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To explain and empirically test how different marketing communication channels interact with each other and contribute to brands’ diverging marketplace performance.

With a unique data set combining key variables of major passenger car brands, the paper takes a source-based perspective to investigate how firm-based communications, expert opinions and online consumer reviews interact and affect brands’ marketplace performance. Then the paper studies the three special boundary conditions under which online consumer reviews’ influence varies in competition with the other two established information sources. Lastly, a study was done to demonstrate the financial significance of investing in different information sources.

The results show that online consumer reviews mitigate the effectiveness of the other two information sources in driving brand sales. This mitigation effect is also magnified when the brand is weak, firm-based communications are modest and expert opinions are less favorable. The findings further suggest that in the emerging communication enterprise, firm-based and expert-based communications remain the core while user-based communication plays an indispensable competing and complementary role.

In the new digital era, firms are facing the daunting task of understanding and integrating multiple communication channels. The study provides important implications for both researchers and practitioners with respect to brand management and integrated communications.

Existing studies have demonstrated that each of the three communication efforts (by firms, experts and consumers) exerts a significant influence on product sales, but few studies have been conducted in settings marked by the coexistence of these efforts. In addition, the three communication efforts are likely to have different effects on brands with different market positions. The current study is contributing to the literature by filling the above gaps.

This purpose of this paper is to extend the model of goal-directed behaviour by including the potential benefits of webrooming and descriptive norms to scrutinise the consumer's rationale and intent behind webrooming.

A survey instrument was employed to collect the data. A total of 324 usable responses were obtained, and the structural equation modelling technique was used for analysis.

The results of the study revealed that consumers utilised the information collected online to strike better deals offline. Also, webrooming not only stimulated smart shopper feelings amongst shoppers but also assisted them in avoiding certain risks associated with shopping online. Besides, support was also garnered for informative and possession benefits linked with webrooming. The findings demonstrated the positive impact of attitude, anticipated emotions and perceived behavioural control on desire, which in turn positively determined the intentions. Significant mediation impact was also observed between attitude and intentions via desire. However, past behaviour was evidenced to impact only intentions. Surprisingly, descriptive norms emerged as a stronger predictor of consumers' desire as opposed to subjective norms, which was found to be insignificant.

Information search and switching costs associated with webrooming have not been considered in this study. A larger sample size would help draw broader generalisations.

While online retailers can utilise the findings of the study to convert webrooming shoppers into buyers, alternatively, offline stores can use the key insights to retain webroomers. Additionally, educators can use the findings of the study to teach the students about the changing retailing dynamics.

The present study emerges as the first one to incorporate cognitive, affective and habitual factors collectively for a better understanding of the webrooming phenomenon.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and test an empirically grounded comprehensive framework of e-quality that is the composite of the relationship between e-satisfaction and e-loyalty. This study’s objectives were: first, to develop a comprehensive measurement scale of perceived quality from an operations perspective, based on the classic Engel-Kollat-Blackwell (EKB) decision-making process; second, to develop a framework that integrates dimensions of quality and measures perceptions of e-quality during the customer’s decision-making process; and third, to examine the predictive capability of quality attributes in relation to service operations that rely on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.

Following review of the related literature, focus group protocols were developed and interviews conducted. Based on the focus group input, surveys were developed and administered. Survey data from 717 online customers allowed testing the research hypotheses, and structural equation modeling allowed validation of the research framework.

The study determined that “e-channel quality”, “e-service quality” (including “web site quality” and “transaction quality”), and “product quality” positively influence customer e-satisfaction within an online operation. These constructs, in turn, influence customer e-loyalty in the e-commerce domain. The findings contribute valuable theoretical and managerial implications that can improve e-service operations.

The paper fills a relevant gap in the e-commerce and services operations literature by empirically developing and validating a new and robust quality measurement scale based on the EKB consumer decision-making process. The study also makes an important research contribution by providing empirical evidence that quality is pivotal in gaining customer loyalty and a competitive e-commerce edge.

In the context of online travel communities (OTCs), this paper aims to identify the relationships between value-creating practices, trusting beliefs, solution acceptance and stickiness and the moderating effects of risk aversion on the relationship between trusting beliefs and solution acceptance and on that between trusting beliefs and stickiness.

A total of 408 survey responses obtained from Amazon website panels were used to test the proposed hypotheses through a structural equation modeling analysis.

The results show that three dimensions of value-creating practices, namely, social networking, community engagement and brand use, had positive effects on trusting beliefs; trusting beliefs had positive effects on solution acceptance and stickiness; and solution acceptance had a positive effect on stickiness. Risk aversion moderated the trusting beliefs-stickiness relationship.

A key limitation of this study is related to the sample collected from Amazon website panels, which may limit the generalizability of results to other OTC members. The results have important theoretical and practical implications in OTC settings. For example, OTCs should be used by members as key platforms for acquiring trust information prior to their behaviors.

This study extends the OTC literature by integrating different research realms into the proposed research model for a better understanding of the relationships between value-creating practices, trusting beliefs and OTC behaviors.

To investigate the psychological mechanism of observational learning in the online retailing context, the purpose of this paper is to show how the psychological distance between consumers and products affects modes of observational learning.

Five experimental studies are conducted to test the hypotheses.

The findings show that which modes of observational learning are adopted by consumers is affected by consumers’ psychological distance. Specifically, when the psychological distance between consumers and products is proximal, consumers tend to adopt the termed adequate observational learning mode by considering the interaction of information about popularity and the breadth of appeal of a product to make purchase. However, when the psychological distance is distal, consumers would consider information of popularity and breadth of appeal separately without considering the interaction, termed as inadequate observational learning mode. The observed relationship between psychological distance and observational learning mode could be explained by the construal level.

This research advances the observational learning and psychological distance literature by investigating the psychological mechanism behind observational learning modes. Limitations include the use of scenario-based experiments to test the hypotheses, investigation of a single product attribute (i.e. breadth of appeal) and assessment of popularity information by sales volume alone.

The current research provides a deeper understanding of consumer observational learning modes, which can help online retailers to develop effective product strategies and marketing tactics and, finally, achieve stronger competitive positions.

The present research contributes to the literature by examining the psychological mechanism involved in observational learning. This research distinguishes adequate and inadequate observational learning modes from the perspective of psychological distance.

The paper investigates shoppers' justification behind the showrooming behaviour and proposes an integrated SOR-MOA framework and a SAP-LAP model for a better understanding of the showrooming phenomenon.

The study adopts a qualitative approach. A narrative-based examination followed by an inductive thematic analysis was employed to discover consumers' reasoning behind showrooming.

The results of the study affirmed the distinction between situational and intentional showrooming conduct. Situational factors have been classified across two categories: store-related (mismanagement at the store, assortment issues) and sales-personal related factors (disrespectful, rude, poor response and dishonest behaviour of the sales staff). However, factors corresponding to intentional showrooming conduct have been characterized as motivational (perceived value, past experience and perceived relative advantage), opportunity (retailer's support and services, channel availability and consumer empowerment) and ability (consumer skills)-related factors in aggregation with the stimulus organism response ideology. In addition, the study also highlights the consequences associated with the showrooming conduct of the shoppers.

The findings of the study need further exploration and examination through the adoption of a quantitative approach on a large sample size.

The findings of the study can be utilized by offline retailers for devising strategies to counter showrooming customers and retain them as buyers.

The study emerges as the first piece of research to account for the ability and opportunity perspectives for better understanding of showrooming.

The purpose of the current study is to explore how valenced fit reviews affect the consumer decision-making process during online apparel shopping.

A single factor (valence of fit review) within-subject experimental design was employed to examine how the valenced fit review (negative vs positive) affects the consumer online purchase decision process. A mock website was created to simulate the online shopping environment through four steps for developing a stimulus website for the main study. The data were analyzed using repeated multivariate analysis of variance and structural equation modeling.

A total of 418 female consumers completed an online self-administrated survey. Results showed that positive fit review was more compelling than negative fit review for female consumers when they like the apparel product. Two aspects of information credibility (review and site credibility) and confidence in purchase decision evoked by both fit reviews and overall product information were significant determinants of the consumer purchase decision process in increasing consumers’ future purchase intentions through attitude to the online retailer.

The current study was an attempt to fill the gap in knowledge regarding the crucial role of fit reviews in apparel product purchase decisions in an online context. This study confirmed the type of fit reviews that would be influential on female consumers’ online purchase decision-making process for apparel products when they liked the apparel product, supporting positive confirmation bias from the information processing point of view. This study contributed to the importance of the two concepts (i.e. credibility and confidence in the purchase decision) in online information processing and purchase decision-making process.

Grounded on the concept of a value trade-off, the authors of this study seek to address the question of why some people visit an offline store before purchasing online. The authors offer a novel perspective by identifying and describing the perceived value drivers (benefits and sacrifices) associated with showrooming in the context of the branded apparel segment.

Data collected from 318 showrooming customers were analysed in the context of the proposed perceived value framework using the structural equation modelling method.

The results showed that enhanced product evaluation, monetary savings, smart shopper feelings and perceived enjoyment (positively) and search costs and online risk (negatively) influenced consumers' showrooming value perceptions as benefits and sacrifices associated with showrooming. Only perceived consumption delay emerged as insignificant. As expected, perceived showrooming value was identified as an important driver of showrooming intentions.

The application of this paper's findings is limited to the branded apparel segment. The model can be tested in other sectors with a larger sample size to gain deeper insights.

The findings can be utilized by brick-and-mortar retailers to retain showrooming customers.

The authors of the current research work contribute to a better understanding of showrooming by adopting a perceived-value-based perspective, which offers an alternative yet effective route for understanding showrooming.

The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate how young female customers establish psychological relationships with small- to medium-scale retail stores over time forming purchase intentions, actual purchase patterns and repurchase behaviour. Role of various customer typologies was also considered.

A case study approach was implemented to collect and analyse data, where data was collected from 20 young female customers and ten clothing retailers using purposive sampling via semi-structured interviews. Interviews with customers were conducted in a place of their choice such as in a coffee shop, whereas data from retailers were collected in the retail stores. Both online and offline retail patronage was considered to incorporate the growing tendency towards online shopping. Results were analysed using thematic analysis.

This study managed to reveal a number of interesting findings on how female customers form and develop psychological relationships with clothing retailers over time that ultimately builds customer loyalty. Customer behaviour in pre-purchase, purchase and re-purchase stages can significantly vary according to their individual perceptions, whereas they have a few favourite clothing brands that they frequently shop for. Preference for online shopping was found to be minimal, most of them enjoying in store experiences. Further, word of mouth and unique designs emerged as key contributors in establishing retail brand loyalty.

This paper provides better insights for clothing retailers and industry practitioners in understanding how customer perceptions affect clothing purchase decisions.

This paper contributes to the retail literature by emphasizing on various elements that should be amalgamated through proper synthesis to serve customers. The research is unique as it analyses customer behaviour using a recreational activity model as opposed to marketing models to demonstrate how customers develop relationships with retail brands overtime.

Electronic commerce (e-commerce) is growing rapidly and the e-retailers are finding it pertinent to enhance customers’ online shopping experiences and engage them with e-commerce portals. Against this backdrop, the purpose of this study is to develop a conceptual model of customer engagement, where credibility and usefulness of online reviews are found to trigger the adoption of reviews and customer trust that augments customer engagement.

A survey method design has been used to capture responses from 219 young customers (university students) of a reputed university in India. The hypothesized relationships have been examined through multiple regression analysis.

The findings of this study corroborate that the credibility and information usefulness of online reviews induce the adoption of reviews and propensity to trust e-commerce websites. The propensity to trust the reviews has been found to lead the adoption of reviews. The adoption of reviews is found to have a significant impact on the customer’ engagement with these portals.

The present study contributes to the theories of online marketing in the space of e-shopping, online reviews, customer trust, customer engagement and online shopping behavior. Further, this study provides a framework for managers to engage customers by triggering customers’ online trust through the facilitation of credible and useful reviews.

The study aims at understanding the role of different attributes associated with the online reviews’ credibility and information usefulness in driving customer engagement with specific focus on online shopping through the utility of online devices. The study is one of the pioneering empirical studies that explore the role of online reviews in driving customer engagement.