Does Information and Communication Technology Improve Job Satisfaction? The Moderating Role of Sales Technology Orientation

Empirical research concerning the role of information and communication technology (ICT) in shaping business-to-business salesforce job satisfaction remains relatively scarce. The authors propose and empirically test a causal model that theoretically represents structural relationships among factors comprising ICT and eventual salesperson job satisfaction. Study results indicate that ICT indirectly influences job satisfaction through salesforce administrative performance. While ICT infrastructure, training, and support positively relate to administrative performance, none of them influence outcome performance significantly. In addition, salesperson technology orientation moderates the effect of both ICT infrastructure and support on job satisfaction. Managerial insights and implications from the research are discussed

Pepper, Just Show Me The Way! How Robotic Shopping Assistants Should Look And Act

Artificial intelligence enables modern robots to serve as service and sales assistants. Today\u27s robotic shopping assistants (RSAs) can appear either humanoid or non-humanoid and possess utilitarian and/or hedonic attributes. However, many questions remain unexplored regarding an effective customer-centric RSA design. Do customers prefer a humanoid or non-humanoid RSA with hedonic or utilitarian attributes? To answer those questions, the research deploys a mixed-method approach involving a survey of customers who have interacted with the Pepper Robot, a humanoid robot (Study 1), and follow-up experiments examining customer responses to a humanoid/non-humanoid RSA with hedonic/utilitarian attributes (Studies 2 and 3). The research employs an innovative approach that analyzes both unstructured and structured data simultaneously. Study results suggest that customers prefer humanoid RSAs with utilitarian attributes over those with hedonic attributes. The research contributes to the literature by proposing hedonic (vs. utilitarian) attributes of RSAs as new drivers of anthropomorphic perceptions

Collecting Samples From Online Services: How to Use Screeners to Improve Data Quality

Increasingly, marketing and consumer researchers rely on online data collection services. While actively-managed data collection services directly assist with the sampling process, minimally-managed data collection services, such as Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk), leave researchers solely responsible for recruiting, screening, cleaning, and evaluating responses. The research reported here proposes a 2 × 2 framework based on sampling goal and methodology for screening and evaluating the quality of online samples. By sampling goals, screeners can be categorized as selection, which involves matching the sample with the targeted population; or as accuracy, which involves ensuring that participants are appropriately attentive. By methodology, screeners can be categorized as direct, which screens individual responses; and as statistical, which provides quantitative signals of low quality. Multiple screeners for each of the four categories are compared across three MTurk samples, two actively-managed data collection samples (Qualtrics and Dynata), and a student sample. The results suggest the need for screening in every online sample, particularly for the MTurk samples, with the fewest supplier-provided filters. Recommendations are provided for researchers and journal reviewers that provide greater transparency with respect to sample practices

Hedonic and Utilitarian Value and Patient Satisfaction: Perceptual Differences between Patients and Providers

Healthcare is continually evolving to meet changing governmental regulations and a new emphasis on patient perceptions of quality care. Governmental mandates create a shift in focus from volume-based to value-based reimbursement for providers. The purpose of this article is to identify satisfaction drivers with particular emphasis on similarities and differences between the perceptions of hospital patients and providers. A combination of quality-based healthcare, stakeholder theory, and services literature points to key service outcomes including expectations, quality, value, and satisfaction. Multiple group structural equations modeling provides a vehicle for examining differences in relationships among these constructs between these two key stakeholders, patients and providers. Results suggest that utilitarian value is central to successful healthcare service experiences. But, the results also suggest differences between patients and providers in the way they believe utilitarian value affects outcomes; the results suggest that healthcare providers may underestimate utilitarian value’s role relative to patient perceptions

a framework and meta-analysis

Santini, F. D. O., Ladeira, W. J., Pinto, D. C., Herter, M. M., Sampaio, C. H., & Babin, B. J. (2020). Customer engagement in social media: a framework and meta-analysis. Journal Of The Academy Of Marketing Science. [Advanced online publication on 27 May 2020]. Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-020-00731-5This research examines customer engagement in social media (CESM) using a meta-analytic model of 814 effect sizes across 97 studies involving 161,059 respondents. Findings reveal that customer engagement is driven by satisfaction, positive emotions, and trust, but not by commitment. Satisfaction is a stronger predictor of customer engagement in high (vs. low) convenience, B2B (vs. B2C), and Twitter (vs. Facebook and Blogs). Twitter appears twice as likely as other social media platforms to improve customer engagement via satisfaction and positive emotions. Customer engagement is also found to have substantial value for companies, directly impacting firm performance, behavioral intention, and word-of-mouth. Moreover, hedonic consumption yields nearly three times stronger customer engagement to firm performance effects vis-à-vis utilitarian consumption. However, contrary to conventional managerial wisdom, word-of-mouth does not improve firm performance nor does it mediate customer engagement effects on firm performance. Contributions to customer engagement theory, including an embellishment of the customer engagement mechanics definition, and practical implications for managers are discussed.authorsversionpublishe

Atmospheric Affect as a Tool for Creating Value and Gaining Share of Customer

Can the retail atmosphere be useful in developing long-lasting relationships many retailers inhabit, success driven retailers must find ways to maintain stability and grow in order to survive.with consumers? This research addresses this question by investigating the impact of positive and negative affect associated with ambient environ- At a basic level, retailers ' lifeblood is the revenue developed through relationships with customers. This revenue can bemental conditions. A key dependent variable is conceptualized and vali-dated and captures the proportion of business a customer spends in one expanded and developed through cultivating relationships with new customers, encouraging current customers to spendlocation relative to a store's direct competitors. Structural equation results suggest that both positive affect and negative affect impact this measure, a larger proportion of their dollars with the retailer, and by extending the length of time or duration of the relationshipÐbut the impact is facilitated through both feelings ' relationship with hedonic and utilitarian shopping value. J BUSN RES 2000. 49.91±99. Ó 2000 seeking customers for life. A Canadian grocery chain explored these avenues for increasing profitability and observed that ifElsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved. each customer purchased one additional produce item, profit-ability would increase by more than 40%. Similarly, current customers who substituted two store-brand items for two Survival through continuous acquisition of consumer re- national brand items each store visit, would increase profitabil-ity by 55%. Furthermore, if these improvements were achievedsources is the most paramount goal and most appro-priate orientation of a firm (Anderson, 1982). Retailers simultaneously, future gross profits could be improved dra-matically (Grant and Schlesinger, 1995). Thus, expanding aand service providers have offered various incentive program

Seeking Something Different? A Model of Schema Typicality, Consumer Affect, Purchase Intentions and Perceived Shopping Value

A study is presented that examines the effect of specific retail elements on deviations from the expected schema, or prototypicality of a retail store. The results suggest that subtle differences in the store name, the location, and the appearance of its salespeople can evoke contrast in the form of variable typicality scores. A structural model is presented that shows the outcomes of this variance in a retail context involving women\u27s apparel stores. Low typicality is associated with increased excitement and discomfort, and these emotions affect patronage intentions and perceived shopping value, This finding is counterbalanced by a direct, positive link between typicality and patronage intentions. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved

International Students’ Travel Behavior: A Model of the Travel-Related Consumer/Dissatisfaction Process

This paper addresses two purposes. One, it explores the satisfiers of international student travel behavior. Two, the study introduces a specific multidimensional value conceptualization to the travel literature. A structural model is explored that shows how characteristics such as perceived safety, fun, and educational benefits create travel satisfaction through their impact on personal hedonic and utilitarian travel value perceptions. © 2001, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved