Showing papers in "International Journal of Electronic Commerce in 2009"

Credibility of Electronic Word-of-Mouth: Informational and Normative Determinants of On-line Consumer Recommendations

Abstract: Word-of-mouth (WOM) study is extended to the on-line context (eWOM) by examining the informational and normative determinants of the perceived credibility of on-line consumer recommendations. A survey of users of an on-line consumer discussion forum in China substantiated the effects of the determinants, although post-hoc analyses revealed that prior knowledge and involvement level moderate some of them. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

The Role of Mutual Trust in Building Members' Loyalty to a C2C Platform Provider

Abstract: Active interactions and relationships among members are crucial to the success of consumer-to-consumer (C2C) e-commerce. Prior studies have rarely articulated the relationship between the social interactions among members and their loyalty to the C2C platform provider. This paper differentiates two types of trust in C2C e-commerce-mutual trust among members and members' trust in the platform provider-and then proposes that trust in the platform provider mediates the relation between mutual trust and loyalty to the platform provider. A study using a sample from Chinese C2C Web sites shows that information interaction and emotional interaction both boost mutual trust among members, which in turn boosts their trust in and loyalty to the platform provider. For platform providers, the findings suggest a strategic route to building members' loyalty in a competitive market.

On-line Reputation Systems: The Effects of Feedback Comments and Reactions on Building and Rebuilding Trust in On-line Auctions

Abstract: Previous research on reputation systems primarily focused on their trust-building function. The present research addresses their trust-rebuilding function-specifically, the role of the short text comments given in reaction to negative feedback. Rebuilding trust is often necessary because on-line markets are noisy environments. The results of two experimental studies of eBay users show that trustworthiness judgments are influenced by the text comments accompanying negative feedback and also by whether a trust violation is perceived as competence-based or morality-based. Plain apologies were more successful than denials in repairing trust. These effects were mediated by the perceived believability of the comments. Thus, to avoid the detrimental effect of noise on trust, operators of on-line marketplaces should encourage text feedback comments and reactions.

Influence of Web Advertising Strategies, Consumer Goal-Directedness, and Consumer Involvement on Web Advertising Effectiveness

Abstract: Determining the best way to utilize on-line media for advertising purposes is a critical question. This research, based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), incorporates consumer goal-directedness and involvement as moderators influencing when a particular advertising strategy (i. e., variation strategy vs. appeal strategy) will be appropriate for Web advertisements. The results of a laboratory experiment supported the use of ELM in the Web environment and showed how advertising strategies should be designed and implemented in accordance with consumer goal-directedness and involvement to achieve Web advertising effectiveness. The results demonstrated the uniqueness of the Web media and the importance of goal-directedness and consumer involvement in the Web advertising context.

Increasing the Attractiveness of Mass Customization: The Role of Complementary On-line Services and Range of Options

Abstract: This study investigates the antecedents of consumer intentions to use mass customization on the Internet and the joint role of complementary on-line services (visualization, salesperson interaction, and post-purchase product adaptation) and the range of mass customization options in on-line mass customization. It extends past research by demonstrating that perceptions of control and enjoyment, in addition to perceptions of product outcome and complexity, have a strong impact on consumer intentions to use an on-line mass customization process. The study finds that both increasing the range of mass customization options and providing complementary on-line services enhance perceptions of product outcome, control, and enjoyment in using an on-line mass customization process. However, in contrast to the range of mass customization options, complementary on-line services can be increased without increasing the perceived complexity of the process. Finally, perceived control mediates the negative effect of perceived complexity on consumer intentions to use on-line mass customization.

Motivations in Open Source Software Communities: The Mediating Role of Effort Intensity and Goal Commitment

Abstract: As a community-based innovation, the open source software (OSS) development phenomenon has received great attention from researchers and practitioners. Understanding the factors that affect the involvement and contributions of participants in OSS projects is of significance to facilitate project success. This paper investigates the effects of motivation on participant performance in OSS projects, drawing upon self-determination theory to examine how task effort (i. e., effort intensity and goal commitment) mediates the relationships between a spectrum of motivations and individual performance. The research model is supported by survey data from 204 participants in OSS projects. The theoretical contributions and managerial implications are discussed.

Attributes of Web Site Usability: A Study of Web Users with the Repertory Grid Technique

Abstract: Research on Web site usability using the Microsoft Usability Guidelines (MUG) have (1) assumed the MUG categories and subcategories as a given and (2) focused on the relationships between these attributes and site usability, thereby largely ignoring their underlying meaning. Using the Repertory Grid Technique, the present research elicits the attributes that Web users consider important when using business-to-consumer (B2C) Web sites. The results support the MUG framework but identify three additional attributes that warrant being MUG subcategories: quality of Web site content, Web site appearance, and extent to which the site provides convenient services to facilitate on-line activities. An enhanced MUG is presented. The implications for research and practice are discussed.

Profiling Retail Web Site Functionalities and Conversion Rates: A Cluster Analysis

Abstract: A Web site's conversion rate (the proportion of visitors who complete a desired action) is an important competitive metric. Web retailers invest significant effort in managing functionalities that can attract and convert visitors. Retailers' decisions are often based on tradition or simply follow competitors' efforts. The absence of an informed decision-making process usually leads to significant overlap in marketing efforts and investment in functionalities. This paper uses the two-step clustering algorithm to profile Web retailers in terms of Web site functionalities and Web performance metrics using data on the top 500 U. S. Web retailers ranked by their 2006 annual sales. The study finds an essential set of functionalities and indicates the presence of complementarities among sets of functionalities associated with significantly different rates of conversion and monthly visitation. It also finds different profiles for Web-only retailers versus those that have traditional channels in addition to the Web. These results may be useful for retailers in their decisions on providing Web site functionalities and in managing their conversion rates and other related metrics.

The Role of ERP Implementation in Enabling Digital Options: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis

Abstract: Many firms are transforming themselves from vertically integrated organizations into digitally enabled organizations. As firms become more innovative in their technical infrastructures and more competitive in their respective industries/verticals, their extended enterprise models include using their previous enterprise resource planning (ERP) investments as foundations for prioritizing additions and for longer-term strategies. The key issue for many firms is how to leverage their ERP implementation to become better partners and collaborators by enabling digital options to exploit business opportunities. This paper ascertains the contextual conditions under which ERP system implementations have the greatest impact on intention to adopt digital options. Using empirical data, it finds that the impact of ERP implementation on digital-options adoption intention is moderated by a firm's digital-resource readiness. For information systems (IS) practice, the study suggests that firms should view ERP divisibility as an option value generator for supporting new customers and revenue opportunities. For IS research, it relates digital-options theory to specific measurable constructs and to the firm's digital-resource readiness. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

A Hybrid Firm's Pricing Strategy in Electronic Commerce Under Channel Migration

Abstract: Achieving an effective business design across the Internet and the off-line channel is a critical concern for a hybrid firm's choice of pricing strategy. Two pricing models are proposed to examine how consumer channel migration (one-way channel interaction from the traditional sales channel to the Internet) affects pricing strategy. One model has no interaction between the Internet and off-line channels. The other includes the possibility of one-way migration to the Internet channel and incorporates consumers' channel-switching costs and loyalty to the firm. The two models offer interesting results for understanding traditional and Internet-based selling. A high level of channel migration leads a firm to manage the two channels as one. With low channel migration, in contrast, the firm should optimize and manage each channel separately. The models had two main findings: (1) the level of channel migration determines a hybrid firm's pricing strategy; (2) a hybrid firm's price-level choice should be determined by the on-line demand proportion of its business. The modeling results were validated with empirical analysis for 10 large South Korean e-commerce firms by comparing prices in different product categories for various types of hybrid firms and Internet-only firms. This research offers new marketing strategy insights for managers of hybrid firms who wish to optimize price-setting decisions based on interactions between distribution channels and the intensity of the firm's involvement in the on-line channel.

Effects of Enterprise Interoperability on Integration Efforts in Supply Chains

Abstract: Despite their business value and return on investment, multi-enterprise integration projects are unbearably costly for many companies. With a view to realizing lower integration costs and resources...

Cultural, National, and Industry-Level Differences in B2B Web Site Design and Content

Abstract: Web sites are a major instrument for companies to transmit information to customers and conduct transactions in business markets. Differences in Web site design and content across companies can be ...

The Business Value of Process Sharing in Supply Chains: A Study of RosettaNet

Abstract: The research described in this paper builds on process theory and the resource-based view to examine the business value of process sharing in supply chains. Extending the two-stage model developed to define firm-level IT value, a measurement system is designed for assessing five business values resulting from process sharing: direct and indirect technological value, direct and indirect process value, and relationship value. To ensure that these business values can be fully realized on the firm level, the paper examines the relationship between them and firm performance and the moderating role of collaboration levels. An empirical study conducted in the context of the RosettaNet process-sharing initiative in the high-technology industry supply chain finds that (1) improving supply chain relationships can increase firm performance as much as business processes can; (2) improving indirect values can create greater firm performance than improving direct values, and (3) value conversion is more effective at high levels of collaboration. This valuation framework contributes to the literature by confirming the range of business values offered by process sharing and also by showing which value is of primary importance to firms in their business decisions. The findings will guide firms in identifying key value components, targeting those that can lead to higher firm performance, and enhancing collaboration levels to improve the value conversion.

Contrast and Assimilation Effects on Consumers' Trust in Internet Companies

Abstract: The Internet presents an ever-shifting landscape for consumers to navigate. Links that exist one day may be gone the next, only to be replaced by new sets of connections among organizations. This study addresses the question of how an organization's positioning in a particular set of links on the Web might bias consumers' later judgment of its trustworthiness. The study suggests that the particular set of links a consumer faces in navigating toward an organization constitutes a context for the encounter with that organization and may have a significant impact on the way the consumer judges the company after interacting with its Web site. The paper develops and tests hypotheses that argue for the priming effect of context. Results of an experimental study provide evidence that unfamiliar companies may benefit from an overall assimilation effect when a link to their sites is surrounded by links to more familiar organizations, and familiar organizations may benefit from a contrast effect when inexperienced consumers see their company link surrounded by links to unfamiliar companies. The paper extends prior models on the determinants of consumers' on-line trust by examining concepts from priming theory. The conclusions suggest that practitioners should be aware of the context in which links to their sites are placed.

Image Effects and Rational Inattention in Internet-Based Selling

Abstract: The frequency of occurrence of certain price points in Internet-based selling is investigated in order to determine what drives the observed regularities and variations. Theories based on consumer perceptions of price and quality images, and on rational inattention to price-endings are explored by specifying and testing empirical models for price-endings using more than 1.5 million daily observations on multiple product categories sold by 90 Internet-based retailers collected over a two-year period. The results show that a firm's on-line reputation and relative price levels affect the price-endings chosen in different product categories, and that 9-ending prices increase consumer purchases. These findings support an image theory of store quality and price. The use of 9-ending prices varies across Internet selling formats in a way consistent with differences in the rational attentiveness these channels engender in consumers. This research on the role of information technology in price-setting provides insights for marketers who wish to optimize price-setting decisions in the competitive environment of Internet retailing.

A Benchmarking-Based Requirement Analysis Methodology for Improving Web Sites

Abstract: Benchmarking is a critical activity in Web site development and has been employed for requirement analysis in a variety of Web site renewal and development projects. By comparing their current Web site with competitors' cutting-edge sites, managers can attain improvement in quality. Despite the importance and popularity of benchmarking, however, the literature sheds little light on the incorporation of its techniques into Web site improvement methodologies. This paper proposes a benchmarking-based requirement analysis methodology coupled with a goal-driven approach. The methodology works through three phases-elicitation, analysis, and specification-to seamlessly link business requirements to implementation details. Use cases are employed to capture functional requirements. Web sites are investigated in terms of usability to sharpen nonfunctional requirements. The usefulness of the methodology is demonstrated by applying it to improve a real-life Web site.

Biased Listing in Electronic Marketplaces: Exploring Its Implications in On-Line Hotel Distribution

Abstract: Biased listing is the practice of listing items in electronic marketplaces according to criteria other than the normally expected ones (e.g., relevance or quality). This study investigates the existence, nature, and implications of biased listing effects using the case of an on-line hotel distribution platform. The study is based on real-life booking data provided by Hotel.de, the second-largest hotel-booking platform in Europe, which lists hotels according to the value of their contracts. The contribution of the study is threefold: (1) it reveals the existence of biased listing effects in an e-marketplace for products and services; (2) it explores the nature and functioning of biased listing as a combination of ranking and labeling effects, revealing a crowding-out effect that affects hotels that do not switch to higher-value contracts; (3) it discusses the implications and strategic options for the market parties. The study shows how market providers that engage in biased listing practices are able to exploit their gatekeeper position by making suppliers compete for listing positions on the platform. This research contributes to a better understanding of the role of e-marketplaces as gatekeepers between supply and demand and, at the same time, is part of a wider context of research on consumer decision-making in informationrich decision situations.

An Economic Analysis of the Software Market with a Risk-Sharing Mechanism

Abstract: Inadequate software security is blamed for poor network security when viruses and worms cause major disruptions. However, software vendors have little incentive to improve the security quality of their products because they are not directly liable for losses incurred due to poor security. The concept of software liability has been intensely discussed by computer scientists and jurists for years as a possible solution for improving software security. This paper examines a risk-sharing mechanism between a software vendor and its customers as a way to implement software liability. It considers both the software vendor's incentive to share risks with customers and the question of whether risk-sharing leads to better software security. The model provides evidence of underprovided security quality under monopoly with complete information, as has been observed in the market. The policy implications of the risk-sharing mechanism and the possible impact of competition on software vendors' incentive for risk-sharing are examined. Information asymmetry is found to be a key factor in voluntary risk-sharing under monopoly; the risk-sharing level can be a signal of unobservable security quality.

Predicting Missing Ratings in Recommender Systems: Adapted Factorization Approach

Abstract: The paper presents a factorization-based approach to make predictions in recommender systems. These systems are widely used in electronic commerce to help customers find products according to their preferences. Taking into account the customer's ratings of some products available in the system, the recommender system tries to predict the ratings the customer would give to other products in the system. The proposed factorization-based approach uses all the information provided to compute the predicted ratings, in the same way as approaches based on Singular Value Decomposition (SVD). The main advantage of this technique versus SVD-based approaches is that it can deal with missing data. It also has a smaller computational cost. Experimental results with public data sets are provided to show that the proposed adapted factorization approach gives better predicted ratings than a widely used SVD-based approach.

Account-Sharing Detection Through Keystroke Dynamics Analysis

Abstract: Account sharing refers to a situation where multiple individuals share a Web site account to avoid paying a fee or providing personal information. As a result of account sharing, service providers lose revenue, underestimate membership, and have impaired understanding of their customers. A generic framework for detecting account sharing is proposed, using keystroke dynamics. Starting with the observation that a user's keystroke patterns are consistent and distinct from those of other individuals, it is assumed that each user's keystroke patterns form a "cluster" in Euclidean space. The number of sharers can be estimated by the number of clusters. In this paper, the "optimal" number of clusters is estimated based on the Bayesian model-selection framework with Gaussian mixture models obtained using the variational Bayesian approach. In a case study involving 25 passwords and 16 users, the proposed approach performed well in "sharing detection," with a 2 percent false alarm rate, a 2 percent miss rate, and a "total user estimation" error of 7 percent. The proposed approach is viable and merits further investigation.

Introduction to the Special Section: Consumption, Influence, and Participation of Web Users

Abstract: Introduction to the Special Section: Consumption, Influence, and Participation of Web Users James Y. L. Thong & Felix B. Tan To cite this article: James Y. L. Thong & Felix B. Tan (2009) Introduction to the Special Section: Consumption, Influence, and Participation of Web Users, International Journal of Electronic Commerce, 13:4, 5-8 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.2753/JEC1086-4415130401