The authors examine the implications of electronic shopping for consumers, retailers, and manufacturers. They assume that near-term technological developments will offer consumers unparalleled opportunities to locate and compare product offerings. They examine these advantages as a function of typical consumer goals and the types of products and services being sought and offer conclusions regarding consumer incentives and disincentives to purchase through interactive home shopping vis-à-vis traditional retail formats. The authors discuss implications for industry structure as they pertain to competition among retailers, competition among manufacturers, and retailer-manufacturer relationships.

Interactive home shopping: Consumer, retailer, and manufacturer incentives to participate in

Social Networking Sites (SNSs) are virtual communities where users can create individual public profiles, interact with real-life friends, and meet other people based on shared interests. They are seen as a 'global consumer phenomenon' with an exponential rise in usage within the last few years. Anecdotal case study evidence suggests that 'addiction' to social networks on the Internet may be a potential mental health problem for some users. However, the contemporary scientific literature addressing the addictive qualities of social networks on the Internet is scarce. Therefore, this literature review is intended to provide empirical and conceptual insight into the emerging phenomenon of addiction to SNSs by: (1) outlining SNS usage patterns, (2) examining motivations for SNS usage, (3) examining personalities of SNS users, (4) examining negative consequences of SNS usage, (5) exploring potential SNS addiction, and (6) exploring SNS addiction specificity and comorbidity. The findings indicate that SNSs are predominantly used for social purposes, mostly related to the maintenance of established offline networks. Moreover, extraverts appear to use social networking sites for social enhancement, whereas introverts use it for social compensation, each of which appears to be related to greater usage, as does low conscientiousness and high narcissism. Negative correlates of SNS usage include the decrease in real life social community participation and academic achievement, as well as relationship problems, each of which may be indicative of potential addiction.

/pdf/online-social-networking-and-addiction-a-review-of-the-4da4e0pkld.pdf

Online Social Networking and Addiction—A Review of the Psychological Literature

Who uses Facebook? An investigation into the relationship between the Big Five, shyness, narcissism, loneliness, and Facebook usage

http://www.sakkyndig.com/psykologi/artvit/nadkarni2012.pdf

Why do people use Facebook

https://purehost.bath.ac.uk/ws/files/205692/Rowe_CHB_2012_28_2_561.pdf

A tale of two sites: Twitter vs. Facebook and the personality predictors of social media usage

Social network use and personality

This study evaluates the effect of the interaction between cognitive variables and the presence of scent on online search motivation, purchase characteristics, and telepresence. An interaction between consumers' type of thought process and the presence of scent was identified as influencing search motivation (attention focus and challenge) and telepresence experience. Ambient scent influenced the search motivation of consumers possessing systematic cognitive thinking style (SCTS) and the telepresence experience of consumers with intuitive cognitive thinking style (ICTS). In addition, much in the same way that ambient scent affects consumer behavior in traditional stores, in online settings consumers exposed to scent were found to demonstrate a higher degree of approach behavior. The results suggest extending the S-O-R model by emphasizing cognitive thinking style as a mediator of environmental stimuli. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Gideon Vinitzky

Papers

Social network use and personality

The effects of cognitive thinking style and ambient scent on online consumer approach behavior, experience approach behavior, and search motivation

Modifying consumer search processes in enhanced on-line interfaces☆

The Use of E-Questionnaires in Organizational Surveys