Modeling the Effects of the Three Dimensions of Trust towards the e-Vendor on Online Consumer Behavior

Studies that integrate online consumers’ trust toward the e-vendor with key constructs from technology acceptance models draw on one-dimensional or second-order conceptualizations of trust to explain shopping behavior. However, marketing and consumer research supports that a richer understanding of behavior, in particular relational behavior, is gained when trust is decomposed into three dimensions. Using Gefen, Karahann and Straub’s (2003) integrated website response model as a theoretical foundation, this research investigate the relationships between three dimensions of trust (consumers’ beliefs about the e-vendor’s integrity, benevolence and competence) and two key constructs from technology acceptance models (perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness of commercial websites) to explain online consumers’ intentions to engage in a business relationship with the e-vendor. The empirical results show the superiority of the tri-dimensional trust model over the one-dimensional one

The type-of-internet-access digital divide and the well-being of ethnic minority and majority consumers: a multi-country investigation

Wireless technologies and smartphones revolutionize the way consumers use the internet. How do these technological advancements affect consumer well-being or life satisfaction? We hypothesize that mobile- as compared to regular only- internet use enhances consumers' perceptions of personal economic situation, which in turn, enhances life satisfaction. Ethnic status (majority vs. minority) and national wealth (richer vs. poorer countries) set up boundary conditions for these effects. We test our hypotheses using multi-level modeling and a large scale multinational dataset covering responses of > 26,000 consumers from 21 countries. The results show that perceived personal economic situation mediates the relationship between type of internet access (regular vs. mobile) and life satisfaction; the positive effect of mobile internet use is weaker for ethnic minority than for majority consumers and stronger in poorer than in richer countries. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications for marketing and public policy

[Lecture] Marketing Localization Strategy: Influence of Cultural Adaptation on Consumer Trust : A Study on Cultural Customization of WEB Site Design

本稿は,2007年6月16日から7月31日までの期間,外国人招へい研究者として,関西大学総合情報学部に滞在したボリス・バルティコウスキー氏が7月4日に行った総合情報学部講演会「マーケティング・ローカライゼーションの展開-地域性に基づくカスタマイゼーションの重要性-」の記録である.講演のテーマは,マーケティングの分野におけるグローバリゼーションとローカライゼーションの有効性をめぐる議論である.具体的な考察対象として,企業のWEBサイトを題材とした調査から,進出先の地域的な文化に適応させることが消費者の信頼や態度にどのような影響を及ぼしているかについて,次の諸点が明らかとなった.(1)ローカリゼーション(地域文化適応)戦略は,状況によって,異なる効果をもたらす.(2)ブランド力は,ローカリゼーション(地域文化適応)の効果をしのぐ傾向にある.(3)WEBサイトを通じたさまざまなサービス提供は,WEBサイトのローカリゼーション(地域文化適応)から大きな影響を受ける.The ever lasting debate on globalization versus localization has gained new importance in many fields of marketing. This conference will introduce the localization topic and develop into the issue of Website localization. Results from a current research dealing with effects of Website localization on consumer trust and consumer attitude will be presented in detail

Effects of ethical certification and ethical eWoM on talent attraction

Whilst previous studies indicate perceived company ethicality as a driver of job seekers’ job-pursuit intentions, it is poorly understood how and why ethical market signals actually affect their application decisions. Perceptions of company ethicality result from market signals that are either within the control of the company (e.g. ethical certifications) and from market signals that are beyond the company’s control (e.g. ethical eWoM). Building on communication and information processing theories, this study therefore considers both types of ethical market signals, and examines the psychological mechanisms through which they affect job seekers’ intention to apply for a job. The results from a controlled online experiment show that both types of ethical market signals increase job seekers’ job-pursuit intentions. These relationships are mediated by applicants’ attitude towards the job advertisement, their perceptions of corporate employment image and self-referencing. Consequently, the present study alerts practitioners to consider the effects of company-controlled and non-company-controlled ethical market signals, particularly when aiming to recruit highly-qualified millennial candidates

Flying to Quality: Cultural Influences on Online Reviews

Customers increasingly consult opinions expressed online before making their final decisions. However, inherent factors such as culture may moderate the criteria and the weights individuals use to form their expectations and evaluations. Therefore, not all opinions expressed online match customers’ personal preferences, neither can firms use this information to deduce general conclusions. Our study explores this issue in the context of airline services using Hofstede’s framework as a theoretical anchor. We gauge the effect of each dimension as well as that of cultural distance between the passenger and the airline on the overall satisfaction with the flight as well as specific service factors. Using topic modeling, we also capture the effect of culture on review text and identify factors that are not captured by conventional rating scales. Our results provide significant insights for airline managers about service factors that affect more passengers from specific cultures leading to higher satisfaction/dissatisfaction

Kundenzufriedenheit

Kundenzufriedenheit : Verfahren zur Messung der Indifferenzzone. - Lohmar u.a. : Eul, 2002. - VI, 182 S. - (Reihe: Marketing ; 19). - Zugl.: Augsburg ; Aix/Marseille, Univ., Diss., 200

Seeing is Being’: Consumer Culture and the Positioning of Luxury Cars in China

Researchers recognize the indispensable role of inwardly vs. outwardly-focused social identities as predictors of consumers\u27 attitudes toward local vs. global brand positioning. Extant studies typically report symmetric assimilative identity effects, meaning that consumers high on national/ethnic identity favor brands with a local (vs. global) consumer culture positioning, and vice-versa for consumers high on an outward (e.g., cosmopolitan) identity disposition. Such identity outcomes may not be generalizable, but rather, be affected by the specific consumption context as well as the individual trait of consumer need for uniqueness (NFU). Focusing on the Chinese premium car market, our experimental study consistently supported assimilative effects for the role played by ethnic identity. For cosmopolitanism however, such effects only held for low NFU consumers, whereas contrastive identity effects emerged for high NFU consumers. These results challenge some findings reported in the literature. Implications of these asymmetric identity effects for marketing theory and practice are discussed