Search results

The purpose of this paper is to derive and empirically test a theoretically grounded model of motivations (socializing, entertainment, self-expression, and information seeking) that lead to the use of Facebook Places. Store atmosphere factors (ambient, design, and social factors) were also investigated as moderators of the relationship between the motivation and use of Facebook Places.

Based on a survey of 504 South Korean Facebook users, this research applies a structural equation modeling approach to test the research hypotheses.

The analysis revealed that motivations such as socializing, entertainment, and self-expression influence the use of Facebook Places, and design factors moderate the relationship between the motivations and the use of Facebook Places.

This study provide insights that can help Facebook and store owners develop effective marketing strategies that could increase revenue. When users check-in at a location it creates free word of mouth advertising. Thus, identifying the factors that motivate users to check-in at a particular location will be an important way to advertise.

While uses and gratification theory has mainly been used to study mass media, this study applied the theory to Facebook Places, a type of social networking sites-based location-based services. Additionally, this study added store atmosphere elements as moderators, which is an appropriate concept in the context of the Facebook check-in service.

This article initially aims to explore the factors of every quality construct of the 5Qs model of service quality and, second, identify the significant factors affecting the total quality of e-healthcare services and its association with consumer satisfaction using a multidimensional hierarchical 5Qs model of e-healthcare service quality.

Questionnaire-oriented research was performed at three public hospitals of Punjab and Chandigarh. In total, 53 variables were covered in all quality constructs for data collection from the designated public hospitals. The respondents who agreed to have knowledge regarding e-Healthcare services and were availing these services were included in the study. The analysis comprised structural equation modeling technique using AMOS 21.

The outcomes suggest that the 5Qs model is more comprehensive and can be used to evaluate service quality perceptions using e-Healthcare services. The research identified 11 sub-dimensions for the five quality constructs of the 5Qs model, representing total quality, which is primary to consumer satisfaction. “Overall objectivity” and “technical objectivity” defined the quality of object. The quality of process of e-Healthcare services was characterized by “functionality,” “timeliness” and “responsiveness.” Quality of infrastructure was defined by “technical infrastructure,” “physical infrastructure,” “manpower skills” and “organizational infrastructure.” “Manner of interaction” and “timely interaction” defined the quality of interaction. The atmosphere was represented by only one factor. The results also suggest that quality of infrastructure, quality of interaction and quality of atmosphere play the most significant role in total quality leading to consumer satisfaction.

Theoretical implications: The multidimensional hierarchical model will help the researchers study the e-Healthcare service quality in a more organized manner, and the outcomes of this study can be linked with that of future studies for more generalized application in other public hospitals. The sub-dimensions of each quality construct of the 5Qs model can be applied in private hospitals, and the hierarchical model can be tested in different industries to measure service quality perceptions of the consumer

The outcomes of the study can be applied in various public sector hospitals to redesign the e-Healthcare services based on consumers' perception for better consumer satisfaction and quality services. This paper identifies the role of each quality construct in e-Healthcare services for improvement in the total quality, which in turn will lead to higher satisfaction for the consumers.

In this study, the original 5Qs model has been used for the first time in a new instrument to understand better and design quality e-Healthcare services. The paper explores the sub-factors of each quality construct and its significance in measuring the total quality.

The wine business is a fast growing industry in Taiwan particularly since the government deregulated the monopoly system, which in turn has induced fierce competition. Affective theory suggests that consumer emotion affects mood and purchasing behavior. The purpose of this paper is to propose that wineries may attract diverse customers by using pleasant atmospheric cues.

In total, 346 samples from four famous wineries of two different types were collected and customers' mood and emotional factors relating to the wineries were explored, and the relationship between the factors of winery atmosphere, customer satisfaction, and purchasing behavior were examined.

Test results confirm that a pleasant atmosphere attracts and strengthens the customer's affective commitment, which in turn strengthens the customer's repetitive purchasing intention.

Samples from four wineries may be too limited to allow generalisability of research findings, although these wineries attracted the majority of winery visitors.

Wineries should target and attract broader customer segments to include general tourists by creating the winery as a place of interest for leisure activities. The inclusion of customer‐centric factors in marketing campaigns in response to customer demands is needed in spanning market boundaries.

This paper expands the conventional wisdom of attracting wine consumers through wine tasting to include the overall attractiveness and appeal of the winery. Involving more diversified customer types as target groups will effectively broaden the winery's business scope and turnover.

The main purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between ranges of affective components that have an impact on the revisit intention of museum visitors, in the context of a major city event. The study reveals the most significant factors that affect decision-making by applying the findings to a structural equation modelling (SEM) and conditional inference tree (CTree).

The paper utilises face-to-face survey research at the “Long Night of Museums” event in Saint Petersburg, 298 questionnaires were completed on the night of the event. The empirical part of the research is based on the SEM and interpreted by using the CTree. The SEM model measures the direct and indirect influence of the cognitive and affective components; the CTree enables the testing of both component and the joint effect they both produce.

This study shows a strong indirect correlation between the cognitive component of the major city event and the revisit intention of museum visitors. When focussing on affective components, both the SEM and the CTree demonstrated that attractiveness and atmosphere are revealed to be the most impactful elements regarding visitor retention and repeat custom. The research allows for a deeper understanding of visitor behaviours, intentions and their decision-making processes.

The results of the study allow museum managers to understand how to create repeat custom amongst visitors, by appreciating the importance of participation in major city events and the role that attraction and atmosphere play when creating intention for repeat visit. The research has uncovered which dimensions are the most important to visitors, and as a result, these particular dimensions should be thoroughly developed by museums in future in order to attract and repeat visits. This study has demonstrated the practical implications for museums participating in city events. When considering policy makers, this particular research provides an opportunity to develop recommendations for future city events, as well as using the CTree to assess and predict the effectiveness of visitor behaviour.

This is an original study which aims to integrate the impact of the perceived value of the cognitive component and a new range of affective elements regarding museum retention in the context of a major city event. The study includes newly developed dimensions of perceived value, as well as a unique focus on affective dimensions such as – atmosphere and attraction. Another point of originality is provided by using a CTree, which captures an in depth understanding of the intention formation process. This study provides an opportunity to advance our understanding of visitor decision-making processes.

Online retailing has attracted a lot of attention in recent years due to its great potential and significant implications for buyers and sellers. This study adopts the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework to illustrate how store layout design and atmosphere influence consumers' shopping intention on the website.

The sample for this study comprised 626 respondents from the internet users. A structural equation model was employed to identify the interrelationships of store layout design, atmosphere, emotional arousal, attitude toward the website, and purchase intention.

The analytical results of this study indicate that store layout design has significant impacts on emotional arousal and attitude toward the website, and thus has a positive influence on purchase intention. In addition, atmosphere has a more influential effect on emotional arousal than store layout design.

This study provides new insights into the influences of store layout design and atmosphere on consumer online shopping intentions.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the holistic perception of the customer vis‐a‐vis the creation of an ideal store by using the projective technique of collage. In particular, it discusses the role of the factor of atmosphere which a distributor must privilege to satisfy the expectations of current customer.

To this end, a qualitative exploratory survey based on the technique of collage has been carried out with a sample of 30 individuals. The information were collected through the drawings and the technique of “complete the following sentence”. The collages were analyzed using a holistic approach.

The results show that the new customer refers to all the stimuli of the environment of purchase in order to satisfy his utility, hedonic and even social needs. The companies, and in particular the distributors, must direct the atmosphere of their store towards the vectors of attraction, gratification and distraction.

The projective technique of collage made it possible to go further than a declaratory matter collected by questions about the concept of the environmental factors. Indeed, in spite of the limited number of the individuals relied upon for the study, the images that were stuck on paper were enriching and made it possible to explain what evokes for the consumer the concept of “ideal store”; his feelings or his hidden emotions.

From a managerial point of view, the noted results can give way to a significant number of actions for the distributors. Indeed, in order to ensure the perennial aspect of their business, the persons in charge should follow this practice by considering the atmosphere as a sum of factors which should be managed in a coherent and harmonious way and not in an intuitive way; thus constituting sources of creation of value for the consumer. In other words, the distributors must implement the factors necessary to generate the comfort of purchase as well as the pleasure of consumption.

This paper is distinguished compared to the majority of the researches undertaken on this subject. It proposes an indirect qualitative study (projective study) making it possible to certify the passage of the consumer from an atomized vision towards a holistic vision including informing the distributors on the atmospheric components most adapted to the new requirements of the current consumer.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of store atmosphere on consumers’ positive emotional responses and impulsive purchase behaviour. In addition, it analyses the moderating role of culture characteristics and situational variables on this influence.

The study carried out a quantitative face-to-face on-site survey of a retail fashion brand in two countries, Brazil and Germany. This paper extended the original model of Jung Chang et al. (2014) based on environment, design and social features (staff) by adding store atmosphere factors such as layout, music and lighting (Mohan et al., 2013), thereby defining store atmosphere as the way customers perceive and experience the combination of all those factors.

Data analysis from 313 consumers by structural equation modelling (PLS–SEM) showed that most factors influence consumers’ positive emotional responses, but no significant difference between countries. However, the effect of emotions on impulse purchase behaviour is stronger among collectivist consumers (Brazil) than among individualists (Germany).

This study sheds light on the links between store atmosphere and retail market in Brazil and Germany, framing its conclusions in the context of a comparison between cultures. The paper extends the growing research in the area by exploring the moderating role of the individualism–collectivism dimension of national culture in consumer buying behaviour by comparing the strength of various relationships across shoppers from individualistic vs collectivistic cultures.

The purpose of this paper is to identify shopping centre attractiveness dimensions from the point of view of the Mexican shopper and then segment shoppers according to these perceptions of attractiveness.

Data were collected through a survey of 1,500 regular shopping centre consumers from the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara (MAG), Mexico. This research study was carried out from January to April 2010. Five of the largest shopping centres, including a lifestyle centre, a community centre, a regional shopping centre, and a small regional shopping centre participated voluntarily in this research study.

The attractiveness attributes of six shopping centres were identified through a factorial analysis: mall essence, popularity and promotional programs, personal service, recreational options, internal atmosphere, and external atmosphere. Also, a cluster analysis of these factors revealed three types of consumers with significantly different perceptions of shopping centres: serious, enthusiast, and basic. The outcomes were validated by a multiple discriminant analysis. Multiple discriminant results suggest that the dimension of popularity and promotion programs is the first to be distinguished among segments, followed by internal and external atmosphere.

From a managerial perspective, the study provides practical advice to managers in order to support marketing and positioning strategies for their shopping centres, focusing on a particular segment of consumers.

This study contributes to the body of research on shopping centre attractiveness and shopper segments by providing information regarding Mexican consumer perceptions of shopping.

To offer a framework of structural and contextual influences on knowledge transfer of foreign management ideas to Vietnamese academic and managerial colleagues. It addresses four factors: stage of relationship between Vietnamese and foreign counterparts; participative competence (i.e. knowledge, experience, and motivations of those sending and receiving knowledge); atmosphere within each side's organization; and conduit conditions, or factors that facilitate transmittal or translation of knowledge.

The paper draws on an ethnographic study from 1994‐2003 of the creation of Vietnam's first international standard business school, within the National Economics University (NEU), in Hanoi, which included participant observation, semi‐structured and informal interviews with over 60 Vietnamese faculty members, managers, university administrators, and foreign visiting professors and administrators, field notes, documentation, and archival records.

The paper concludes that long‐lasting knowledge transfer is not straightforward in its flow; must be bi‐directional for the primary transfer (i.e. of Western business knowledge) to succeed, and moves from primarily explicit to both explicit and more tacit knowledge transfer.

The paper calls for additional research on perceptive competence, organizational atmosphere, conduit conditions, and turning points in relationships.

A toolkit for managers on key aspects to consider in knowledge transfer and exchange within developing countries and within multinational firms.

The paper expands existing models and adds new components regarding the relationship between parties, and the notion of bi‐directional interactions.

The purpose of this paper is to critically review the literature that explores the relationships between store image and store patronage behaviour, thereby providing the practical analytical framework with measurements that aids marketers to build strategical marketing plans to attract loyal customers to their retail shops.

A systematic literature review method was applied to this study which analysed the literature of peer-reviewed articles in English-language journals and specific online databases. In total, 863 peer-reviewed articles which were published between 1950 and 2017 were examined to provide the practical framework with measurements for further discussion.

It was found that within the eight identified dimensions of store image – merchandise, service, convenience, promotion, client, physical facilities, atmosphere and institutions, there are corresponding sub-sections that must be recognised, e.g. merchandise is made up of quality, assortment, price, fashion and guarantee. These dimensions have been analysed and discussed in the context of their impact on store patronage. However, because of the lack of clarity in predictors of store patronage, there has been confusion in academic discussions. Therefore, it is proposed that store patronage should be investigated with two parameters, customer and manager store image alignment and past purchase experiences.

This study contributes to providing a useful discussion platform with an analytical framework and measurements. Due to the selected term-based search method, even with the authors’ maximum effort, the number of selected publications is limited.

This study introduces a practical conceptual framework for the measurements that need to be utilised by the marketers while building marketing strategies for attracting consumers to enhance their patronage behaviours. Retail services need to create a reinvented discussion platform with respect to store image and patronage. Consumers may perceive store image as being embedded in the store environment as a trigger for their patronage behaviour and, using the proposed analytical framework, the retailers can analyse and refine their marketing plans effectively.

This study presents the overall reappraisals of the initial literature with regard to the holistic development, implications and impact of store image on store patronage. Moreover, the paper seeks to provide a robust discussion paradigm for developing perspectives for improving patronage behaviours, thereby bridging the gap between store image and store patronage by attempting to use the relevant literature to contribute to constructive future discussions and useful dimensions while building marketing strategies.