Showing papers in "Journal of Electronic Commerce Research in 2011"

Determinants of E-Commerce Customer Satisfaction, Trust, and Loyalty in Saudi Arabia

Abstract: Managing customer trust, satisfaction, and loyalty attitudes of e-commerce services is very important for the long-term growth of many businesses. Previous research has shown that e-retailers experience difficulty maintaining customer loyalty despite the recent rapid growth in Business to Customer (B2C) e-commerce applications. Numerous studies have empirically examined B2C e-commerce customer trust, satisfaction, and loyalty attitudes in various countries. Nevertheless, empirical research on these key constructs of e-commerce in developing Arab countries is generally limited. Thus, the main objective of this paper is to identify the factors that influence the extent to which Saudi consumers trust, are satisfied with, and are loyal towards B2C e-commerce. This study draws on previous research to build a conceptual framework which hypothesizes relationships between these three e-commerce constructs and their antecedents. A survey was conducted among B2C e-commerce customers in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia using a structured self-administered questionnaire. The findings of this study show that B2C e-commerce customer loyalty in Saudi Arabia is strongly influenced by customer satisfaction but weakly influenced by customer trust. The study limitations, implications, along with directions for further research are discussed. Keywords: B2C e-commerce, e-retailer, customer trust, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty 1. Introduction The Internet and Web development have been the most exciting developments in the field of information and communications technology in recent years. With increasing Internet access, the use of e-commerce services by the population is booming globally and locally in Saudi Arabia. The most recent estimate of e-commerce spending in Saudi Arabia (taken in 2010) is SR12 billion [The Arab Advisors Group 2009], the largest in the Arab world. According to [Wikipedia 2010], the currently estimated population of Saudi Arabia is around 28 million. It has been reported by the Arab Advisors Group [2009] that Saudi Arabia's IT sector is growing at a rate of 9.3%. Furthermore, the report showed that 3.5 million internet users or 14.26% of the Saudi population were engaged in e-commerce transactions. The results of the report indicate the country's emergence as an ideal market for e-commerce activities among the developing countries in the Middle East region. At a global level, customer loyalty (e.g. customer retention) is generally very strongly related to the profitability and long-term growth of a firm [Reichheld 1995]. Small increases in customer retention rates can dramatically increase profit [Huffmire 2001]. Loyal customers visit their favorite websites twice as often as non-loyal customers, and loyal customers spend more money [Dialscore.com 2000]. According to analysts, 35 to 40% of e-commerce website sales revenue comes from repeat visitors [Rosen 2001]. As such, it is not surprising that customer loyalty has been found to be a critical asset for e-retailers. Reichheld and Schefter [2000] found that the high cost of acquiring new online customers could lead to unprofitable customer relationships for up to three years. Consequently, it is very useful to determine the key antecedents or factors that influence customer loyalty. Previous research found that e-retailers experience difficulty maintaining customer loyalty despite the recent rapid growth in B2C e-commerce [Hoffman and Novak 2000]. Although there are certainly challenges shared by both traditional retailers and e-retailers, e-retailers face greater competition due to the fact that on the Internet a competitor is only a click away [Mithas, Ramasubbu, Krishnan, and Fornell 2007]. Therefore, attracting and retaining the attention of online shoppers who skim virtual shelves is not an easy task, and without a strong incentive for online shoppers to visit a website and without an anchor to keep customers on it, e-retailers may struggle retaining them in an increasingly competitive e-market. …

The Effect of Website Design Dimensions on Initial Trust: A Synthesis of the Empirical Literature

Abstract: This paper aims to provide an integrative review of the experiment-based literature on the antecedents of initial trust in a business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce setting. To that end, we present a framework that classifies trust-inducing website features according to three broad dimensions, namely visual design, social cue design and content design, because comparing studies with different empirical set-ups requires conceptual clarity. To synthesize the literature we use an advanced vote-count procedure combined with a sign test. We find that the literature provides sound empirical support for our general hypothesis that web design cues effectively enhance consumers' initial trust towards unfamiliar online vendors. E-tailers should thus consider embedding human-like cues (i.e., facial photos, video streams) into their interfaces, as well as integrating assistive web applications (i.e., avatars, recommendation agents). Interestingly, we also find that internally provided e-assurance structures (such as privacy/security policies and vendor-specific guarantees) can be as effective as paid e-assurance mechanisms (such as third-party trust endorsements). Our overview also reveals that the effectiveness of certain trust-signalling features within the visual and social cue design dimensions is still under-researched. The support for the positive effect of such website atmospheric cues is therefore still weak. Keywords: initial online trust, website design, B2C e-commerce, literature review, vote-count method (ProQuest: ... denotes formula omitted.) 1. Introduction The goal of this paper is to provide a selective but systematic review of the empirical literature on initial trust in a business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce environment. In particular, we synthesize the experiment-based studies that investigate the effects of the e-tail interface on consumers' trust towards unfamiliar vendors. The choice of this specific topic is motivated by the need for a better understanding of how e-vendors can induce consumer trust by adequately choosing the characteristics of their interfaces. A lack of trust towards Web vendors is one of the main factors deterring consumers to engage in online shopping [Beatty et al. 2011]. Investigating the antecedents of initial trust is particularly important because in interactions where parties are unknown to each other and the internet is the channel of communication, initial trust determines whether or not a transaction will occur [Wakefield et al. 2004]. Thus, the ability to evoke initial online trust can determine the success or failure of an online retailer. There are already a few meta-studies in this domain that have summarized large bodies of evidence. Beatty et al. [2011] and Jourdan and Ingram [2011] offer a valuable discussion of antecedents of online trust such as usefulness, ease of use, and risk. However, a literature review that focuses on trust-inducing website design features is still missing. This holds a fortiori for such dimensions as visual, social cue and content design features. Moreover, empirical studies on these features often reach contradictory conclusions. For example, while some authors find a positive influence of institutional cues on consumer initial trust formation [e.g., Hu et al. 2010], others do not support this claim [e.g., Bahmanziari et al. 2009]. The main goal of this paper is therefore to identify what elements of website design play a crucial role in initial online trust formation, and to discuss the reasons for the discrepancies observed in the empirical research. We thus put forward the following research questions: What kinds of Web interface applications can be effective in stimulating initial online trust?, and also: What areas remain to be investigated further? Towards this end, we first briefly explain the concept of initial online trust, and how it differs from online trust in general (Section 2). …

Extending the Technology Acceptance Model for Adoption of E-Shopping by Consumers in Turkey

Abstract: The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is a very important modelling approach in information technology research. In this study, an attempt is made to explain consumer acceptance of e-shopping by means of an extended model based on TAM. Perceived trust, perceived enjoyment, perceived information quality, perceived system quality and perceived service quality factors are added to the classical TAM to produce an extended research model. This extended research model is tested against data obtained from 606 internet users in Turkey, and a structural equation model is used to analyse these data. The results support the previous findings related to classical TAM; however, the recently included external factors are also effective in explaining the acceptance of e-shopping. Keywords: E-commerce, Online Shopping, TAM, Structural Equation Models 1. Introduction In the last few centuries, mankind has gone through industrial and electronic revolutions. In the 21st century, the network revolution has been added to its predecessors. The Internet, in particular e-commerce, is the driving force of this revolution. In the new electronic age, commercial transactions and functions have become sustainable in the electronic domain. The Internet and e-commerce are rapidly spreading new and very effective means of conducting commercial transactions. Along with the liberalisation of commerce on a global scale, e-commerce is a product of the recent technological developments witnessed in the last decade, which make information communication ever easier [Turban and King, 2003; Celik, 2009]. Fast spreading of the internet has made the e-commerce an indispensable and effective tool to realize the commercial transactions. The first examples of the e-commerce have been about the money transfer as electronic [Kalakota ve Whinston, 1997]. And later, the transfer transactions among the financial institutions have followed it effectively and safely. E-commerce is described like to make production, presentation, selling, insurance, distribution and payment transactions of the goods and services in the electronic domain. The developments in the information technology which are the effective ways to provide the new arrangements for the relations between firms and clients, called forth the new jobs and commercial tools [Goldsmith and Bridges, 2000; Crespo and del Bosque, 2008]. Zwass (1996), described the e-commerce as to share the commercial information's by preserving commercial transactions and relations conducted with telecommunication networks. Kalakota and Whinston (1997), stated to be defined it as the distribution of products and services via computer networks. Treese and Stewart (1998), referred the e-commerce as the usage of the universal internet for buying and selling of the goods and services. The simplest meaning of the e-commerce is described as buying and selling of the goods via internet [Shih, 2004; Bidgoli, 2002]. The development of e-commerce in Turkey gained impetus in 1998. Until 2003, computer ownership and internet access rates in Turkey were very low compared to those in developed countries, which posed an obstacle to obtaining the desired volume in e-commerce. As these rates increase, significant improvement is seen in the number of e-commerce transactions [SPO, 2006]. According to the results of the ICT (Information and communication Technologies) Usage in Households Research conducted in April 2008, 24.5% of households had internet access. Of the households which had no internet access, 29.6% stated that they did not need the internet. In the period of January-March 2008, 7.2% of the internet user households ordered or purchased goods or services for personal use over the internet. The percentage of households that had never purchased or ordered goods and services over internet was 88.4%. In the 12 month period between April 2007 and March 2008, 30.4% of the household members who ordered or purchased goods or services over internet bought electronic devices, followed by household goods (25. …

Bidding on the buying funnel for sponsored search and keyword advertising

Abstract: In this research, we evaluate the effectiveness of the buying funnel as a model for understanding consumer interaction with keyword advertising campaigns on web search engines. We analyze data of nearly 7 million records from a 33 month, $56 million (US) search engine marketing campaign of a major US retailer. We classify key phrases used in this campaign into stages of the buying funnel (i.e., Awareness, Research, Decision, and Purchase) and then compare the consumer behaviors associated with each stage of the buying funnel using the critical keyword advertising metrics of impressions, clicks, cost-per-click, sales revenue, orders, and items sold. Findings from our analysis show that the stages from the buying funnel are effective for classifying types of queries, with statistically different consumer behaviors for all attributes among all stages. However, results also indicate that the buying funnel model does not represent the actual process that consumer engage in when contemplating a potential purchase, as the stages do not seem to be associated with expected consumer actions as predicted by the model. Results show that Awareness key phrases cost less and generate more sales revenue than Purchase queries, indicating that these broader phases can be a lucrative advertising segment for sponsored search campaigns. The results reported in this paper are important to researchers interested in understanding online consumers interaction with search engines and beneficial to search engine marketers striving to design successful advertising campaigns. Insights from this research could produce keyword advertising efforts being more effectively targeted to consumers in order to achieve campaign goals.

Exploring the internet as a unique shopping channel to sell both real and virtual items: a comparison of factors affecting purchase intention and consumer characteristics

Abstract: The U.S. online retail sector has been steadily growing in the past years, but it is noteworthy that many Internet users are still reluctant to use online channels for shopping frequently. Given this consumer resistance and the fierce competition among shopping channels, this study aims to provide managerial insights into how online merchants can reinforce and maximize unique and differentiated values in executing shopping services as an Internet-based system. To that end, this study compares two types of products/services that online merchants can market —―real‖ and ―virtual‖ items — with respect to factors affecting purchase intention and consumer characteristics. Using a survey of 350 college students, this study reveals that college students apply different criteria in making the decision to use an online shopping channel, according to the product types. Perceived benefits and risks of online shopping are salient factors affecting intention to purchase real items through the Internet, but they do not have any impact on intention to purchase virtual items. Specifically, perceived usefulness, ease of use, enjoyment, security, social norm, flow, and gender affect intention to purchase real items through the Internet. Social norm and gender are the two predictors of intention to purchase virtual items.

Toward the Trend of Cloud Computing

Abstract: Cloud Computing has recently been recognized as one of the most emerging technology. A considerable amount of research has been carried out to explore different areas in Cloud Computing. Nevertheless, few areas including reliability, security and business value of Cloud Computing are yet to be explored. This paper presents a brief summary on the analysis of current gaps and new trends in cloud computing research based on extant information systems literature, industry reports, and practical experience reflections. Additionally, it highlights the significance of cloud computing and its implications for practitioner and academics. We conclude by outlining the opportunities associated with the development of Cloud Computing and noting future research directions. Keywords: cloud computing, service utilization, cloud services 1. Introduction There is no doubt that Cloud Computing is making a significant impact on Information Technology (IT). It is not merely a technology concept but also a new approach of implementing electronic commerce. An idea that computing is used similarly to the way of utility consumption (e.g., electricity), is to revolutionize the development and delivery of IT services [Brynjolfsson et al. 2010]. Traditionally, companies need to acquire hardware, software to automate and improve their business processes. Additionally, IT teams were required to support the information systems infrastructure. A rapid growth in technology poses huge challenges for companies to keep with the most up to date and current technology. In order to be with the pace of the market, companies continuously spend time and resources in IT to remain competitive [Fruhling & Digman 2000]. This situation has greatly been impacted and may change with the inception of Cloud Computing. It offers valuable and useful benefits for businesses of any size or type. Generally, customers are attracted towards the promises of Cloud Computing that include but not limited to enhancing IT resources with small upfront costs. It is suggested that companies all over the world might be slowly resizing their in-house IT infrastructure and have started using computation services available on the Internet to meet their organization needs [Carr 2008]. Cloud Computing is arguably one of the most important technological shifts within last decade. In recent years, computing has become an inexpensive commodity that is reachable and affordable to many business and individual customers. This appeals to many companies, whether small or large enterprises, because with less upfront cost than the traditional way, no software and hardware to buy, and very few things to manage, they could achieve increased level of robustness and get benefit of built in redundancy of Cloud Computing environment. Extant research suggests that Cloud Computing includes three types of models [Iyer & Henderson 2 Mell & Grance 2011]: Software as a service (SaaS), Platform as a service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a service (IaaS). Under SaaS, applications (e.g., productivity, accounting or human resource applications) are provided by Cloud service provider over the Internet. Any update or change in the application is solely the responsibility of the provider. Customer pays for the service based on their opted service utilization. Under PaaS, developmental tools that help to build computer applications are managed and provided by cloud service provider over the Internet. In this situation, customers access these tools through web browser and develop new applications without installing the development tool on their local machine. In addition, customers can customize, deploy and test the newly developed applications over the Internet and without any administrative skills of computer servers. Under IaaS, customers utilize a complete set of equipments required to support their business operations. The equipments can include hardware, storage, servers, networking component, and etc. …

Impact of Virtual Brand Experience on Purchase Intentions: The Role of Multichannel Congruence

Abstract: Online virtual environments have been identified as emerging marketing channels, whereby consumers can learn about brands through experiences that involve both functional and social interaction. This research examines the impact of virtual experiences on attitude formation, and offline purchase intentions, and identifies three types of channel congruence (perceived diagnosticity, self-image congruence, and behavioral consistency) that help explain the cross-channel effects. The findings from this study indicate that multichannel effects exist between virtual brand experiences and real-world purchasing decisions. These effects depend on the extent to which the virtual shopping experience is believed to be accurate and useful for evaluation, shared self-concept with other users of the brand, and perceived behavioral consistency across marketing channels. Keywords: multichannel marketing, brand experience; virtual worlds; Second Life; channel congruency 1. Introduction In recent years a number of technologies that permit consumers to search for information, interact with brands, communicate with other consumers, try out products, and buy real and digital products over the internet have emerged. Some examples of these types of technologies include online product simulations (e.g. test driving automobiles, virtually trying-on clothing), avatars ["animated representations of the user"; see Holzwarth et al. 2006] for engaging in virtual environments (e.g., Second Life), and online chat. Many consumers use the internet to collect information on products and brands before making purchases offline [Venkatesan et al. 2007; Teltzrow et al. 2007]. Online virtual environments have been identified as emerging marketing channels [Li et al. 2002; Barnes and Mattsson 2008; Shen and Eder 2009], whereby consumers can engage in information search, trial, and purchasing. These virtual environments may offer important advantages over traditional, two-dimensional websites through increased functional and social interactivity, and can provide valuable brand experiences that lead to increased customer loyalty and sales [Arakji and Lang 2008]. Firms are particularly interested in how these virtual brand experiences may impact consumer attitudes and purchasing behavior in other marketing channels. Several global brands have, or have recently had, a presence in Second Life (an online virtual environment) including Adidas®, BMW®, Dell®, IBM®, Mercedes-Benz®, Microsoft®, Reebok®, Reuters®, and Coca-Cola®. During the first quarter of 2008 commercial investments in "virtual worlds" were estimated to be around $184 million [Virtual Worlds Management 2008]. In the same year, there were over 139 real-world brands in Second Life. Companies with a brand presence in virtual environments are attempting to create and increase brand awareness with the hope that they will eventually influence real world purchase intentions and behaviors, thus translating into sales in other marketing channels [Arakji and Lang 2008; Barnes and Mattsson 2008]. Virtual environments serve as potential platforms for retailers in understanding and influencing offline purchasing behavior, in addition to promoting the company's brand and products. Although researchers [Barnes and Mattsson 2008; Arakji and Lang 2008] have suggested that brand experiences in 3D virtual environments may affect consumers' purchasing behavior in traditional marketing channels, this phenomenon has yet to be empirically examined in the e-commerce literature. Thus, it is unclear whether virtual brand experiences have a significant impact on consumers' offline purchase intentions and behavior. Many companies are still skeptical about the ability of virtual environments to shape real world purchasing intentions and behavior, and as a result these companies may be hesitant to allocate the resources necessary for developing an official brand presence in such environments [Clemons 2009]. …

The Power of Many: An Assessment of Managing Internet Group Purchasing

Abstract: This article introduces Internet group purchasing (IGP) as a novel e-commerce phenomenon. Drawing on collective cognition and other relevant theories, we investigate the management of IGP by analyzing the four stages of IGP: (1) information accumulation, (2) interaction, (3) examination, and (4) accommodation. Netnographic methods were employed to collect qualitative data from eleven online group purchasing websites selected from hundreds of possible study websites. Analysis of the four stages of IGP lends support to the group-level cognition theory and makes contributions to collective cognition theory, especially as how it can be applied to the e-commerce context. It also situates group purchasing within the phenomenon of social networking marketing and discusses the symbiosis between IGP and businesses goals. Findings can help e-commerce practitioners to better understand online consumers and the manner in which they organize Internet group purchasing using social media. The research also provides managerial implications and directions for future research.

The generation of trust in the online services and product distribution: the case of spanish electronic commerce

Abstract: Not all countries have the same level of e-commerce penetration. This could be due to the influence of cultural factors on consumer trust with regard to online purchasing. This may also explain why countries like Spain, with similar economic and technological levels to its neighbours’, have a lower level of e-commerce usage. This paper examines the antecedents of trust, and, the relationship between trust and consumer commitment in Spain. The results obtained show that the factors governing the development of online trust are similar to those detected in other countries. Specifically, the results show that consumer trust is influenced by perceived website usability and reputation, by the consumer satisfaction and by the perceived privacy and security policy of the website. This paper also verifies that consumer trust has a positive effect on consumer commitment. Besides, no significant differences are observed in the research model between online services and product distribution. Finally, managerial recommendations and future research lines are suggested.

The impact of security and scalability of cloud service on supply chain performance

Abstract: Cloud computing introduces flexibility in the way an organization conducts its business. On the other hand, it is advisable for organizations to select cloud service partners based on how prepared they are owing to the uncertainties present in the cloud. This study is a conceptual research which investigates the impact of some of these uncertainties and flexibilities embellished in the cloud. First, we look at the assessment of security and how it can impact the supply chain operations using entropy as an assessment tool. Based on queuing theory, we look at how scalability can moderate the relationship between cloud service and the purported benefits. We aim to show that cloud service can only prove beneficial to supply partners under a highly secured, highly scalable computing environment and hope to lend credence to the need for system thinking as well as strategic thinking when making cloud service adoption decisions. Keywords: cloud service, security concerns, scalability, supply chain management (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.) 1. Introduction The internet has been employed in multidimensional and multifaceted ways in various supply chains. Lancioni et al [2003] found there to be an increase in the use of the internet by organizations to leverage supply chain management applications. The significance of the internet owes to its ubiquity and provisioning of real time communication. Irrespective of the type of supply chain, the internet has proven to be limitless in the purpose it can serve provided its use had been carefully or strategically planned [Wang et al., 2004]. Its use has ranged from communication information exchange to more operational related functions such as order filling, purchasing, production scheduling, customer service, human resource management etc. [Chen and Meixell, 2003]. Leveraging Information Technology (IT) can be costly and has deterred small to medium scale organizations from using it. This in part has led to the emergence and justification for the somewhat new IT concept called 'cloud computing'. Cloud services bring flexibility, configurability, cost effectiveness, low implementation cost to IT and by extension, Supply Chain Management (SCM). Many IT experts and academics have reported a plethora of benefits an organization stands to gain if and when they avail themselves to this opportunity. In the same vein there has been a series of counter argument about the purported benefits of joining the cloud. However, as is common to most IT initiatives, a careful analysis of how it will affect one's internal and external business environment must be undertaken before adopting the strategy, otherwise it can be the bane of a business existence. Top amongst these counter arguments are the issues of security [Subashini and Kavitha, 2011] and ability to scale up or down computing resources as needed without making service unavailable [Armbrust, 2010]. Most of these reports, although anecdotal, have been viewed from the cloud provider's perspective. There has been paucity of report on how these issues affect cloud users (in this case supply chain members), which have been mostly studied at an organization level. There is yet to be an academic research on how these issues affect the operations of an entire supply network. This study proposes an approach, which incorporates a system thinking perspective, to investigate how some of these issues, especially security and scalability, affect businesses at an organizational level and supply chain level. By looking at the impact of these variables on supply chain performance, the research posits that this will inform an appropriate cloud computing adoption strategy to suit the overall organization and supply chain management goal. Security is conceptualized as one of the uncertainties present in the cloud. It is defined here as the level of defence against IT threats as evidenced by the probability of breach occurrence. …

Consumers' post-adoption of m-services: interest in future m- services based on consumer evaluations of current m-services

Abstract: While consumers’ adoption of new technology has received substantial interest from researchers, the mechanism of consumers’ post-adoption evaluation derived from continued use of m-services and its impact on their interest in upcoming m-services are yet to be explored. Drawing on the appraisal → emotional response → coping framework, this study investigates 1) how utilitarian and hedonic values derived from consumers’ basic and innovative benefits of m-services influence their post-adoption satisfaction with current m-services and 2) the impact of post-adoption satisfaction on interest in future m-services in the context of young consumers’ mobile phone use. The results support all the hypothesized relationships except for the relationship between innovative benefit and utilitarian value. Theoretical and marketing implications are provided.

Word-of-Blog for Movies: A Predictor and an Outcome of Box Office Revenue?

Abstract: Social media has become an important avenue of Word-of-mouth (WOM) and a recent study has found blogging to be an important lead-generation source among social media options. This article examines the dynamic interrelationship between word-of-blog volume and sales by using the movie industry as the research context. By employing the Granger Causality test and modeling the interrelationship through simultaneous equations, the results show that the volume of word-of-blog and box office revenue for movies provide significant causality and explanatory power for each other, supporting word-of-blog volume is both a predictor and an outcome of sales. The results also highlight for retailers the importance of strategically managing word-of-blog to influence consumer purchase decisions and generate revenue as well as the value of the findings for forecasting. Keywords: Word-of-Mouth; Word-of-Blog; Social media; Blogs; E-commerce (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.) 1. Introduction Word-of-Mouth (WOM) is usually believed to be a credible information source for consumers' purchase decisions [Bynerjee 1992; Brown & Reingen 1987]. The Internet and online communities have brought WOM to an even wider reach at a faster speed. For instance, online WOM can influence people's online purchase via buyers' subjective norm [Cha 2011; Suntompithug & Khamalah 2010] or via seller reputation [Saastamoinen 2009]. Online WOM can take many forms such as online reviews, discussion boards, video sites, blogs, microblogs, social networks, and so on. With the rapid increase in popularity of Web 2.0 technologies and the explosive growth of online social communities, social media, i.e. consumer-generated media and content, have emerged as new channels in which consumers interact and influence each other, as well as channels in which businesses and consumers interact and influence each other. Not only are a huge percentage of consumers and businesses online engaged in social media, but also a very large percentage of consumers discuss the brands and products they love or hate. Such social media are perceived to be transparent, inclusive, authentic, grassroots and consumer-driven [Baker 2009]. The unprecedented openness, velocity (speed) and volume of conversations produced by social media have made them become a vital avenue for transmitting WOM. David Meerman Scott [2008] claims the challenge to marketing "is to harness the amazing power of . . . whatever you call it - viral, buzz, word-of-mouse, or word-of-blog - having other people tell your story drives action. One person sends it to another, then that person sends it to yet another, and on and on." According to the Wikipedia entry for blog [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog], "A blog (a contraction of the term "weblog") is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order." Based on a survey of 167 executives and business owners mostly from small and medium-sized businesses, a recent study [Walsh 2009] found blogging to be an important lead-generation source among social media options. Blogs have become pervasive and part of people's daily lives. For instance, Technorati [http://technorati.com] has indexed 133 million blog records since 2002. According to Technorati [2008], comScore MediaMetrix [http://www.comscore.com] in August 2008 reported there are 77.7 million unique blog visitors in the US among the total 188.9 million internet audience; eMarketer [http://www.emarketer.com] in May 2008 reported 22.6 million US bloggers in 2007 and 94.1 million US blog readers in 2007; Universal McCann [http://www.umww.com] in March 2008 reported 184 million WW have started a blog, 346 million WW read blogs, and 77% of active Internet users read blogs. In addition, this Technorati report indicated that "Four in five bloggers post brand or product reviews, with 37% posting them frequently. …

Shopping in virtual worlds: Perception, Motivation,and Behavior

Abstract: Avatars are spending millions of dollars yearly on shopping for virtual items in free-form Virtual Worlds (VWs), such as Second Life. Some studies explaining Virtual World users' motivations to spend real money on virtual items from a consumer point of view are only available for game-oriented VWs and not for the free-form type. By means of conducting in-depth interviews with Second Life shoppers, the current paper: (1) explores the added value perceived from shopping in free-form VWs, (2) discusses free-form VW shopping motivations in relation to those in game-oriented VWs as well as to traditional and online shopping motivations, (3) reveals users' motivations to 'reside' in VWs, and finally (4) classifies and profiles VW shoppers into distinct VW shopper types considering their shopping behavior and store preferences. Keywords: shopping motivations, Virtual Worlds, virtual items, shopper typology, Second Life. 1. Introduction Virtual Worlds (abbreviated as VWs) are 3D Internet-based simulated environments that can be categorized into game-oriented and free-form worlds (Bainbridge, 2007). While the users in game-oriented Virtual Worlds have a goal to achieve (e.g., World of Warcraft), free-form Virtual Worlds are environments that mimic the real world with no specific goal imposed by the Virtual World, such as Second Life, There and Meet Me (Hassouneh and Brengman, 2011). As of Q3 2009, the total number of registered VW users is believed to be around 671 million worldwide and they are spending around $1.8 billion on virtual assets (KZero, 2009; Guo and Barnes, 2007). In Second Life (abbreviated as SL) alone, $150 million worth of virtual items were traded between residents in the third quarter of 2009, up 54% from the same period a year earlier (Linden, 2009). Reperes (2007), a marketing research company, surveyed 419 residents of the VW SL about their purchase habits. They found that shopping constitutes a popular activity with 72% of VW residents surveyed stating to go shopping in the VW at least weekly and over half of them making a purchase on a weekly basis. Some studies from a consumer point of view explaining VW users' motivations to spend real money on virtual items are available only for game-oriented VWs (Lehdonvirta, 2005; Guo and Barnes, 2009) and not for the free-form type, such as SL. The current study aims to fill this gap by exploring avatars' shopping motivations in addition to perceptions and shopping behavior, in free-form Virtual Worlds. Many entrepreneurs have been attracted to free-form VWs (here after referred to as VWs) and are setting up stores that sell virtual products (e.g., virtual shoes, furniture, food ) and services (e.g., event management) to VW residents to make a profit. For some of them, VWs are the only source of income (Au, 2009a), with several business owners earning more than a million US dollars a year in SL (Au, 2009b). Real world businesses, alike, are setting-up stores in the Virtual Worlds, such as Nike and the book retailer Snowbooks in SL. By offering their real and/or virtual products for sale, they aim to build their brands, and/or to grow their revenues (Arakji and Lang, 2008). While some were able to create a successful presence in-world (i.e., in the Virtual World), many failed to attract customers to their stores. Reeboks' virtual store in Second Life, which allows users to create custom versions of Reebok shoes for their avatars and for themselves, successfully distributed more than 27,000 pairs of digital shoes in its' first 10 weeks (Tedeschi, 2007). Other businesses, however, were not as successful and had to re-launch, such as Circuit City (Nino, 2008), or end their presence, such as American Apparel in SL (DMD et al., 2007). Such failures suggest that the new channel has its own rules and unique customer needs that should be well understood before engaging in any business or marketing related activity in-world. While possessing their own unique characteristics, Virtual World stores were found to share a lot of elements with traditional and online retail stores (Brengman and Hassouneh, 2009). …

The Organizing Vision for Cloud Computing in Taiwan

Abstract: Cloud Computing has attracted increasing attention from both researchers and practitioners as a new paradigm of information technology. Many recent studies on technological innovation have focused on two confronting models: rational-actor decision and social construction. However, both models are rarely used at the industry level of analysis. This paper adopts the lens of organizing vision, and presents a secondary analysis on the institutional processes of the forming of the Cloud Computing industry in Taiwan. In doing so it examines several key institutional forces, including (1) community discourse, structure, and commerce; (2) IS practitioner subculture; (3) adoption of core technology; and (4) adoption and diffusion. Our findings suggest that the dynamics of institutionalization of society and technology in the collective sense better explain the formation of the Cloud Computing industry embedded in a large community network than the linear rational choice paradigm. These findings also suggest that decision makers in both the private and public sector should be more aware of the institutional forces that motivate them to adopt IT innovation.

Culture and Localization on the Web: Evidence from Multinationals in Russia and Turkey,

Abstract: The broad goal of this study is to explore how the perennial debate on standardization and localization is being shaped on the Worldwide Web. More specifically, the study explores the depiction of cultural values on the web. With limited research investigating this issue, there is no consensus yet regarding whether multinationals depict local cultural values in their international web sites or design standardized sites for global audiences. In an attempt to broaden the empirical evidence from different cultural settings (Russia and Turkey) and to provide a regional perspective, we examined through both qualitative and quantitative analyses the international (Russian and Turkish) web sites of 115 multinationals from the US, Europe, and Asia-Pacific with respect to 37 cultural values in seven cultural dimensions. The results provided support for depiction of local cultural values; however, the multinationals utilize a multi-focus in their web communication strategies that include cultural (domestic and foreign) and marketing strategy elements. Keywords: Standardization, localization, cultural depiction, the Web, international marketing communication strategy 1. Introduction The debate over "standardization versus adaptation (or localization)" is at the very heart of international business research; Griffith, Cavusgil, and Xu [2008] identified these, inter alia, as emerging themes for international business research (p.1226-1227). This debate is further complicated when we extend it to analyze communications over a global medium like the World Wide Web. On the web, technology makes mass customization or adaptation possible, while forces of global integration [Sackmary and Scalia, 1998] justify the use of a standardized web marketing and communication strategy. Lim et al [2004] argued that cultural differences affect internet shopping behavior despite the global reach of the web. The broad goal of this study is to explore if international sites are adopting a standardized web style or is there any evidence of cultural adaption on these sites. Standardization is commonly defined in the literature as a strategy wherein marketers assume global homogeneous markets and in response offer standardized products and services using a standardized marketing mix [Jain 1989; Mooij 1998]. The advocates of the standardization approach argue that as technology develops and is globally dispersed, cultural distance will be minimized, leading to convergence of national cultures into a homogenous global culture. However, research studies are showing that standardization as a strategy does not really impact financial performance of the firms [O'Donnell and Jeong 2000; Samiee and Roth 1992]. Furthermore, the complex nature of the international marketing environment promotes diversity in terms of physical environment, political and legal systems, cultures, product usage conditions, and economic development. Several researchers [Boddewyn et al. 1986; Hill and Still 1984; Wind 1986] argue that, because of these fundamental differences across markets, it is neither desirable nor feasible, for firms to achieve standardization of their international marketing activities. For some companies, especially for those 'born global', defined as companies that from or near inception obtain a substantial portion of total revenue from foreign sales [Knight and Cavusgil 2005; McDougall et al 1994; Oviatt and McDougall 1994], standardization instead of localization may not be effective in tapping global markets as they have global reach. Emerging evidence related to global online user expectation of standardized versus localized approach to marketing is also pointing more favorably towards a localized marketing approach on the web [Singh and Pereira 2005; Singh et al. 2006]. Research shows that consumers prefer to shop on and interact from sites that are specially designed for them in their local language [Singh and Pereira, 2005]. …

Knowledge-base and online self-service

Abstract: With a B2C orientation, this research focuses attention on knowledge-base (KB) capabilities and their relationships with customers‘ self-service experience in conjunction with repeat purchase intention. Using structural equation modeling, our analyses of experimental survey data show that both KB capabilities and self-service experience are significantly and positively related to purchase intention. Overall, this research makes two key contributions: (1) the concept of information search and relational marketing for decision-making is integrated into the study of KB; (2) it analyzes KB from a customer‘s perspective instead of the organizational perspective that characterizes prior work. Implications for future research are discussed.

Disarming the bid sniper

Abstract: Bid sniping is the most common strategy used in online auctions whereby the bidder places a bid in the closing seconds in order to win the auction. This denies other bidders the time to react and suppresses the final price. While bid sniping is beneficial to the winner, it disadvantages other bidders and the seller does not get the full amount of revenue s/he might otherwise have received in a truly competitive and fair auction. This paper proposes a method to help negate bid sniping as a dominant strategy for winning in online auctions. We propose an amendment to the auction format that allows for a random undisclosed time-out extension should new bids be received in the closing moments. This entices bidders to bid their true valuation up front, otherwise they risk having the auction terminate and therefore not accept any new bids. Several variations of the amended auction format are presented that effectively counteract bid snipers by making it difficult to gain any information by observing the underlying algorithm. To ensure the auction does not continue indefinitely, the format includes mechanisms that place random bounds on the size of, and number of extensions permitted. Our proposal also makes intelligent decisions to maximize the price for the seller based on the auction's bid volume. The size of the extension granted is based on the timing and aggressiveness of how bids are being submitted. To our knowledge, no existing online auctioneers offer such a comprehensive format for actively discouraging bid sniping.

An Investigation of Willingness to Spend Dynamics in Simultaneous Online Auctions

Abstract: Willingness to spend (WTS), as defined by the amount a bidder is willing to spend in a particular auction event, is a crucial component for an auction's success. This paper investigates the dynamics of WTS of a simultaneous online auction of a specific genre of fine art called modern Indian art and compare it with the dynamics of cumulative Willingness to pay (WTP), using an innovative statistical method called Functional Data Analysis. Functional Data Analysis, which is fundamentally considered to recover the underlying WTS and cumulative WTP function curves of each bidder, is further used to examine the effects of current number of bids, current number of lots winning, pre-auction low estimate of the lots they are currently winning, bid time, and number of proxy bids on WTS and cumulative WTP dynamics. Results suggest that only current number of bids and bid time have significant positive effect on the bidder WTS, whereas only current number of bids have influence on cumulative WTP. Implications for auction house managers are further discussed in the paper. Keywords: willingness to spend, functional data analysis, dynamic modeling, simultaneous online auctions, online fine art auctions (ProQuest: ... denotes formulae omitted.) 1. Introduction With the growing popularity of online auctions and easy availability of detailed bidding information, we now have a greater prospect in micro-analyzing various online auction bidding behaviors in different auction settings that were not possible earlier. To a greater extent, we have capitalized on this opportunity by addressing a wide range of online auction topics, including, for example, auction formats [Jap 2002; Jap 2003; Lucking-Reiley 1999; Spann and Tellis 2006], price dynamics and forecasting [Jank and Shmueli 2006; Reddy and Dass 2006; Dass, Jank and Shmueli 2010], bidders' willingness to pay [Park and Bradlow 2005; Chan, Kadiyali and Park 2007], reference points [Dholakia and Simonson 2005; Kamins, Drenze and Folkes 2004], buyer and seller reputation [Melnik and Alm 2002], herding behavior [Dholakia, Basuroy and Soltysinski 2002], forward-looking behavior [Zeithammer 2006], bidder experience [Borle, Boatwright and Kadane 2006], bidder heterogeneity and auction design [Bapna et al. 2004]. Although these studies have expanded our understanding of online auctions, other bidder behavioral phenomena are still not examined. One such topic is bidders' willingness to spend in a simultaneous online auction. Most of the prior researches in auctions examining bidders' purchase decision and values have focused on their willingness to pay (WTP). These studies investigated what drives bidders' WTP [Noussair, Robin and Ruffieux 2004; Chan, Kadiyali and Park 2007] and how it is different from bidders' willingness to accept (WTA) [Shogren et al. 1994; Plott and Zeiler 2005]. Interestingly, most of these studies assume that bidders are involved in purchasing only one product at a time in the auction. This assumption is not sufficient while examining bidders' purchase decisions in simultaneous online auctions where bidders typically tend to purchase more than one item simultaneously. In such cases, Willingness to Spend (WTS) is the most appropriate bidder metric to consider while examining success of auction houses. From the extant literature, we find examination of WTS mostly in the context of multi-product bundles [Gaeth et al. 2004]. We adopt their definition and define WTS in the context of online auctions as the amount a bidder is willing to spend in a particular auction event. In this paper, we define WTS as the total amount a bidder is required to pay at a given time period during the auction if he/ she wins all the items at the current highest bid amount where he/ she is currently the highest bidder. Therefore, by the above definition, WTS is the superset of Willingness to Pay (WTP) of bidders for the items they wish to purchase, as it is the sum of the WTP of all items. …

Effects of price recommendations in name-your-own-price auctions

Abstract: This article examines how price cues can be used strategically to influence consumers' perceptions and bid judgments in Name-Your-Own-Price (NYOP) auctions. It focuses on three specific types of price cues: a low and plausible price cue, a high but implausible price cue, and a range price cue that is bounded at the upper end by the high price cue and at the lower end by the low price cue. A controlled experiment indicates that consumers perceive the range and low price cue as more useful in aiding their bidding decisions than the high price cue. The range and low price cue positively impact bidders‟ confidence in winning while the high price cue reduces their confidence level. Interestingly, consumers‟ value and bid judgments‟ can be influenced by the high price cue even though they view it with skepticism. The low end of a range price cue is found to have a greater impact on consumers‟ perceptions and bid judgments than the high end, possibly because a range price cue has the potential to make loss aversion more pronounced.