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The purpose of this paper is to apply the model of goal-directed behavior (MGB) as a research framework to investigate consumers’ behavioral intention to purchase sporting goods online.

Mall intercept sampling was used to collect data from Korean consumers who have the experience of purchasing sporting goods online. After the elimination of invalid responses, total 314 valid questionnaires were used for further analysis.

The results revealed that attitude, subjective norm, positive and negative anticipated emotions had significant influences on consumers’ desire to buy sporting goods online. Moreover, the frequency of past behavior and desire played significant roles in influencing on Korean consumers’ intention. Further analysis revealed that male consumers had higher levels of positive attitude, subjective norm, positive and negative anticipated emotions, desire, intention, frequency of past behavior toward the online purchase of sporting goods than female consumers did. It also found that male consumers’ desire had a significantly stronger influence on behavioral than female consumers did.

The study suggests the benefit and gender-based targeting strategies in marketing sporting goods online. The primary limitation of this study was that respondents were all Korean online consumers of buying sporting goods. Future research should apply MGB to different countries or regions to generalize the results of this study.

The findings of this study provide a better understanding of Korean consumers’ intention to purchase sporting goods online and gender differences in their decision-making process.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate consumers’ acceptance and use of sports and fitness wearable devices based on technology readiness (TR). In addition, the technology readiness and acceptance model (TRAM) will be used to investigate consumers’ intention to use sports wearable devices (for simplicity, sports wearable devices will be simplified to the term “sports wearables”).

Convenience sampling was conducted from Korean consumers (n=247). Data were analyzed by partial least squares–structural equation modeling using SmartPLS 3.0.

The results found that positive TR has a positive influence on perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU), and negative TR had a negative influence on PEOU and PU. PEOU had a positive influence on perceived usefulness (PU). Both PEOU and PU led to intention to use sports wearable devices. Also, the multi-group analysis found a positive correlation between TR and PEOU for especially male users.

The findings of this study provide a better understanding of consumers’ behavioral intent to use sports wearables. Particularly, it also provides evidence that the TRAM is an appropriate framework for predicting users’ intention to use sports wearables. This study also stresses the important role of TR in consumers’ psychological processes leading up to the actual use of novel sports wearables.

The development of wearable technology has significantly changed the way people participate in physical activities. The purpose of this paper is to segment users of sports wearable devices based on technology readiness (TR).

Participants comprised a convenience sample of 356 participants using sports wearable devices in South Korea. Cluster analysis was performed to identify clusters of sports wearable users based on their TR (i.e. motivating and inhibiting beliefs regarding technologies). Analysis of variance and post hoc Tukey’s test were used to determine whether there were significant differences among the clusters.

Clustering identified three groups of users of sports wearable devices: Explorers (high motivation, low inhibition), Laggards (low motivation, high inhibition) and Pioneers (high motivation, high inhibition). Each group demonstrated significant differences in TR (i.e. optimism, innovativeness, discomfort and insecurity). It also found that Laggards are more likely to be female and older users (i.e. over 40 years old).

This study explores characteristics of possible market segments and provides a better understanding of user profiles of sports wearable devices. These findings provide insightful implications for marketers of sports wearable devices, who can tailor marketing strategies to each segment. Designers of sports wearable devices can benefit from the user profiles and develop more appropriate products for users.

This research clarifies the connotations and dimensions of artificial intelligence (AI) technology stimulation and establishes a stimulus scale to explain the relationship between AI technology stimuli and smart customer experience.

This is an empirical study that uses SPSS 24.0 software to perform hypothesis testing on the path relationships between model elements.

Two dimensions of AI technology stimuli (i.e. passion and usability) have a significant, positive impact on smart customer experience; the moderating effects of contrasting dimensions of technology readiness (i.e. optimism and discomfort) are significantly different; smart customer experience has a significant, positive impact on the word-of-mouth (WOM) intentions of consumers.

There are several limitations. Most importantly, the data collected in this study are only from consumers who use intelligent customer service robots in the catering industry. Future research can consider exploring relevant AI technologies in other sectors.

This study has several implications that guide catering companies to develop various positioning and strategies for remaining competitive effectively.

Based on arousal theory, customer experience theory and WOM marketing theory, this is the first novel research project that empirically discusses the dimensions of AI technology stimuli, smart customer experience and WOM intentions with regard to the moderating effect of the technology readiness of consumers toward AI technology.