Deal or no deal? : assessing the daily deal shopper

We build upon previous work done in online shopping segmentation but follow a customer-revealed approach by using an explorative cluster analysis on a sample of 11,848 daily deal shoppers located in Switzerland. We identify six segments into which the daily deal shoppers can be categorized: recreational shoppers, mobile shoppers, traditionalists, bargain hunters, socializers, and convenience seekers. These clusters are distinctively different in terms of shopping motives, online behavior, and demographics

Trust in car brands : a quantitative analysis on trust in car brands in Switzerland

This study analyses affective and cognitive trust dimensions (manufacturer’s competence, predictability, benevolence and integrity) and their influence on trust. Furthermore, trust in car brands is analyzed. One survey is published online returning 278 fully completed questionnaires. A second survey is sent out specifically to students with an engineering background returning 129 completed questionnaires. Volkswagen, Alfa Romeo, BMW, Fiat and Audi are the most commonly owned brands and Volkswagen, BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Alfa Romeo the most trusted brands in survey one. In survey two, Volkswagen, BMW, Audi, Ford, Mercedes and Toyota are the most commonly owned brands and BMW, Tesla, Volvo, Toyota and Mercedes the most trusted ones. Competence shows highest effects on trust in survey one followed by predictability, integrity and benevolence. In survey two as well, competence shows highest impact on trust, followed by predictability, benevolence and integrity. Results suggest, that the impact trust dimensions have on trust are different in specific target groups. Furthermore, target groups with an engineering background trust different brands even though Volkswagen is the most commonly owned brand across both comparison groups

Firm-generated, user-generated and machine generated content in the digital economy : analytics, prediction, recommendation, and impact minitrack

The minitrack “Content (FGC/UGC/MGC) in the Digital Economy” takes into account the communication shift from traditional one-way to two-way communication, with content being a means to engage and earn trust with consumers. Content can be created by companies (FGC/PGC), consumers (UGC/CGC) or by machines and artificial intelligence (MGC). Consumers consult content as a source of inspiration when making purchasing decisions. Source criteria, media format, valence as well as depth and breadth impact the helpfulness and credibility of content. From a business perspective UGC plays an important role in the customer journey, influencing purchasing decisions, raising brand awareness, brand loyalty as well as perceived quality. Moreover, UGC is a valuable data source informing companies about customer preferences and motivations. Analytics play an important role in the understanding of customer preferences and recommender systems help to suggest the right user/content combination

How gender influences trust assessments in sales negotiations

This study aimed to analyse differences in gender in a sales setting by building on Wood, Boles, and Babin’s (2008) trust model. The results revealed no significant differences regarding perceptions of likability, competence, and trustworthiness between the genders. Female salespersons received higher judgements in the likability, competence, and trust dimensions than did their male counterparts. Generally, female subjects rated more favourably than men, which accords with Cuddy, Glick, and Beninger’s (2011) findings. Both likability and competence had an influence on trust, whereas competence showed a stronger impact. All correlations were significant and positive. The results suggest that gender has no significant impact on trust perception in the specific sales setting of clothing retail

Taking advice from your popular friend : the influence of parasocial interaction and number of followers on brand attitude and brand purchase intentions on instagram

The growing popularity of social media platforms has boosted the effects of peer recommendations. A major challenge that brands face is how to identify the right influencer. Oftentimes, companies refer to the number of followers as a proxy for ascribed opinion leadership. However, contrary to the general rule of thumb, this paper shows that more important than the number of followers is whether an influencer creates parasocial interaction with his followers. Across two studies this paper demonstrates that parasocial interaction impacts consumers’ brand attitudes and subsequently purchase intention. Moreover, it shows that the number of followers only had a marginal significant effect on purchase intention

Let me entertain you : the influence of augmented reality on purchasing intention in e-commerce

Augmented reality (AR) in e-commerce helps consumers to envision products in their respective surroundings, so fosters customer experience. Our online experiment with 302 probands explores the effect of AR on purchasing intention, taking into account motivational variables—perceived usefulness, entertainment and perceived ease of use (PEOU). Consumers viewing products in an AR-enabled online shop rated perceived usefulness, entertainment and PEOU significantly higher than the control group viewing the non-AR-enabled online shop. Performing mediation analysis, we found that AR significantly influences purchase intention, which is mediated by perceived entertainment. Our findings add to the understanding of the interplay of the motivational variables perceived usefulness, entertainment and PEOU as well as the impact of AR on customer decision making. From a managerial point of view, our findings suggest that in the current stage of the technology, AR is perceived as a playful add-on to online shopping, positively impacting purchase intention

Do you remember? : a comparison of nostalgic ad-evoked responses by baby-boomers and generation y

The purpose of this study is to assess emotions and attitudes induced by nostalgic advertisement in the age cohorts baby-boomers and generation Y. The results presented in this working paper are derived from the first explorative study phase. 20 semi-structured interviews incorporating nostalgic advertisements as stimuli were conducted. Interviewees were prompted about their emotions and nostalgic feelings watching the commercials. The findings show, that both groups experience positive emotions and nostalgic thoughts. Baby-boomers report more nostalgic thoughts than generation Y, suggesting that nostalgic ads trigger more personal than historical nostalgia. Persons from generation Y indicate more positive emotions, whereas baby-boomers emphasis the bittersweet character of nostalgia, implying both joy and sadness. This qualitative study serves as a first probe into ad-evoked historical and personal nostalgia and the accompanying emotions. In a second step a quantitative study (scheduled for April 2015) is conducted to elicit on the effects on attitude towards the ad and the advertised brand of both cohorts. No prior empirical study tests the different responses of baby-boomers and generation Y on ad-evoked nostalgia. The study has practical implications for marketers, as nostalgic advertising currently focuses on the large baby-boomer segment, neglecting the effects on other age groups

The impact of user-generated content on customer loyalty in food and beverages retail : an empirical study

This study analyses the effect of user-generated content (UGC) on the loyalty of UGC recipients in a European retail environment. An online experiment was conducted, which returned 1,074 completed questionnaires. Intensive involvement with UGC significantly increases the affective loyalty of retail customers, but no significant effect was found on conative loyalty. Furthermore, trust in UGC results in significantly higher conative and affective loyalty levels. Specifically, we reveal differences in the loyalty dimensions of millennials, with UGC significantly impacting affective loyalty in this age group. Our results suggest that UGC contributes to customer loyalty and patronage in a retail setting