relationship to e-channel choice as a purchasing channel. Using the overarching theoretical frame of motivation, two questions were examined: (a) what influences consumers\u27 perception of the quality of information in e-channels, and (b) how information quality influences the consumers\u27 choice of e-channels in purchasing products. Four constructs, based on dimensions of communication theories, are put forward to be important determinants in consumers\u27 perception of information quality in e-channels, which ultimately shape their decision to purchase over the internet. Telepresence and screening capability in the message dimension, and channel trust in receiver dimension are theorized to positively affect perceived information quality. It is also hypothesized that as consumers experience higher levels of cognitive overhead as they use the internet, this will negatively impact perceived information quality in e-channels. Since telepresence is potentially the most manipulative among these factors through current web technologies, this study further investigates its antecedents. Based on human information processing styles, standardization of specification, sensory descriptiveness, feedback quality, and interactivity are presented as technological design elements to increase telepresence. The methodology used combined survey and a quasi-experiment, where several important parameters of the experiment were controlled to measure the research model. Several pilot studies were conducted to validate the quasi-experimental design and construct measurement. Analysis using structured equation modeling on a useable sample frame of 309 students provided support that perceived information quality has a positive effect on consumers\u27 choice of e-channels over physical channels for product purchase. Support was found for all factors to information quality and telepresence except feedback quality\u27s effect on telepresence. Overall, this study presents a framework of e-channel choice that combines motivation theory with the e-commerce success model, and enables better understanding of online consumer behavior. A common belief about the inadequacy of experience goods for electronic transaction is challenged. The results of this study provide insight into the pivotal role of information quality in addressing performance risk, thereby shedding a light on what makes consumers to use e-channels mostly as an information source rather than a purchasing point. Information quality is revealed as a key link between the evaluation aspects of the information search stage and the purchasing aspects of the choice stage. Four effective levers to increase information quality are identified, and telepresence is identified as the most promising tool to increase perceived information quality

Application of ICT Tools and Techniques in Collection Building and Development

Examines the application of varied ICT tools and techniques in the domain of collection building, development and management. Discusses how ICT has substantially impacted every sphere of academic library activity and more so in collection building and management. Explains the impact of IT on different stages of collection development process-right from the identification and selection of items to weed out obsolete documents. Enumerate sources for selection of recommended items; varied information Channels to identify the needed documents and discusses some popular selection tools and their functions. Explains some of the helpful LIS software and their modules that support collection development activities

Battling Over Books (and More): The Internet Based Competition Between Berelsmann Online and Amazon.com

This case study contrasts the business strategies of two Internet-based retailers: Amazon.com, a young Internet start-up, and Bertelsmann Online (BOL), a subsidiary of a traditional mass-media firm. It presents the global marketing approach followed by each firm for Internet-based book sales, with a particular emphasis on their operations in Germany. It analyzes how Amazon.com and BOL go about building customer relationships and loyalty and, more broadly, the strengths and weaknesses of their competitive strategy. The case concludes by highlighting the future outlook of each firm and some critical success factors in launching an Internetbased venture. Lessons learned from this comparative study are also presented

What Does it Take to Make Discovery a Success?: A Survey of Discovery Tool Adoption, Instruction, and Evaluation Among Academic Libraries

Discovery tools have been widely adopted by academic libraries, yet little information exists that connects common practices regarding discovery tool implementation, maintenance, assessment, and staffing with conventions for research and instruction. The authors surveyed heads of reference and instruction departments in research and land-grant university libraries. The survey results revealed common practices with discovery tools among academic libraries. This study also draws connections between operational, instructional, and assessment practices and perceptions that participants have of the success of their discovery tool. Participants who indicated successful implementation of their discovery tool hailed from institutions that made significant commitments to the operations, maintenance, and acceptance of their discovery tool. Participants who indicated an unsuccessful implementation, or who were unsure about the success of their implementation, did not make lasting commitments to the technical maintenance, operations, and acceptance of their discovery tool

Generating Effective Recommendations Using Viewing-Time Weighted Preferences for Attributes

Recommender systems are an increasingly important technology and researchers have recently argued for incorporating different kinds of data to improve recommendation quality. This paper presents a novel approach to generating recommendations and evaluates its effectiveness. First, we review evidence that item viewing time can reveal user preferences for items. Second, we model item preference as a weighted function of preferences for item attributes. We then propose a method for generating recommendations based on these two propositions. The results of a laboratory evaluation show that the proposed approach generated estimated item ratings consistent with explicit item ratings and assigned high ratings to products that reflect revealed preferences of users. We conclude by discussing implications and identifying areas for future research

HILCC: A Hierarchical Interface to Library of Congress Classification : a project report on the development of an operational prototype LCC-based subject interface.

This paper describes a project, undertaken by Columbia University Libraries in 1997, to develop a system for the automatic generation of browsable, web-based, subject-oriented presentations of our electronic resources by mapping LC classification numbers present in catalog records to a hierarchical subject vocabulary derived from the Library of Congress classification schedules

QUALITATIVE INVESTIGATION OF 4PL VALUE OFFERINGS TO THE USCG AND USMC

This study fills the gap in knowledge surrounding military services outsourcing their procurement activities to fourth-party logistics (4PL) providers. A 4PL provider serves as a single interface integrating and coordinating supply chain activities including logistics management. The existing partnerships between General Services Administration (GSA) Retail Operation’s 4PL and both the USMC ServMart and USCG Yard formed the basis of a qualitative analysis using case studies to examine the 4PL program implementation process, limitations, and effectiveness. The results revealed that the factors inhibiting 4PL adoption include long lead times to add items, vague Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clause on mandatory usage, and incompatible financial systems. Despite these limiting factors, we discovered that GSA 4PL has been able to reduce inventory cost, improve procurement performance and enhance customer value for the USMC and USCG on commercially available recurring items. This study will assist military services considering the use of 4PL to augment and improve their procurement processes. Future research using a comparative analysis approach assessing GSA and commercial 4PL providers is recommended to broaden the knowledge on the benefits, limitations, and risks of 4PL outsourcing.Lieutenant Commander, United States Coast GuardEnsign, United States NavyApproved for public release. Distribution is unlimited