Development of a Measuring Instrument to Understand the Impact of Mobile Product Information Systems on Consumers’ Food Choice

Consumers’ Food Choice has been researched in the past, but with the rise of mobile technologies such as barcode scanning, new possibilities of obtaining additional information at the Point of Sale (PoS) emerged. This raises the question about the impact of Mobile Product Information Systems (MPIS) on consumers’ perceived food quality and thus their food choices. Since most MPIS are not provided by producers of the food product, there is a risk that consumers no longer base their decisions on information provided on the product packaging, but instead on mobile information of third party service providers. As a first step this study provides a conceptual model to identify relevant influencing factors of MPIS. Thereafter, an instrument measuring the impact of MPIS on consumers’ food choice is developed and tested in a 3-round item-sorting task to ensure validity of the constructs. The instrument comprises a 33-item questionnaire based on 8 constructs

Impact Investments: An Emerging Asset Class

Examines the impact investment market landscape, what makes it an emerging asset class, expectations for financial returns, estimates of potential investment opportunities in specific sectors, and risk management and performance monitoring issues

Effect of retail service quality on switching intentions among hypermarket customers

Retail service quality is a vital driver in determining customer satisfaction, which in turn promotes customer loyalty and reduces switching intentions. Based on disconfirmation theory, the difference between expectations and delivered service quality, determines the level of a customer satisfaction. Service quality is a solution to build customer satisfaction which could lead to customer loyalty hence reducing switching intentions. The concept of switching intentions has received significant attention in the field of marketing, however, little is known about the application of this concept in the context of retail business. Consumer research has neither verified the relationships among constructs like retail service quality, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and switching intentions, in a single framework, nor explored the possible influence of store ethnicity and price discounts on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty to switching intention. The current study has investigated the interrelationship among service quality, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty with switching intentions, and the moderating role of price discounts and store ethnicity, in a single framework. Random sampling was used by administering standardized questionnaires personally to 450 hypermarket customers located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The quantitative data was analyzed by the structural equation modeling technique using AMOS 20 software. The study extended the existing body of knowledge by introducing new moderators of price discounts and ethnic store on the relationships between satisfaction and switching intentions, and loyalty and switching intentions. The results confirmed that retail service quality has significant positive influence on customer satisfaction, and the positive effect of customer satisfaction on customer loyalty. Besides that, the study verified in marketing literature that store ethnicity and price discounts acted as moderating mechanism for explaining the switching intentions of satisfied and loyal customers. The results of the study may serve as a guideline for top managers of the hypermarkets to design appropriate policies and strategies in terms of retail service quality, price discounts and needs of ethnic groups in a particular region. This will help to enhance customer satisfaction and customer loyalty hence reducing switching intentions of customers

Street Markets Influencing Consumer Behavior in Urban Habitat

This study explores the influence of street markets in urban geo-demographic settings and analyzes vending patterns with ethnic values enhancing the consumer satisfaction. Interrelationship among urban dwellers, marketplace ambiance, and conventional shopping wisdom of customers and interactive customer relations are also addressed in the study based on empirical survey. Research on street markets is very limited though some studies are available on street vendors with focus on spatial planning, political interventions, and legal rights. This study on street markets contributes significantly to the existing literature in reference to shopping behavior and perceptional values of urban consumers..Street markets, consumer behavior, ethnic markets, sales differentiation, market attractiveness, consumer satisfaction

Perceived value in payment modes: cognitive and affective value among Brazilian consumers

Consumers have been found to hold certain perceptions on Payment Modes (PMs) such as cash, credit or debit card, or digital payments, which will then influence their spending and purchasing behavior (e.g., the type, value and amount of purchased goods). Increasing attention has been devoted to this phenomenon. Despite the extensive body of research on the subjectivity underlying PMs and subsequent impact on consumers’ decision-making process, contradictory findings have been reported. Moreover, a scale to assess consumers held perceptions of PMs is still lacking. This study focuses on the concept of consumer perception of PMs. We draw on the marketing literature on payments and on two well-accepted theoretical frameworks - the Cognitive-Affective Behavioral Paradigm and the Consumption Value Theory - to put forward three specific hypotheses on the cognitive and affective value perceived by consumers. We focus on what has been classified as the ‘most traditional’ and ‘more innovative’ PMs, i.e., cash and digital payments. The aim of this project is twofold: first, to develop a measurement scale for measuring consumers perceived value of PMs, and second, we show how traditional PMs are less valued by consumers than more innovative ones. The suggested scale is an extended and adapted version of PERVAL, a well-established scale for assessing the value of goods and services. The scale was validated with a sample data of 400 Brazilian consumers employing a confirmatory factor analysis. The suggested hypothesis were tested with the same database, using a mean comparison model via multi-linear regression. Results show that consumers perceive cash having the lower cognitive value when compared to other PMs, and digital holding the higher affective value. Also, digital was found having the highest overall perceived value, also leading to the most positive attitude regarding PMs. This study contributes to the literature, first by providing a consumer perceived value measurement scale for PM scale which considers recent PMs and the cognitive and affective dimensions. And second, we show that consumers perceive PM underlying value differently, perceiving digital PM as the one which results in higher value. This is expected to affect their decision-making. The research also provides managers and the payment industry with a clearer understanding of the differences in perceived value between different PMs, reflecting insights on the strategy regarding offered payment experiences for different types of purchases, as well as for the development of new PMs

An empirical investigation of wood product information valued by young consumers

Recent media reports regarding wood products question the trustworthiness of wood origin declaration, the sustainability of production methods and the product quality. In light of this question, it becomes important to ensure consumer trust in wood and wood-based products. Current research indicates that providing product information enhances product trust and purchase intentions, while young consumers in particular seek detailed product information. However, it is necessary to determine which wood product information young consumers strongly value because providing a high amount leads to information overload. As information needs may vary between different consumer segments, the present work aims at identifying segments of young consumers and their preferred wood-product information. The importance of different wood product information items concerning the purchase decision was investigated with a German-language online survey (N = 185, age range 18–30). A cluster analysis revealed four consumer segments. Thereof, three segments (an environmentally oriented, an environmentally and quality oriented, and a quality oriented segment) valued the provision of wood product information. The preferred information types differed among the three segments. Overall, this paper provides insights into young consumers' preferences for wood product information and the consumer segments on which marketing should focus

Mobile apps for SME business sustainability during COVID-19 and onwards

Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) are struggling to cope with the business uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study examines how SMEs in developing economies have used mobile apps to improve their business efficiency during the pandemic. We aim to recognize effective measures and actions taken by SMEs that have turned to mobile-app-based business to improve their sustainability during the crisis. The study bridges a literature gap by extending the Theory of Consumption Values and the Theory of Planned Behavior to SMEs that incorporate mobile-app-based business. Data was collected from 343 SMEs from three Industrial Development Corporations (IDCs) in India. Using the covariance-based structural equation modeling method, we investigated the efficiency of a conceptual model of mobile-app-based business for SMEs. The results revealed that consumer choice behavior, perceived behavior control, subjective behavior control and attitude towards the mobile app all influence SMEs’ decision-making and business strategy. As such, SMEs need a powerful mobile-app-based business network to succeed in the entrepreneurial business process. Using instrumental variable analysis, we discovered that increased mobile app usage significantly improves SMEs’ long-term efficiency. The analysis provides several theoretical and managerial ramifications