The influence of national culture on the attitude towards mobile recommender systems

This is the post-print version of the final paper published in Technological Forecasting and Social Change. The published article is available from the link below. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. Copyright @ 2013 Elsevier B.V.This study aimed to identify factors that influence user attitudes towards mobile recommender systems and to examine how these factors interact with cultural values to affect attitudes towards this technology. Based on the theory of reasoned action, belief factors for mobile recommender systems are identified in three dimensions: functional, contextual, and social. Hypotheses explaining different impacts of cultural values on the factors affecting attitudes were also proposed. The research model was tested based on data collected in China, South Korea, and the United Kingdom. Findings indicate that functional and social factors have significant impacts on user attitudes towards mobile recommender systems. The relationships between belief factors and attitudes are moderated by two cultural values: collectivism and uncertainty avoidance. The theoretical and practical implications of applying theory of reasoned action and innovation diffusion theory to explain the adoption of new technologies in societies with different cultures are also discussed.National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean governmen

Critical review of the e-loyalty literature: a purchase-centred framework

Over the last few years, the concept of online loyalty has been examined extensively in the literature, and it remains a topic of constant inquiry for both academics and marketing managers. The tremendous development of the Internet for both marketing and e-commerce settings, in conjunction with the growing desire of consumers to purchase online, has promoted two main outcomes: (a) increasing numbers of Business-to-Customer companies running businesses online and (b) the development of a variety of different e-loyalty research models. However, current research lacks a systematic review of the literature that provides a general conceptual framework on e-loyalty, which would help managers to understand their customers better, to take advantage of industry-related factors, and to improve their service quality. The present study is an attempt to critically synthesize results from multiple empirical studies on e-loyalty. Our findings illustrate that 62 instruments for measuring e-loyalty are currently in use, influenced predominantly by Zeithaml et al. (J Marketing. 1996;60(2):31-46) and Oliver (1997; Satisfaction: a behavioral perspective on the consumer. New York: McGraw Hill). Additionally, we propose a new general conceptual framework, which leads to antecedents dividing e-loyalty on the basis of the action of purchase into pre-purchase, during-purchase and after-purchase factors. To conclude, a number of managerial implementations are suggested in order to help marketing managers increase their customers’ e-loyalty by making crucial changes in each purchase stage

Websites Vs. Apps: A Comparison of Consumer Acceptance of Apparel Mass-Customization Across Channels

After 20 years of industrial practice, consumers now can shop for mass-customized apparel in various channels including websites and smart device applications (apps). Online apparel mass-customization (OAMC), which provides platforms and convenience for customers to communicate with retailers effectively, provides retailers with a growing opportunity in today’s evolving omni-channel environment. Meanwhile, product value and experiential value delivered to consumers will help increase customer satisfaction and lower the return rate. However, little is known about consumers’ beliefs, attitudes, and purchase intentions of mass-customized apparels when using different channels. Two studies were intended to fill the research gap. Study 1 is an exploratory, qualitative study with a focus on analyzing feedback from consumers who have had real experiences of purchasing online mass-customized apparel. Study 2 presents a comprehensive attempt to examine the factors that impact consumers’ attitude toward using OAMC and the willingness to purchase online mass-customized apparel (through an experiment) with the technology acceptance model applied as a theoretical foundation. An online self-administered questionnaire was utilized to collect participants’ responses including OAMC evaluations of usefulness, enjoyment, ease of use, choice variety, risks, attitude, and willingness to purchase after practicing OAMC in the experiment. A total of 388 responses were collected from a southeastern University in the United States. Factor analyses were conducted to test and confirm the measurement model with results showing that the reliability and validities were well achieved. Hypothesized relationships and moderating effects were tested using a structural equation modeling approach. Research results indicated that the proposed hypotheses were partially supported. A positive attitude predicted willingness to purchase. Ease of use, enjoyment, and choice variety significantly influenced customers’ attitude. Usefulness and risks did not influence attitude in this research model. The moderation effects of online mass-customization channels, consumers’ level of fashion involvement, and consumers’ need for uniqueness were tested separately through multi-group comparisons. The results showed that there was no significant difference among consumers with different levels of fashion involvement, or different levels of need for uniqueness, or consumers who shop online mass-customized apparel in different channels. Theoretical and practical implications were provided based on research findings

Effective framing strategies for services advertising: The impact of narrative, rhetorical tropes and argument on consumer response across different service categories

This thesis investigates the role of information framing strategies for services advertising. The framing strategy refers to the distinguishable pattern in the manifest advertisement (McQuarrie and Mick 1996) and represents the structural composition of the information presented (Tsai 2007). Focusing on services is an important line of enquiry which is in keeping with global economic developments and the evolution of services marketing as a distinct discipline within marketing. Despite the ever increasing importance of services for global economies, services advertising research remains underdeveloped compared to goods (Stafford et al. 2011). Information framing is important because how messages are presented to consumers has both direct effects on consumer responses, as well as mediated effects via the specific information processing styles triggered. This thesis is divided into three papers, each of which work towards improving our currently impoverished understanding of the effectiveness of different framing strategies for services. The first paper is a literature review, which offers a comprehensive review of the traditional and contemporary literature informing our knowledge of the impact of framing strategies on consumer responses to advertising. The next paper employs a content analysis methodology to shed light on the different framing strategies viewed as alternatives by modern services and to offer an overall perspective on the most frequently used framing strategies in practice. This paper also examines trends in the use of framing strategies across service types and identifies if any disparity exists between the findings of this study and optimal framing strategies as dictated by the theoretical background. The third and final paper in this thesis is a 3(framing strategy: argument v. metaphor v. narrative) x 2(mental intangibility: high v. low) x 2(customization: high v. low) between-subjects web-experiment (n = 663). This paper develops and empirically tests hypotheses related to the moderating impact of service characteristics on consumer response to framing strategies. This study raises interesting findings on the effectiveness of different framing strategies in enhancing comprehension and attitudes towards different types of services. Further, comparing the content analysis and experimental findings brings the disparity between how service practitioners are framing their advertisements versus effective framing strategies to light. This thesis therefore has important managerial implications

The impact of social virtual presence agents and content-based product recommendation system on on-line customer purchase intention

The appearance of the digital market came as turning point factor, obligating companies to maintain the relationship with consumers by improving and keeping a high technological innovativeness on-line overall experience. The lack of studies on antropomorphization of virtual voice assistances chatbot and the possibilities, yet to be found, on customized product recommendation system variation integration, brought the author to this study. The aim of this research is to investigate the effects of using two different chatbot social virtual presences interactions: with a fully pre-recorded computed personification agent versus with a pre-recorded human social virtual agent; and also understand how having a customized content-based product recommendation system can influence the consumers purchase intention at on-line shopping framework. An on-line platform was developed, recreating a possible virtual store interaction, and the core data was treated using a PLS-SEM model. The results indicate that Human Social Virtual Presence Agent, while assisting the shoppers, have a larger model positive effect on Intellectual stimulus and Hedonic Benefits than a computed personification Agent. This might be explained by the fact that computed imagery and sound Agent was perceived with some amount of emotional creepiness by the participants. Also, recommendation system presence is impacting customers purchase intention on a positive way when compared with not using recommendation system. Thus, this study shows how relevant social interactions are for the customers, especially when done by a human, and how recommendation system has an impact on customers purchase intention.Com o aparecimento do mercado "on-line", as empresas que quiseram manter uma relação de qualidade com os seus clientes, tiveram de investir no desenvolvimento de uma experiência de utilizador de qualidade e manter um olhar atento na inovação. A falta de estudos relativos à antropomorfização em "chatbots" virtuais e as possibilidades, ainda por descobrir, do sistema de recomendação de produtos à medida de cada utilizador, trouxeram o autor ao tema deste estudo. O seu objetivo é investigar os efeitos de dois tipos de presença social em "chatbots": uma presença virtual computada versus uma presença virtual humana; e como o sistema de recomendação de produtos à medida de cada utilizador influencia a intenção de compra dos consumidores nas lojas "on-line". Para tal, foi desenvolvida uma plataforma "on-line", recriando uma possível interação em loja virtual. Os dados foram tratados utilizando o modelo PLS-SEM. Os resultados indicam que a presença social virtual feita por um agente humano melhora substancialmente o estímulo intelectual feito pela marca e os seus benefícios hedónicos, quando comparado com um agente virtual computado. Tal resultado pode ser explicado pelo facto dos participantes que interagiram com um agente computado sentirem um maior valor de "creepiness". Considerando que a utilização do sistema de recomendação de produtos tem forte impacto na intenção de comprar do consumidor, este estudo mostra-se relevante ao salientar a importância da presença social nas lojas "on-line", especialmente quando o agente é humano

Revisiting business relationship quality in subsistence marketplaces

Micro-entrepreneurs play a critical role in alleviating poverty in subsistence marketplaces through their business relationships with microfinance institutions. Despite the enormous importance of these relationships, a critical research question on the dimensions of business relationship quality and their overall effects on relationship outcomes remains unanswered. Thus, drawing on the relationship marketing, social exchange, and self-determination theories, this study answers the focal research question by conducting in-depth interviews (n = 30), thematic analysis, and a survey (n = 300) of micro-entrepreneurs in a subsistence marketplace. The findings show a third-order business relationship quality model with three second-order dimensions (i.e., business trust, business respect, and business reciprocity) and nine subdimensions. The findings confirm the impact of business relationship quality on business customer inspiration and business customer value examined in this marketplace. The findings also identify the mediating role of customer inspiration and both the moderating and quadratic roles of relationship quality on relationship outcomes. The predictive power of the business relationship quality model is validated through PLSpredict using a training sample (n = 270) and a holdout sample (n = 30)

Online Shopping: Antecedents of Attitude, Intention and Use

Consumer behavior in electronic commerce has been the theme of hundreds of studies conducted by researchers of many nationalities in the past twenty years. The purpose of this study was to review and classify the concepts used in papers published between 2003 and 2014 to explain the consumer behavior in electronic commerce. A systematic search of the literature in nine databases was performed and 136 papers published in double-blind peer reviewed journals were selected. Reference models were prepared based on a classification of the concepts found. This article reports only the concepts that displayed statistical significance in the studies analyzed. Finally, we suggest new studies that can be conducted

The influence of Chinese cultural values on consumer perceptions and behavioral intention towards an apparel mass customization website

Mass customization may deliver superior value to consumers compared to mass production because it provides personalized products with prices close to mass produced products. This assertion was made under the conditions and assumptions in Western societies where individual needs, rights, and interests are greatly valued. It is not known whether mass customization will deliver similar value to consumers in other societies, where different value systems exist. The purpose of the present study was to examine Chinese consumers\u27 responses toward mass customization and the influence of Chinese cultural values on these responses.;This study focused on web-based apparel mass customization and investigated (a) the effects of product price and customization level on consumers\u27 perceived value and (b) the effects of perceived value on consumers\u27 behavioral intention. Additionally, this research examined the moderating roles of Chinese cultural values on the relationships between the marketing attributes (price and customization level) and perceived value and between perceived value and behavioral intention.;The study used a between-subject experimental design involving manipulations of price and customization level. Four different treatments of a t-shirt website, resulting from the combination of two price levels and two customization levels, were used as the stimuli. A total of 344 participants from China participated in the study. Each respondent browsed one of the four randomly assigned treatments and completed an online questionnaire. Structural equation models were used to test the hypotheses.;Results showed that higher price significantly reduced Chinese consumers\u27 perception of economic value and efficiency, as hypothesized. Mass customization significantly enhanced consumers\u27 perceptions of product quality, enjoyment, and escapism, as hypothesized. However, respondents did not perceive enhanced economic value from the mass customization treatments. As hypothesized, perceived value explained behavioral intention. The study also found that two Chinese cultural values, relational orientation and man-nature orientation, significantly moderated the relationships between marketing attributes and perceived value and between perceive value and behavioral intention. These findings provide information needed for decision-making about marketing strategies for companies that would like to implement mass customization in China