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Social recommendation has been recognized as a kind of e-commerce with large potential, but how social recommendations influence consumer decisions is still unclear. This paper aims to investigate how recommendations from different social ties influence consumers’ purchase intentions through both behavior and brain activity.

Utilizing behavioral (N = 70) and electroencephalogram (EEG) (N = 49) experiments, this study explored participants’ behavior and brain responses after being recommended by different social ties. The data were analyzed using statistical inference and event-related potential (ERP) analysis.

Behavioral results show that social tie strength positively impacts purchase intention, which can be fitted by a logarithmic model. Moreover, recommender-to-customer similarity and product affect mediate the effect of tie strength on purchase intention serially. EEG findings show that recommendations from weak tie strength elicit larger N100, N200 and P300 amplitudes than those from strong tie strength. These results imply that weak tie strength may motivate individuals to recruit more mental resources in social recommendation, including unconscious processing of consumer attention and conscious processing of cognitive conflict and negative emotion.

This study considers the effects of continuous social ties on purchase intention and models them mathematically, exploring the intrinsic mechanisms by which strong and weak ties influence purchase intentions through recommender-to-customer similarity and product affect, contributing to the applications of the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model in the field of social recommendation. Furthermore, our study adopting EEG techniques bridges the gap of relying solely on self-report by providing an avenue to obtain relatively objective findings about the consumers’ early-occurred (unconscious) attentional responses and late-occurred (conscious) cognitive and emotional responses in purchase decisions.

The purpose of this paper is to research the effect of uncertain rewards on the recommendation intention in referral reward programs (RRPs) and investigate the interaction of tie strength and reward type on the recommendation intention.

The research adopts a quantitative exploratory approach through the use of experiments. Study 1 adopted a 2×2 between-participants design ((reward type: certain reward vs uncertain reward)×(tie strength: strong tie vs weak tie)). Respectively, by manipulating uncertain probabilities and expected value, Studies 2 and 3 further explore the effect of uncertain rewards and tie strength on customers’ referral intention.

This paper finds the following: compared to certain rewards, customers’ referral intention under uncertain rewards is higher and positive experience has a mediating effect between reward type and recommendation intention; when only the recommender is rewarded, the tie strength between the recommender and the receiver moderates the effect of reward type on the recommendation intention; for strong ties, customers’ recommendation intention is higher in uncertain reward condition, but for weak ties, customers’ willingness to recommend is almost the same in both reward types; when both the recommender and the receiver are rewarded, although certain rewards have a higher expected value than uncertain and random rewards, for strong ties, the participants have a higher referral intention under random rewards than that under uncertain rewards, which have a higher referral willingness than that under certain rewards. Additionally, for weak ties, the reverse is true.

The research has both theoretical implications for research on uncertain rewards and tie strength and practical implications for marketing managers designing and implementing RRPs.

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of consumption values (functional, social, epistemic, and emotional value) on mobile banking (m-banking) usage intention and intention to recommend m-banking services in the context of the Bangladeshi banking sector. Furthermore, this study examines how perceived security moderates the effects of consumption values on m-banking usage intention and recommendation intention.

A self-structured questionnaire had been used to obtain survey data from a sample of 237 m-banking users in Bangladesh using a convenience sampling method. Data were analyzed by structural equation modeling based on AMOS 23.0.

The findings show that all the dimensions of consumption values (functional, epistemic, and emotional value) except social value have a significant impact on mobile banking usage intention. In turn, mobile banking usage intention has a substantial direct effect on users' recommendation intention. Furthermore, the results also demonstrate that perceived security moderates the effects of functional values on m-banking usage intention as well as m-banking usage intention on recommendation intention.

These research findings offer insightful guidelines to bank marketers to increase m-banking usage intention and recommendation intention by emphasizing the functional, epistemic, and emotional value of m-banking services as well as safeguarding consumers' perceived security in m-banking transactions.

This study contributes to the body of knowledge by measuring the effects of consumption values dimensions on the m-banking usage intention and recommendation intention which were hardly investigated particularly in the m-banking context. To date, this study is the first attempt to examine how perceived security moderates the effects of consumption values dimensions on the m-banking usage intention as well as m-banking usage intention on recommendation intention. The findings contribute to a theoretical understanding of the importance of consumption values in consumer decision-making, particularly in the rarely studied domain of mobile banking.

This paper aims to investigate whether the interactional effects of recommendation valence, tie strength and service type produce different effects on attitude and buying intention in a social networking context.

A 2 × 3 × 3 between-subject experiment was carried out, involving 616 participants, and MANOVA was used to test hypotheses.

The interactions of valence by tie strength and valence by service type affect attitude, but not intention. The review valence × tie strength × service type interaction influences both attitude and intention, and its effect on intention is fully mediated by attitude.

Negative recommendations for credence and experiential services communicated by individuals with no-tie relationships have a strong negative effect on attitude. However, positive recommendations from strong and weak ties for search and experience services are more influential than recommendations from no ties for credence services.

The results are explained by using cue sufficiency theory, which suggests that a single extreme cue serves as a defining feature.

This study examines the impact of servitization in the form of repair and maintenance services on consumers' quality perceptions, purchase intentions and recommendation intentions while considering consumer frugality as a moderator in the retail ready-to-wear sector.

A quantitative approach based on consumer research was pursued. Study 1 tested the research model using a fictitious ready-to-wear brand within an experimental design. To increase the generalizability of results, Study 2 retested the model with a well-known ready-to-wear brand. For both studies, regression, mediation and moderation analyses were conducted in SPSS.

Both studies showed that servitization positively influences perceived quality. Servitization positively affects purchase intentions and recommendation intentions indirectly via the mediating role of perceived quality. Frugality moderates the relationship between servitization and perceived quality for the fictitious brand (Study 1), whereas it is not significant for a well-known ready-to-wear brand (Study 2). Servitization positively influences perceived quality regardless of consumers' frugality levels for a stronger brand.

This study suggests and tests an original conceptual model that relies on signaling theory. It is among the first studies to examine the impact of servitization on retail fashion consumers' quality perceptions and consequent purchase and recommendation intentions. This study also contributes to the literature by presenting empirical findings based on consumer research on servitization while considering frugality as a moderator.

Bundling products with additional services can contribute to quality perceptions and consequently to purchase and recommendation intentions for ready-to-wear brands.

Blogging has become part of a consumer's decision making process when shopping online; however, the understanding of blog recommendation's effect on consumer purchase decision is still vague. The purpose of this study is to examine whether the blog reader's trusting belief in the blogger is significant in relation to the perceived usefulness of the blogger's recommendations; and how the blog reader's perceptions influence his/her attitude and purchasing behavior online. The moderating effect of blogger's reputation on readers’ purchasing intentions is also tested.

Based on various theories, a model was proposed in this study. A survey involving 327 blog readers as participants was analyzed in the empirical study to investigate whether the usefulness of bloggers’ recommendations and trusting beliefs toward blogger had influence on consumers’ attitudes and behavioral intentions toward online shopping.

The results indicated that perceived usefulness of bloggers’ recommendations and trust had significant influential effect on blog users’ attitude towards and intention to shop online. Moreover, the findings showed that different determinants affected the users of perceived‐high‐reputation and perceived‐low‐reputation blogs.

The findings suggest bloggers’ electronic word‐of‐mouth (eWOM) to be a promising marketing strategy for increasing sales. The marketers should provide free trial products and services to the perceived‐high‐reputation bloggers who, as valued opinion leaders, will influence and prompt others to shop online through a trusting effect. As for perceived‐low‐reputation bloggers, the marketing strategists should strive to emphasize the usefulness of products and services being marketed, so these perceived‐low‐reputation bloggers can focus more on describing the advantages and benefits of products or services discussed in their blogs.

Based on the post-acceptance model of information system continuance (PAMISC), this study investigates the influence of the early-stage users' personal traits (specifically personal innovativeness and technology anxiety) and ex-post instrumentality perceptions (specifically price value, hedonic motivation, compatibility and perceived security) on social diffusion of smart technologies measured by the intention to recommend artificial intelligence-based voice assistant systems (AIVAS) to others.

Survey data from 400 US AIVAS users were collected and analyzed with Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) 18.0 and the partial least square technique using advanced analysis of composites (ADANCO) 2.1.

AIVAS technology is presently at the early stage of market penetration (about 25% of market penetration in the USA). A survey of AIVAS technology users reveals that personal innovativeness is directly and indirectly (through confirmation and continuance) associated with a stronger intention to recommend the use of the device to others. Confirmation is associated with all four ex-post instrumentality perceptions (hedonic motivation, compatibility, price value and perceived security). Among the four, however, only hedonic motivation and compatibility are significant predictors of satisfaction, which lead to use continuance and, eventually, intention to recommend. Finally, technology anxiety is found to be indirectly (but not directly) associated with a lower intention to recommend.

This is the first study conducted on the early-stage AIVAS users that evaluates the influence of both personal traits and ex-post instrumentality perceptions on users' intention for continuance and recommendation to others.

This study investigates how artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots persuade customers to accept their recommendations in the online shopping context.

Drawing on the elaboration likelihood model, this study establishes a research model to reveal the antecedents and internal mechanisms of customers' adoption of AI chatbot recommendations. The authors tested the model with survey data from 530 AI chatbot users.

The results show that in the AI chatbot recommendation adoption process, central and peripheral cues significantly affected a customer's intention to adopt an AI chatbot's recommendation, and a customer's cognitive and emotional trust in the AI chatbot mediated the relationships. Moreover, a customer's mind perception of the AI chatbot, including perceived agency and perceived experience, moderated the central and peripheral paths, respectively.

This study has theoretical and practical implications for AI chatbot designers and provides management insights for practitioners to enhance a customer's intention to adopt an AI chatbot's recommendation.

1. The study investigates customers' adoption of AI chatbots' recommendation.

2. The authors develop research model based on ELM theory to reveal central and peripheral cues and paths.

3. The central and peripheral cues are generalized according to cooperative principle theory.

4. Central cues include recommendation reliability and accuracy, and peripheral cues include human-like empathy and recommendation choice.

5. Central and peripheral cues affect customers' adoption to recommendation through trust in AI.

6. Customers' mind perception positively moderates the central and peripheral paths.

The study investigates customers' adoption of AI chatbots' recommendation.

The authors develop research model based on ELM theory to reveal central and peripheral cues and paths.

The central and peripheral cues are generalized according to cooperative principle theory.

Central cues include recommendation reliability and accuracy, and peripheral cues include human-like empathy and recommendation choice.

Central and peripheral cues affect customers' adoption to recommendation through trust in AI.

Customers' mind perception positively moderates the central and peripheral paths.

The purpose of this research is to examine different customer satisfaction and loyalty metrics and test their relationship to customer retention, recommendation and share of wallet using micro (customer) level data.

The data for this study come from a two‐year longitudinal Internet panel of over 8,000 US customers of firms in one of three industries (retail banking, mass‐merchant retail, and Internet service providers (ISPs)). Correlation analysis, CHAID, and three types of regression analyses (best‐subsets, ordinal logistic, and latent class ordinal logistic regression) were used to test the hypotheses.

Contrary to Reichheld's assertions, the results indicate that recommend intention alone will not suffice as a single predictor of customers' future loyalty behavior. Use of a multiple indicator instead of a single predictor model performs better in predicting customer recommendations and retention.

The limitation of the paper is that it uses data from only three industries.

The presumption of managers when looking at recommend intention as the primary, even sole gauge of customer loyalty appears to be erroneous. The consequence is potential misallocations of resources due to myopic focus on customers' recommend intentions.

This is the first scientific study that examines recommend intentions and its impact on retention and recommendation on the micro (customer) level.

The purpose of this paper is to identify and discuss the key conceptual and empirical inter‐relationships between service encounter variables of perceived agent service quality, overall customer satisfaction and perceived value and their relationships with behavioural outcomes of repurchase, recommendation and complaint intentions in the life insurance services in India.

A total of 258 valid responses were generated from existing customers of life insurance services on the selected variables. The relationships were tested by structural equation modeling using AMOS version 4.0. The initial hypothesized model was rejected and a model was modified till acceptable fit was achieved.

The results provide empirical support for the comprehensive nature of direct and indirect effects of service quality, value perceptions and overall satisfaction on future behavioural intentions (BI). The study identifies the key agent service quality attributes of product knowledge, empathy, reliability and trust as important antecedents of favourable behavioural outcomes. Agent service quality, satisfaction and value perceptions have significant affect on recommendation intentions.

This is the first study using multivariate and composite model of inter relationship of service encounter constructs and their affect on both favourable and unfavourable BI.