An Empirical Investigation of Normative, Affective, and Gender Influence on E-Commerce Systems Adoption

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) systems adoption factors and the moderating effects of gender are important topics for ecommerce designers and human-computer interaction researchers. Even though there are a lot of research endeavors to explain e-commerce systems adoption, one of the main questions to be answered is regarding the normative and affective factors based on the theory of reasoned action and the self-determination theory. In this paper, the relationships among the social norms, perceived enjoyment, and their relationships to intention to adopt e-commerce system are tested (n = 322). Furthermore, the moderating effects of gender are tested based on the socio-linguistic literature. As expected, the influence of social norms is stronger in the female group while the influence of enjoyment is stronger in the male group. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed in the paper

A meta-analysis of the factors affecting eWOM providing behaviour

Purpose- Numerous studies have examined factors influencing eWOM providing behaviour. The volume of extant research and inconsistency in some of the findings makes it useful to develop an all-encompassing model synthesising results. Therefore, the aim of this study is to synthesise findings from existing studies on eWOM by employing meta-analysis, which will help to reconcile conflicting findings of factors affecting consumers’ intention to engage in eWOM communications.Design/methodology/approach- The findings from 51 studies were used for meta-analysis, which was undertaken using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software.Findings- Factors affecting eWOM providing behaviour were divided into four groups: personal conditions, social conditions, perceptual conditions, and consumption-based conditions. The results of meta-analysis showed that out of 20 identified relationships, 16 were found to be significant (opinion seeking, information usefulness, trust in web eWOM services, economic incentive, customer satisfaction, loyalty, brand attitude, altruism, affective commitment, normative commitment, opinion leadership, self-enhancement, information influence, tie strength, homophily, and community identity).Originality/value- Applying meta-analysis helped reconciliation of conflicting findings, enabled investigation of the strengths of the relationships between motivations and eWOM providing behaviour, and offered a consolidated view. The results of this study facilitate the advancement of current knowledge of information dissemination on the Internet, which can influence consumer purchase intention and loyalty

Understanding the Role of Commitments in Explaining P2P Lending Investing Willingness: Antecedents and Consequences

As a relatively new e-commerce phenomenon, peer-to-peer (P2P) lending has the potential to thoroughly change the structure of the loan segment in the financial industry. And the success of P2P lending heavily depend on users’ continuous use. However, this topic has not been fully studied in IS research. The high practical significance and lack of research indicate the importance of the present study. This study aims to apply Meyer and Allen’s three-component model of commitment to construct a research model, which incorporates context-specific antecedents. To test the model, we use a survey of 216 actual lenders of the P2P lending platform in China. Results derived from data indicated that lenders’ continuous investments were jointly determined by continuous commitment and affective commitment. Further, platform assurance, trust on third-party, economic feasibility and quality of alternatives performed well as antecedents of continuous commitment. And perceived critical mass and platform assurance were significantly associated with affective commitment. The results of this research provided theoretical implications for future research and practical implications for the success of P2P lending platforms

The Role Of Affective Commitment In ERP Adoption: An Empirical Study

This study investigates the process of acceptance and use of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems by its users, in order to understand the reasons behind their behavior. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is used as a starting point for this work. In accordance with the TAM, two user’s beliefs, perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, affect the behavioral intention to use a specific technology. Moreover, perceived ease of use also influences perceived usefulness. In literature, there are few prior research that focused on role of affective commitment in determining the process of acceptance and use of technology. These have shown that affective commitment positively affects the TAM constructs such as perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Unlike these prior research, we assume that affective commitment directly also affects both the behavioral intention to ERP system use and it moderates the relationships between perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and behavioral intention. A survey methodology was used to gather data from an Italian public transport firm. Findings show the importance of affective commitment in determining acceptance and use behavior by users. In particular, our results highlight that affective commitment does not moderate the relationships between perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and behavioral intention. Moreover, results shown that affective commitment affects behavioural intention to IT use trough user’s beliefs and, above all, it directly and positively affects behavioural intention. We discuss the implications of these results for theory and practice

The Effect of Social EWOM on Consumers’ Behaviour Patterns in the Fashion Sector

The study described in this chapter aimed to enhance knowledge on the influence of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on consumer’s decision-making processes. eWOM emerged as a key driver in consumers’ decision-making processes given its greater impact on purchasing decisions compared to other communication channels. Specifically, the study focused on the reviews of fashion products on social networks (SNs) and built on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model in order to identify the determinants of social eWOM adoption and intention to buy the reviewed product. The survey method was used to gather data from 230 Italian consumers. Structural equation modelling was used to estimate the model proposed. Results revealed that when consumers seek information on fashion products, the user-friendliness of SNs and social cues (homophily and normative social influence) positively impact social eWOM (opinion-seeking), which in turn influences the intention to purchase the reviewed products. The study contributes both theoretically and empirically to the understanding of the role of social eWOM in influencing consumer behaviour. At the theoretical level, it supports the adequacy of the S-O-R model for explaining the consumer decision-making process in the context of social eWOM. From a managerial perspective, the findings highlight the importance of taking into consideration both structural (accessibility) and social relationship variables while developing social media marketing strategies

The Influence of Type of Implicit EWOM on Purchase Intention

Electronic Word-of-mouth (eWOM) helps shape consumers’ purchasing decisions and companies’ marketing choices. Researchers and practitioners have extensively studied textual or word-based eWOM in online reviews, blogs, e-mails, and product sites. The effect of implicit eWOM, eWOM using paralinguistic cues, on consumer behavior has been infrequently studied even though marketers often seek to use implicit eWOM to influence consumers. On Facebook, the most popular social networking platform in the world, three of the most frequently used forms of implicit eWOM are the emoticon, the emoji, and the GIF. A comparison of the effect of types of implicit eWOM on the purchase intention of eWOM receivers was made in two studies. Four theories, specifically, (Social Presence Theory, Short et al., 1976), Affect as Information Theory, (Clore & Storbeck, 2006), the Elaboration Likelihood Model (Petty & Cacioppo, 1984) and the Foote, Cone, and Belding Grid Model (Vaughn, 1980, 1986), were used to frame the studies. In Study 1, four independent groups were shown product reviews that were text only, text plus emoticon, text plus emoji, or text plus GIF. Half of each group were shown a product review of candy and half were shown a product review of a computer. The products represent different levels of engagement and cognitive/affective processing. Study 2 included four independent groups shown product reviews that were text only or text followed by either an emoticon, an emoji, or a GIF. Each participant was shown reviews of three products (candy, a chair, or a computer), chosen to represent different levels of engagement and cognitive/affective processing. All pairs of groups were compared using an independent groups t-test. No significant increase in purchase intention due to implicit eWOM was found in either study. In two comparisons between text only and 1) text plus emoticon and 2) text plus emoji, purchase intention was higher for the text only review than for the review that included a paralinguistic cue

Essays on Crowdfunding Adoption and Behavior

The aim of this dissertation is to examine aspects of crowdfunding adoption and behavior. Accordingly, the overarching research question answered by this dissertation is: what influences crowdfunding backers’ contribution intentions and behaviors? The dissertation answers this question while focusing on dimensions of trust, community, and technological acceptance. The dissertation is made up of three studies with one conceptual article (study 1), and two empirical studies (study 2 and 3). The conceptual study marries marketing and trust literatures and contextualizes their implications for the crowdfunding context. The result is the development of a framework of trust-based marketing strategies for crowdfunding campaigns, building on the understanding of the critical role played by trust in crowdfunding adoption by prospective backers. The empirical studies (i.e., study 2 and 3), are based on the analyses of empirical data collected from actual platform users, while using Structural Equation Model techniques. These studies examine the antecedents of backers’ contribution intentions and behavior, specifically in the context of reward crowdfunding in Finland. Study 2 explains backers’ intention and behavior by testing the extensive version of the technology acceptance model (TAM). It confirms the relevance of the TAM model for properly capturing influential antecedents of backers’ financial contribution intentions and behavior and further elaborates on the specific influences of backers’ experiences and voluntariness, which challenge existing conceptualizations from other information and communication technology -related contexts. Study 3 builds on the view of crowdfunding as an embedded phenomenon in online communities, to develop a community-based crowdfunding framework for explaining backers’ contribution intentions and behaviors, while highlighting the roles of community identification and community trust.publishedVersio

Does online retail coupons and memberships create favourable psychological disposition?

This study aims to examine the impact of coupons, portal membership and peer-influence on consumer purchase and psychological actions, which is built on the theory of impulsiveness and the theory of dissonance. The study uses 2x2x2 (i.e. coupons, peer influence, complimentary coupons) factorial experimental design to investigate the proposed hypothetical model. The experiment was conducted with 364 participants. The study used a two-step structural equation modelling analysis to validate the proposed hypothetical model. The findings suggest that an increase in coupons can positively enhance the purchase actions and impulsiveness, which can later influence cognitive post purchase dissonance (CPPD) and affective post-purchase dissonance (APPD), as well as customers repurchase intention. It was also found that providing additional complimentary coupons reduces the effect of CPPD but not of the APPD. This study contributes to dissonance theory by adding APPD into the framework; moreover, the results on the coupons, memberships and peer influence will offer further insights to practitioners

THE IMPACT OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS ON THE RELATIONSHIP QUALITY OF FACEBOOK USERS

Armed with the great potential for business value and social networking, social media have generated great interests in academia and practice. Rare studies investigated the impact of social psychological factors on the usage of Facebook and the formation of quality relationship. The objective of this paper is to examine the key social psychological factors to better explain the formation of quality relationship. Our proposed theoretical model combined the theories of social influence, social identity, and social presence to capture the essences of the relationship quality between users and Facebook. We conducted a survey to collect data and empirically test our proposed model. Overall, our findings provide theoretical insights to explain the influence of social psychological factors on the usage of Facebook and quality relationship. These findings also help practitioners to plan marketing strategies in better utilize social network sites