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1 – 10 of 34Paolo Antonetti and Ilaria Baghi
When companies face a crisis, they sometimes deliver blame-shifting communications, trying to shift blame onto another actor to protect their reputation. While previous research…
Abstract
Purpose
When companies face a crisis, they sometimes deliver blame-shifting communications, trying to shift blame onto another actor to protect their reputation. While previous research has considered how different features of the message affect its persuasiveness, little is known about whether specific senders can blame more effectively. This paper aims to contribute to research in this domain through an investigation of the sender’s social perception as a critical moderator to the persuasiveness of blame shifting.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conduct four between-subjects scenario experiments to test the research hypotheses. In each experiment, participants are presented with a realistic crisis scenario and the crisis communications delivered by the company. The authors assess the extent to which perceptions of the sender influence the message’s ability to reduce negative word-of-mouth intentions and to increase purchase intentions.
Findings
The authors show that blame shifting is more likely to be effective when deployed by senders that are small (Study 1) or have a positive CSR track record (Study 2). Furthermore, The authors find that even large senders can successfully deploy blame shifting if they can benefit from being known for their CSR programs (Study 3). Finally, the authors show that the effect of blame shifting depends on the receiver’s level of concern about the crisis: stakeholders significantly concerned by the crisis reject blame-shifting communications (Study 4).
Research limitations/implications
Further research should examine the impact of information about brand competence on blame-shifting effectiveness. Further research is also needed to explore sender effects for other defensive crisis communication strategies such as denial or the use of excuses or justifications.
Practical implications
The study offers critical information for marketers considering the use of defensive crisis communications strategies such as blame shifting.
Originality/value
The study extends the understanding of how sender effects influence blame-shifting communications. The analysis allows us to clarify why this strategy is effective for certain senders and certain receivers while, for others, it tends to backfire. Blame shifting backfires for large senders unless they can boast a strong CSR record.
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Ana Isabel Lopes, Edward C. Malthouse, Nathalie Dens and Patrick De Pelsmacker
Engaging in webcare, i.e. responding to online reviews, can positively affect consumer attitudes, intentions and behavior. Research is often scarce or inconsistent regarding the…
Abstract
Purpose
Engaging in webcare, i.e. responding to online reviews, can positively affect consumer attitudes, intentions and behavior. Research is often scarce or inconsistent regarding the effects of specific webcare strategies on business performance. Therefore, this study tests whether and how several webcare strategies affect hotel bookings.
Design/methodology/approach
We apply machine learning classifiers to secondary data (webcare messages) to classify webcare variables to be included in a regression analysis looking at the effect of these strategies on hotel bookings while controlling for possible confounds such as seasonality and hotel-specific effects.
Findings
The strategies that have a positive effect on bookings are directing reviewers to a private channel, being defensive, offering compensation and having managers sign the response. Webcare strategies to be avoided are apologies, merely asking for more information, inviting customers for another visit and adding informal non-verbal cues. Strategies that do not appear to affect future bookings are expressing gratitude, personalizing and having staff members (rather than managers) sign webcare.
Practical implications
These findings help managers optimize their webcare strategy for better business results and develop automated webcare.
Originality/value
We look into several commonly used and studied webcare strategies that affect actual business outcomes, being that most previous research studies are experimental or look into a very limited set of strategies.
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Chang Ma, Alei Fan and Seonjeong Ally Lee
This paper aims to examine the congruency effects of physically embodied robots in service encounters, which addressed a significant research gap concerning the synthesis of robot…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the congruency effects of physically embodied robots in service encounters, which addressed a significant research gap concerning the synthesis of robot design elements (e.g., appearance and voice) and their service purposes.
Design/methodology/approach
Grounded in congruity theory and human-robot interaction literature, this study conducted a pretest and two experimental studies revealing the need to view robot design holistically and recognizing the pivotal role of congruity in shaping consumers’ service robot adoption. The moderating role of service purposes (utilitarian vs hedonic) was also investigated in terms of robot design and consumer reactions.
Findings
Consumers generally tend to favor robots with congruent designs, particularly for utilitarian service purposes. The serial mediation through perceived congruence and perceived intelligence explains such a favorite tendency.
Practical implications
This study advances service robot design research by highlighting the critical role of congruity in enhancing consumer engagement. It supports the use of comprehensive, congruent designs for services with utilitarian purposes and recommends adaptable designs for hedonic settings.
Originality/value
This study addressed the research gap by examining service robot design from a holistic perspective. The research findings highlight the importance of congruency effects in service robot design and deployment and provide valuable insights and guidelines to industry practitioners for optimal investment in service robots.
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Narjess Said, Kaouther Ben Mansour, Nedra Bahri-Ammari, Anish Yousaf and Abhishek Mishra
This study aims to propose a research model integrating technology acceptance model 3 (TAM3) constructs and human aspects of humanoid service robots (HSRs), measured by the…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to propose a research model integrating technology acceptance model 3 (TAM3) constructs and human aspects of humanoid service robots (HSRs), measured by the Godspeed questionnaire series and tested across two hotel properties in Japan and the USA.
Design/methodology/approach
Potential participants were approached randomly by email invitation. A final sample size of 395 across two hotels, one in Japan and the other in the USA, was obtained, and the data were analysed using structural equation modelling.
Findings
The results confirm that perceived usefulness, driven by subjective norms and output quality, and perceived ease of use, driven by perceived enjoyment and absence of anxiety, are the immediate direct determinants of users’ re-patronage intentions for HSRs. Results also showed that users prefer anthropomorphism, perceived intelligence and the safety of an HSR for reusing it.
Practical implications
The findings have practical implications for the hospitality industry, suggesting multiple attributes of an HSRs that managers need to consider before deploying them in their properties.
Originality/value
The current study proposes an integrated model determining factors that affect the re-patronage of HSRs in hotels.
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Edicleia Oliveira, Serge Basini and Thomas M. Cooney
This article aims to explore the potential of feminist phenomenology as a conceptual framework for advancing women’s entrepreneurship research and the suitability of…
Abstract
Purpose
This article aims to explore the potential of feminist phenomenology as a conceptual framework for advancing women’s entrepreneurship research and the suitability of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) to the proposed framework.
Design/methodology/approach
The article critically examines the current state of women’s entrepreneurship research regarding the institutional context and highlights the benefits of a shift towards feminist phenomenology.
Findings
The prevailing disembodied and gender-neutral portrayal of entrepreneurship has resulted in an equivocal understanding of women’s entrepreneurship and perpetuated a male-biased discourse within research and practice. By adopting a feminist phenomenological approach, this article argues for the importance of considering the ontological dimensions of lived experiences of situatedness, intersubjectivity, intentionality and temporality in analysing women entrepreneurs’ agency within gendered institutional contexts. It also demonstrates that feminist phenomenology could broaden the current scope of IPA regarding the embodied dimension of language.
Research limitations/implications
The adoption of feminist phenomenology and IPA presents new avenues for research that go beyond the traditional cognitive approach in entrepreneurship, contributing to theory and practice. The proposed conceptual framework also has some limitations that provide opportunities for future research, such as a phenomenological intersectional approach and arts-based methods.
Originality/value
The article contributes to a new research agenda in women’s entrepreneurship research by offering a feminist phenomenological framework that focuses on the embodied dimension of entrepreneurship through the integration of IPA and conceptual metaphor theory (CMT).
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Birgit Muskat, Girish Prayag, Sameer Hosany, Gang Li, Quan Vu and Sarah Wagner
Food is a key element in tourism experiences. This study aims to investigate the interplay of sensory and non-sensory factors in food tourism experiences and models their…
Abstract
Purpose
Food is a key element in tourism experiences. This study aims to investigate the interplay of sensory and non-sensory factors in food tourism experiences and models their influence on satisfaction and behavioural intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
The study focuses on the culinary experiences of 304 tourists dining at ethnic restaurants and uses causal relationship discovery modelling to analyse data.
Findings
Sensory factors are important in tourists’ culinary experiences with cleanliness, noise levels and room temperature at the top of the causal chain. Results also indicate the interplay between sensory and non-sensory factors to explain overall satisfaction, intention to return and intention to say positive things.
Originality/value
Using embodied cognition theory, the study offers novel insights into the role of senses in food tourism experiences at rural destinations.
研究目的
美食是乡村旅游的主要吸引物之一。本研究的目的是调查游客在用餐体验中感官和非感官因素的相互作用, 以及这些因素如何影响游客的满意度和行为意愿。
研究设计/研究方法
本研究使用因果关系建模的方法来分析 304 名在某地方特色餐厅用餐的游客的问卷数据。
研究结果
结果显示, 对于游客的用餐体验而言, 感官和非感官因素具备同等的重要性。此外, 结果发现, 游客感知到的噪音水平、适宜的室内温度及清洁度在与其他因素的相互作用中非常重要, 并能激发游客的满意度和重游意愿。
原创性/研究价值
基于认知理论, 本研究为更好地理解感官因素和非感观因素在乡村旅游情境下的游客用餐体验中的作用提供了新的知识。
Propósito
La comida es un elemento clave en las experiencias turísticas. Este estudio investiga la interacción de factores sensoriales y no sensoriales en las experiencias de turismo gastronómico y modela su influencia en la satisfacción y las intenciones de comportamiento.
Diseño/metodología/enfoque
El estudio se centra en las experiencias culinarias de 304 turistas que cenan en restaurantes étnicos y utiliza modelos de descubrimiento de relaciones causales para analizar los datos.
Resultados
Los factores sensoriales son importantes en las experiencias culinarias de los turistas con la limpieza, los niveles de ruido y la temperatura ambiente en la parte superior de la cadena causal. Los resultados también indican la interacción entre factores sensoriales y no sensoriales para explicar la satisfacción general, la intención de regresar y la intención de decir cosas positivas.
Originalidad/valor
Utilizando la teoría de la cognición incorporada, el estudio ofrece nuevos conocimientos sobre el papel de los sentidos en las experiencias de turismo gastronómico en destinos rurales.
Details
Keywords
- Food tourism
- Experiences
- Senses
- Embodied cognition theory
- Overall satisfaction
- Intention to return and intention to say positive things
- 美食旅游
- 体验
- 感官因素
- 认知理论
- 满意度
- 重游意愿
- 好评意愿
- Turismo gastronómico
- experiencias
- sentidos
- teoría de la cognición encarnada
- satisfacción general
- intención de regresar e intención de decir cosas positivas
To influence consumer pre-purchase decision-making processes, such as brand selection and perceived brand experience, brands are interested in adopting hyperconnected…
Abstract
Purpose
To influence consumer pre-purchase decision-making processes, such as brand selection and perceived brand experience, brands are interested in adopting hyperconnected technological stimuli, such as artificial intelligence, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality, social media and tech devices. However, the understanding of different hyperconnected touchpoints remained shallow and results mixed in previous literature, despite the fact that these touchpoints span different technological interfaces/devices and may influence consumer brand selection. This paper aims to solidify the conceptual underpinnings of the role of online hyperconnected stimuli, which may influence consumer psychological reactions in terms of brand selection and experience.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is conceptual and presents a discussion based on extant literature from various international publishers.
Findings
The authors revealed different technological stimuli in the online hyperconnected environment that may influence consumer online hyperconnected brand selection (OHBS), perceived online hyperconnected brand experience (OHBE), perceived well-being and behavioral intention.
Originality/value
The conceptual understanding of OHBS and perceived OHBE was mixed and inconsistent in previous studies. This paper brings together extant literature to establish the conceptual understanding of antecedents and outcomes of OHBS, i.e. perceived OHBE, perceived well-being and behavioral intention, and presents a cohesive conceptual framework.
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Hugo Martinelli Watanuki and Renato de Oliveira Moraes
The purpose of this paper is to identify the practices that owners of public profiles in social networking sites can leverage to actively build online reputation and to evaluate…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the practices that owners of public profiles in social networking sites can leverage to actively build online reputation and to evaluate the impact of the adoption of such practices on the initial formation of trust toward these individuals when they are presented as new virtual work partners.
Design/methodology/approach
A theoretical model was developed and an experiment with 233 participants was utilized to assess the model using partial least squares structural equation modeling.
Findings
The results suggest that individuals can build their online reputations in public profiles of social networking sites via a series of practices of self-disclosure of information and that the adoption of these practices has significant effects on the initial formation of trust toward the profile owner in virtual work contexts. Categorization mechanisms such as stereotyping, unit grouping and reputation categorization have been found to contribute to the initial formation of trust, both from an affect and cognition-based perspectives.
Originality/value
Little is known about the information disclosure practices in public profiles of social networking sites that new work partners can adopt to facilitate the formation of trust between them before they start working together. This study has contributed to the existing body of literature by clarifying these practices and the relative importance of online reputation to the initial formation of trust during the outset of a new virtual work relationship.
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The demand for long-term home care services has been increasing in Taiwan due to the significant growth of the older population. In order to understand the crucial roles that…
Abstract
Purpose
The demand for long-term home care services has been increasing in Taiwan due to the significant growth of the older population. In order to understand the crucial roles that language and communication play in providing better long-term home care services in Taiwan, this study aims to adopt a gerontological sociolinguistic perspective to investigate how professional care workers communicate with older people in this context.
Design/methodology/approach
Interviews were conducted with 58 long-term home care workers to identify their communication accommodation strategies for older people, considering their health conditions (dementia), personalities (grumpiness), living status (loneliness) and general principles of long-term home care communication.
Findings
The study's findings provide practical insights for long-term home care workers to enhance their communication skills while interacting with older people.
Research limitations/implications
The results could contribute to improving the quality of care services provided to older people and address their specific communication needs.
Originality/value
To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first attempt to identify contextually specific communication accommodations to older people in existing literature of gerontological sociolinguistics that addresses language, communication and older age. The salience of the findings in this study can be further enhanced if they were applied in the development of training programs for future Taiwanese long-term home care workers.
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Henriikka Anne-Mari Seittu, Anneli Hujala and Minna Kaarakainen
Integrated care (IC) is mainly studied from the perspectives of organisations or employees. However, less research is focussed on how patients themselves experience person-centred…
Abstract
Purpose
Integrated care (IC) is mainly studied from the perspectives of organisations or employees. However, less research is focussed on how patients themselves experience person-centred (PC) IC in practice. This context-specific, small-scale study examines what PC-IC means to older patients who went through joint replacement surgery (JRS).
Design/methodology/approach
The data consists of ten in-depth interviews of older patients, focussing on their experiences of care during their patient journey related to joint knee or hip replacement surgery. The data were analysed with thematic analysis.
Findings
Three central dimensions of PC-IC for older patients were identified: information sharing, continuity of care and compassionate encountering. Human validation and compassionate encountering were experienced as important aspects of PC-IC. Compassionate encountering was concretised through professionals’ very small everyday practices, which made the patient feel comfortable and respected. Instead, probably due to the medical and quite straight-forward nature of the joint replacement care process, patients seem to be pleased to trust the expertise of professionals and did not necessarily expect an active role or participation in the decision-making.
Originality/value
This Finnish case study focusses on the patients’ authentic perceptions of what is central to person-centred IC in the specific context of JRS.
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