Assessing Factors Influencing Technology Adoption for Online Purchasing Amid COVID-19 in Qatar: Moderating Role of Word of Mouth

The COVID-19 pandemic developed new challenges for global consumers. In response to this disaster, digital technology users have faced the necessity to adopt and use specific technology apps for online shopping. This article examines how contingencies disrupt existing theoretical models and their implications for the post-COVID-19 era for online purchases. Customers prefer apps to use on the websites for search and purchase amid the COVID-19 crisis. The websites offer competitive advantages to apps for branding and CRM prospects. This motive keeps customers happy and satisfied with the website offers. This study focuses on consumer electronics and observes the comparative influence of fundamental elements (i.e., hedonic motivation, habits, perceived risk, technological trust, and technological awareness) on purchasing customer satisfaction. The study further examines the impact of customer satisfaction with online purchases with website continuance intention (WCI). Notably, this study explores the moderating effect of word-of-mouth (WOM) on the relationship between customer satisfaction with online purchases and website continuance intention. This study designed a web-based survey and recruited frequent visitors including international and citizens of Qatar for data collection. The study employed a purposive sampling technique and used three standardized psychological tools to obtain the data set needed to measure customer satisfaction with online purchases. The survey used a web link, distributed 600 questionnaires via email and social media, and received only 468 responses. After screening, only 455 were valid responses. The study showed a response rate of 75.83%. The study results showed that hedonic motivation, habits, perceived risk, and technological awareness were positively related to customer satisfaction with online purchasing. Besides, customer satisfaction with subsequent online purchases is also positively associated with website continuance intention (WCI). The results revealed that this relationship remained stronger when word-of-mouth (WOM) was higher. Hence, this shows that online shopping is seen as a vital and interesting activity in the Qatari context. The findings provide useful insights for future studies to explore the effects of COVID-19 on online purchase intentions

INCREASING PURCHASE INTENTION AND WORD-OF-MOUTH THROUGH HOTEL BRAND AWARENESS

Purpose – Mobile applications (apps) have been widely used in many industries as a method for companies to communicate with customers. The hotel industry is one of the top sectors that utilizes mobile apps. The majority of luxury hotels are updating themselves being a part of this new wave. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of hotel brand awareness from hotel-branded mobile application towards WOM and purchase intention by the travelers based on the theory of consumption values. Design – A survey was administrated to 453 foreign travelers in Bangkok who used hotel-branded mobile apps in order to evaluate the accuracy and effectiveness of the conceptual model. Methodology – Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used for model estimation. Findings – The results revealed that hotel brand awareness acted as a mediator in the relationship between the attributes of mobile applications and travellers\u27 consumer behaviour such as purchase intention and word of mouth. In order to raise brand awareness in mobile apps, it is essential to create value through the mobile apps, have proficient virtual interactivity, and reasonable rewards. Originality of the research – Only limited amount of the previous research is available attempting to identify insights into how the value proposition attributes of mobile apps could be better designed to deliver enhanced brand awareness

Impacts of WeChat on Millennials’ Perceptions and Consumption Behaviors in the Hotel Industry

Social media, known as interactive Web 2.0 Internet-based applications, has deeply changed and reformed interpersonal communication and business operation with the wide spread of Internet and the development of technology. In the past few years, since mobile apps are becoming more and more popular, the access of social media is not limited to tablet computers only, but is also available for almost all kinds of smart phone devices, such as iPhone, Android, Symbian and so on. The function of social media is not confined to real- time message transmission or information sharing any more. It has expanded to a widely range of features, such as online purchase and payment, e-commerce business, and service for different types of social events. Social media plays an increasingly important role in daily personal life as well as in business activities. People are not merely considered as social media users, but also the component of social media itself. As a result, it is very crucial for people to realize the importance and impacts of social media, especially for those business operators. WeChat (Weixin in Chinses, literally “micro message”) is a cross-platform instant text and voice messaging communication service for multiple mobile devices, developed by Tecent in China, first released in the January of 2011. It is claimed to provide “the new way to connect” and create “a way of life”. It is free to download, install and register, and support all kinds of smart phone platforms with multiple language versions, such as Chinese, English, Japanese, French, and Spanish. WeChat provides its users different ways to communicate and interact with friends innovatively through instant text messaging, hold-to-talk voice messaging, group messaging, lively video sharing, location sharing, money transferring, and contact information sharing. Among all the WeChat users, Millennials is the majority. With the growing-up of Millennials, they are becoming more and more powerful and important to the society and will be the next target segmentation for most of the industries in the very near future. Especially for the hotel industry, the industry that urges to attract Millennials patrons for further substantial development, how to attract Millennials is becoming a critical issue for those hotel operators

What leads consumers to spread eWOM for Food Ordering Apps?

Restaurants are using innovative ways to engage with consumers using Food Ordering Apps (FOAs). The purpose of this article is to identify the influence of consumers’ eSatisfaction, perceived value, trust, and eLoyalty on eWOM for FOAs in India. The study also verifies if eWOM for FOAs varies based on age, gender, family size, order value, and online shopping experience. The research followed a multi-stage approach. In the first stage, an extensive literature review was conducted to identify the various factors that lead to eWOM. In the second stage, a survey was distributed among the FOA users. 375 responses were obtained. In the third stage, a binary multivariate logistic regression was used to evaluate the predictive power of the proposed research model. The results indicated that eLoyalty, trust, and perceived value were statistically significant in predicting consumers’ intent to spread eWOM for FOAs. eSatisfaction, age, gender, order value, shopping experience, and family size were insignificant in shaping the customer’s intention to spread eWOM for FOAs. The findings of this study can be used to understand the factors that influence users to spread eWOM for FOAs. Managers in food delivery business can use the findings from this study to address the most relevant constructs shaping eWOM as it has an impact on the survival prospects and profitability of the business

Understanding Fitness App Users’ Loyalty and Word of Mouth through Gameful Experience and Flow Theory

In this study, we examine the effect that a gameful experience and personalization have on the flow experience of fitness app users. We also test the association between flow experience and satisfaction in using fitness apps and whether satisfied users remain loyal and spread word of mouth regarding fitness apps. We use the belief-attitude- behavior framework as a theoretical lens and flow theory to explore the proposed relationships. Four hundred thirty- one fitness app users from India participated in the study. The results indicate that gameful experience and personalization lead to flow experience. We found a positive association between flow and satisfaction wherein satisfied fitness app users spread word of mouth and remained loyal to using fitness apps. Our findings will help fitness app developers identify factors to retain fitness app users and attract new ones

How Negative eWOM Affects Purchase Intention: Evidence from Indonesian Traveling Apps Users

Abstract. Traveling apps are effective tools to search information and purchase tourism products. Online reviews are the most influential information source in the tourism industry. This study determines the effect of eWOM factors: informational determinants (perceived eWOM usefulness and eWOM perceived credibility of online reviews); personal determinants (using experience of eWOM and product involvement); and the effects of negative reviews (perceived diagnosticity of negative reviews and negative review impression) on purchase intention in traveling applications through some mediating variables (attitude toward online review, attitude toward product, attitude toward brand, and eWOM adoption). This study uses Information Adoption Model and integrates consumer attitude. There were 356 respondents collected through online survey and purposive sampling. Further, Structural Equation Modeling was employed to analyze 17 hypotheses. The results showed that only perceived credibility of online review has no indirect impact on purchase intention. It exhibits the importance role of consumers' attitude and eWOM adoption as mediating variables in promoting purchase intention. This study contributes to industry, especially traveling application managers to arrange their eWOM strategies and travel product providers in managing their brand activities. Keywords: Online review, negative eWOM, Information Adoption Model. Abstrak. Aplikasi traveling efektif digunakan untuk mencari informasi dan membeli produk wisata. Ulasan online adalah sumber informasi paling berpengaruh dalam industri pariwisata. Studi ini menganalisis pengaruh faktor eWOM: informational determinants (perceived eWOM usefulness dan perceived eWOM ecredibility of online reviews), personal determinants (using experience of eWOM dan product involvement), serta effects of negative reviews (perceived diagnosticity of negative reviews dan negative review impression) terhadap purchase intention dalam aplikasi traveling dengan beberapa variabel mediasi (attitude terhadap online review, attitude terhadap produk, attitude terhadap brand, dan eWOM adoption). Penelitian ini menggunakan Information Adoption Model. Terdapat 356 respon yang dikumpulkan melalui survei online dengan purposive sampling. Structural Equation Modeling digunakan untuk menganalisis 17 hipotesis. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa hanya perceived credibility of online review tidak memiliki dampak tidak langsung terhadap purchase intention. Penelitian ini menunjukkan pentingnya peran sikap konsumen dan adopsi eWOM sebagai variabel mediasi dalam meningkatkan purchase intention. Penelitian ini memberikan kontribusi kepada industri, khususnya pengelola aplikasi perjalanan untuk mengatur strategi eWOM mereka dan penyedia produk perjalanan dalam mengelola aktivitas merek mereka. Kata kunci: Online review, eWOM negatif, Information Adoption Model

Investigating the adoption and use of smartphones in the UK : a silver-surfers perspective

Copyright and all rights therein are retained by the authors. All persons copying this information are expected to adhere to the terms and conditions invoked by each author's copyright. These works may not be re-posted without the explicit permission of the copyright holdersSmart phones are innovations that currently provide immense benefits and convenience to users in society. However, not all members of society are accepting and using smart phones; more specifically, for this research study silver-surfers or older adults (50+) are a demographic group displaying such an attitude. Currently, there is minimal knowledge of the reasons for older adults adopting and using smartphones. Bearing this in mind, this research study aims to investigate the adoption and usage behaviours of silver-surfers. For this purpose, the conceptual framework applied to this research draws factors from the following theories: Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), the Diffusion of Innovations theory (DoI), and TAM3 (Technology Acceptance Model). From the online survey of 204 completed replies it was found that observability, compatibility, social influence, facilitating conditions, effort expectancy and enjoyment are important to the adoption and use of smartphones within silver-surfers. The contributions of this research are an identification and understanding of the factors that encourage or inhibit smartphone use within the older adult population. Second, this research can inform the design of computing devices and applications used for silver-surfers. Finally, this research can enlighten policy makers when forming decisions that encourage adoption and use of smartphones among silver surfersFinal Published versio