Search results

This study applies parasocial relationship theory to identify the role of broadcaster characteristics in the highly interactive business setting of live streaming commerce.

A total of 401 online questionnaires were distributed to individuals with live streaming showroom shopping experience, and SmartPLS software was used to analyse the data and test the hypotheses.

Broadcasters' characteristics are positively associated with viewers' parasocial relationships, thus further enhancing viewers' attitudinal and behavioural loyalty towards that broadcaster's streams. Parasocial relationships mediate the effects of most broadcaster characteristics (except for expertise) on attitudinal and behavioural loyalty. In addition, parasocial relationships have a stronger positive effect on viewer behaviours for hedonic products and under high match-up.

The broadcaster is a key indicator of the success of live streaming commerce. This study establishes a well-organized framework to understand how broadcaster characteristics influence viewer loyalty towards that broadcasters' streams based on parasocial relationship theory.

The necessity of geographical accessibility between service provider and the customer has been essential for face‐to‐face contact in many service industries. However, the emergence of electronic commerce (EC) and new technologies has altered the concept of location and geographical accessibility of service industries in a traditional economy. This study developed factors representing characteristics of product/service processes and verified that those factors are significantly related to customer needs of geographical accessibility in the transactions of EC. In addition, it investigated the relationships with the reasons for customer needs of geographical accessibility. Data for analyses were collected through customer surveys and statistically analyzed through exploratory factor analysis, multiple regression analysis, and canonical correlation analysis.

Briefly reviews previous literature by the author before presenting an original 12 step system integration protocol designed to ensure the success of companies or countries in their efforts to develop and market new products. Looks at the issues from different strategic levels such as corporate, international, military and economic. Presents 31 case studies, including the success of Japan in microchips to the failure of Xerox to sell its invention of the Alto personal computer 3 years before Apple: from the success in DNA and Superconductor research to the success of Sunbeam in inventing and marketing food processors: and from the daring invention and production of atomic energy for survival to the successes of sewing machine inventor Howe in co‐operating on patents to compete in markets. Includes 306 questions and answers in order to qualify concepts introduced.

This study explores identity signaling used by an emerging class of knowledge celebrities in China – Knowledge Wanghong – who sell knowledge products on online platforms. Because identity signaling may involve constructing unique online identities and controlling over product-related and seller-related characteristics, the purpose of this study is two-fold: (1) to uncover different online identities of knowledge celebrities; and (2) to examine the extent to which the online identity type is associated with their product-related characteristics, seller-related characteristics and sales performance.

A unique data set was collected from a Chinese leading pay-for-knowledge platform – Zhihu – which featured the online profiles of tens of thousands of knowledge celebrities. Online identity types were derived from their self-edited content using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling. Thereafter, their product-related characteristics, seller-related characteristics and respective sales performance were analyzed across different identity types using analysis of variance (ANOVA) and multiple-group linear regression.

Knowledge celebrities are clustered into four distinctive online identities: Mentor, Broker, Storyteller and Geek. Product-related characteristics, sell-related characteristics and sales performance varied across four different identities. Additionally, the online identity type moderated the relationships among their product-related characteristics, sell-related characteristics and sales performance.

As emerging-phenomenon-based research, this study extends related literature by using the notion of identity signaling to analyze a peculiar group of online celebrities who are setting an important trend in the pay-for-knowledge model in China.

Examines the tenth published year of the ITCRR. Runs the whole gamut of textile innovation, research and testing, some of which investigates hitherto untouched aspects. Subjects discussed include cotton fabric processing, asbestos substitutes, textile adjuncts to cardiovascular surgery, wet textile processes, hand evaluation, nanotechnology, thermoplastic composites, robotic ironing, protective clothing (agricultural and industrial), ecological aspects of fibre properties – to name but a few! There would appear to be no limit to the future potential for textile applications.

The aim of this paper is to develop a measurement scale that encompasses a wide array of product characteristics. In addition, a comprehensive model is developed and tested illustrating the relationship among product characteristics and with adoption.

Utilizing 628 respondents, a measurement scale is developed and a structural equation model is tested through a multi‐stage series of surveys. The scope of the research is consumer durable products.

This paper is successful in developing a 43‐item scale that measures 15 unique innovation characteristics. This scale is then used to test a second order model illustrating the relationships innovation characteristics have with each other and ultimately innovation adoption.

The major limitation this research suffers from is its lack of variety in products under analysis. For the four consumer durable products studied, the research finds significant results. However, these findings would have greater impact if they reflected a broader array of products and product classes.

To date there have been very few attempts to model and test in an exhaustive fashion the role innovation characteristics play during the adoption process. This current research advances Holak and Lehmann and empirically tests first and second order characteristics within the context of a structural equation model.

Stock keeping unit (SKU) classifications are widely used in the field of production and operations management. Although many theoretical and practical examples of classifications exist, there are no overviews of the current literature, and general guidelines are lacking with respect to method selection for classifying SKUs. The purpose of this paper is to systematically synthesise the earlier work in this area, and to conceptualise and discuss the factors that influence the choice of a specific SKU classification.

The paper structurally reviews existing contributions and synthesises these into a conceptual framework for SKU classification.

How SKUs are classified depends on the classification aim, the context and the method that is chosen. In total, three main production and operations management aims were found: inventory management, forecasting and production strategy. Within the method three decisions are identified to come to a classification: the characteristics, the classification technique and the operationalisation of the classes.

Drawing on the literature survey, the authors conclude with a conceptual framework describing the factors that influence SKU classification. Further research could use this framework to develop guidelines for real‐life applications.

Examples from a variety of industries and general directions are provided which managers could use to develop their own SKU classification.

The paper aims to advance the literature on SKU classification from the level of individual examples to a conceptual level and provides directions on how to develop a SKU classification.

Despite appearing in the literature over 10 years ago as a potentially exciting cost management technique, there is still limited agreement about the nature of target costing. The purpose of this study is to explore the characteristics of target costing, and to test whether these characteristics were adopted in three European companies that used target costing.

This paper draws on case study data, collected at three manufacturing companies (consumer electronics, machinery, and transportation equipment).

The paper identifies eight characteristics of target costing, based on the early Japanese case descriptions. These characteristics are related to the way a target is set and how progress towards that target is measured. The findings of the case studies confirm these characteristics. However, some differences were found regarding the interpretation of the strict rule that “the target cost cannot be exceeded at product launch”.

The results indicate that future research on the adoption of target costing cannot be disconnected from its characteristics. Further studies might investigate whether degree of openness to suppliers, leadership position, time pressure and position in the supply chain can explain the noted differences in characteristics among companies.

The characteristics identified in this paper provide an aid to researchers and managers considering target costing. Detailed case descriptions provide best practices examples for other companies.

This study is the first empirical paper concerned with describing the typical characteristics of target costing. By exploring the characteristics, we hope to inspire others to further explore this interesting phenomenon.

The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of the impact of engineering changes on the materials planning process.

This study is based on a conceptual discussion and empirical data from a case study of a supply chain in the automotive industry, including end producers (two OEM companies) and first, second and third tier suppliers.

A framework comprising the situational dimensions of the engineering change was derived from the conceptual discussion and described in terms of product, supply, manufacturing, demand and materials planning characteristics. The empirical study shows the characteristics of the engineering change in the case company and how these have both positive and negative, as well as direct and indirect, influences on the materials scrap, administrative and transport/handling costs. The impact of the actual materials planning strategies is also shown. Another finding was that different engineering change situations exist within the same company. Thus, it is necessary to distinguish between them and to use different planning strategies for each situation. The paper discusses how such differentiated strategies could be developed in the case companies and in general.

The case study focused on a specific product and materials planning situation in the automotive supply chain. Other products and materials planning situations resulting from the same engineering change would have different characteristics and should, therefore, be planned and controlled accordingly. However, the developed framework is a general one.

The appropriateness of a materials planning strategy differs between different engineering change situations. This calls for differentiated materials planning strategies based on the engineering change situation and materials planning characteristics. The framework developed in this paper describes the entire materials planning environment in engineering change situations in order to understand when and how to differentiate materials planning strategies.

This paper fulfils a need for a framework that describes the impact on materials planning from an engineering change perspective. This framework is the first step in the designing of a normative guideline for differentiated materials planning strategies in an engineering change situation.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the characteristics that lead to the adoption of the three new business-to-business (B2B) product pricing strategies, namely, skimming pricing (i.e. a high initial price), penetration pricing (i.e. a low initial price) and pricing similar to competitive prices.

To achieve the study’s research objectives, data were collected through a mail survey from 116 B2B firms, operating in four different sectors.

The adoption of skimming pricing and penetration pricing is triggered by company-related factors that are associated with the company’s corporate and marketing strategy and the product characteristics, while the adoption of pricing similar to competitive prices is influenced by market-related factors that are associated with customers’ and competitors’ characteristics.

The above findings indicate that the managers responsible for setting prices for new B2B products should follow a “situation-specific approach” and be guided by the unique characteristics of their internal and external environment.

Its contribution lies on the fact that, building upon quests within the existing literature, it constitutes one of the first attempts to examine empirically the aforementioned issue.