Perceptions of small to medium ports in norther Europe on the impact of security initiatives

In the aftermath of the terror attacks on New York in September 2001 several iniativies are set up to protect global supply chains from larger disruptions by antagonistic threats such as terrorism or piracy. Many security initiatives such as the International Ship and Port Security (ISPS) code, the Container Security Initiative (CSI) or the Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) are targeting the maritime infrastructure and especially sea ports to prevent future disruptions to this vital part of the global economy. In logistics, the quality of the service is much more important than in goods dominated industries due to the absence of physical clues. Therefore, the effect of security on service quality is much discussed. One the one hand, studies found that security initiatives can increase transparency, decrease variability and improve customs clearance. On the other hand, negative effects such as financial burdens and increased administration are found as well. Moreover, much of the previous research into the effects of supply chain security on ports assumed quantitative and static measures while being mostly focused on larger ports. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the perspectives of small to medium ports in northern Europe about the impact of security initiatives on their service quality and thereby aims to enrich the understanding of how supply chain security impacts service quality. Hence, this study conducts three expert interviews to create understanding of the problem in the real world and then applies the gained insights into the composition of an online questionnaire which is answered by small to medium ports in northern Europe. The results show that the respondent ports today hold slightly positive perceptions on the impact of security initiatives on the service quality aspects of efficiency. Further, the ports display a relaxed attitude towards the impact on the service quality aspect of customer satisfaction with a light tendency to positive perceptions

The effect of multimodal metaphors on social media platforms & impact on consumer purchase decisions

This empirical research programme investigated the way in which multimodality can be integrated on messages in social platforms and its impact on consumer purchase decision. This study investigated effects of specific combinations of multimodal metaphors, including textual descriptions, images, textual descriptions combined with Images and video as messages on social platform to communicate information, enhance product likeness, influence purchase intentions, and increase overall effectiveness of the online presentation. Furthermore, it investigated the effectiveness of specific metaphors in product advertising context as well as the positive influence on purchase decisions. This was achieved by conducting an empirical investigation with two main phases. The opportunistic sampling technique was used to select respondents. The first phase gathered empirical data on the impact of individual and combined multimodal metaphors on consumer decisions. Second phase validated the results extrapolated from the first phase. It involved specific designs to understand the impact of different multimodal metaphors and the way in which they contributed towards product understanding, product likeness and final purchase decision. Data was collected using questionnaires. The results were analyzed with the use of SPSS which enabled conducting statistical tests such as descriptive and chi-square tests. The outcomes of this research provided a better understanding of the role of multimodal metaphors on online presentation effectiveness, user’s understanding and decision-making. Video was found to be the most significant factor in affecting purchase decision. A set of empirically derived guidelines within a working framework has emerged. These guidelines can be used on the effective use on multimodal metaphors in social media marketing presentation techniques in order to create product likeness, detailed user understanding and overall effectiveness which will lead to purchase decision

The effect of distractions on online consumer satsifaction

16th European Conference on Information Systems, ECIS 200