Beyond 2D Product Presentation in E-commerce: A Literature Review

Value creation is increasingly relevant for owners of digital service platforms. These owners have two vital goals: increase their service base and sustain their service offerers. A key element in continuously accommodating these goals is value creation. While the literature on digital service platforms is growing, there is a paucity of knowledge on the value creation process in these platforms. Drawing on a qualitative study of Uber drivers in Denmark and Sweden, we synthesize Schumpeter’s theory of value creation to develop an understanding of the value creation process in digital service platforms from the perspective of service offerers. As such, our study proposes and contributes a value creation framework for digital service platforms that identifies 8 value sources and highlights resource combination and exchange in the process of value creation

From sPassion to sWOM: The role of flow

Purpose - Social commerce websites entail a completely new scenario for sharing experiences and opinions due to its richness in terms of social interactions. Nowadays, users can interact with the company and with other users; hence, it seems important to study how social stimuli affect users. Drawing on the stimulus-organism-response framework and flow theory, the purpose of this paper is to propose that the social stimulus (named social passion (sPassion)) has a positive effect on the organism (state of flow), which leads to a users' positive response (via social word of mouth (sWOM)). Design/methodology/approach - The data were collected through an online survey in 2015. The sample consists of 771 users of social commerce websites, of which 51 percent are male and 49 percent female, aged between 16 and 80 years old. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data with the statistical software SPSS version 22 and EQS 6. Findings - The empirical results confirm that passionate users are prone to experience a state of flow and, as a consequence, share positive sWOM. Originality/value - This study contributes to the literature on customers' online participation, and the findings are hoped to help companies in developing social commerce websites that boost users' exchange of information

UNDERSTANDING THE EFFECTS OF CONSUMERS’ VALUETECHNOLOGY FIT ON A MOBILE SHOPPING WEBSITE：THE CASE OF RAKUTEN ICHIBA

Mobile shopping is very popular nowadays. Many mobile shopping websites were founded in recent years, such as Yahoo! and Rakuten Ichiba. Most previous articles focused on theory of planned behavior, trust, flow, perceived usefulness, consumer usability preference, consumer shopping experience and decision-making, integrating technology acceptance model and perceived value. There are few studies to discuss benefits of matching discounts/bargains with a mobile shopping website, as well as how much affective reaction and flow affect continuance intention of using a mobile shopping website. The aim of this study investigates the factors (value-technology fit, affective reaction, flow) influencing continuance intention of the mobile shopping website, and mediation effects of affective reaction and flow. The results of this study show that users’ value-technology fit significantly affects their affective reaction, flow, and continuance intention to use the mobile shopping website. Affective reaction and flow significantly affect users’ continuance intention to use the mobile shopping website. Moreover, affective reaction and flow partially mediate relationship between value-technology fit and users’ continuance intention to use the mobile shopping website, Rakuten Ichiba. The research findings have suggestions for the mobile shopping managers and future research studies

Beyond 2D Product Presentation in E-commerce: A Literature Review

Product presentation in e-commerce has gained substantial attention from disciplines including information systems, marketing, psychology and management. Many studies compare newly emerging technologies and innovative presentation formats to traditional use of two-dimensional text and pictures. However, the emergent nature of these new technologies, like consumer focused virtual reality, results in instability of form and function in three-dimensional environments. This literature review synthesises the findings of extant literature, discusses important theoretical foundations and identifies the most popular research theories and research methods utilised. Additionally, it classifies constructs used to capture characteristics of presentation formats, consumers’ reactions and performance, as well as marketing effects (e.g. attitudes to product and purchase intention). The literature review concludes with a discussion of implications and suggestions for future research of product presentation in ecommerce contexts

Expert-Based Evaluation of Digitalization and Mass Customization in the Baltic Non-Life Insurance Online Platforms

The expansion of online distribution platforms illustrates how non-life insurance companies are shifting to digital and customized personal line insurance products. This research extends previous investigations on digital insurance transformations and customization trends in the European and Baltic markets. Expert-based evidence on predominant as-is features in existing non-life insurance online platforms and evaluation on a practical spread of 3 capabilities of the Mass Customization concept are key research outcomes. Results reveal that neither the Mass Customization concept and its capabilities nor combinations with digital and personalization solutions are sufficiently widespread within the Baltic non-life insurance market. Results of the digitalization evaluation indicate that the level in the Baltic non-life insurance sector is between Satisfied and Rather Good and is equal to the level of service provider’s preparation for digital solutions. However, it is behind the actual needs of end-users. Findings show that standardization is a predominant as-is feature in the Baltic non-life insurance online platforms

Surfing or flowing? How to retain e-customers on the internet

Purpose - Social commerce websites entail a completely new scenario for retaining e-customers due to the richness of their social interactions. Nowadays, users can interact with companies and with other users; hence, it is considered important to study how social stimuli affect users. Drawing on the Stimulus Organism Response framework and Flow Theory, this paper aims to propose that the social stimulus (sPassion) has a positive effect on the organism (state of flow) causing positive responses from users (flow consciousness, trust and eLoyalty). Design/methodology/approach - The data were collected through an online survey. The sample consists of 771 users of social commerce websites, of which 51 per cent are male and 49 per cent female, aged between 16 and 80 years. The structural equation model statistical software EQS 6 was used to test the model. Findings - The empirical results confirm that passionate users are prone to experience state of flow, and, as a consequence, they are conscious of this optimal experience, resulting in an increase in trust. Originality/value - The originality of this research stems from analysing how users’ passion on social commerce creates an optimal experience that boost customers’ retention

An Integrated Temporal Model of Belief and Attitude Change: An Empirical Test With the iPad

Bhattacherjee and Premkumar (2004) propose a temporal model of belief and attitude change to understand fluctuating patterns of information technology (IT) usage. However, they overlook the role of perceived enjoyment in the process of temporal IT usage. Perceived enjoyment has become an increasingly important part of how consumers assess technology. Thus, we build on Bhattacherjee and Premkumar’s model (BP model) and propose a new model by investigating the comparative role of perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived enjoyment (PE) for explaining temporal changes in users’ beliefs and attitudes toward IT usage. We name our proposed model the integrated temporal model (ITM). Through an empirical study of iPad usage in a classroom setting at three different stages, we found that 1) the effect of PE on PU was stronger at the pre-usage (vs. post-usage) stage and that its effect was stronger at the initial-usage (vs. later-usage) stage; 2) while PE has a stronger effect than PU on attitude at both pre-usage and initial-usage stages, that was not the case at the later-usage stage; instead, the effect of PU on attitude was stronger at the later-usage (vs. initial-usage) stage; 3) the effect of disconfirmation on modified PU and PE was stronger at the initial (vs. later) stage, while the effect of PU and PE expectation on modified PU and PE was weaker at the initial (vs. later) stage. Our study extends the BP model to IT with hedonic elements (i.e., the iPad) and is the first of its kind to empirically examine the combined and relative impact of PU and PE on the temporal usage of IT with hedonic elements in the classroom setting

Examining the role of online motivations in consumer online shopping intention using technology acceptance model

Electronic commerce sales continue rising due to Internet growth. However, online retailers may not be doing enough to promote their products causing them to forego potential profits. Understanding the impact of motivational factors on consumer intention to shop online will enable online retailers to design effective ebusiness strategy that engage users, leading to additional purchases. In this study, the researcher modified the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to reflect the impact of some online motivational factors in online shopping. The TAM posits perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU) contribute to an individual‘s behavioral intention. Research has shown motivational factors have the ability to influence PEOU and PU. Although many studies have used the model to better understand e-commerce, the problem is that they have ignored some important external variables. This study adopted a quantitative research methodology using surveys to collect research data from survey subject. A structural equation modeling software (Analysis of Moment Structures or AMOS) was applied to examine the direct and mediating effects hypotheses. The analysis of the data has supported some purposed relationships. It was found that convenience, social media, and personalization positively influence to consumer perceived usefulness of online shopping, and consumer intention to shop online. Moreover, perceived enjoyment positively influences to consumer intention to shop online, and website attributes positively affects perceived ease of use of online shopping. While, results failed to support relationships between the information density and consumer intention to shop online. This research makes several theoretical contributions and provides further insights on the effects of online shopping motivations on consumer behavior particularly in Malaysia. Methodological and practical implications were discussed and several potential avenues for future research were identified and proposed. Generally, this study improves our knowledge on what factors drive consumers to shop online, how they work, and what their implications are for customers and online retailers

An Examination of Fit and the Use of Mobile Devices for Performing Tasks

This research seeks to better understand an individual’s use of mobile devices and the matching fit between type of mobile device and activity. As mobile devices swiftly progress and alter individuals’ ways of interacting with technology, a more comprehensive understanding of how tasks are impacted may help ensure appropriate device selection. The ability for more targeted device selection may increase use and help mobile device users and designers avoid the pitfalls of pre-existing, traditional technology. Building on identified antecedents of success from the DeLone & McLean Information Systems Success Model and focusing on the measurement of hedonic and utilitarian tasks and Goodhue & Thompson’s Task-Technology Fit Model, the study was applied against four defined categories of mobile devices. The primary study used a survey to test a research model which examines task-technology fit in the context of mobile devices. A secondary feasibility study employed neurophysiological tools with a focused experiment to explore the impact of the technology and the nature of the task on fit. At present, this is one of the first studies that attempts to manipulate both task and technology in a study of fit yielding results for practitioner and researcher alike. Specifically, researchers will gain additional insight into users’ engagement with smartphones, tablets and mini-tablets for hedonic and utilitarian tasks. For practitioners, this study hopes to inform them of the types of tasks users are performing regularly and types of devices are being used. This work may assist in forming future device technical designs and specifications