The Surprising Effect of Technological Uncertainty on User Innovation: Uncertainty Can Increase Innovation by Generating Eustress

This research idea explores the role of eustress as a mediator between technological uncertainty and user innovation. Based on theories of uncertainty reduction, it develops a competitive mediation model hypothesizing that the relationship between technological uncertainty and user innovation that is generally negative becomes positive when eustress is considered as a mediator. It also indicates that the attention performance of users moderates the positive indirect effect of technological uncertainty through eustress on user innovation such that this indirect effect is greater for higher levels of attention performance. A method for testing the model is suggested, and potential contributions are discussed

PENGARUH ELEMENTS INTERFACE DESIGN OF MOBILE APP DAN ONLINE BRAND EXPERIENCE TERHADAP ONLINE CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT : Studi pada Pengguna Aplikasi Zalora di Indonesia

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk memperoleh gambaran dan pengaruh dari elements interface design of mobile app dan online brand experience terhadap online customer engagement pada pengguna aplikasi Zalora Indonesia. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode deskriptif dan verifikatif dengan pendekatan kuantitatif. Sampel penelitian ini berjumlah 400 responden yang merupakan pengguna aplikasi Zalora di Indonesia yang termasuk followers akun Instagram resmi Zalora Indonesia. Data diolah secara statistik dengan metode regresi linier berganda. Hasil temuan pada penelitian ini menemukan bahwa gambaran elements interface design of mobile app, online brand experience dan online customer engagement berada di kategori cukup baik. Elements interface design of mobile app dan online brand experience mempengaruhi online customer engagement secara simultan dan parsial. Hasil penelitian ini menujukan bahwa penerapan elements interface design of mobile app dan online brand experience yang dilakukan aplikasi Zalora di Indonesia mampu menciptakan online customer engagement pada pengguna aplikasi Zalora di Indonesia. Kata Kunci: Elements Interface Design of Mobile App, Online Brand Experience, Online Customer Engagement This study aims to obtain an overview and influence of the interface design elements of a mobile app and online brand experience on online customer engagement on users of Indonesian Zalora applications. This study uses descriptive and verification methods with a quantitative approach. The sample of this study amounted to 400 respondents who are Zalora application users in Indonesia, including followers of the official Instagram accounts of Zalora Indonesia. The data is processed statistically with the multiple linear analysis regression. The findings in this study found that the description of the interface design elements of the mobile app, online brand experience and online customer engagement were in the fairly good category. Elements of interface design of mobile app and online brand experience affect online customer engagement simultaneously and partially. The results of this study indicate that the application of interface design elements of mobile app and online brand experience by Zalora applications in Indonesia is able to create online customer engagement for Zalora application users in Indonesia. Keywords: Elements Interface Design of Mobile App, Online Brand Experience, Online Customer Engagemen

Strategies to Cultivate Long Term Customer Relationships

The failure of long-term customer relationships poses a material threat to the profitability and growth of organizations. Financial service leaders who have difficulties cultivating long-term relationships are at risk of not ensuring their business’s financial stability. Grounded in the concept of customer relationship management, the purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to explore strategies financial service business leaders use to cultivate long-term customer relationships. Data were collected from 16 financial services business leaders using semistructured interviews and a review of company documents related to customer relationship management and marketing. Data analysis using Yin’s five step method resulted in the identification of four themes: implement a holistic approach, identify the pain points of the customer, optimize word-of-mouth strategies to increase sales, and improve the capacity to adapt during man-made or natural disasters. A key recommendation for financial services leaders is to prioritize establishing long term relationships with customers and understand how vital it is to the organization’s overall success. The implications for positive social change include the potential for financial service leaders to reach broader socioeconomic segments within their communities, thus potentially contributing to the community’s financial health

Levels of co-creation – How sustainable fashion companies create value with their customers

The fashion industry creates a large amount of sustainability issues, which has generated novel business ideas promoting fashion sustainability in different forms. Also, the consumers are aware of the social and environmental challenges in the fashion industry. The literature around business models and sustainable business models have expressed the importance of the customer involvement in business model operations, leading to a need for customer co-creation practices within sustainable companies and sustainable fashion companies. Although the customer co-creation literature is extensive and has been researched within fashion companies and sustainability, the literature connecting sustainable fashion companies and their co-creation practices seems nonexistent at the moment. The purpose of this study is to examine the co-creation practices through which sustainable fashion companies are creating value in collaboration with their customers. Additionally, the benefits and positive outcomes as well as the barriers of co-creation are analyzed and interpreted. This research uses qualitative research methods, including interviews of five Finnish SME fashion companies aiming for sustainability in their business model decisions. The data analysis utilizes thematic analysis, including coding, categorization, and thematization of the transcribed interview data. The thematic analysis reveals the co-creation of sustainable fashion companies to be executed at three levels depending on the required customer involvement: high, medium, and low involvement co-creations. Each level of co-creation includes various concrete co-creation practices identified in the case company interviews. These co-creation practices at each co-creation level are used for different objectives including customer relationships, brand value, revenues, and innovations. The identified barriers contain obstacles from customers’ side (e.g., effort, fear of commitment, lack of knowledge), company’s limits (resources and company size), and fashion industry-wide difficulties (e.g., seasonality, variety in customer needs, conflict of interest between the company and the customers). The study shows that sustainable fashion companies implement and utilize co-creation practices with the customers at various stages of the economic, environmental, and social levels of their business models. The sustainable fashion companies are concluded to use co-creation mostly for traditional business objectives, but the co-creation practices result also in most of the actions to sustainability, either as an additional objective or an outcome of the co-creation practice. Thus, sustainable fashion companies are combining co-creation of fashion businesses and co-creation of sustainability in their co-creation operations together with the customers. This research offers a basis for further research to build on sustainable fashion companies and their customer co-creation practices

Habilitador para colaboração no design para a customização em massa em micro e pequenas empresas

Orientador: Prof. Dr. Adriano HeemannTese (doutorado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Artes, Comunicação e Design, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Design. Defesa : Curitiba, 18/12/2019Inclui referências: p. 117-133Resumo: O processo design de produtos voltados para a produção através da manufatura tradicional apresenta metodologias e ferramentas já consolidadas, assim como estudos que abordam a colaboração entre os atores desse processo. Porém, o processo tradicional de design apresenta limitações para conseguir responder as exigências necessárias para que seja possível implementar o design para customização em massa (CM) nas empresas atualmente. Uma das formas de facilitar o processo da customização em massa é utilizando-se do design colaborativo. Considerando a inexistência de conhecimento estruturado que habilite a colaboração no design para customização em massa, um quadro teórico elaborado nesta tese evidencia uma lacuna na utilização concomitante destes conceitos, apesar da literatura indicar a importância da colaboração dos participantes do processo de design para customização em massa. Assim a presente pesquisa responde como viabilizar a colaboração entre os participantes no design para a customização em massa. Essa problemática é abordada de forma a descrever como habilitar a colaboração entre os participantes no design para a customização em massa e isso é alcançado através do desenvolvimento de um habilitador para o design colaborativo para customização em massa. Para tanto, este documento descreve a identificação de fatores críticos de sucesso para a customização em massa e para a colaboração no design de produtos. Essa identificação é feita por meio de uma revisão de literatura e de estudos de caso. Os fatores identificados são, então, utilizados para o desenvolvimento do habilitador. Esse habilitador se deu em formato de e-book e foi desenvolvido com o intuito de disseminar conhecimento principalmente para micro e pequenas empresas do Brasil que ofertam produtos customizados em massa. Palavras Chave: Design colaborativo. Customização em massa. Desenvolvimento de produto. Habilitador.Abstract: The product design process focused on production through traditional manufacturing has already consolidated methodologies and tools, as well as studies that address collaboration between the actors in this process. However, the traditional design process has limitations in order to be able to meet the necessary requirements so that it is possible to implement the design for mass customization (MC) in companies today. One of the ways to facilitate the mass customization process is by using collaborative design. Considering the lack of structured knowledge that enables collaboration in design for mass customization, a theoretical framework elaborated in this thesis highlights a gap in the concomitant use of these concepts, despite the literature indicating the importance of the collaboration of the participants in the design process for mass customization. Thus, this research answers how to enable collaboration between participants in the design for mass customization. This issue is addressed to describe how to enable collaboration between participants in the design for mass customization and this is achieved through the development of an enabler for collaborative design for mass customization. To this end, this document describes the identification of critical success factors for mass customization and collaboration in product design. This identification is made through a literature review and case studies. The identified factors are then used for the development of the enabler. This enabler took place in e-book format and was developed with the aim of disseminating knowledge mainly to micro and small companies in Brazil that offer mass customized products. Key words: Collaborative design. Mass customization. Product development. Enabler

Brand Response to Consumer Backlash in Social Media: A Typology

The use of social media by consumers to admonish firms for their conduct has become increasingly common. Such backlash can take many forms and often occurs rapidly, spreads widely and is highly visible. The potential damage to brands can be severe if these situations are not dealt with effectively. To date, the issue has been examined relatively superficially in a range of disciplines without specific regard to the management of consumer-brand relationships in online environments. Our research examines the nature of company reactions to social media backlash and conceptualises a typology that categorises reputational damage and effective response. We present four typical reactionary scenarios and conclude that insufficient research exists in this domain proportionate to the level of consumer-brand social media discourse to the peril of practitioners operating via these channel