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1 – 10 of over 2000Manoraj Natarajan and Sridevi Periaiya
Consumer-perceived review attitude determines consumer overall information adoption and is a core part of consumer’s online-shopping. This study aims to focus on factors that…
Abstract
Purpose
Consumer-perceived review attitude determines consumer overall information adoption and is a core part of consumer’s online-shopping. This study aims to focus on factors that could influence consumer review attitude and can be used by marketers to shape individual information perception.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used the questionnaire method to collect data from online shoppers and the modelling of structural equations as an empirical approach to analyse the data.
Findings
The findings demonstrate that both systematic and heuristic cues impact the reviewer’s credibility and perceived website attitude differently, which, in turn, influence review attitude. Review characteristics, such as factuality, consistency and relevancy, have a positive relationship with reviewer credibility, while only review consistency and relevancy appears to have a relationship with review attitude. Website characteristics such as reputation, familiarity and social interactivity positively influence the website attitude, which positively influences review attitude. Apart from this, review skepticism has a significant negative relationship with review attitude.
Practical implications
This study could help to foster a positive attitude towards online reviews. Digital marketers need to motivate trusted reviewers to post consistent, fact-based reviews. Further improving the overall website reputation and interactivity could bring a positive attitude towards the reviews. Also, digital marketers must filter and avoid contradictory reviews or reviews that have a bipolar message and reviews expressing numerous emotions to enhance review relevance and consistency.
Originality/value
The current study addresses the need to understand the formation of consumer review attitude through both review and website characteristics using heuristic – systematic model. The paper captures the complex process undergone by the consumer to decipher review attitude and thereby extend the understanding of consumer information processing.
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This paper compares the web accessibility of Indian museum websites assessing the level of compliance to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1). The study aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper compares the web accessibility of Indian museum websites assessing the level of compliance to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1). The study aims to assess the accessibility of Indian museum websites in terms of their severity.
Design/methodology/approach
The accessibility evaluation of 11 Indian museum websites was conducted using Siteimprove Accessibility Checker (SAC), an automated website testing tool.
Findings
The study results indicate that the mean conformance score for the Indian museum websites for level A was 19.27, while for level AA and AAA, it came out to be 2.63 and 4.09, respectively, with the highest severity scores for error (16.3) followed by review (5.81) criteria and warning (3.81). The major findings indicate that the websites of Indian museums poorly conform to web accessibility guidelines.
Practical implications
The study's findings will assist the museum's website creators, managers and administrators in determining the level of conformity as per standard accessibility guidelines helping them make strategic decisions to improve the accessibility.
Originality/value
Most of the studies available in the field of website accessibility range from the web accessibility of educational institutions, tourism websites, municipal websites and ministerial websites, but there are very few studies investigating the accessibility of museum websites. A quantitative evaluation of different aspects of accessibility was conducted in the study, which can pave the way for the better design of web sites by addressing deficiencies.
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Maria Vincenza Ciasullo, Raffaella Montera and Rocco Palumbo
The article investigates different types of strategies for managing user-generated content (UGC) and provides some insights into their implications.
Abstract
Purpose
The article investigates different types of strategies for managing user-generated content (UGC) and provides some insights into their implications.
Design/methodology/approach
A unique sample of Italian hotels with current and prospective customers in the digital environment is investigated. A taxonomy of user-provider interactions mediated by UGC is developed. A mixed approach was designed to meet the study aims. Firstly, an exploratory factor analysis was performed in order to illuminate different strategies of UGC and electronic word-of-mouth (E-WOM) management. Secondly, a cluster analysis was implemented in order to explain hoteliers' behavior toward users' contents.
Findings
The study results suggested the existence of three clusters, which reflected three different types of interactions between hotels and customers in the digital domain. Interestingly, most of Italian hotels were found to adopt a reductionist approach to UGC and E-WOM management, turning out to be ineffective to exploit them for the purpose of quality improvement and hospitality service excellence.
Research limitations/implications
Hotels were found to be largely unaware of the importance of UGC and web-based communication with customers to improve their digital business strategy. Tailored management approaches are needed to realize the full potential of hotels' online content responsiveness for the purpose of value co-creation and service co-production.
Originality/value
This is one of the first studies investigating the strategic and management perspectives embraced by hotels to handle their interactions with customers in the digital arena.
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Yanbo Yao, Tian-Yu Han and Jian-Wu Bi
Online employee reviews have a substantial impact on employee recruitment, retention and the overall perception of a company’s image, making them a crucial element of its online…
Abstract
Purpose
Online employee reviews have a substantial impact on employee recruitment, retention and the overall perception of a company’s image, making them a crucial element of its online reputation. Consequently, these reviews play a vital role in shaping the company’s competitiveness in the talent market. This study aims to investigate the role of employee loyalty in online reputation in the tourism and hospitality sector.
Design/methodology/approach
This study collected online reviews posted by 334,428 employees across 173 companies in the tourism and hospitality sector. Then, this study proposed a method for measuring employee loyalty toward the company through text comments. Furthermore, the role of employee loyalty in online reputation through regression models was analyzed.
Findings
Employee loyalty is positively associated with the closed-form evaluations, and the length and readability of open-ended comments is directly and positively associated with review helpfulness and is indirectly associated with review helpfulness through employee online reviews. Employees’ perception of job instability has a significant moderating effect on the above relationships.
Research limitations/implications
This study contributes to the literature on loyalty in the tourism and hospitality industry, online reputation and employee risk perception. These findings offer a more profound understanding of the extra-role behaviors demonstrated by loyal employees, provide a theoretical foundation for the formation of a company’s online reputation and contribute to helping the tourism and service industry better address risk events. These conclusions provide valuable insights for companies in the fields of human resource management and online reputation management.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to reveal the impact of employee loyalty on the company’s online reputation and provides important theoretical and practical implications for management.
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Raed Ababneh and Lamis Alrefaie
This study aims to investigate the quality level of the leading three Public Administration Institutes’ (PAIs) websites in the Arab world.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the quality level of the leading three Public Administration Institutes’ (PAIs) websites in the Arab world.
Design/methodology/approach
A convenient sample of 203 Jordanian Government employees answered the questionnaire that assessed five quality dimensions (content, navigation, interface design, accessibility and educational purpose) for each website.
Findings
The website of PAI of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia recorded a high level in all quality dimensions, whereas the website of PAI of Jordan recorded moderate quality in all dimensions except for accessibility; the website of PAI of Egypt recorded a high level in all quality dimensions except for the educational purpose. Based on the qualitative analysis, participants agreed that the PAI website has the best quality, accessibility, navigation and design compared with the Egyptian and the Jordanian PAIs websites.
Practical implications
Designers of PAI websites should consider end users’ needs and regularly assess the website’s usability. PAIs developers should also establish more interactive portals to provide transparent and effective electronic services to users. The findings are significant in helping policymakers better understand the importance of distance training and learning using websites and platforms.
Social implications
Developing a high-quality website enhances the relationship between the government and its employees, consequently establishing the credibility and trust of citizens in public services.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that measures the quality of PAI websites in the Arab world. The findings provide more cross-culture evidence for the e-government and digital literature in helping policymakers develop more technology interactive platforms.
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Maria Petrescu, John Gironda and Kathleen Bay O'Leary
This paper aims to evaluate and structure the basic heuristics consumers use in evaluating word-of-mouth (WOM) about luxury hotel brands while analyzing the impact of deception in…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to evaluate and structure the basic heuristics consumers use in evaluating word-of-mouth (WOM) about luxury hotel brands while analyzing the impact of deception in online consumer reviews.
Design/methodology/approach
The research used a two-study mixed-methods approach, using interpersonal deception theory and social proof theory as lenses to conduct our analysis. For the first study, a qualitative conceptual mapping analysis was conducted, examining online consumer reviews to identify key concepts and their relationships in the context of luxury hotel brands. In the second study, the themes were further examined using a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to analyze their causal complexity and association between variables to determine how they influence the perceived helpfulness of online reviews for luxury hotel brands.
Findings
The results underline the importance of functional, objective variables, such as the number of reviews and stars, as social proof heuristics and other factors, including clout, authenticity and analytic tone, as interpersonal communication heuristics. Therefore, consumers use a combination of social and interpersonal communication heuristics to extract information from reviews and manage deception risk.
Research limitations/implications
The paper contributes to the consumer–brand relationship literature by assessing the heuristics consumers use in evaluating online reviews and provides additional information for research in online reputation management.
Practical implications
This study’s results can help marketing practitioners and brand managers manage their online reputations better. It can also aid managers in improving their messaging on hotel websites to entice consumers to complete bookings. Heuristics play an essential role in such messaging and understanding them can help marketers appeal directly to their target market.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the literature on consumer–brand relationships by providing a framework of heuristics that consumers use when evaluating luxury service brands and contributes to WOM and online reputation research by highlighting factors that may make online reviews more helpful.
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Shamima Yesmin and Md. Atikuzzaman
This study aims to investigate the usability of a public university website for measuring its efficiency, users’ satisfaction or anxiety while searching for and retrieving…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the usability of a public university website for measuring its efficiency, users’ satisfaction or anxiety while searching for and retrieving information through different devices.
Design/methodology/approach
A task-based approach was adopted for the study. Twenty-eight participants were asked to complete 11 information-searching tasks on the website. The participants were divided into two groups. The tasks were carried out by members of each group, using desktop and mobile devices in a rotating fashion. Volunteers observed the participants' actions and recorded information regarding their productivity, time usage (using a timer), satisfaction or annoyance while performing each task. Finally, based on the use of the devices, a comparison was established between the participants' performance accuracy, efficiency and anxiety.
Findings
The study provides an overview of a task-based user experience carried out on the university website using a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods. According to the results, participants' satisfaction levels were generally high, and their anxiety levels were low while completing the tasks on a mobile device. In comparison to the desktop, it took less time overall to complete all tasks. On the other hand, using a desktop computer (97.1%) resulted in better task completion success rates for participants than using a mobile device (85.7%).
Originality/value
No previous task-based evaluation study of this kind has been conducted to assess the usability of any university website in Bangladesh.
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Zheshi Bao and Yun Zhu
Online reviews derived from peer communications have been increasingly viewed as an important approach for consumers to gather pre-purchase information. This study aims to examine…
Abstract
Purpose
Online reviews derived from peer communications have been increasingly viewed as an important approach for consumers to gather pre-purchase information. This study aims to examine factors affecting online reviews adoption in social network communities and then indicates the underlying mechanism of this process based on an extended information adoption model (IAM).
Design/methodology/approach
Using the data collected from 242 users of a social network community via an online survey, the proposed model is empirically assessed by partial least squares-based structural equation model (PLS-SEM).
Findings
The results show that both perceived diagnosticity and perceived serendipity are drivers of online reviews adoption in social network communities. Meanwhile, community identification is not only an antecedent of diagnosticity and serendipity perceived by community members, but also motivates source credibility which, in turn, positively influences argument quality. Finally, the importance of argument quality and source credibility in reviews adoption process is also presented.
Originality/value
This study extends the IAM and enriches the literature regarding online reviews adoption. It deepens the understanding of serendipitous experiences and community identification in social networking context by addressing their important roles in the authors' extended IAM.
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Domenica Barile, Giustina Secundo and Candida Bussoli
This study examines the Robo-Advisors (RA) based on Artificial Intelligence (AI), a new service that digitises and automates investment decisions in the financial and banking…
Abstract
Purpose
This study examines the Robo-Advisors (RA) based on Artificial Intelligence (AI), a new service that digitises and automates investment decisions in the financial and banking industries to provide low-cost and personalised financial advice. The RAs use objective algorithms to select portfolios, reduce behavioural biases, and improve transactions. They are inexpensive, accessible, and transparent platforms. Objective algorithms improve the believability of portfolio selection.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopts a qualitative approach consisting of an exploratory examination of seven different RA case studies and analyses the RA platforms used in the banking industry.
Findings
The findings provide two different approaches to running a business that are appropriate for either fully automated or hybrid RAs through the realisation of two platform model frameworks. The research reveals that relying solely on algorithms and not including any services involving human interaction in a company model is inadequate to meet the requirements of customers in decision-making.
Research limitations/implications
This study emphasises key robo-advisory features, such as investor profiling, asset allocation, investment strategies, portfolio rebalancing, and performance evaluation. These features provide managers and practitioners with new information on enhancing client satisfaction, improving services, and adjusting to dynamic market demands.
Originality/value
This study fills the research gap related to the analysis of RA platform models by providing a meticulous analysis of two different types of RAs, namely, fully automated and hybrid, which have not received adequate attention in the literature.
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Ricardo Correia, Manuela Cunha, Aida Carvalho and Bruno Sousa
This study aims to assess the online presence of three Portuguese low-density territories and analyze the communication strategies employed by public and private entities within…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to assess the online presence of three Portuguese low-density territories and analyze the communication strategies employed by public and private entities within each municipality. The alignment between public and private entities within each municipality is also examined as a potential factor that could impact the effectiveness of digital communication strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative methodology that employed content analysis and interviews to gather data from selected public and private entities in each of the municipalities under study was used.
Findings
Despite the widespread availability of digital communication tools, the municipalities under study are yet to fully exploit their potential to promote and publicize their offerings. This could be attributed to several factors such as a lack of knowledge and/or resources and a defective strategic approach to digital communication.
Practical implications
The major obstacle in maximizing the potential of digital communication tools in low-density destinations was not solely a result of restricted access. Rather, it was largely due to insufficient knowledge and resources required for their effective utilization, coupled with a lack of aligned vision among various stakeholders.
Originality/value
The competitive landscape in which tourist actors operate has transformed significantly because of the widespread adoption of digital communication led by social networks. However, studies exploring digital communication in low-density territories are still scarce. This study adds new insights into the main factors that hinder the efficient use of digital communication in these regions.
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