Standing Between Purchase Intention And Action: Product Value And Its Uncertainty

This study examines the decision-making process of customers focusing on how purchase intention is transformed into actual purchase. Specifically, we investigate 1) how purchase intention is formed, 2) how purchase intention drives action, and 3) what factors stand between purchase intention and action. After reviewing literature on purchase intention and action, and the product evaluation mechanisms employed by the customer, we propose the following hypotheses. First, product value has a positive impact on purchase intention (H1). Second, purchase intention increases the probability of purchase (H2) and third, the relationship between purchase intention and purchase will be moderated by uncertainty levels in product valuation (H3). To validate, we conduct a survey regarding four types of products and collect data from 300 respondents. Regression and Probit analyses methods are used for validation. H1 and H2 are supported while H3 is partially supported. This study challenges the conventional notion that customers with high purchase intentions will necessarily move to the purchase stage. To this end, we examine the relationship between purchase intention and purchase, and find that uncertainty in valuation moderates the relationship

QUALITY VS. PREFERENCE: THE IMPACT OF ONLINE PRODUCT INFORMATION ON CUSTOMERS\u27 PURCHASE INTENTION

This paper examines the manner by which online product information is able to change customers\u27 purchase intentions using theoretical and methodological specifications. For theorizing, we adopted the subjectivity/objectivity dichotomy at the epistemological level to propose quality and preferences as product evaluation criteria which determine the customers\u27 purchase intention. In validation, we conducted a marginal analysis to eliminate confounding effects from non-target variables by focusing mainly on the product information level in estimating the purchase intentions. The proposed hypotheses specify the different impacts of product information on the purchase intention in terms of the types of product and information that quality information effectively impacts on quality goods while preference information does not effectively impact on preference goods. A survey of 57 students at a major university in Korea was conducted and the results show that the hypotheses are partially supported through the PLS path comparison method. This study contributes to information systems research, not only by proposing a simple and effective framework for product information perception processing, but also by segregating the information impact from other confounding factors. For managerial implications, we suggest \u27right information for the right product\u27 to utilize the high information manipulability and low space constraint on the Web for the firm\u27s effective online product information strategy

THE EWOM IMPACT ON SALES DISTRIBUTIONS IN MARKETS WITH DIFFERENT PRODUCT EVALUATION STANDARDS

This study investigates the impact of electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM) on sales distributions in various markets. The product information in eWOM helps customers to reveal their demands more clearly, thereby leading to the change of sales distributions in online markets. For the research, we categorize the markets based on the similarity level of product evaluation standards. If products in a market have similar evaluation standards, the product information given through eWOM will be applicable to most customers. If products in the market have different evaluation standards, then the information will not be applicable to other customers. Therefore, when product information is delivered through eWOM, in a market having similar product evaluation standards, it will enhance the sales concentration of high-ranking products by reinforcing the objective rankings among the products. In contrast, in a market with different evaluation standards, product information will loosen the sales concentration of the high-ranking products because it helps customers to purchase the product corresponding to their inherently different tastes for the products. These predictions are formulated into three hypotheses and validated with the data collected from Amazon.com. We plotted the cumulative distribution functions of eWOM, which represents the total popularity, and statistically compared them using the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test to show the different eWOM ratio possessed by the high-ranking products. All the test results showed the adequate level of significance; thus the three hypotheses are supported

Differing Expectations for Corporate Moral Responsibility: A Product Category Analysis

The moral responsibility theory of corporate sustainability (MRCS) argues that according to the concept of corporate personhood, a corporation has moral responsibilities toward society and the environment, and can determine its level of commitment to meet those responsibilities (Ha-Brookshire, 2015). Using the MRCS theory, Jung and Ha-Brookshire (2017) attempted to empirically demonstrate U.S. consumers’ perceptions on a variety of corporate moral responsibility activities performed by consumer product companies, to determine whether each activity is a perfect or imperfect duty. Therefore, this exploratory study raised the following research question: What are the differences in consumers’ expectations toward corporate moral responsibility, from perfect, imperfect, or no duty, for various sustainability activities carried out by different consumer product companies? With 4,000 invitations, 1,046 complete responses were returned and analyzed (26.15% of response rate). U.S. consumers believe working conditions support to be a firm’s most important responsibility to fulfill. At the same time, transparency had the lowest mean, suggesting it is viewed as something good to do but not a necessary duty to fulfill all the time. Consumer responses to clothing and food product companies were fairly similar to each other, potentially rejecting our assumption that there are different expectations for these products. Further research is recommended to investigate consumer expectations for sustainability in diverse product categories in relation to their intimacy to consumers and/or perceived health risks

In-situ fabrication of cobalt-doped SrFe2As2 thin films by using pulsed laser deposition with excimer laser

The remarkably high superconducting transition temperature and upper critical field of iron(Fe)-based layered superconductors, despite ferromagnetic material base, open the prospect for superconducting electronics. However, success in superconducting electronics has been limited because of difficulties in fabricating high-quality thin films. We report the growth of high-quality c-axis-oriented cobalt(Co)-doped SrFe2As2 thin films with bulk superconductivity by using an in-situ pulsed laser deposition technique with a 248-nm-wavelength KrF excimer laser and an arsenic(As)-rich phase target. The temperature and field dependences of the magnetization showing strong diamagnetism and transport critical current density with superior Jc-H performance are reported. These results provide necessary information for practical applications of Fe-based superconductors.Comment: 8 pages, 3figures. to be published at Appl. Phys. Let