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This study has two purposes. The first is to identify the determinants influencing the selection of a container number recognition system via a quantitative method to thereby establish an evaluation structure. The second purpose is to conduct an empirical study to determine the weights of the criteria and alternatives.

The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) were applied to determine the evaluation structure and weights of the criteria and alternatives, respectively.

An empirical study based on a dedicated terminal at Keelung Port is conducted. The result demonstrates that the radio-frequency identification (RFID) system is a suitable system for the terminal under consideration in this study.

The value of this study is twofold. First, EFA was applied to extract common factors from a wide questionnaire survey, thereby establishing a hierarchical analysis structure. This method and comprehensive evaluation structure are useful references for both practitioners and researchers to deal with problems of gate automation. Second, fuzzy AHP was used to decide the weights of the hierarchical structure. The weights obtained by this method are more objective and rational as the imprecision expressions in returned samples have been considered and dealt with.

This research aims to analyze whether the self-regulatory focus, a consumer variable, moderates the impact of incongruity on consumer evaluations. A congruity or typicality arises when a product (e.g. champagne) is consistently consumed in certain occasions or is used in conjunction with other specific products. This typicality may remind people of the product with regard to specific contexts but may limit the product’s overall versatility. In line with the moderate incongruity effect, there may be an opportunity to extend a product usage to situations associated with moderate incongruity or atypicality.

Study 1 is a 2 (self-regulatory focus: promotion/prevention) × 3 (atypicality of product usage context: typical/moderately atypical/highly atypical) between-subject experimental design. Study 2 replicated Study 1 with a sample of different age, three different champagne usage contexts and a manipulation of self-regulatory focus. Study 3 is a 2 (self-regulatory focus: promotion/prevention) × 3 (atypicality of product usage context: typical/moderately atypical/highly atypical) × 2 (product replicates: red wine/pearl jewelry) mixed design with self-regulatory focus and atypicality as between-subjects factors and product replicates as a within-subject variable.

Promotion-focus consumers’ product evaluations for the moderate incongruity or atypicality are higher than those for congruity and extreme incongruity. The relationship takes an inverted-U shape. Prevention-focus consumers’ product evaluations decrease monotonically as congruity decreases. Moreover, compared with prevention-focus individuals, promotion-focus ones evaluate moderate incongruity more favorably.

There are some limitations to this research. First, it only investigates the moderate incongruity effect with regard to product use occasions and complementary products. To increase the external validity of self-regulatory focus as a moderator of incongruity-evaluation relationships, it remains to future research to extend the research setting to products which have been tightly bonded to specific users, locations, seasons or times. Second, although the experimental designs are similar to previous ones, the scenarios are nevertheless imaginary. Therefore, participants’ involvement levels in all manipulated situations, as well as the quality of their answers, remain unknown.

First, brand managers should target only promotion-focus customers to obtain the moderate incongruity effect, but should maintain a consistent marketing strategy for prevention-focus customers. Second, because both promotion- and prevention-focus individuals have unfavorable evaluations of extreme incongruity, drastic changes in marketing strategies should be avoided. Third, people from a Western (Eastern) culture exhibit more promotion (prevention) focus orientation. Therefore, the type of culture can serve as an indicator of regulatory orientation. Fourth, a gain-framed appeal is recommended for realizing the moderate incongruity effect from promotion-focus consumers. Finally, promotion-focus (vs prevention-focus) consumers will welcome a moderately nonalignable than alignable product upgrade.

Most prior research on goal orientation has found that promotion-focus (vs. prevention-focus) individuals are more inclined to adopt new products, but both types of people are unlikely to purchase new products when the associated risks become salient, while the research related to schema incongruity has suggested that the moderate incongruity effect may not exist when consumers perceive high risks. By combining both schema congruity and self-regulatory focus theories, this research provides a more precise picture of how and why a person’s goal orientation influences the relative salience of risks and benefits with an increase in incongruity.

The purpose of the study is to clarify the quality of home delivery logistics services from the perspectives of customers and provide insight to aid the prioritization of service quality improvements and guide managerial strategic planning.

The study used a three-dimensional model that integrated Kano model, goal difficulty (GD) and importance–performance analysis (IPA) for investigating service quality aspects emphasized by customers and determine which attributes should be prioritized according to an enterprise's resource and capability constraints. Data were collected through questionnaires administered to the customers and managers of five primary home delivery logistics service enterprises and six small to medium-sized enterprises in Taiwan. Improving the quality of home delivery logistics services has become of increased interest for enterprises.

The three most important attributes, ranked in order of priority for improvement, were the protection of customers' personal information, delivery of products without damage and reasonable compensation standards for product damage. The study concludes that enterprises should prioritize the improvement of these attributes. Implications, detailed explanations and directions for further investigations are also proposed.

The study discusses the importance and relevant satisfaction levels of service quality attributes from the perspective of customers while also considering the limitations of companies' resources and capabilities. The results indicate that the method can be used to identify service quality attributes of home delivery logistics and formulate strategies for enhancing customer satisfaction.