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

The In-Store Retail Experience: A C-E-V Approach to Consumer Shopping Activity.

Environmental psychology has been increasingly applied to the study of consumer patronage behavior. This study adapts a model based largely on environmental psychology and tests it empirically in an attempt to explain several aspects of in-store consumer behavior. In doing so, it goes beyond previous applications of environmental psychology by considering the effect of several antecedents of consumer emotions and by considering the consequences of varying retail experiences in terms of the personal shopping value they convey to a consumer. Prior to testing the model, previous research is reviewed to develop the relationships comprising the model. Put simply, various consumer characteristics (shopping motivations and shopping process involvement) and store characteristics (affective quality and perceived store image) are hypothesized as comprising the consciousness of the consumer; this consciousness causes, to some extent, the level of consumer emotions experienced while in a retail environment (pleasure, arousal, and domination); these emotions relate to in-store consumer behavior; and finally, the model predicts consumer value (utilitarian and hedonic) resulting from a particular retail experience. A multi-equation system of structural equations representing this model is estimated using maximum likelihood. Overall, support is found for the theoretical model tested as indicated by the \chi\sp2 to degrees of freedom ratio, the goodness-of-fit index, the root-mean-squared residual, and other fit indices. In general, the relationships described above are supported to varying degrees. For example, individual differences in consumer characteristics appear to be more important predictors of in-store emotions than are objective differences among store characteristics. Particularly strong relationships are found between in-store emotions and behavior and the hedonic and utilitarian value obtained from a particular retail experience. Interestingly, these two types of value appear to have quite different antecedents. Potential implications for retail theory and practice are discussed. Among these implications are the ability of this model to explicitly represent both cognitive and emotional aspects of consumer behavior and a potential segmentation basis for retailers based on these results. In addition, this research is expected to lead to a number of related studies to be conducted in the future

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

The increased expression of fatty acid-binding protein 9 in prostate cancer and its prognostic significance

In contrast to numerous studies conducted to investigate the crucial role of fatty acid binding protein 5 (FABP5) in prostate cancer, investigations on the possible involvement of other FABPs are rare. Here we first measured the mRNA levels of 10 FABPs in benign and malignant prostate cell lines and identified the differentially expressed FABP6 and FABP9 mRNAs whose levels in all malignant cell lines were higher than those in the benign cells. Thereafter we assessed the expression status of FABP6 and FABP9 in both prostate cell lines and in human tissues. FABP6 protein was overexpressed only in 1 of the 5 malignant cell lines and its immunostaining intensities were not significantly different between benign and malignant prostate tissues. In contrast, FABP9 protein was highly expressed in highly malignant cell lines PC-3 and PC3-M, but its level in the benign PNT-2 and other malignant cell lines was not detectable. When analysed in an archival set of human prostate tissues, immunohistochemical staining intensity for FABP9 was significantly higher in carcinomas than in benign cases and the increase in FABP9 was significantly correlated with reduced patient survival times. Moreover, the increased level of staining for FABP9 was significantly associated with the increased joint Gleason scores (GS) and androgen receptor index (AR). Suppression of FABP9 expression in highly malignant PC3-M cells inhibited their invasive potential. Our results suggest that FABP9 is a valuable prognostic marker to predict the outcomes of prostate cancer patients, perhaps by playing an important role in prostate cancer cell invasion

Research into employee trust:epistemological foundations and paradigmatic boundaries

This article explores the epistemological roots and paradigmatic boundaries of research into employee trust, a growing field in human resource management. Drawing on Burrell and Morgan's well-known sociological paradigms and their epistemological foundations, we identify the dominant approaches to employee trust research to examine its strengths and limitations. Our review of the literature on employee trust revealed that the majority of the most cited papers were written from a psychological perspective, characterised by positivistic methodologies, variance theory explanations and quantitative data collection methods. We also found that most of the studies can be located in the functionalist paradigm, and while accepting that functionalism and psychological positivism have their merits, we argue that research in these traditions sometimes constrains our understanding of employee trust in their organisations. We conclude that trust researchers would benefit from a better understanding of the ontological, epistemological and axiological assumptions underlying of HRM research and should embrace greater epistemic reflexivity