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This paper provides an approach for branding a service. It accomplishes this by bringing together David Aaker’s brand identity framework, the 7Ps of services marketing and the economic classification of goods. The 7Ps of services are product, price, place, promotion, physical evidence, process and people. The economic classification divides goods into search, experience and credence goods. Typical examples for search, experience and credence goods are a consumer durable, a restaurant and a doctor respectively. The branding efforts needed for each of these goods is different. The approach recommends what should be done in terms of 7Ps for each of the three types of goods and integrates this effort with their branding.

Investigates empirically the importance of buyer characteristics as well as product and service classifications on the informational content of advertising supply by sellers utilizing Yellow Pages advertisements from six US cities. The analysis and tests extend the categories used in previous tests by including so‐called “credence goods” by analysing the impact of alternative buyer characteristics as proxies for time and information costs. The intra‐city and, to a lesser extent, inter‐city comparisons lend support to the contemporary theory of advertising as information.

The purpose of this paper is to study the use of online recommendation systems on e‐commerce sites is which becoming more common as marketers recognize their potential to improve their own operations as well as consumers' shopping experiences. Since some consumers question the credibility of these systems, this study compares responses to such systems (classified based on their source into seller and third party systems) with responses to recommendations coming directly from other consumers. The latter may also be better suited for consumers today since many of them utilize direct information from social media on a daily basis. Past research indicates that reactions to such recommendations may depend on the types of goods they describe and therefore this study also tests whether consumer responses vary with types of goods. The study examines consumer reactions to recommendations designed for search, experience, and credence goods. Finally, this study also explores the most desired features of recommendations to help marketers come up with the most effective recommendations that help facilitate purchasing decisions.

The study surveys a convenience sample of 202 undergraduate students to test these objectives. It was a 3 (product types) by 3 (recommendation types) factorial design with multiple dependent variables and three covariates.

The study reveals that, irrespective of the product type, consumers react differently to the three types of recommendations that are tested. This study shows that consumers have the most positive attitudes and most frequently utilize recommendations coming directly from other consumer. This suggests that more attention should be directed to these recommendations in marketing theory and practice. Consumers also hold more positive attitudes towards third‐party recommendation systems than recommendation systems coming from the seller. They also have more positive reactions toward recommendations designed for search and experience goods rather than credence products. Finally, the study also examines the usefulness of different characteristics of these recommendations to help online managers develop most effective recommendations online and finds that it varies with different types of recommendations and products for which recommendations are used.

In addition to the recommendation systems that have been explored in the past (seller and third party systems), the study examines reactions to recommendations coming directly from other consumers, as these recommendations may be better suited for today's audiences. The study shows which recommendation type is best received and most frequently used online. It also tests reactions to recommendations designed for different types of goods. This study includes credence goods, in addition to search and experience products, since consumer reactions to recommendations designed for credence goods have not been yet explored in the past research. It also found that recommendations are better received for goods with a higher number of search features. Finally, the study explores the specific features of different recommendation types and based on the findings proposes how these online recommendations should be structured to be most effective.

The purpose of this paper is to examine consumer reactions to product categories, online seller reputation, and brand name syllables.

This paper uses four experimental designs to explore the seller reputation, product category, and brand name syllable effects in internet shopping. The authors chose sellers of (low/high) repute from Yahoo Mall. ANOVA is used to evaluate the results.

Seller reputation moderates the effect of the brand name syllable level on purchase intention and product category moderates the effect of the brand name syllable level on purchase on internet (experiment 1). Consumers take the longest time to make purchasing decisions when buying credence goods or buying from sellers of low repute and that the response time mediates the moderating role of the product category (experiment 2) or reputation (experiment 3). Moreover, the effect of brand name syllable levels chosen/assigned by sellers of low repute is weakened for consumers with low (vs high) skepticism toward non-store shopping (experiment 4).

This study is helpful to online sellers if they can identify their reputation, product category and those consumers have skepticism, they can create extra profit through brand name syllable practice.

This paper extends the literature on consumers’ brand name syllable processing by identifying important moderators and probing into the decision process. The results allow us to substantiate prior research and suggest prescriptive strategies for internet retailers.

This paper aims to examine the antecedent of purchase intention: online seller reputation, product category and surcharge.

This paper uses five experimental designs to explore the seller reputation, product category and surcharge effects in Internet shopping. The authors chose one seller of low reputation and one seller of high reputation from Yahoo Mall. ANOVA are used to evaluate the results.

Sellers of high reputation can post higher surcharges to increase the total price paid by the buyer, but sellers of low reputation cannot do so (experiment 1). Moreover, partitioned price will decrease purchase intention for sellers of low reputation more than for sellers of high reputation (experiment 2). Consumers take the longest time to make purchasing decisions when buying credence goods (experiment 3) or buying from sellers of low reputation (experiment 4). The effect of surcharge levied by sellers of low reputation is weakened for consumers with low (vs high) shipping‐charge skepticism (experiment 5).

This study is helpful to online sellers if they can identify their reputation, product category and those consumers who have shipping‐charge skepticism, they can create extra profit through surcharge practice.

The authors’ investigation extends the literature on consumers’ price processing by identifying the important moderators (seller reputation, product category, and elaboration) and probing into the decision process (via the response time). The results suggest prescriptive strategies for online sellers.

This paper aims to begin to remedy deficiencies in the understanding of how the increased focus on service, even in manufacturing environments, relates to consumer desire for relationships. The role of relationships in both services and physical goods has taken on a new meaning that should be further explored.

The qualitative study reported in this paper examines the extent to which consumers feel that they are in relationships with companies from a variety of product categories that range from search goods (easy to evaluate in advance of purchase) to credence goods (difficult to evaluate). The analysis is based on semi-structured interviews with 20 customers.

The results identify when consumers place an emphasis on specific relational behaviors in evaluating the product use experience. Specifically, trust, commitment and expertise seemed more important when products were difficult to evaluate in advance, whereas social benefits and special treatment were mentioned with search and credence products more than experience products.

The results are exploratory and should be replicated and extended utilizing a larger, more representative sample before they are generalized to market.

The results have important implications for practitioners in both manufacturing and service industries, as they decide when and how to differentiate their service components and pursue relationships with consumers. Firms need to stand out from a service perspective.

The manuscript develops a more robust understanding of the relational behaviors that matter to customers and provides recommendations about how to best manage them.

The purpose of this study is to describe cosmetics purchase behavior of young, educated Muslim females in Malaysia and to explore its relationship with certain potential antecedents.

This study uses a survey on a sample of female consumers from four higher education institutions in the urban area of Bangi Selangor, Malaysia. From their respective institutions, 150 respondents were selected through the purposive sampling method. Self-administered questionnaire has been used to gather information from the respondents. The survey data were analyzed using descriptive, t-test and correlation analyses to accomplish the study objectives.

The study indicates that millennial Muslim cosmetic purchase behavior falls under the “Limited Decision Making” classification. The classification is due to the pattern of pro-active behaviors exhibit through the information search for details about ingredients, halal clue, countries of origin, health safety guarantee and the benefits of the cosmetic products. Young, educated female consumers adore branded cosmetic items and show willingness to accept higher prices for the branded items. Despite brand consciousness, they demonstrate a relatively high concern on the halalness of the product. Based on the correlation analysis, all variables were found to be significant and the most significant of them was brand.

Millennial consumers are information technology savvy and have access to vast information about products. As a result, the findings reiterate that millennial consumers demonstrate different purchase behavior, which is worth exploring by future researchers. In addition, other latent antecedents such as religiosity and world view are worth including in future studies.

Cosmetic manufacturers and marketers must ensure that their products signal positive images to fit the expectations of young and educated Muslim consumers. Although brand conscious, such consumers demonstrate prudent behavior in terms of searching for halalan and toyyiban products.

This study adds value in the area of halal product marketing because of two unique focuses. First, it examines the purchase of cosmetic products, which are relatively understudied compared to halal food. Second, it considers the perspectives of educated Muslim millennials, who are expected to demonstrate more specific purchase behaviors than a generalized millennial group. Therefore, the originality of this study revolves around the consideration of these two aspects, which are relevant to contemporary business marketing discussions.

The level of trust in a service provider is an important decision factor when buying industrial services. Especially, the outcome uncertainties of services, its individuality, and asymmetric information between buyer and seller are some reasons that the evaluation of trust is a key component in service trading. Consequently, searching of potential new suppliers involves examining providers’ trustworthiness. This paper focuses on the study of online trust signals used by buyers, to assess provider’s trustworthiness in the context of industrial services. The main research objective is to propose the basis for a digital tool, which helps buyers to assess provider’s trustworthiness by providing a “standardized trustworthiness signal description” and “trust functionalities.” A particular approach is used, wherein different methods are mixed such as a case study, expert interviews, and a quantitative method following the guideline of the design science paradigm. The aim is to propose a useful tool for trustworthiness assessment to enhance e-markets for industrial services.

The purpose of this paper is to examine potential determinants of halal perception and to validate the mediating model of halal perception on purchasing decision of Malaysian consumers.

This study uses a survey to obtain the relevant data. The survey involved self-administration of questionnaires to 420 consumers and 96 per cent responded. The questionnaire consists of four sections designed to obtain information on demography, halal perception, determinants of halal perception and purchase decision.

The main finding reiterates the role of credible signals in credence items purchased as suggested by the signaling theory. Halal perception has association with respondents’ purchase decision. Thus, it highlights that halal perception is the mediating variable that intervenes in the relationship of a few independent variables and the purchase decision trends. The independent variables such as manufacturer identity, product label, physical product and packaging as well country of origin are considered to be important extrinsic cues that deliver messages regarding the halal of certain food products. The association of the four variables with halal perception is also found to be significant.

The originality of this study lies in its attempt to explore the role of halal perception in the marketing of food products especially within the scope of a Muslim’s market. Besides, this study attempts to investigate the halal issue based on a specific model that includes potential variables and the intervening role of halal perception.