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1 – 10 of over 5000Beverly Kracher, Cynthia L. Corritore and Susan Wiedenbeck
Trust is a key concept in business, particularly in electronic commerce (e‐commerce). In order to understand online trust, onemust first study trust research conducted in the…
Abstract
Trust is a key concept in business, particularly in electronic commerce (e‐commerce). In order to understand online trust, one must first study trust research conducted in the offline world. The findings of such studies, dating from the 1950’s to the present, provide a foundation for online trust theory in e‐commerce. This paper provides an overview of the existing trust literature from the fields of philosophy, psychology, sociology, management, and marketing. Based on these bodies of work, online trust is briefly explored. The range of topics for future research in online trust in e‐commerce is presented.
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Virtual reality (VR) is of increasing interest to marketers because it can be used to explore and proactively shape long-term futures, co-create value with consumers, and foster…
Abstract
Purpose
Virtual reality (VR) is of increasing interest to marketers because it can be used to explore and proactively shape long-term futures, co-create value with consumers, and foster consumer-brand engagement. Yet, to date, the field lacks a cohesive framework for approaching VR research; thus, the objective of this systematic literature review is to provide such a framework and highlight research opportunities.
Design/methodology/approach
First, after conducting a systematic literature review, we highlight VR themes instrumental to flow and propose a typology for VR research using realism-fantasy and immersion as dimensions. Next, we review the current state of empirical research for each quadrant. Finally, we synthesize research within each quadrant, specifying criteria and considerations for conducting research. In doing so, we propose an agenda for marketing research, centered on methodological, future studies, and consumer-related contributions.
Findings
VR themes instrumental to flow include the avatar, application quality, and interactivity. We find, contrary to some conceptualizations of VR, that all applications are capable of producing flow. Conflicting research and gaps are highlighted in the findings section and summarized in Table III. Additionally, while prior research seems to draw from findings of other VR applications in advancing knowledge in general, the results of the literature review suggest that VR applications should be treated uniquely. Finally, we propose highly immersive VR applications as more conducive to future studies research.
Research limitations/implications
Scholars can utilize the findings to prioritize future research studies in marketing. By following the typology and research opportunities, scholars can advance marketing theory and enhance the external validity of research studies through VR applications.
Practical implications
Managers can utilize the findings to ascertain consumers and societies‘ responses to various marketing stimuli, with implications for product development, branding, retail/service experiences, adoption of new technologies, tourism, and many other domains. VR applications offer managers more ways of testing concepts and processes in realistic fashion without the costs and risks associated with more traditional methods.
Originality/value
The objective of this paper is to examine varying opportunities for VR research given flow and fantasy potential and to prioritize VR research.
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Yucheng Liu, Xiaorong Fu and Xiangming Ren
Enterprises' multichannel operations provide various avenues for customer interaction; however, existing literature investigating customer-to-customer interaction (CCI) mainly…
Abstract
Purpose
Enterprises' multichannel operations provide various avenues for customer interaction; however, existing literature investigating customer-to-customer interaction (CCI) mainly focuses on a single channel. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the spillover effect of CCI and potential underlying mediating mechanisms in different information channels.
Design/methodology/approach
Three between-subjects experiments with 946 participants were employed to empirically validate the proposed hypotheses in the context of an experiential product and a material product.
Findings
Results suggest the clear spillover effect of CCI, indicating that positive CCI improves focal customers' satisfaction and purchase intention, whereas negative CCI reduces focal customers' satisfaction and purchase intention. Moreover, CCI's spillover effect varies based on the CCI channel. Offline CCI has a stronger positive spillover effect than online CCI. Contrarily, online CCI has a stronger negative spillover effect than offline CCI. Customer experience and trust are demonstrated to have mediating roles in this process.
Originality/value
This study is the first to comprehensively understand and compare the CCI spillover effect of the two information channels. The findings add to the existing knowledge of information processing in the psychological mechanisms influencing the belief in addition to providing insights for companies engaged in multichannel operations management across different channels.
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Marta Frasquet, Alejandro Mollá Descals and Maria Eugenia Ruiz-Molina
The purpose of this paper is to understand loyalty in the multichannel retail context. The paper analyses the interplay between offline and online loyalty and the direct and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand loyalty in the multichannel retail context. The paper analyses the interplay between offline and online loyalty and the direct and indirect effects on loyalty of brand trust and brand attachment, in a cross-cultural study.
Design/methodology/approach
Online survey answered by 761 multichannel apparel shoppers in two countries (UK and Spain). Structural equation model multigroup analysis is performed to test the hypothesized relations and the role of culture as a moderating variable.
Findings
Online loyalty is largely driven by offline loyalty, which is also positively affected by brand trust and brand attachment. These relationships hold across the two different cultures.
Research limitations/implications
The findings confirm the validity of applying the theory of cognitive dissonance to explain multichannel shopping behaviours. The authors did not find culture that affects the relationships in the model; however, the validity of these findings should be tested considering other cultural variables different from nationality.
Practical implications
Multichannel retailers should focus on building trust and attachment towards the brand if they want to get online and offline loyalty. The efforts to build stronger bonds between the customer and the retail brand translate into higher loyalty, particularly towards the offline channels.
Originality/value
This paper extends the literature on the interactions between online and offline behaviour by focussing on the power of the brand to build strong customer bonds. The model considers the role of brand attachment together with brand trust in offline and online loyalty simultaneously.
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Ju-Young M. Kang, Jae-Eun Kim, Ji Young Lee and Shu Hwa Lin
The purpose of the study was to identify (1) whether aspects of expectancy-value judgments (EVJ) of uses and gratifications, such as novelty, fashion/status, sociability and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of the study was to identify (1) whether aspects of expectancy-value judgments (EVJ) of uses and gratifications, such as novelty, fashion/status, sociability and relaxation, influenced trust in augmented reality (AR) apps; (2) whether trust in AR apps influenced usage intention toward AR apps and online/offline store patronage intention and (3) the moderating effect of consumer self-determination.
Design/methodology/approach
Mobile users (n = 630) were drawn from a USA market research company. The proposed model was tested by structural equation modeling with maximum likelihood estimation.
Findings
The study found that trust in AR apps was a determinant of usage intention toward AR apps and online/offline store patronage intention. Novelty and fashion/status for EVJs of uses and gratifications affected trust in AR apps. Sociability for EVJs of uses and gratifications negatively affected trust in AR apps. Users' self-determination moderated the influence of users' trust in AR apps on usage intention toward AR apps and online/offline store patronage intention.
Originality/value
First, the study elaborates on the impacts of the underlying aspects of an EVJ model of uses and gratifications regarding AR apps on trust in AR apps and EVJ model's influence on usage intention toward AR apps and online/offline store patronage intention. Second, the results of the study suggest useful strategies involved in the development of consumer-driven AR apps that satisfy users' needs and desires.
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Adi Kuswanto, Sundari Sundari, Ashur Harmadi and Dwi Asih Hariyanti
This study aims to analyze the effect of service quality on trust, satisfaction and loyalty by adopting two models, namely, conventional service quality model from Parasuraman and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyze the effect of service quality on trust, satisfaction and loyalty by adopting two models, namely, conventional service quality model from Parasuraman and information systems (IS) success model from Delone and McLean.
Design/methodology/approach
Respondents of this study were users of shared-motorcycle services who filled out a complete questionnaire totaling 507. This research used a second-order structural equation model. All question items had quite high reliability and validity based on the result of confirmatory factor analysis with a value of average variance extracted and composite reliability which was higher than 0.70. The goodness of fit was quite good with the values x2/df = 2.493, incremental fit index = 0.921, Tucker-Lewis index = 0.917, comparative fit index = 0.921 and root-mean-square error of approximation = 0.054.
Findings
Online and offline ride-sharing services reveal a strong and positive influence on trust and satisfaction. Trust reveals a strong and positive influence on satisfaction and loyalty. Finally, satisfaction reveals a strong and positive influence on loyalty. The research in general shows that the quality of offline service is more influential than the quality of online service in the case of ride-sharing service provided by two companies in Indonesia.
Research limitations/implications
The sampling frame of the research was diverse, including students of various collages and junior high schools, various private company workers and government employees. So, the results cannot be generalized to all populations especially to all Indonesian customers. It is recommended to increase the number of samples by focusing on the community groups of customers of public motorbikes, so that these groups can be compared. Next, the research finds that both service quality based on IS and service quality models reveal a strong and positive influence on loyalty both directly and indirectly.
Originality/value
The research uses respondents who use motorcycle services both online and offline. The findings of the research are important for online and offline ride-sharing motorbike service providers. They have to maintain their excellent services to the customers.
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Qi Chen, Yufei Yuan, Yuqiang Feng and Norm Archer
Online dating services have been growing rapidly in recent years. However, adopting these services may involve high risk and trust issues among potential users toward both online…
Abstract
Purpose
Online dating services have been growing rapidly in recent years. However, adopting these services may involve high risk and trust issues among potential users toward both online dating services and the daters they introduce to users. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how perceived benefits vs risks, and trust vs distrust affect user adoption vs non-adoption intentions toward using this rather controversial information and communications technology in the context of online dating.
Design/methodology/approach
Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the research model using data from a survey of 451 single individuals.
Findings
The results indicated that perceived benefits play more essential roles in adoption, while perceived risks affect non-adoption more. Individuals' trust in online dating service predicts a major portion of the variation in user benefit perceptions, while distrust in online dating service and in daters that users might select significantly influence perceived risks. Moreover, benefit and risk perceptions can mediate the impacts of trust and distrust on both adoption and non-adoption decisions.
Originality/value
This study extends theories of decision-making in the use of controversial information technologies such as in the case of online dating. It investigates the coexistence of various trust and distrust beliefs as well as benefit and risk perceptions, and their different impacts on adoption and non-adoption in online dating services.
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Jing Zhao, Rui Huang and Xiangxi Chen
The purpose of this paper is to examine how crowding without violating personal space influences consumers’ channel selection and the underlying mechanism of this process. Crowded…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine how crowding without violating personal space influences consumers’ channel selection and the underlying mechanism of this process. Crowded environment is ubiquitous and affects consumers’ behaviors. However, less attention has been paid to whether and how crowding influences consumers’ preference for purchasing channels.
Design/methodology/approach
There were three studies to test the validity of the theorized model, including two laboratory experiments and a field study. The variance analyses and mediation analyses were used to give more insights into the analytical process.
Findings
This study proposes that crowding makes consumers lose their perceived control, leading them to form certain compensatory behavior through the conversion between online and offline purchasing channels – the type of goods moderates the process of compensatory behavior.
Practical implications
The results of this study are helpful for retailers to design effective strategies to allocate resources into online or offline channels and to choose the appropriate types of product to promote.
Originality/value
Environmental clues have been widely studied in previous marketing research. Crowding, as a common environmental clue, has only been noticed in recent years. This study examines the impact of crowding on consumers’ channel preference. The results of three studies have confirmed that consumers have higher preference for offline shopping when they are in a crowded environment and found the intrinsic mechanism and the marginal scenario of this process.
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Russel P.J. Kingshott, Piyush Sharma and Smitha Ravindranathan Nair
This paper aims to combine the social–technical systems and social exchange theories with the resource-based view of the firm, to investigate how business-to-business (B2B…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to combine the social–technical systems and social exchange theories with the resource-based view of the firm, to investigate how business-to-business (B2B) service firms manage their social and technical resources to manage customer relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey-based study with 321 managers working in Australian small and medium (SME) firms is used to test hypotheses about the sequential and substitutional impact of four social and technical resources (service quality, satisfaction, trust and commitment) on customer loyalty, using both offline and online platforms.
Findings
The findings show that both social and technical chains of effects are viable channels for B2B service firms to build customer loyalty; however, mixing of both social and technical resources results in the weakening of both these chains.
Research limitations/implications
The results based on B2B service relationships between Australian SME firms and their banks may not be generalizable to other contexts.
Practical implications
This research would help managers in B2B service firms understand the pitfalls of combining their social and technical resources because it may hamper their ability to build customer loyalty. Hence, they need to learn how to synergize their marketing resources across both offline and online platforms to achieve optimal results.
Originality/value
This research introduces social and technical chains of effects as a novel way to examine the ability of B2B service firms to optimize their social and technical resources in a synergistic manner to build and nurture stronger customer relationships.
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Jin-Feng Wu, Ya Ping Chang, Jun Yan and De-Lin Hou
The purpose of this paper is to understand how two online marketing orientations of land-based retailers in product category and price could change retail brand attitude when…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand how two online marketing orientations of land-based retailers in product category and price could change retail brand attitude when retail brand familiarities differ.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper proposes a research model with two orientations in product category and price as antecedents of retail brand attitude change and retail brand familiarity as a moderator. Empirical data were collected from 684 shoppers across three land-based retailers to test the research hypotheses.
Findings
Both orientations in product category and price can improve customers’ retail brand attitudes. Retail brand familiarity plays a significant moderator in some of the situations. Online-offline product category congruence and online-prototypical price congruence have significantly positive effects on retail brand attitude change whether retail brand familiarity is high or low. The effect of online-offline price congruence is significant only among high-familiarity customers, while the effect of online-prototypical product category congruence is found to be significant only among low-familiarity customers.
Research limitations/implications
The study identifies the moderating effects of retail brand familiarity on the relationships between two online marketing orientations in product category and price and retail brand attitude change. Based on the moderating effects, this study will help researchers to better understand the effectiveness of two online marketing orientations subject to varying degrees of retail brand familiarity in a multichannel retailing context.
Practical implications
The findings of this study can guide land-based retailers to focus on the right orientations in product category and price to improve customers’ attitudes toward the retail brand when existing or new customers are targeted.
Originality/value
This study provides a first study to empirically assess the change in retail brand attitude prompted by homogenous and prototypical orientations in product category and price and subject to varying degrees of retail brand familiarity. Overall, the results offer insights of how land-based retailers could manage their overall performance by designing more effective online product category and pricing strategies for existing or new customers.
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