IT Affordances and Consumption Values Perspective for the Use of Social Commerce

Social commerce is growing throughout the world. This paper develops a framework based on affordance theory and theory of consumption values to understand which consumption values motivate feature-enabled affordances to satisfy buyers and sellers and how that impacts the overall transactional experience on the platform. Additionally, the paper also fills the gap in the literature regarding seller\u27s selling behavior which is relatively understudied. The study focuses on Facebook Marketplace as the online social commerce platform (OSC). This research will help system designers to design better social commerce platforms and identify features that need improvement or changes. Additionally, the findings from this research will create a better understanding of buyer and seller behavior and their motivations of using social commerce platforms

THE IMPACT OF INTERORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS ON THE ADOPTION AND DIFFUSION OF INTERORGANIZATIONAL SYSTEMS

The successful adoption of inter-organizational systems (IOS) requires the cooperation of participating firms with complex business and economic relationships. This study examines the impact of inter-organizational relationships on the adoption and diffusion of a category of IOS called Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) that supports the electronic transmission of business documents between two firms. The trade literature suggests that large customers force dependent suppliers to adopt EDI to continue to do business with them, indicating that inter-organizational relationships play a significant role in EDI adoption (Stern and Kaufmann 1985). A socio-political framework based on power dependence and inter-organizational relationship theory is used to analyze the adoption and diffusion of EDI (El-Ansary and Stern 1982). Four independent variables are used: power of the initiating firm, dependency of the adopting firm, transactional climate between the two firms, and support provided by the initiating firm. The adoption of EDI is measured on the time dimension by categorizing the sample into two groups: early and late adopters (Rogers 1983). Since the diffusion process goes through various stages ranging from the early adaptation stage to the late infusion stage (Cooper and Zmud 1990), four variables are used for measuring it: initial diffusion, internal diffusion, external diffusion, and implementation success. While the first variable measures diffusion in the adaptation stage, the other three measure diffusion in the later stages. Based on theory, the following propositions are formulated. Proposition 1: The greater the dependence of the adopting firm on the initiating firm, the greater the chances of adoption of EDI by the adopting firm. Proposition 2: The greater the power the initiating firm has over the adopting firm, the greater the chances of adoption of EDI by the adopting firm. Proposition 3: The greater the dependency of adopting firm on the initiating firm, the greater the diffusion at the adaptation stage for the adopting firm. Proposition 4: The greater the power of the initiating firm over the adopting firm, the greater the diffusion at the aclaptation stage for the adopting firm. Proposition 5: The better the marketing support provided by the initiating firm, the greater the diffusion in the adaptation stage for the adopting firm. Proposition 6: The better the transaction climate between the two firms, the greater the diffusion, both at the adaptation and infusion stage. Separate versions of a questionnaire were created for the purchase and sales functions. To reduce method bias, two respondents - IS and functional manager - completed two different parts of the questionnaire. The data were collected from a large scale field survey (n = 201). A subset of the total sample (n-90), consisting of firms that adopted EDI based on request/coercion from their partner that is ideally suited for our research, is used in this study. The results of a t-test, given below, support Proposition 1, that greater dependency leads to earlier adoption. Early Late Hypothesized Actual Variable Adoption Adoption t-Value Significance Direction Direction POWER 3.30 3.06 0.87 0.38 Positive Positive DEPEND 4.75 4.18 1.65 0.10 Positive Positive Although the mean value of power is not statistically different between the two groups (Proposition 2), they are in the right direction; i.e., early adopters perceived that the initiating firm had greater power than late adopters. The correlation values for the variables are given below. VARIABLE POWER DEPEND CLIMATE SUPPORT INITIAL DIFF. 0.21** 021** 0.19* 0.27** *** - P \u3c 0.001 INT. DIFFUSION 0.10 0.03 0.22* 0.09 ** - P \u3c 0.05 EXT. DIFFUSION 0.05 023** -0.16 -0.07 * -p\u3c 0.1 IMPL. SUCCESS 0.24** 0.14 0.35*** 0.07 The correlation values indicate that initial diffusion is significantly associated with all of the four independent variables supporting Propositions 3,4,5, and 6. Climate is related with internal diffusion and implementation success, supporting Proposition 6

The Marketing and Sale of Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) through Internet-Based Investment Bankers

Internet-based investment bankers provide companies with another sales channel for selling stock through initial public offerings (IPOs). The research issue that arises from this new process is to identify the differences between the traditional process and the new online process. Based on evidence from several investment banking firms that provide an electronic market for IPOs, we evaluate the new IPO sales process using transaction cost economics analysis. We find that the new online process typically results in benefits to the seller such as lower investment banker commissions and higher receipts from the sale, but also involves a higher level of risk when compared with the process that uses traditional investment bankers. Our overall conclusion is that the new process is a benefit to both IPO companies and investors because it provides an alternative online market that increases the level of competition for investment bankers and improves the overall efficiency of the market for IPOs

Privacy Concerns regarding Wearable IoT Devices: How it is Influenced by GDPR?

Internet of Things (IoT) devices have implications for health and fitness. Fitness wearables can promote healthy behavior and improve an individual’s overall health and quality of life. Even though fitness wearables have various benefits, privacy concerns regarding the data collected remain as a major barrier to adoption of fitness wearables. Intrinsic factors like disposition to value privacy and extrinsic factors like privacy policies and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) can influence users’ privacy concerns. This research uses experimental design to understand how these factors influence privacy concerns. The results suggest that GDPR reduces the average privacy concerns of users. The study also shows that higher perception of effectiveness of privacy policy reduces the perception of privacy risks and increases the perception of privacy control. This study illustrates the effect of users’ perceptions on factors like privacy policy, privacy control and GDPR on mitigating privacy concerns

THE IMPACT OF INTERORGANIZATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS ON THE ADOPTION AND DIFFUSION OF INTERORGANIZATIONAL SYSTEMS

The successful adoption of inter-organizational systems (IOS) requires the cooperation of participating firms with complex business and economic relationships. This study examines the impact of inter-organizational relationships on the adoption and diffusion of a category of IOS called Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) that supports the electronic transmission of business documents between two firms. The trade literature suggests that large customers force dependent suppliers to adopt EDI to continue to do business with them, indicating that inter-organizational relationships play a significant role in EDI adoption (Stern and Kaufmann 1985). A socio-political framework based on power dependence and inter-organizational relationship theory is used to analyze the adoption and diffusion of EDI (El-Ansary and Stern 1982). Four independent variables are used: power of the initiating firm, dependency of the adopting firm, transactional climate between the two firms, and support provided by the initiating firm. The adoption of EDI is measured on the time dimension by categorizing the sample into two groups: early and late adopters (Rogers 1983). Since the diffusion process goes through various stages ranging from the early adaptation stage to the late infusion stage (Cooper and Zmud 1990), four variables are used for measuring it: initial diffusion, internal diffusion, external diffusion, and implementation success. While the first variable measures diffusion in the adaptation stage, the other three measure diffusion in the later stages. Based on theory, the following propositions are formulated. Proposition 1: The greater the dependence of the adopting firm on the initiating firm, the greater the chances of adoption of EDI by the adopting firm. Proposition 2: The greater the power the initiating firm has over the adopting firm, the greater the chances of adoption of EDI by the adopting firm. Proposition 3: The greater the dependency of adopting firm on the initiating firm, the greater the diffusion at the adaptation stage for the adopting firm. Proposition 4: The greater the power of the initiating firm over the adopting firm, the greater the diffusion at the aclaptation stage for the adopting firm. Proposition 5: The better the marketing support provided by the initiating firm, the greater the diffusion in the adaptation stage for the adopting firm. Proposition 6: The better the transaction climate between the two firms, the greater the diffusion, both at the adaptation and infusion stage. Separate versions of a questionnaire were created for the purchase and sales functions. To reduce method bias, two respondents - IS and functional manager - completed two different parts of the questionnaire. The data were collected from a large scale field survey (n = 201). A subset of the total sample (n-90), consisting of firms that adopted EDI based on request/coercion from their partner that is ideally suited for our research, is used in this study. The results of a t-test, given below, support Proposition 1, that greater dependency leads to earlier adoption. Early Late Hypothesized Actual Variable Adoption Adoption t-Value Significance Direction Direction POWER 3.30 3.06 0.87 0.38 Positive Positive DEPEND 4.75 4.18 1.65 0.10 Positive Positive Although the mean value of power is not statistically different between the two groups (Proposition 2), they are in the right direction; i.e., early adopters perceived that the initiating firm had greater power than late adopters. The correlation values for the variables are given below. VARIABLE POWER DEPEND CLIMATE SUPPORT INITIAL DIFF. 0.21** 021** 0.19* 0.27** *** - P \u3c 0.001 INT. DIFFUSION 0.10 0.03 0.22* 0.09 ** - P \u3c 0.05 EXT. DIFFUSION 0.05 023** -0.16 -0.07 * -p\u3c 0.1 IMPL. SUCCESS 0.24** 0.14 0.35*** 0.07 The correlation values indicate that initial diffusion is significantly associated with all of the four independent variables supporting Propositions 3,4,5, and 6. Climate is related with internal diffusion and implementation success, supporting Proposition 6. REFERENCES Cooper, R. B., and Zmud, R. W. Information Technology Implementation Research: A Technological Diffusion Approach, Management Science, Volume 36, Number 2, 1990, pp. 123-139. Rogers, E. M. 77,€ Diolision of Innovations. New York: Free Press, 1983. Stern, L. W., and El-Ansary, A. I. Marketing Channels. Second Edition. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1982. Stern, L. W., and Kaufmann, P. J. EDI in Selected Consumer Goods Industries: An Interorganizational Perspective. In R. Buzzell (Editor), Marketing in the Electronic Age. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1985

The economic impact of public beta testing: the power of word-of-mouth

The advent of the Internet has brought many fundamental changes to the way business is conducted. Among others, a growing number of software firms are relying on public beta testing to improve the quality of their products before release. While the benefits resulting from improved software reliability have been widely recognized, the influences of public beta testers on the diffusion of a new software product have not been documented. Through their word-of-mouth effect, public beta testers can speed up the diffusion of a software product after release, and hence increase the time-discounted revenue per adopter. In this research, we take into consideration both the reliability-side and the diffusion-side of the benefits, and develop methodologies to help firms decide the optimal number of public beta testers and the optimal duration of public beta testing. Numerical results show the firm’s profit can increase substantially by taking advantage of the world-of-mouth of public beta testers. This benefit is more significant if firms recruit beta testers from those who can benefit from a software product but cannot afford it

Online Investment Banking Phase I: Distribution via the Internet and Its Impact on IPO Performance

In the past few years, there has been a growth in Internet markets run by online investment bankers, where companies and investors can buy and sell initial public offerings (IPOs) of corporate stock. In this study, we confine our examination to the first of what we anticipate will be several phases in the evolution of Internet IPOs: the online distribution of shares. This implies the beginning of a general disintermediation in the IPO process where traditional roles of investment banks are being circumvented via the Internet as participants search for greater market efficiency. This is an important research area because potentially it affects all public companies, or companies considering going public, the investment banking industry, and all stock investors. We address two research issues not considered by previous studies. What factors affect organizational choice of online vs. traditional IPO distribution? What are the financial performance differences for IPOs distributed using online and traditional processes? These issues were addressed using company characteristic and financial performance data from 27 IPOs from the last half of 1998. We find that the Internet IPO firms are larger, have younger CEOs, choose more reputable investment banks and are more likely to be involved in a Web-based business, directly employing the Internet in their product or service, than the firms that choose the traditional method of going public. In addition, market performance, both initially and over the first three months of trading, is significantly greater for Internet IPOs