Please, talk about it! When hotel popularity boosts preferences

Many consumers post on-line reviews, affecting the average evaluation of products and services. Yet, little is known about the importance of the number of reviews for consumer decision making. We conducted an on-line experiment (n= 168) to assess the joint impact of the average evaluation, a measure of quality, and the number of reviews, a measure of popularity, on hotel preference. The results show that consumers' preference increases with the number of reviews, independently of the average evaluation being high or low. This is not what one would expect from an informational point of view, and review websites fail to take this pattern into account. This novel result is mediated by demographics: young people, and in particular young males, are less affected by popularity, relying more on quality. We suggest the adoption of appropriate ranking mechanisms to fit consumer preferences. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd

Credibility of online political news among Egyptian youth

This study confirms previous literature discoveries that perceived credibility of medium, source and message have a direct influence on the perceived credibility of online political news. Each credibility factor is examined separately to identify its influence and strength on the dependent variable. Medium credibility, Internet, is considered the factor that has the strongest influence on perceived credibility of online political news, followed by the source then finally message of online political news. Consumption of online political news has also a direct influence on perception of credibility of online political news but to a much lesser extent. Timely coverage, freedom of speech and dynamic representation are Internet’s inherent features and are highly recognized by Egyptian youth as credibility factors. As for other credibility factors related to believability, objectivity and balance youth become more skeptical about credibility of online political news. Many reasons led to this doubtful view but the most apparent reason in this study is attributed to the abuse of Internet as a communication tool for online political news and lack of regulation. Hence, the uncontrollable freedom of publishing and commenting on political news stories by average citizens who could be politically ignorant, with personal agendas and without any media knowledge

What Is the Participant Learning Experience Like Using YouTube to Study a Foreign Language?

This research is to explore and understand participants\u27 experience using YouTube to learn a foreign language. YouTube and learning has become more and more popular in the recent years. The finding of this research will be adding more understanding to the emerging body of knowledge of YouTube phenomenon. In this research, there are three interviews and two questionnaires. The interviews are conducted to find in-depth responses from participants; the questionnaires are used to inquire demographic and basic information about the participants. There are twelve themes found in this research. These themes reflect on the perceived experience using YouTube to learn a foreign language from participants. Among the twelve themes, there are two themes that contributed to positive perception of the experience, three themes contributed to negative perception of the experience; and seven themes contributed to neutral perception of the experience. Finding suggests that multiple factors may impact participants\u27 experience. These factors may be personal or external, or both. The significance of the finding is to explore the experience and find the re-applicability for future studie

Antecedents of Usefulness of Electronic Word of Mouth (E-WOM) Information on Consumer’s Purchase Intention

This study examines the effect of communication through social media (electronic word of mouth) on consumer’s purchase intentions. This research model was developed from the theory of information adoption model. The study was conducted by quantitative approach through survey method. The data collection process is done online, with the sample size reaching 240 respondents. The data analysis method used to test the relationship between variables in this study is regression analysis. The study findings show that source credibility, source perceptions, two-sided information, and information ratings positively and significantly impact the usefulness of electronic word-of-mouth information. In comparison, the argument quality does not affect the usefulness of electronic word-of-mouth information. The usage variable of the information of active viral influence has a positive and significant effect on the adoption information of electronics word-of-mouth, which has a positive and significant effect on consumer purchase intentions

Factors influencing the satisfaction of chat commerce usage experience in Thailand: A Covid necessitated e-business platform

It is an undoubted fact that Internet, and by extension, e-commerce on the Internet is here to stay. Merchants of all types, big and small, are aiming to find their niche in the e-commerce marketplace, and increase their revenue. Consumer preferences on online shopping and use of new technologies are continually shifting as well. Expansion of e-commerce offerings has significantly increased the number of users and trading volumes of online shopping, therefore highlighting the need to research online consumer purchasing behavior. In the meantime, COVID-19, which forced public lockdowns over the last 2 years, led the consumers to engage in alternative purchasing channels. One of those new channels that was successful due to the increased use of smartphone mobile apps technology is called “conversation commerce”, a.k.a., “chat commerce” or “c-commerce”. In this research, with the use of a web-based survey involving 227 respondents, we investigated into the factors influencing the satisfaction of chat commerce usage experience in Thailand, and focused on their views based on generational age differences among them. This research’s objectives were to answer the following 2 research questions: [1] What factors influence the satisfaction of chat commerce usage experience in Thailand?; [2]Do factors influencing the satisfaction of chat commerce usage experience vary among generational age differences? The 10 factors studied in this research, which may lead to the success of chat commerce in Thailand, were: [1] Service Rep’s Reliability; [2] Service Rep’s Assurance; [3] Service Rep’s Responsiveness; [4] Service Rep’s Empathy; [5] Perceived Information Quality; [6] Perceived Appropriate Wait Time; [7] Trust in the Platform; [8] Perceived Ease of Use; [9] Perceived Usefulness; [10] Satisfaction with the Experience. The 4 generations in this study were: [1] Baby Boomer; [2] Gen X; [3] Gen Y; [4] Gen Z. The results of this study indicate that all 10 proposed factors ultimately have positive influence on Satisfaction with chat commerce usage experience, and may lead to the success of chat commerce in Thailand, while the 2 most important factors being Assurance [ASS] and Perceived Usefulness [PUS]. This was true for ASS for 3 of the generations (Baby Boomer, Gen X, Gen Z), as well as for the entire dataset; and for PUS for 2 of the generations (Gen Y, Gen Z), as well as the entire dataset.

The influence of online-user generated reviews on portuguese travellers´ decision-making process

difusão de novas ferramentas de comunicação, como o Electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM), facilitou a interação com conteúdo online. Os comentários online, uma das suas formas, são maioritariamente utilizados para informar consumidores, sendo particularmente relevantes em tomadas de decisão turística, como provado por investigações prévias. Nesta dissertação, centrámo-nos em turistas Portugueses para perceber a influência de comentários com diferente valência no seu comportamento. Adereçando as questões iniciais (RQs), foi desenvolvido um design experimental: os participantes foram expostos a comentários predominantemente positivos (PPR) ou predominantemente negativos (PNR). Os dados analisados focaram o efeito na atitude relativamente a um hotel (ATH) e intenções de reserva (BI), considerando a influência da conformidade dos indivíduos ao longo de diferentes momentos de planeamento turístico: Fase Inicial (IS) e Fase Tardia (LS). No total, foram analisadas 302 respostas. Concluiu-se que os PPR e PNR influenciam diferentemente a ATH e BI dos turistas, considerando momentos distintos de planeamento turístico. Em ambos os momentos, o efeito da valência demonstrou-se mais influente em indivíduos com elevado nível de conformidade. Os resultados são relevantes para empresas turísticas, principalmente hotéis, pois evidenciam os benefícios e as consequências que o eWOM pode ter na sua performance. Limitações são explicadas e sugestões para investigação futura são indicadas.The diffusion of new communication tools, such as Electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM), facilitated the engagement with online content. One of its forms, online reviews, is mainly used to inform customers, being particularly relevant concerning travellers’ decision-making process, as proven by previous research. In this dissertation, Portuguese travellers were targeted to understand how their behaviours change when exposed to differently valenced reviews. In order to address the Research Questions (RQs), an experimental design was implemented: the participants were exposed to predominantly positive (PPR) or predominantly negative reviews (PNR). The data was analysed for the effects on attitude towards a hotel (ATH) and booking intentions (BI), considering the influence of individuals’ conformity along different travel planning moments: Initial Stage (IS) and Later Stage (LS). In total, 302 answers were analysed. It was concluded that PPR and PNR differently influence travellers’ ATH and BI, considering distinct travel planning moments. At both moments, the effect of valence was more influential concerning individuals that were high in conformity. The findings are relevant to touristic companies, particularly to hotels, since they evince the benefits and the damages eWOM may generate on their performance. Limitations are explained and suggestions for future research are indicated

Pričakovanja uporabnikov glede spletnega računovodskega poročanja

Background and Purpose: The objective of this research was to explore the perceptions of the users regarding Internet financial reporting practices in Slovenia. With this research, we wanted to determine what the perceptions of the users are regarding the reliability, credibility, usefulness and sufficiency of online accounting information and how their expectations regarding the content of accounting information differ from the actual situation. Design/ Methodology/ Approach: This research has two parts: in the first part, we summarised the actual situation regarding publishing of internet financial reporting on a sample of large companies in Slovenia (n=110) while, in the second part, we conducted a survey with which we assessed the expectations of users as regards of accounting information (n=127). We then compared users\u27 expectations with the actual situation, analysed by evaluation of 110 websites of Slovene companies. Results: In the research we found that 52.6% of companies publish their accounting information on their websites and that on average 40.2% of users actually make use of this information We found that users have evaluated all four of characteristics: reliability, credibility, usefulness and sufficiency above average, whereby they evaluated usefulness with the highest grade and sufficiency with the lowest. Conclusion: The results of this research can offer companies a feedback on users´ expectations, particularly in cases where these expectations are greater than the actual situation. We have determined that users generally want information that indicates the financial status of a company (such as the Rating Report and data on the company\u27s liquidity), as these information are currently expected by users but available information do not meet their need in full.Ozadje in namen: S to raziskavo smo želeli ugotoviti kako pogosto se uporabniki poslužujejo spletnih strani za prido - bivanje računovodskih informacij ter preučiti njihova stališča glede zanesljivosti, verodostojnosti, koristnosti in zadostnosti teh informacij. Hkrati pa smo želeli ugotoviti ali so ta pričakovanja skladna z dejanskim stanjem. Metodologija/pristop: Raziskava je razdeljena na dva dela: v prvem smo proučili dejansko stanje glede spletnega račun - ovodskega poročanja na primeru velikih slovenskih podjetji (n=110). V drugem delu pa smo z anketiranjem ugotavljali stališča uporabnikov (n=127) spletnega računovodskega poročanja. Ta pričakovanja uporabnikov smo nato primerjali z dejanskim stanjem in ugotavljali na katerih področjih prihaja do največjih razhajanj. Rezultati: V raziskavi smo ugotovili, da 52,6 % podjetji na svoji spletni stani objavlja računovodske informacije in da se 40,2 % uporabnikov poslužuje teh informacij. Rezultati kažejo, da so anketiranci v povprečju najvišje ocenili koristnost računovodskih informacij, sledi zanesljivost, verodostojnost, najnižje pa so ocenili zadostnost. Zaključek: Rezultati te raziskave lahko nudijo povratno informacijo podjetjem glede pričakovanj uporabnikov in to še posebej v primeru, ko so njihova pričakovanja večja od dejanskega stanja. V raziskavi smo ugotovili, da do teh razhajanj prihaja predvsem pri poročanju o finančnem stanju podjetja, saj uporabniki na spletnih straneh pogosto iščejo te informacije, vendar jih ne dobijo v zadostni meri

Categorizing Young Facebook Users Based On Their Differential Preference of Social Media Heuristics: A Q-Methodology Approach

Background: Social media have become an integral part of our modern society by providing platforms for users to create and exchange news, ideas, and information. The increasing use of social media has raised concerns about the reliability of the shared information, particularly information that is generated from anonymous users. Though prior studies have confirmed the important roles of heuristics and cues in the users’ evaluation of trustworthy information, there has been no research–to our knowledge–that categorized Facebook users based on their approaches to evaluating information credibility. Method: We employed Q-methodology to extract insights from 55 young Vietnamese users and to categorize them into different groups based on the distinct sets of heuristics that they used to evaluate the trustworthiness of online information on Facebook. Results: We identified four distinct types of young Facebook user groups that emerged based on their evaluation of online information trustworthiness. When evaluating online information trustworthiness on Facebook, these user groups assigned priorities differently to the characteristics of the online content, its original source, and the sharers or aggregators. We named these groups: (1) the balanced analyst, (2) the critical analyst, (3) the source analyst, and (4) the social network analyst. Conclusion: The findings offer insights that contribute to information processing literature. Moreover, marketing practitioners who aim to disseminate information effectively on social networks should take these user groups’ perspectives into consideration