Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThis dissertation consists of three essays that investigate the general decision process of users' choices regarding information technology (IT) applications and products, focusing on placebo effects of software pricing, incorporating user perceptions and product attributes in modeling software product choices, and firms' practices of green IT. Taking a customer-centric approach to users' assessments of IT applications and products, I address the evaluative responses of individual consumers and organizations to market information including price, product attributes, and key contextual factors. The objective of the first essay is to understand the placebo-like effects invoked by the price of software products on consumers' satisfaction, problem-solving performance, and purchasing behavior. Built upon the response expectancy theory, a research framework and a series of hypotheses are proposed. I test the hypotheses with a controlled experiment, and the data supports most of the hypotheses. Specifically, a user's outcome expectancy, as activated by software price, affects not only his/her satisfaction, but also the problem-solving performance using the software product. Satisfaction and actual problem-solving performance in turn affects the user's willingness-to-pay. In order to better explain and predict consumers' preferential choices of software products, I propose in the second essay a model that incorporates product attributes and consumer perceptions to estimate users' software product selection. The influences of product attributes on users' perceptions of product characteristics are also examined. With a choice-based conjoint study, and the collection of additional data on users' perceived product characteristics, I demonstrate that the proposed model can better explain and predict users' software choices than the model with product attributes only, or with user perceptions only, in terms of the in-sample fit and the holdout prediction hit rate at the individual-level and the aggregate-level. The third essay examines important drivers of green IT practices by firms. I propose a framework premised on social contracts theory and institutional theory, and then use it to develop a model that explains firms' decisions. I test the model and the associated hypotheses with the survey data collected from 304 major firms in Taiwan. Overall, the results show global environmental awareness, industry norms, and key stakeholders' attitudes affect a firm's green IT practices directly. Competitors seem to play a limited role, as suggested by an insignificant impact on the firm's green IT practices

Examining The Role of Information Technology in Cultivating Firms’ Dynamic Marketing Capabilities

Dynamic capabilities enable firms to reconfigure limited resources or relative strengths to respond to rapid changes in market conditions. This study considers the central role of IT in creating and enhancing dynamic capabilities by analyzing the essential determinants of dynamic marketing capabilities and proposing a model that includes market orientation, IT infrastructure capabilities, and use of IT to support CRM. Tests using a large-scale survey support the model and most of its hypotheses. The results reveal significant effects of a firm’s market orientation and use of IT to support CRM and the functionality of IT infrastructure capabilities on dynamic marketing capabilities

ONLINE RETAIL KEYWORD CHARACTERISTICS AND SEARCH MARKETING PERFORMANCE

To make judicious budget and resource allocation decisions, it is essential to understand the characteristics and performance of keywords used by target shoppers. Taking the approach of understanding consumers’ information needs, we construct a goal-related keyword characterization framework. Most search keywords exhibit more than one of the following characteristics - retailer specific, brand specific, product specific, feature related, or shopping intention. We analyze search engine ranking, click-through, and revenue data associated with visitor-disclosed search keywords from a top Web-only retailer over one year. Our findings show the interesting impacts of both keyword characteristics and dual-appearance of paid and organic advertisements on search marketing performance. The contributions of the research include a comprehensive search keyword characterization framework, and the analysis of the relationships between keyword characteristics and search performance. These findings have strong implications for search marketing decisions

Examining Gender Effects in Technology Acceptance by Arabian Workers: A Survey Study

While information technology is increasingly ubiquitous globally, the pace at which the technology has disseminated varies in different regions. We study technology acceptance by working individuals in the Arabian region, which has recorded substantial growths in technology infrastructure and deployments. We focus on gender because the Arabian region has a long-standing cultural tradition and entrenched social norms that distinctly define the gender roles. We develop a factor model, premised on the theory of planned behavior and the technology acceptance model, which explains the focal technology acceptance phenomenon. We test the model and the hypotheses with the responses from 1,088 Arabian workers from 56 firms that participate in our survey voluntarily. The model accounts for a significant portion of the variances in the workers’ intentions to use computer technology. We find that gender moderates the effect of subjective norms on intention (significantly stronger for males than for female workers) and the influence of perceived usefulness on attitude (significantly stronger for male than for female workers). However, the moderating role of gender appears insignificant on other relationships we hypothesized. Our findings have several important implications for both research and practice, which we will discuss in this paper

Examining the Moderating Role of Gender in Arabian Workers’ Acceptance of Computer Technology

Even as information technology becomes globally ubiquitous, the pace of its dissemination varies across regions. For example, technology acceptance by ordinary workers in the Arabian region is generally slow, though its diffusion has recently exhibited substantial improvements. The research model proposed herein, based in the theory of planned behavior and the technology acceptance model, focuses on the effects of gender, because long-standing Saudi Arabian culture traditions and entrenched social norms define distinct gender roles. The test of the model and its associated hypotheses involves voluntary responses from 1,088 Arabian workers of fifty-six firms. The results show that the model can explain a significant portion of variance in workers’ intentions to use computer technology. Perceived usefulness seems to have the strongest impact on intention, followed by perceived behavioral control and subjective norms. In addition, gender moderates the effect of subjective norms on intentions and the influence of perceived usefulness on attitude, more prominently among male than among female workers. Overall, the findings imply relative differences in the explanatory power of prevalent theoretical models across different socio-cultural contexts and point to the important role of gender in technology acceptance. They also offer implications for research and practice

Regulating Characteristics Analysis of Boiler Feed-water Pump when 600MW Unit Sliding-pressure Operating

AbstractAccording to the characteristics of utility-type generator set in variable load sliding-pressure operation, the paper comprehensively analyzes the features of feed-water system, in which variable-speed main feed-water and power frequency booster-pump connect first in series and then in parallel. It puts emphasis on fitting characteristics equation of feed-water pump under different operations, determining characteristics of feed-water pipeline under sliding-pressure operation, corresponding resistance coefficient, and finally deducing the equation of lift, efficiency and rotating speed when different loads and different sliding-pressures are adapted only by main feed-water pump variable speed adjusting. It takes one power plant 600MW supercritical unit for example to compare the energy consumption of different operation modes, and thus puts forward a more suitable operation mode under different loads, providing theoretical basis for the practical application of project