Consequences of user experience in a gamified e-commerce platform

User experience is essential to any gamified domain, which indicates how a person feels when interacting with the system and it produces some definite consequences. In e-commerce, gamification is increasingly applied as a design strategy while improving various behavioral outcomes. This study explores the consequences of user experience and its role in a gamified e-commerce platform. Hence, a conceptual model of user experience in a gamified e-commerce platform is proposed. The Model aims at finding the effects of gamification on user experience and the consequences that arise. It was statistically tested and validated through a quantitative research approach. An online survey questionnaire acted as the main instrument for data collection and subsequently, the PLS-SEM method was utilized for analyses. The results indicated that in e-commerce, gamification affects user experience positively. This gamified user experience creates satisfied users and enhances their purchasing attitude. Users thus developed a love for a particular brand and become loyal customers of the products. They will also contribute to business growth by spreading positive word of mouth. Finally, the intention of users to engage with a platform is also improved

The transformative impact of business models

The macroeconomic impact of advances in information and communications technologies is significant but problematic to assess. Research on these developments has been isolated to specific disciplines, easily outpaced by new innovations and few studies describe the multiple changes and their macroeconomic consequences in a holistic way. The increasing ability to organize, price and transmit information to the market is ushering in an era where economic actors are highly responsive to the market. Technological advance alone does not capture the benefits of these developments. It is the innovative business model that lies at the heart of this revolution in responsiveness. We outline four major economic shifts in this study by reference to some paradigmatic business models. These shifts include pricing strategy innovations and their effect on the creation and expansion of market spaces, structural shifts in electronic markets and the effects on transaction costs, the deeper interaction between firms and consumers and the effects on more efficient matching of supply and demand, and finally the economic impact of elasticity and infinite scalability in computing resources when delivered as a utility by cloud computing providers. These advances do not only increase the commercial possibilities, they actively alter the competitive landscape and the role of the firm and consumer. This paper establishes some key areas where the increased responsiveness of economic actors is increasingly stimulating innovation, efficiency and productivity

The transformative impact of business models

The macroeconomic impact of advances in information and communications technologies is significant but problematic to assess. Research on these developments has been isolated to specific disciplines, easily outpaced by new innovations and few studies describe the multiple changes and their macroeconomic consequences in a holistic way. The increasing ability to organize, price and transmit information to the market is ushering in an era where economic actors are highly responsive to the market. Technological advance alone does not capture the benefits of these developments. It is the innovative business model that lies at the heart of this revolution in responsiveness. We outline four major economic shifts in this study by reference to some paradigmatic business models. These shifts include pricing strategy innovations and their effect on the creation and expansion of market spaces, structural shifts in electronic markets and the effects on transaction costs, the deeper interaction between firms and consumers and the effects on more efficient matching of supply and demand, and finally the economic impact of elasticity and infinite scalability in computing resources when delivered as a utility by cloud computing providers. These advances do not only increase the commercial possibilities, they actively alter the competitive landscape and the role of the firm and consumer. This paper establishes some key areas where the increased responsiveness of economic actors is increasingly stimulating innovation, efficiency and productivity

Digitalização das promoções de vendas e email marketing

Dissertação de Mestrado apresentado ao Instituto de Contabilidade e Administração do Porto para a obtenção do grau de Mestre em Marketing Digital, sob orientação de Professor Doutor António Correia de BarrosAs Promoções de Vendas são um mecanismo de atração dos clientes fidelizados e de novos clientes. Estas focam aspetos como a importância das Marcas e o Preço que influencia bastante a decisão de compra e requer estratégias especialmente de comunicação para criar uma envolvente em torno dele (Automatic Cognitive Processing). A importância de um pensamento comum entre o online e o offline, pois com o desenvolvimento das novas formas de digitalização, como as Redes Sociais, cada vez mais é possível prever quais os gostos e interesses do consumidor final. Assim, a comunicação não pode exclusivamente ser direcionada para um só meio, pois só a inter-relação e comunicação entre os diferentes canais vai originar uma maior fidelização. O estudo analisa uma amostra siginificativa de Emails Marketing com o objetivo de estudar o maior número de Emails contendo Promoções de Vendas. Os Emails observados são quase 500 durante um período de 2 anos e foram arquivados ao longo dos anos no Email pessoal. O conteúdo analisado teve em foco variáveis específicas como a Linha Assunto, a Orientação, o Call to Action, o Número de Palavras que permitiram afirmar que a Promoção de Vendas estava presente e é bastante utilizada no Email Marketing.Sales Promotion are an attraction mechanism for loyal customers and for the new ones. As usual they focus aspects like the importance of Brands and Price that influences a lot the decision to purchase. Price, also requires special strategies of comunication to create an environment around it (Automatic Cognitive Processing). The importance of common thought between online and offline because with the development of digitalization new forms, like Social Media, it will increase more and more the possibility to predict which are the likes and interests of final costumers. Therefore, comunication can’t be exclusively directed for one mean because inter relationship and comunication between diferent channels will create greater loyalty. The study analyses a significative sample of Email Marketing with the objective of studying the bigger number of Emails which contained Sales Promotion. The Emails observed are almost 500 during a períod of 2 years. They were archived in personal Email over the years. Content analyses had in focus specific variables like Subject Line, Orientation, Call to Action, Number of Words that allowed to say that Sales Promotion were present and it is widdely used in Email Marketing

Análise das estratégias de dropshipping e fulfillment no gerenciamento da cadeia de suprimentos de um e-commerce

TCC (graduação) - Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. Campus Joinville. Engenharia de Transportes e Logística.Os comércios eletrônicos que utilizam o dropshipping como operação principal da empresa possuem problemas logísticos como: o elevado tempo de entrega, problemas de avarias no envio, problemas nos retornos de pedidos de devolução e até problemas relacionados com a pandemia causada pela Covid-19. Por essas razões, encontrar novas formas de se fazer o bom gerenciamento da cadeia de suprimentos pode resultar em ganhos de eficiência e de custo para a organização. Assim, o presente trabalho tem o objetivo de avaliar, para uma empresa de comércio eletrônico, a substituição da sua cadeia de suprimentos baseada no dropshipping com fornecimento da China por uma cadeia de suprimentos que utiliza uma empresa fulfillment estabelecida no Brasil, como prestadora de serviço logístico. Antes de usar os serviços da empresa fulfillment, será necessário o uso de uma importadora para importação em quantidade do estoque de produtos. Após sua chegada no Brasil, o produto é direcionado para a empresa fulfillment realizar os seus serviços. Para fazer essa avaliação, foi necessário realizar questionários para levantamento de dados, simulações de cenários com os dados levantados e análise dos resultados obtidos. Por fim, foi possível concluir no trabalho que a substituição da cadeia de suprimentos do dropshipping por uma cadeia de suprimentos com uma empresa fulfillment resulta em uma diminuição do custo logístico total da empresa, diminuição do custo unitário de produto, aumento da margem de contribuição por produto e aumento na eficiência da cadeia de suprimentos da empresa estudada. Assim, é possível concluir que a substituição da cadeia de suprimentos do dropshipping por uma cadeia de suprimentos com uma empresa fulfillment é de grande vantagem competitiva para a empresa

The Role of Mass Customization in Enhancing Supply Chain Relationships in B2C E-Commerce Markets

Traditional supply chain management utilized traditional media and channels to link firms in linear, inefficient relationships. The advent of electronic commerce over the Internet has facilitated new relationships for connecting with new supply chain partners, thereby significantly increasing the quantity and quality of inter-organizational information flows. These information flows are theoretically evaluated using the principles of information quality dimensions. In addition, a new breed of market makers, or information intermediaries, is defining new functional relationships between the different players. The direct channel between manufacturers (or digital content providers) and consumers is enabling mass-customization, and is influencing the demand forecasting and inventory management functions. Mass customization is discussed in the context of both digital and physical goods, along with an analysis of information quality dimensions. Finally, the impact of these new supply chain i..

The Determinants of Customer Perceptions in a Dynamic Business Environment: An Exploratory Analysis of the ASP Business Model

Outsourcing attracted much attention in 1989 when Kodak outsourced its data center operation to IBM (International Business Machines Corp.). Nowadays, this strategy has become more popular. At the beginning of this century, the ASP (Application Service Provider) model was considered one of the typical solutions of Internet-based IT (Information Technology) outsourcing. Although this model has been transformed and renamed (e.g. SaaS - Software as a Service), the principle concept of providing IT service through the Internet or wide area network is still there. This study attempts to explore the determinants of customer perception of Internet-based IT outsourcing by obtaining a comprehensive understanding of the ASP model. The research dimensions not only include factors affecting users' perception of service quality but also ASP business position (i.e. the firm origin of ASP and its provider type) and services utilized by the customers. Through the study of firm history, two important theoretical themes of this research - path-dependence and Ansoff's product/ market growth matrix - are taken account of in exploring the influence of the determinants. Web-based questionnaire survey research is conducted together with a documentation study to collect data. Targeting the customers of the top 50 ASPs selected by ASPnews.com during the period 2001-2004, the researcher contacted 597 potential respondents, and 196 responses were returned. The valid sample consisted of 175 responses, and 124 of them not only provided full information for satisfaction evaluation but also the information for tracking their ASP vendors' business position. The GLM (General Linear Model) and the Pearson correlation coefficient were the major statistical approaches used to evaluate the survey data for developing a structural model. The research findings indicated that the factors associated with service competitiveness, such as capability and performance, reliability and trustworthiness, affordability, integration and customization, have positive effects on customer perceived satisfaction; whereas lock-in has a negative effect. More specifically, the origin of the ASP firm has a direct effect on capacity and performance, and also directly influences the use of IT adoption services. Based on this finding, a descriptive analysis and qualitative research shows that two mechanisms for path-dependence - existing expertise and perceived expertise - can affect the satisfaction level of capacity and performance of ASP services. On the other hand, provider type has a direct effect on affordability and also directly influences the use of facility supporting services. On this basis, another two mechanisms for path-dependence - transaction cost and standardization - can indirectly impact customer's perception of this business model via affordability. In addition to those major findings, some other determinants (e.g. software applications, brand of applications, and intensity of service used) were also identified in this study. The study result can be used for theoretical understanding about the determinants of ASP customer's perception. It not only indicates a new perspective to enhance the current body of research on this topic, but can also be more broadly applied to any fast-growth firm, rapid-change business, or technology intensive industry. Acknowledgements I would like to sincerely thank the following people for their contribution to this research project. Dr. Scott Koslow, my chief supervisor, for his continued encouragement, patience and guidance to ensure the completion of this project. His speciality in statistics has provided appropriate and valuable guidance in the data analysis for my research. Dr. Steven Lim, my second supervisor, for his advice, coherence, and support over the years. I also appreciate his constructive comments on my drafts and the shaping of my research. Dr. Bob McQueen and Dr. Jim Corner, for their assistance and advice in the early stages of my study. My parents, Yu-Ho and Lee-Chiung Liang, and my brother Ken, my sisters Annie, Eva, and Nancy, my brothers-in-law, J.C. and Chen, and Alice, my sister-in-law, for their emotional support throughout the length of my study. I also thank Bessie, my best friend for her assistance in data collection and her loving support, as well as Ted, Kevin, Mark, Frank, and Shirley, my study mates for their encouragement and friendship. Special thanks goes to Dr. Kuang-Ya Wang, the principal of Yu Da High School of Commerce and Home Economics, Taiwan, and also to the staff over there for their concern and assistance in data collection. Most importantly, my heartfelt appreciation goes to Warren, my husband. I am deeply grateful to him for his understanding, patience, and practical help. Without his enduring support I could not have done this study. Finally, my thanks and gratitude goes to those people who patiently answered my survey questionnaire as their kind assistance made it possible to complete this research

Toyetic tooling: 3D printing and convergent media platforms

This research addresses convergence of 3D printing with digital games and media products and outlines opportunities for development in production of media related goods including toys and merchandise. It does this principally through a field study involving participatory access to MakieLab, a start-up using 3D printing in the production of user-generated, 3D printable toys directly related to game content. This study incorporates participant observation, a survey of prospective consumers and a netnography of online 3D printing repositories. The netnography investigates user interactions with media content enabled by 3D printing and finds emerging forms of fan-production and a related economy of fan-produced, 3D printable goods. Here the research contributes to gaps in understanding of what people are making with 3D printing, providing insights into what media products people reference, what they make and why. Noting the legally ambiguous status of fan activity and research momentum aimed at creating legislative responses to inhibit such activity this research presents MakieLab as an example of a market based alternative. The research describes MakieLab as a convergent media platform and documents how MakieLab designed products and platforms to facilitate fan production and to co-opting or commodotise fan production. This research contributes understanding of how 3D printing may provide new revenue streams for media producers and facilitate engagement between firm and consumer. The research finds in conclusion that 3D printing in conjunction with automated translation of game, film or animation content to user editable and 3D printable formats has potential to alter relationships between media firm and consumer. In doing so it identifies a role for 3D printing in transmedia, implications for evaluations of toyetic or merchandise potential, potential for between-media interactivity, in-media merchandising and development of convergent media platforms, commodification of fan art as well as commodification of creative making experiences. The research concomitantly considers implications for stakeholders involved in production of media related toys and merchandise indicating that convergent media platforms are likely to have significant impact for media producers