Understanding the Impact of Service Reputation on the Online Group-buying Behaviors

It has been well recognized that vendors’ reputation plays an important role in e-commerce. As a popular platform for promoting the services or products online, groupon websites have developed various reputation systems to assist the customers in making their purchase decisions. This paper performs an empirical study to investigate the impact of service reputation on the groupon buying behaviors using data from a major groupon website in China. A set of service reputation metrics is developed to measure the service reputation for different service providers, and the groupon buying behavior is measured by the amount of users participating in the corresponding collective buying activity. Correlation analysis is carried out to find out the relationship between the service reputation and the groupon purchase behaviors. Our research indicates the necessity for an improvement for the current service reputation systems of the groupon web sites

A conceptual model of channel choice: measuring online and offline shopping value perceptions

This study tries to understand how consumers evaluate channels for their purchasing. Specifically, it develops a conceptual model that addresses consumer value perceptions of using the Internet versus the traditional (physical) channel. Previous research showed that perceptions of price, product quality, service quality and risk strongly influence perceived value and purchase intentions in the offline and online channel. Perceptions of online and offline buyers can be analyzed to see how value is constructed in both channels. This model enables comparisons between online and offline shoppers perceptions. As such, it is possible to determine the factors that encourage or prevent consumers to engage in online shopping.

El valor percibido en webs de social commerce: Efectos sobre la lealtad del consumidor.

El estudio del comportamiento del consumidor en webs de social commerce está en auge, debido al gran crecimiento del sector en los últimos años. A pesar de ello, su comprensión se encuentra en su infancia, debido a la multitud de factores influyentes. Esta investigación, a través de la metodología del estímulo-organismo-respuesta, estudia qué papel tiene el valor percibido (O) por el consumidor, mediante el análisis de dos de sus principales antecedentes (calidad del sistema y del servicio) (S), así como de sus efectos sobre la lealtad (R). Los resultados obtenidos a partir de la aplicación de la técnica PLS a una muestra de 272 consumidores habituales de estas webs ponen de manifiesto la gran importancia que la calidad de la web tiene en la generación de valor en el consumidor, así como el rol clave de éste sobre las intenciones del consumidor tanto para volver a comprar como para recomendar.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

The Effects of Consumer Buying Habits in the Automotive Industry

This study addressed the effects of consumer buying habits in the automotive industry. With consumer buying habits constantly changing and the advancement of technology and e-commerce, there is a growing opportunity for brick-and-mortar stores and dealerships to adapt their strategies to maintain and enhance revenues and profitability. Failure of organizations to adapt their strategies have resulted in a loss of revenue and led to bankruptcy. This qualitative case study addressed the failure of an organization to adapt to consumer buying habits in the automotive industry resulting in a loss of revenue and profitability. Further, the study provided an understanding of the actions taken by organizations to increase profits, and also the upcoming consumer buying habit trends that will cause an organization to adapt their strategies to maintain and enhance revenues. The results of this study indicated that a dealership’s adaptability was a necessity in a constantly changing industry. The actions taken by the dealership group included aggressive pricing, use of new technology, advertisement initiatives, and strategies, such as off-site and on-site services were effective among other results. While electrification was a common theme of discussion, the results of this study indicated no significant concern for upcoming trends

The Effects of Emotional Versus Rational Message Framing on Brand Attachment and Brand Loyalty

The purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship among message framing in social media, brand attachment, and brand loyalty for higher education institutions. In particular, this study compares the effectiveness of rational versus emotional message framing in different message contexts, such as sports or academic-related stories. Furthermore, this study examines the congruent effect between message framing and contents in higher education. Specifically, this study predicts that the more message framing and contents are congruent, the greater brand attachment and brand loyalty consumers will have. To analyze the effects of message framing and type of contents, this study adopts experimental design method. The findings of this research indicate that previous involvement with a brand predicts high brand attachment and brand loyalty and needs to be present prior to the strengthening process of brand attachment and brand loyalty. Therefore, previous brand involvement can be measured and related to the effectiveness of strengthening brand attachment and brand loyalty

The Human Capital “Impact” on E-Business: The Case of Encyclopedia Britannica

[Excerpt] The term “New Economy” has been coined to describe the remarkable economic performance of the 1990s. Stiroh, (1999) an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York observes that its defining characteristic is a “focus on increasing globalization and expanding information technology” (pg. 87). Research suggests that revenues from electronic based business to business trade will double over the next five years from $43 billion in 1998 to$1.3 trillion in 2003. Revenues from business to consumer trade are predicted to rise from $8 billion to$108 billion over the same time period (Forrester Research, 1998). However, there is increasing attention to the challenges facing business in the new economy, and an increasing chorus of analysts suggesting how tenuous many of these business models really are. A recent Barron’s article showed that many dot-com companies have only days of remaining cash (Willoughby, March 20, 1999). Such a key emerging phenomenon has not escaped the attention of writers, though the existing body of writing has some important gaps. We would classify existing e-business literature into two groups. First, there is a growing body of literature that discusses the how the Internet is transforming business models and organizational strategies. A second, much smaller body of work has focused on e-HR, or more specifically, the implications of the Internet on various HR practices

Determination of Factors That Influence Passengers’ Airline Selection: A Study of Low Cost Carriers in Thailand

This research examined the factors that influenced the airline selection of Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) in Thailand. The research was justified based on the rapid growth of LCC travel in Thailand, particularly in domestic and regional travel. There is a relative lack of successful explanation of the choice of LCCs in Thailand, with only a few studies addressing topics like passenger satisfaction and perceptions of service quality. Following an extensive literature review, the author used a theoretical framework based on the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) (Ajzen, 1991) in order to explain passenger behavioral intentions. This framework was supplemented by airline operational and marketing factors identified from the literature, including Price, Service Quality, Airline Reputation, Airline Safety, Route Availability and Convenience, and Frequent Flier Programs. A large scaled survey was sent to Thai LCC passengers at major airports in Thailand. The final sample (n = 781) was predominantly working-age, female, highly educated, and with average incomes. In general, they flew frequently (two to three times a year or more). In order to test the relationship among the external factors, TPB factors, behavioral intentions, and actual behavior, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was conducted. Results showed that Subjective Norms, Perceived Behavioral Control, Airline Reputation, Price, and Service Quality had a positive impact on Behavioral Intentions, while Behavioral Intentions positively influenced Buying Behavior. This research has important implications both in academia and industry. It indicates that LCC passengers are not merely driven by price as concluded by economic studies in LCC selection. Instead, factors like service quality, airline reputation, and social acceptability implied by subjective norms play a significant role in the choice of LCCs over Full Service Carriers (FSCs). Additionally, the results of this research provide LCCs with useful guidance to form appropriate strategies to attract more passengers: protecting price leadership, improving service quality, enhancing public image, and maintaining route diversity