Influence of Taiwanese Consumer Beliefs in Web Site Attributes and E-Shopping Attitudes on E-Shopping Intentions

This study aimed at investigating Taiwanese consumers\u27 beliefs in Web site attributes and their e-shopping attitudes that influence their intentions to shop for books in e-bookstores. This study utilized the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) as the framework to explain the interrelationships among belief in Web site attributes, e-shopping attitude, and e-shopping intention. This study, using the method of two-stage quota sampling, used a sample of male and female students at different levels of several departments of Far East College. The survey questionnaires were non-randomly distributed to the voluntary participants. The survey was administered to a sample of undergraduate and graduate students who were students at Far East College of Taiwan and had purchased books in e-bookstores. The procedure of this non-experimental study guaranteed participants\u27 anonymity. Three hundred and fifty-one questionnaires were usable for data analysis. The three most important variables in this study were belief in Web site attributes, e-shopping attitude, and e-shopping intention. Independent variables were belief in Web site attributes and e-shopping attitude, and the dependent variable was shopping intention. Web site attributes consisted of four dimensions: Web site content, trustworthiness, interactivity, and marketing mix. In the questionnaire, six important constructs (belief in Web site content, belief in trustworthiness, belief in interactivity, belief in marketing mix, e-shopping attitude, e-shopping intention) were measured on a five-point semantic differential scale. The scale items for these six constructs were developed by modifying instruments in prior studies that had been conducted by different scale developers. The content of the questionnaire was composed of two parts: the first part contained three items inquiring about participants\u27 gender, age, and length of e-shopping experience; the second part contained 26 items to inquire about participants\u27 beliefs in Web site attributes, e-shopping attitudes, and e-shopping intentions. The collected data were processed on SPSS to conduct reliability analysis, factor analysis, descriptive analysis, simple regression, t-test analysis, analysis of variance, and multiple-regression. Findings indicated that e-shopping attitude was a predictor of e-shopping intention and had a positive and significant effect on e-shopping intention. Also, belief in Web site content, belief in trustworthiness, and belief in interactivity were antecedents of e-shopping attitude, but belief in marketing mix did not have an influential effect on e-shopping attitude. Furthermore, belief in marketing mix played an important role in affecting e-shopping intention. Practical implications, limitations, and recommendations for future research are further discussed

Predicting consumer product demands via Big Data: the roles of online promotional marketing and online reviews

This study aims to investigate the contributions of online promotional marketing and online reviews as predictors of consumer product demands. Using electronic data from Amazon.com, we attempt to predict if online review variables such as valence and volume of reviews, the number of positive and negative reviews, and online promotional marketing variables such as discounts and free deliveries, can influence the demand of electronic products in Amazon.com. A Big Data architecture was developed and Node.JS agents were deployed for scraping the Amazon.com pages using asynchronous Input/Output calls. The completed Web crawling and scraping data-sets were then preprocessed for Neural Network analysis. Our results showed that variables from both online reviews and promotional marketing strategies are important predictors of product demands. Variables in online reviews in general were better predictors as compared to online marketing promotional variables. This study provides important implications for practitioners as they can better understand how online reviews and online promotional marketing can influence product demands. Our empirical contributions include the design of a Big Data architecture that incorporate Neural Network analysis which can used as a platform for future researchers to investigate how Big Data can be used to understand and predict online consumer product demands

Moving from Data-Constrained to Data-Enabled Research: Experiences and Challenges in Collecting, Validating and Analyzing Large-Scale e-Commerce Data

Widespread e-commerce activity on the Internet has led to new opportunities to collect vast amounts of micro-level market and nonmarket data. In this paper we share our experiences in collecting, validating, storing and analyzing large Internet-based data sets in the area of online auctions, music file sharing and online retailer pricing. We demonstrate how such data can advance knowledge by facilitating sharper and more extensive tests of existing theories and by offering observational underpinnings for the development of new theories. Just as experimental economics pushed the frontiers of economic thought by enabling the testing of numerous theories of economic behavior in the environment of a controlled laboratory, we believe that observing, often over extended periods of time, real-world agents participating in market and nonmarket activity on the Internet can lead us to develop and test a variety of new theories. Internet data gathering is not controlled experimentation. We cannot randomly assign participants to treatments or determine event orderings. Internet data gathering does offer potentially large data sets with repeated observation of individual choices and action. In addition, the automated data collection holds promise for greatly reduced cost per observation. Our methods rely on technological advances in automated data collection agents. Significant challenges remain in developing appropriate sampling techniques integrating data from heterogeneous sources in a variety of formats, constructing generalizable processes and understanding legal constraints. Despite these challenges, the early evidence from those who have harvested and analyzed large amounts of e-commerce data points toward a significant leap in our ability to understand the functioning of electronic commerce.Comment: Published at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/088342306000000231 in the Statistical Science (http://www.imstat.org/sts/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Ishodi percipirane kvalitete koji se odnose na online prodavaonicu: empirijski dokazi

Purpose – Despite tremendous growth of e-commerce, there are reports of concerns about the quality of products and services in online transactions. This study evaluates customer perceptions of product quality in online circumstances. Specifically, the study proposes a model for analyzing the prominent outcomes of perceived webshop quality. Design/Methodology/Approach – The data was obtained through an online survey using a structured questionnaire administered to 515 online customers. Furthermore, regression analyses tested the causal relationship proposed in the hypothesis. Findings and implications – The study found that both the dimensions of product quality and webshop quality affect customer loyalty and satisfaction. Besides, satisfaction and trust affect loyalty. Results also reveal that satisfaction affects trust. On the other hand, product quality has not been shown to affect customer trust. Limitations – Since there is no online customer database, a public online survey with screening questions was used. The sample consists only of the representatives of the student population who have purchased products online. As the sample may not reflect the entire population of online consumers worldwide, caution is to be applied when generalizing the findings. Originality – This study contributes the existing knowledge about how perceptions of quality, satisfaction, and trust combine to increase loyalty in the case of e-commerce. This is a step towards expanding and contextualizing research on perceived quality and its outcomes in a non-traditional Eastern context. This paper provides marketers with valuable insights into the perceptions and attitudes of young online shoppers.Svrha – Unatoč ogromnom rastu e-trgovine, postoje izvješća o zabrinutosti u vezi s kvalitetom proizvoda i usluga u online transakcijama. Istraživanje procjenjuje percepcije kupaca o kvaliteti proizvoda u online okolnostima. Konkretno, predlaže se model za analizu istaknutih ishoda percipirane kvalitete. Metodološki pristup – Podatci su prikupljeni pomoću strukturiranog online anketnog upitnika na uzorku 515 online kupaca. Za testiranje uzročnih odnosa predloženih u hipotezama korištena je regresijska analiza. Rezultati i implikacije – Istraživanje je pokazalo da obje dimenzije, kvaliteta proizvoda i kvaliteta online prodavaonice, utječu na lojalnost kupaca i zadovoljstvo. Osim toga, zadovoljstvo i povjerenje utječu na lojalnost. Rezultati također otkrivaju da zadovoljstvo utječe na povjerenje. S druge strane, pokazalo se da kvaliteta proizvoda ne utječe na povjerenje kupaca. Ograničenja – Budući da ne postoji online baza podataka o kupcima, provedeno je javno online istraživanje s eliminacijskim pitanjima. Uzorak je bio samo iz populacije studenata koji su kupili proizvode putem interneta. Stoga je potreban oprez pri generaliziranju nalaza istraživanja. Uzorak možda ne odražava cijelu populaciju online kupaca diljem svijeta. Doprinos – Istraživanje doprinosi proširenju postojećeg znanja o tome kako se percepcije kvalitete, zadovoljstva i povjerenja kombiniraju za povećanje lojalnosti u slučaju e-trgovine. To je korak prema proširenju i kontekstualizaciji istraživanja percipirane kvalitete i njezinih ishoda u netradicionalnom istočnjačkom kontekstu. Rad pruža marketinškim stručnjacima vrijedne uvide u percepcije i stavove mladih online kupaca

Using explainable food swaps to nudge users towards more sustainable products in grocery websites

The growing concern for climate issues has prompted both consumers and the grocery retail industry to prioritize environmental sustainability. This thesis aims to examine the effectiveness of nudging users towards more sustainable food options in an online grocery store using food swaps. Further, the study utilizes different motivational explanations accompanying the swaps to investigate their impact on swap acceptance and perceived understand- ing. A mockup supermarket interface was created, and screenshots were uploaded to an online survey tool, where participants (N=202) were assigned to one of four conditions (baseline, health, sustainability, or money). Results indicate that motivational framing did not significantly influence swap acceptance. However, perceived understandability was significant in affecting swap acceptance, with the sustainability framing being better understood. Participants were more likely to swap when the cost of the alternative product increased, suggesting other factors influenced consumer behavior. Finally, perceived similarity between the original and alternative product significantly affected the swap acceptance and perceived similarity, where meat swaps showed a strong positive, statistical significance. This thesis provided novel work within the field of encouraging more sustainable products in online grocery shopping services, which can further be expanded by implementing sustainable food swaps in a recommender system.Masteroppgave i informasjonsvitenskapINFO390MASV-INF

Teaching Inequality: How Poor and Minority Students Are Shortchanged on Teacher Quality

This report from the Education Trust provides new information on the impact of teacher quality on student achievement and offers specific steps states should take to remedy the persistent practice of denying the best teachers to the children who need them the most. The report also offers some key findings of soon-to-be released research in three states -- Ohio, Illinois and Wisconsin -- and major school systems within them. Funded by The Joyce Foundation and conducted with policymakers and researchers on the ground, the research project reveals that schools in these states and districts with high percentages of low-income and minority students are more likely to have teachers who are inexperienced, have lower basic academic skills or are not highly qualified -- reflecting troublesome national teacher distribution patterns