The effect of employee behavior on brand personality impressions and brand attitudes

This research examines how consumers update their brand personality impressions and brand attitudes after interacting with one of the brand's employees. Drawing on stereotyping theory, the author develops a framework that proposes that the impact of an employee's behavior depends on how the employee is categorized. When the employee is considered primarily as an exemplar of the brand's workforce, his or her behavior is generalized more strongly to the brand. When, however, the employee is judged as a relatively unique individual (i.e., when the employee is subtyped), the behavior is not transferred to the brand to the full extent. The results of three studies provide converging evidence and show that the degree to which consumers subtype an employee is determined by the amount of information they possess about the employee, the extent to which they depend on the employee, and their motivation to form an accurate impression. The findings have direct implications for marketers interested in understanding how employees affect the brands they represen

INTRUSIVE SMART HOME ASSISTANTS: AN EXPLORATORY STUDY AND SCALE DEVELOPMENT

Despite having many useful capabilities, more recently smart home assistants (SHAs) have also raised negative feelings and doubts which may cause resistance among potential users. However, current research has neither examined SHAs from the perspective of resistance nor its specific drivers (inhibitors). We address this gap and adopt a mixed-method research design with two studies that build on each other. Study 1 (N=10) elicits the belief structures underlying resistance to SHAs. Study 2 (N=276) builds on these findings and delves deeper into the understanding of one novel identified inhibitor, namely “perceived intrusion”, by taking initial strides towards creating a measurement instrument. Our results contribute to the previously under-researched “dark side” of smart consumer IT by examining the phenomenon of resistance. This way, we hope to inspire future research to expand on our findings, as well as apply our measurement instrument in other smart product contexts

Getting better or getting worse? Consumer responses to decreasing, constant, and ascending multi-dimensional price profiles

This research investigates consumer preferences for different multi-dimensional price profiles. Drawing on research on price affect, we investigate whether consumers prefer descending monthly installments (e.g., 40, 30, 20, 10) over constant (e.g., 25, 25, 25, 25), or ascending ones (e.g., 10, 20, 30, 40). Results of a field experiment with a sample of 1,628 German car buyers corroborate the hypothesized profile effect. In the experiment, participants were asked to evaluate different finance offers for a new car that all had the same present value but differed in terms of how the installments unfolded over time. Consistent with the hypotheses, decreasing monthly installments are evaluated more favorably than constant installments, which, in turn are evaluated more favorably than ascending installments. Furthermore, the results provide evidence for the underlying process by showing that the impact of different MDP profiles is mediated by positive affect. Finally, it was hypothesized that consumers' individual differences (i.e., debt aversion, financial expectations, and product category knowledge) would exert a moderating influence on evaluations of different price profiles; these hypotheses, however, were only partially confirmed. Theoretical and managerial implications are discusse

Organizational Transformation Towards Product-service Systems – Empirical Evidence in Managing the Behavioral Transformation Process

AbstractOne of the major challenges facing today's manufacturing industry is to differentiate from competition in a highly globalized world. As a consequence to the increasing competitive pressure, many companies transform their product centered business models towards service based business models to differentiate from competition. However, the transformation is often underestimated regarding its complexity and its management challenges to behavioral change. As a consequence lots of transformation initiatives fail. Besides difficulties in structuring the magnitude of changes in processes and structures, many transformation managers do not perceive the risk of employee resistance against changes, which is one of the key factors causing the failure of transformation. The objective of this paper is to enhance the existing body of research on manufacturer's organizational transformation towards Product-Service Systems. More detailed, the objective is to develop new knowledge to support the management during the decision-making process in the way how and by means of which instruments the change of behavior can be supported when transforming from a manufacturer to a solution.We developed a reference framework which structures and defines the relevant dimensions of behavioral change. The identification and validation of the success factors build the second component of our research. We conducted an empirical investigation in the German manufacturing industry and got 79 data sets. Structural equation modelling was applied for the analyses and the validation of the hypotheses. By this analysis we linked management practice with employee behavior and transformational success variables. On the basis of the gained insights decisions can be made concerning the successful transformation from manufacturer to a solution-oriented service provider

DESIGN THINKING IN DIGITAL ENVIRONMENTS

Design thinking (DT) as an innovation method has gained increasing importance in recent years, both for traditional and digital products. However, the rapid acceleration of digitalization across all domains of the modern working world has changed the way innovation management and DT are conducted. As a result, highly interactive offline workshops have been replaced by remote online workshops, which are supported by digital tools. This radical shift warrants a reconsideration of the potentially socio-psychological dynamics within DT workshops. To address this, we conducted 16 qualitative in-depth interviews with DT experts from different backgrounds and contextualized our interview findings with construal level theory and embodied cognition. Thus, we show how the DT process is affected by the changing socio-psychological dynamics created by the shift to digital environments. In sum, we identify both chances and challenges of DT in digital environments and derive implications for future research and practice in this area

Measuring High Speed Deformation for Space Applications

PDV (Photonic Doppler Velocimetry) has proven to be a reliable and versatile technique to observe rapid deformation of frangible joints. It will be a valuable technique in order to understand the physics of twostage light gas guns and the material response to hypervelocity impact

PDV as a Diagnostic Tool for Separation Mechanisms, Particle Impact, and Hypervelocity Testing

No abstract availabl

Should service firms introduce algorithmic advice to their existing customers? The moderating effect of service relationships

An increasing number of service firms are introducing algorithmic advice to their customers. In this research, we examine the introduction of such tools from a relational perspective and show that the type of relationship a customer has with a service firm moderates his or her response to algorithmic advice. Studies 1 and 2 find that customers in communal relationships are more reluctant to use algorithmic advice instead of human advice than customers in exchange relationships. Study 3 shows that offering customers algorithmic advice may harm communal relationships but not exchange relationships. Building on these findings, Studies 4, 5, and 6 examine how firms can mitigate the potentially negative relational consequences of algorithmic advice. While a fallback option that signals that customers can request additional human advice if needed is effective in preventing relational damages in communal relationships, this same intervention backfires in exchange relationships. These findings have important implications by showing that managers need to consider the relational consequences of introducing algorithmic advice to existing customers

COMPUTER-GENERATED CARS YOU HAVE TO LOVE: HOW IMAGE MORPHING AND WARPING HELP DESIGNERS TO OPTIMIZE THEIR DESIGN SKETCHES

Although product design is considered as a core determinant of a product\u27s market success, systematic approaches that allow managers to increase a product\u27s visual attractiveness are not available. The present research addresses this gap by adapting an approach that was originally developed in research on human facial attractiveness to a product design context. In particular, we propose that image morphing and warping techniques can be used to identify and manipulate those design features that drive a product\u27s perceived attractiveness. Moreover, we also develop a computer-assisted interface that allows consumers to individually determine their optimal car design. Three studies with real consumers focusing on the automotive market confirm the viability and the usefulness of our approach. From a managerial perspective, the approach may increase the effectiveness of design efforts and may help in integrating consumers\u27 preferences in an early stage of the product design process