PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem, wherein it is impossible for an electronic content information provider to provide commercially secure and effective method, for a configurable general-purpose electronic commercial transaction/distribution control system. SOLUTION: In this system, having at least one protected processing environment for safely controlling at least one portion of decoding of digital information, a secure content distribution method comprises a process for encapsulating digital information in one or more digital containers; a process for encrypting at least a portion of digital information; a process for associating at least partially secure control information for managing interactions with encrypted digital information and/or digital container; a process for delivering one or more digital containers to a digital information user; and a process for using a protected processing environment, for safely controlling at least a portion of the decoding of the digital information. COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

https://apps.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a423264.pdf

Systems and Methods for Secure Transaction Management and Electronic Rights Protection

Electronic word-of-mouth in hospitality and tourism management

Consumer engagement in a virtual brand community: An exploratory analysis

This article develops and discusses the concept of customer engagement behaviors (CEB), which we define as the customers’ behavioral manifestation toward a brand or firm, beyond purchase, resulting from motivational drivers. CEBs include a vast array of behaviors including word-of-mouth (WOM) activity, recommendations, helping other customers, blogging, writing reviews, and even engaging in legal action. The authors develop a conceptual model of the antecedents and consequences — customer, firm, and societal — of CEBs. The authors suggest that firms can manage CEBs by taking a more integrative and comprehensive approach that acknowledges their evolution and impact over time.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID2340164_code1783641.pdf?abstractid=2340164&mirid=1&type=2

Customer Engagement Behavior: Theoretical Foundations and Research Directions

This article develops and discusses the concept of customer engagement behaviors (CEB), which we define as the customers’ behavioral manifestation toward a brand or firm, beyond purchase, resulting from motivational drivers. CEBs include a vast array of behaviors including word-of-mouth (WOM) activity, recommendations, helping other customers, blogging, writing reviews, and even engaging in legal action. The authors develop a conceptual model of the antecedents and consequences—customer, firm, and societal—of CEBs. The authors suggest that firms can manage CEBs by taking a more integrative and comprehensive approach that acknowledges their evolution and impact over time.

Customer engagement behavior : Theoretical foundations and research directions

https://www.marketingcenter.de/sites/mcm/files/downloads/research/lmm/literature/hennig-thurau_et_al._2004_jim_electronic_word-of-mouth_via_consumer-opninion_platforms_what_motivates_consumers_to_articulate_themselves_on_the_internet.pdf

Electronic word-of-mouth via consumer-opinion platforms: What motivates consumers to articulate themselves on the Internet?

The Internet makes it possible for consumers to obtain electronic word of mouth from other consumers. Customer comments articulated via the Internet are available to a vast number of other customers, and therefore can be expected to have a significant impact on the success of goods and services. This paper derives several motives that explain why customers retrieve other customers' on-line articulations from Web-based consumer opinion platforms. The relevance of these motives and their impact on consumer buying and communication behavior are tested in a large-scale empirical study. The results illustrate that consumers read on-line articulations mainly to save decision-making time and make better buying decisions. Structural equation modeling shows that their motives for retrieving on-line articulations strongly influence their behavior.

Electronic Word-of-Mouth: Motives for and Consequences of Reading Customer Articulations on the Internet

With growing competition and the increasing complexity of commercial information, interpersonal communication continues to be important to marketers. Market mavens, those consumers with general product knowledge that act as disseminators of product information, play a central role in influencing others’ purchase decisions. Previous research, which has focused on mavens’ demographics and media consumption, has neglected the motives that drive these consumer communicators. From a survey of 326 consumers, we explore how those respondents ranked high on the maven scale differ in terms of their motivations to engage in word‐of‐mouth behavior from those scoring lower on the maven scale. Our results indicate that market mavens, compared with moderate and non‐mavens, are motivated to a greater extent by a sense of obligation to share information, a desire to help others, and feelings of pleasure associated with informing others about products. The relationship between initial information diffusion, maven group, and the investigated motivations are also explored. Implications for marketers targeting mavens are offered.

What makes mavens tick? exploring the motives of market mavens initiation of information diffusion

The lack of previous relevant consumer research in Germany, together with the need to test the generalizability of consumer decision-making styles in different countries and with non-student samples, prompted an investigation of German shoppers. The original U.S. eight-factor model could not be confirmed completely, but support was found for six factors: Brand Consciousness, Perfectionism, Recreational/Hedonism, Confused by Overchoice, Impulsiveness, and Novelty-Fashion Consciousness. Variety Seeking was novel to Germany and replaced brand loyalty and price-value consciousness factors found in previous countries. Explanations for the differences are discussed as well as the marketing implications.

/pdf/german-consumer-decision-making-styles-eaa1mtawe0.pdf

German Consumer Decision‐Making Styles

Decision-making styles are important to marketing because they determine consumer behaviour, are relatively stable over time and thus are relevant for market segmentation. The need to test the generalisability of Sproles and Kendall's consumer styles inventory (CSI) in different countries and an attempt to extend the original work led the authors to test the structure of decision-making styles of German shoppers and its use in segmenting consumers. From a sample of 455 German consumers, a seven-dimensional structure of decision-making styles was found using principal components analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Cluster analysis identified six meaningful and distinct decision-making groups. These decision-making groups can be viewed as basic segments that can be used in conjunction with traditional market segmentation approaches. Implications for marketing research and practitioners are discussed.

/pdf/consumers-decision-making-style-as-a-basis-for-market-3f9pnycdmb.pdf

Gianfranco Walsh

Papers

Electronic word-of-mouth via consumer-opinion platforms: What motivates consumers to articulate themselves on the Internet?

Electronic Word-of-Mouth: Motives for and Consequences of Reading Customer Articulations on the Internet

What makes mavens tick? exploring the motives of market mavens initiation of information diffusion

German Consumer Decision‐Making Styles

Consumers' decision-making style as a basis for market segmentation