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The purpose of this paper is to propose a classification for customer participation (CP) in services. Furthermore, it develops research propositions examining the moderating role of the proposed classification on the link between the magnitude of CP and service outcomes.

Building on the process-output framework, the paper explores the contingent nature of the effect of CP magnitude on service outcomes (satisfaction and efficiency).

The research propositions suggest that specific output enhances the positive effect of CP magnitude on satisfaction but also intensifies the negative effect of CP magnitude on efficiency; conversely, generic output diminishes the positive effect of CP magnitude on satisfaction but mitigates the negative effect of CP magnitude on efficiency. The effect of CP magnitude on satisfaction is stronger for a structured participation process than for an unstructured process; while the negative effect of CP magnitude on efficiency is stronger for an unstructured participation process than for a structured process. Further, process structure has an asymmetric enhancing effect on the negative link between CP magnitude and efficiency such that the enhancing effect of process structure is stronger for specific output than for generic output; likewise, process structure has an asymmetric enhancing effect on the positive link between CP magnitude and satisfaction such that the enhancing effect of structure is stronger for generic output than for specific output.

The research provides a conceptual approach to classify CP. Further research can focus on empirical validation as well as expanding the scope and variables examined.

The research points to guidelines to structure CP activities based on the nature of the participation process and the type of service output to achieve the competing goals of customer satisfaction and efficiency.

The proposed classification offers a new method to visualize CP in services. The framework is applicable to a wide variety of services, service contexts, and resources contributed by customers during their participation.

We investigate the joint impacts of three trust cues – content, sentiment and helpfulness votes – of online product reviews on the trust of reviews and attitude toward the product/service reviewed.

We performed three studies to test our research model, presenting participants with scenarios involving product reviews and prior users' helpful and unhelpful votes across experimental settings.

A high helpfulness ratio boosts users’ trust and influences behaviors in both positive and negative reviews. This effect is more pronounced in attribute-based reviews than emotion-based ones. Unlike the ratio effect, helpfulness magnitude significantly impacts only negative attribute-based reviews.

Future research should investigate voting systems in various online contexts, such as Facebook post likes, Twitter microblog thumb-ups and up-votes for article comments on platforms like The New York Times.

Our findings have significant implications for voting system-providers implementing information techniques on third-party review platforms, participatory sites emphasizing user-generated content and online retailers prioritizing product awareness and reputation.

This study addresses an identified need; that is, the helpfulness votes as an additional trust cue and the joint effects of three trust cues – content, sentiment and helpfulness votes – of online product reviews on the trust of customers in reviews and their consequential attitude toward the product/service reviewed.

Usually price information is presented as arabic numerals and consumers’ brand selections often involve comparative judgments of product prices. One important issue concerns whether consumers process price information in a similar way to that found in numerical cognition research. Since numerical processing is a learned, primarily automatic process, whether such processing interferes with or facilitates the processing of price information is an important question. It is important because a better understanding of how people process price information has implications for how managers should establish and communicate prices. This paper reports two studies that compare the processing of price with other numerical information.

Previous research on auditors’ processing of nondiagnostic evidence demonstrates the existence of a dilution effect – the tendency to underreact to diagnostic information when accompanied by nondiagnostic information. Prior audit studies find that accountability, a prominent feature in audit settings, does not affect the magnitude of the dilution effect exhibited by auditors. Based on more recent theories about accountability, this line of research is extended by exploring whether (1) the dilution effect previously identified is a robust phenomenon that can be replicated, (2) accountability has an impact on both the frequency and magnitude of dilution effect, and (3) the impact of accountability on both the frequency and magnitude of dilution effect is conditional on the degree of accountability experienced by the participants through various reporting levels. The experimental results from a sample of internal auditors provide evidence supporting the first two propositions; however, the results related to reporting levels are not significant. A discussion of the implications of these findings for audit research and practice follows.

As a field, we should put more emphasis on interpreting the magnitude of coefficient estimates rather than only assessing statistical significance. To support this claim, I demonstrate how focusing only on statistical significance can lead to incorrect and incomplete conclusions in many common applications of the linear regression model. Moreover, I demonstrate why interpreting coefficient estimates in common non-linear estimators (e.g., probit, logit, Poisson, and negative binomial estimators) requires additional care compared to the linear regression model.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of relationship digitization benefits on reseller profit. The authors hypothesized two pathways by which the digitization benefits improve reseller profitability: direct and indirect. The direct pathway is via enhancing the reseller’s digital resources and capabilities and the indirect pathway is by improving the relationship with a focal manufacturer by reducing inequity and enhancing interorganizational trust.

The authors use the survey methodology to attempt to understand the interorganizational dynamics of digitization. The authors survey more than 200 resellers in the computer and computer components industry.

Overall, the pattern of results generally supports the framework for direct and indirect effects of digitization benefits on the bottom line of the reseller, as well as the idea of examining the benefits structure components of benefit magnitude and benefit asymmetry. Sales benefit magnitude improves reseller profit directly, as enhanced digital resources result in a more efficient and effective reseller salesforce. The indirect effects flow through to profitability via inequity and trust.

The authors are not aware of any prior research that uses the asymmetry and magnitude framework to approach the digitization phenomenon.

The purpose of this paper is to extend the conclusions of a previous synthesis of attraction effect research (1995), focusing on the influence of background and design variables on the magnitude of the effect, and to identify additional factors that question the effect’s practical market relevance.

Meta-analysis and moderator analysis (meta-regression) are used to summarize the findings and assess the explanatory power of background variables on the magnitude of the attraction effect.

Analyses indicate significant effects for procedure and the pre-entrant target percentage in addition to decoy type and decoy location found in previous synthesis. These factors explain 16 per cent of the variance. Previous findings that between-subject designs result in stronger attraction effects are not substantiated. Viable decoys led to a reversal of the attraction effect.

This research contributes conceptually by demonstrating that the attraction effect is sensitive to research design factors which in some cases reverse the effect. This suggests that the underlying theory needs qualification and that generalizability may be limited. Given the constraints of meta-analysis, design factors that are idiosyncratic to a single study or are constant across studies could not be tested.

This research suggests that for the attraction effect to have practical relevance, knowledge of the effect needs updating because critical realities in the marketplace have been somewhat ignored by researchers in building theories regarding this effect.

By focusing on background variables that can moderate the magnitude of the attraction effect, the authors open a venue to expand the theoretical understanding and the practical relevance of the attraction effect in marketing.

How do firms make effective strategic change when competitive advantage deteriorates fast in a dynamic environment? Based on information-processing theory and organizational inertia theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how bottom-up learning affects the speed and magnitude of strategic change and if these relationships are contingent on strategic flexibility.

Using data of 213 firms in China, the authors conduct an empirical test of hypotheses through a stepwise multivariate regression approach.

The empirical study suggests that resource flexibility weakens the positive relationship between bottom-up learning and the speed of strategic change while strengthens the impact of bottom-up learning on the magnitude of strategic change. In addition, coordination flexibility strengthens the positive impact of bottom-up learning on the speed and magnitude of strategic change.

The findings not only provide a more nuanced and in-depth understanding of strategic change, but also offer strong guidance for firms on how to make better use of strategic flexibility in order to benefit from bottom-up learning.

This study aims to investigate if, when, and how the use of four different types of explanations affect customer satisfaction after a service failure.

The study used written scenarios of a hypothetical service failure to manipulate explanation type, failure magnitude and compensation offered. Participants were randomly assigned to read and respond to one version of the scenario, whilst imagining they were the customer experiencing the service failure.

The paper finds that explanation type, explanation quality, failure magnitude and compensation each had significant effects on customer evaluations. Explanation type and explanation quality interactively affected the extent to which customers were satisfied with service recovery: Apologies and excuses yielded higher satisfaction levels than did justifications and referential accounts but only when the explanations were perceived to be of high (vs low) quality. Specific types of attributions and forms of justice were shown to mediate the effects of three of the explanation types.

The study shows that customer evaluations following service failure vary with the type of explanation provided. Service firms need to provide an explanation in such circumstances, preferably a high quality excuse or apology, and need to understand the “process variables” that determine whether the explanation will satisfy aggrieved customers.

This is one of very few studies that have compared the efficacy of different types of explanations in service situations. The research sheds light not only on what types of explanations work best, but also on how they have their effect.

In a supplemental analysis, Krawczyk and Sawyers (1995) (K&S) found evidence that variations in engagement letter language affect the likelihood that taxpayers hold CPAs “responsible” for additional tax assessments, a broad measure of risk. We extend the K&S analysis by examining the effect of engagement letters on a larger set of precisely-defined tax practice risks. Our factor analysis identifies two risk constructs relating to client loss and reimbursement. MANCOVA shows that engagement letters reduce the likelihood of incurring both categories of risks. Also, some evidence suggests that higher-income participants are greater tax practice risks, and subjects with external loci of control represent higher client loss and reimbursement risks. Finally, we find that engagement letters reduce the percentage of professional fees subjects request as reimbursements following an unfavorable IRS audit and that prior legal suits, gender, age, and income level also may affect the fee reimbursement requested.