An elaboration likelihood model of consumer respond action to facebook second-hand marketplace: Impulsiveness as a moderator

The Elaboration Likelihood Model is adopted in this study to examine the interaction of central route factors (information completeness and information accuracy) and peripheral route factors (post esthetics and post popularity) on consumer behavior in the Facebook Second-hand Marketplace. Impulsiveness served as a moderator affecting the relationship between consumer attitudes and behavior. Eight scenarios were designed to test the effects of post characteristics on consumer responses and purchase behavior. Hedonic and utilitarian products were used in the scenarios to compare the differences among different product types. A total of 908 valid questionnaires were collected. The results of the data analysis indicated that consumers who process messages through the central route tend to respond to the post before initiating purchase intention. On the other hand, consumers who process messages through the peripheral route tend to initiate purchase intention directly if they feel favorable toward a post. Regarding the post characteristics, post popularity was found to be the most crucial factor related to enhancing perceived persuasiveness. According to the results and findings, it is suggested that sellers on the Facebook Second-hand Marketplace should provide messages about their product as accurately as completely as possible to strengthen positive impressions of their posts. Otherwise, they need to provide an interesting introduction or esthetic pictures to attract consumer attention.     

Perceived information transparency in B2C e-commerce: An empirical investigation

Consumers abandon their online purchases at an e-commerce website partly due to the lack of information transparency of the website. We identify the antecedents of consumers’ perceived information transparency of an e-commerce website and its effects on consumers’ online purchase intention. We collected data through a scenario-based survey conducted in a laboratory setting. We found that (1) product transparency, vendor transparency, and transaction transparency significantly influence perceived information transparency; (2) perceived information transparency significantly increases consumers’ online purchase intention; and (3) perceived risk partially mediates the effects of perceived information transparency on purchase intention.     

Gender differences in consumers’ perception of online consumer reviews

Since the early days of the Internet, gender gap has existed in using the Internet, and it is particularly evident for online shopping. Females perceive higher level of risk for online shopping, and as a result, they tend to hesitate to make purchase online. Online consumer reviews can effectively mitigate such perceived risk by females and thereby attract them to buy online. This study investigates the effect of online consumer reviews on consumer’s purchase intention. In particular, we examine whether there are gender differences in responding to online consumer reviews. The results show that the effect of online consumer reviews on purchase intention is stronger for females than males. The negativity effect, that consumers are influenced by a negative review more than by a positive review, is also found to be more evident for females. These findings have practical implications for online sellers to guide them to effectively use online consumer reviews to engage females in online shopping.     

Mood and social presence on consumer purchase behaviour in C2C E-commerce in Chinese culture

While the importance of mood and emotion has been recognized in Information Systems research, they have been studied only tangentially. To explore the influence of mood and social presence on consumer purchase behaviour in consumer-to-consumer (C2C) e-Commerce, a lab experiment with 200 participants is conducted in China. The structural model explains 36.9?% of the variance in purchase intention. The results indicate that mood plays an important role in consumer purchase behaviour, which has significant impacts on perceived benefit and purchase intention. Social presence has moderating effects between mood and perceived benefit, and between mood and purchase intention. We also find that two cultural dimensions (individualism and uncertainty avoidance) have significant impacts on purchase intention.     

An investigation into the effects of product design on incremental and radical innovations from the perspective of consumer perceptions: Evidence from China

By integrating research on product design with ideas from marketing and consumer perceptions, this paper formulates a set of coherent hypotheses about the effects of tripartite design dimensions on consumer perceptions and responses. We conduct two surveys on incremental and radical technology innovations, respectively, and accordingly get two different samples to test the hypotheses. Empirical results reveal that the effects of aesthetic and functional dimensions on consumer purchase intention and word of mouth vary across two types of innovations. Specifically, for incrementally innovative products, aesthetic and functional dimensions influence consumer purchase intention and word of mouth, both directly and indirectly, through the mediation of consumer perceived quality. By contrast, for radically innovative products, the effects of aesthetic and functional dimensions on purchase intention and word of mouth are totally mediated by perceived quality. Additionally, the effects of symbolic dimension on consumer perceptions and responses achieve consistency across radical and incremental technology innovations. That is, the higher the level of symbolic dimension, the stronger purchase intention and the better word of mouth there will be, whereas the direct influence of symbolic dimension on perceived quality is not significant in either innovation category.     

An empirical study on consumer first purchase intention in online shopping: integrating initial trust and TAM

To understand the first purchase mechanism in online shopping, this study established an integrated model of initial trust and TAM. According to the analysis results, initial trust beliefs were significantly influenced by initial trust bases such as company reputation, structural assurance, and trusting stance, and initial trust beliefs indirectly influenced the first purchase intention through consumer attitude. In TAM constructs, only perceived usefulness directly influenced the usage attitude of online shopping systems, then indirectly influenced the first purchase intention. These results imply that online consumers consider perceived ease of use as a basic requirement for system design. It was also found that there is a time cushion between the time of first purchase and the time of belief formation. On the whole, these results reinforced the theory that a relationship between belief (trust and perceived usefulness) and intention was better explained when it was mediated by attitude.     

Sources and impacts of social influence from online anonymous user reviews

Consumers increasingly rely on online reviews to make purchase decisions. However, the process through which consumers are influenced by online reviews is not well understood. To fill the gap, we apply the social influence theory to theoretically explain and analyze this opinion change process. Specifically, we identify antecedents and consequences of two types of social influence from online user reviews: informational and value-expressive influence. From a survey conducted in a controlled laboratory environment, we found that perceived review quality positively impacts informational influence, while perceived review quality, consistency, and social presence jointly impact value-expressive influence. Interestingly, informational influence impacts both perceived decision quality and perceived usefulness of the website, while value-expressive influence only impacts perceived usefulness of the website. Surprisingly, consumer characteristics, including prior product expertise and self-monitoring, do not have significant effects on the formation of social influence online.     

Source effect of advertised reference price influences on transaction value in online shopping environments

Prior studies examine whether or not using advertised reference price (ARP) increases consumers’ perceived gain from the purchase decision. However, few studies address whether or not the ARP should involve an online or offline source. Present study thus investigates the influence of the APR source on consumer perceived value. Empirical results indicate that consumers would perceive higher transaction value when an online seller adopts another online retailer’s sale price as ARP than when the online seller uses an offline competitor’s sale price as the ARP.     

Product type and consumers’ perception of online consumer reviews

Consumers hesitate to buy experience products online because it is hard to get enough information about experience products via the Internet. Online consumer reviews may change that, as they offer consumers indirect experiences about dominant attributes of experience products, transforming them into search products. When consumers are exposed to an online consumer review, it should be noted that there are different kinds of review sources. This study investigates the effects of review source and product type on consumers’ perception of a review. The result of the online experiment suggests that product type can moderate consumers’ perceived credibility of a review from different review sources, and the major findings are: (1) consumers are more influenced by a review for an experience product than for a search product when the review comes from consumer-developed review sites, and (2) a review from an online community is perceived to be the most credible for consumers seeking information about an experience product. The findings provide managerial implications for marketers as to how they can better manage online consumer reviews.     

eWOM overload and its effect on consumer behavioral intention depending on consumer involvement

Online consumer reviews involving experiences, evaluations and opinions on products from previous consumers play two roles – an informant and a recommender. These two roles affect a consumer’s intention. However, there is a conflict between two roles when a large number of reviews are offered. From the perspective of the recommender role, consumers have more favorable attitude toward a product as a greater number of positive reviews are offered while consumers may be confronted with too much information, which results in information overload. This study investigates what consequences the tradeoff between two roles has on purchasing intention depending on consumer involvement.     

“Highly Recommended!” The Content Characteristics and Perceived Usefulness of Online Consumer Reviews

The aim of the present study was to gain a better understanding of the content characteristics that make online consumer reviews a useful source of consumer information. To this end, we content analyzed reviews of experience and search products posted on Amazon.com (N = 400). The insights derived from this content analysis were linked with the proportion of ‘useful’ votes that reviews received from fellow consumers. The results show that content characteristics are paramount to understanding the perceived usefulness of reviews. Specifically, argumentation (density and diversity) served as a significant predictor of perceived usefulness, as did review valence although this latter effect was contingent on the type of product (search or experience) being evaluated in reviews. The presence of expertise claims appeared to be weakly related to the perceived usefulness of reviews. The broader theoretical, methodological and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Effect of Celebrity Endorsements on Consumer Purchase Intentions: Advertising Effect and Advertising Appeal as Mediators

Advertising has become the most efficient way for companies to transmit product information to consumers. Words and images are often used to display the product and thus attract the attention of consumers. Of all types of endorsement, celebrity endorsement is the marketing method most frequently used by entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs use celebrity endorsement to increase consumer purchasing motivation. Not only can celebrity endorsements attract consumers to purchase products, but the appeal of statements by celebrities can also affect consumer product image. Different appeal methods result in different advertising effects. This study used the case of advertising spokespersons for cell phones with general consumers as subjects. A total of 202 valid samples obtained through the questionnaire survey and used partial least squares regression analysis. The results showed that celebrity endorsements, advertising appeal, and advertising effect significantly and positively affect consumer purchase intentions. Moreover, advertising appeal and advertising effect exert a partial mediating effect on the relationship between celebrity endorsement and purchase intention. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The online framing effect: the moderating role of warning,brand familiarity,and product type

This study examines the framing effect on online consumer purchase intention. Three framing effect moderators—warning type (text-based/picture-based), brand familiarity (familiar/unfamiliar), and product type (utilitarian/hedonic)—were considered. The results demonstrated that a positive frame message could create more favorable preferences toward the product than a negative frame message could. Further, consumers with text-based warnings who received positive framing messages had higher purchase intentions toward the target product than did those receiving negative framing messages. However, the online framing effect was not significant for consumers receiving picture-based warnings. Moreover, the online framing effect was significant for consumers familiar with the brand. Finally, positive messages resulted in higher purchase intention for hedonic rather than utilitarian products. This study further examined gender differences in framing effects and found women exhibited greater framing effects than men under the negative frame. The findings provide guidance for designing appropriate product strategy to induce online consumer purchase intentions that favor online retailers.     

Opinion evolution of online consumer reviews in the e-commerce environment

Online consumer reviews play an important role in shaping potential customers’ purchase decisions in e-commerce. Previous studies have analyzed the influence of online consumer reviews on sales, mainly considering factors such as reviewers’ and viewers’ profiles, information provided, and product features. However, there are relatively few studies that discuss how online consumer reviews interact with each other and how consumers’ opinions evolve over time. This paper proposes an opinion evolution dynamics model that is applicable to online consumer reviews in the e-commerce environment by taking into account influencing factors such as viewer reading limits, review sorting and releasing strategies, convergence parameters, review posting possibilities, and confidence thresholds. Using multi-agent simulation based on the proposed opinion evolution dynamics model, the paper discusses how these factors affect viewers’ opinions, and the opinion evolution process itself. Finally, conclusions and managerial implications of the simulation results are discussed.     

The antecedents of consumers’ loyalty toward Internet Service Providers

Internet popularity is growing at an impressive rate. Sooner or later, every consumer comes face to face with the decision of choosing an Internet Service Provider (ISP). This study developed and empirically tested a model examining the antecedents of consumer loyalty toward ISPs. It incorporated the concept of expected technology change into the model to examine its effects on the formation of ISP loyalty intention. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was performed to examine the reliability and validity of the measurement model, and the structural equation modeling techniques were used to evaluate the casual model. Based on an internet survey in Taiwan, this study showed that perceived value is very important in generating overall customer satisfaction and loyalty intention toward an ISP, and that perceived trust of an ISP enhances perceived value, overall satisfaction, and loyalty intention. However, the study demonstrated that future ISP technology expectancy exerted a negative influence on a consumer’s overall satisfaction and loyalty intention toward their ISP.     

An empirical study of information contribution to online feedback systems: A motivation perspective

Online feedback systems (OFSs) are increasingly available on online shopping websites; they allow consumers to post their ratings and consumption reviews for products. We employed motivation theory and a goal attainment perspective to model a set of motivating and inhibiting factors that could influence a consumer's intention to contribute to an OFS. Our experiment, which involved 168 university students, showed that a consumer's intention to contribute product reviews is influenced by perceived satisfaction gained in helping other consumers, perceived satisfaction gained in influencing the merchant, perceived probability of enhancing self-image, and perceived executional costs. In addition, the presence of an economic rewarding mechanism was found to promote a contribution when a consumer's perceived probability of enhancing self-image was relatively high or when perceived cognitive cost was relatively low. Implications of our findings are discussed.     

Modelling and testing consumer trust dimensions in e-commerce

Prior research has found trust to play a significant role in shaping purchase intentions of a consumer. However there has been limited research where consumer trust dimensions have been empirically defined and tested. In this paper we empirically test a path model such that Internet vendors would have adequate solutions to increase trust. The path model presented in this paper measures the three main dimensions of trust, i.e. competence, integrity, and benevolence. And assesses the influence of overall trust of consumers. The paper also analyses how various sources of trust, i.e. consumer characteristics, firm characteristic, website infrastructure and interactions with consumers, influence dimensions of trust. The model is tested using 365 valid responses. Findings suggest that consumers with high overall trust demonstrate a higher intention to purchase online.     

Enhancing the flow experience of consumers in China through interpersonal interaction in social commerce

Although research on flow experience has recently received much attention, few studies have been published on the perceived interpersonal interaction factors of consumers and their influence in social commerce. In addition, few studies have focused on the impact of interpersonal interaction factors on flow experience. Drawing on the stimulus-organism-response framework, this study examines the impact of interpersonal interaction factors (perceived expertise, similarity, and familiarity) on the formation of flow experience and its subsequent effects on purchase intention in the context of social commerce. We investigate whether the impact of the three interpersonal interaction factors on flow experience differs between young and old users. We conduct a survey and collect 349 responses from users of a social shopping site in China. Our results indicate that interpersonal interaction factors positively relate to flow experience and subsequently influence purchase intention. We also find differences between young and old users in this area.     

Predicting user response to sponsored advertising on social media via the technology acceptance model

Sponsored advertising has generated strong advertising revenues for Facebook in recent years. As sponsored ads are built on an interactive platform that could be seen as invasive to user privacy, the growth of this advertising platform has important implications for consumers, and advertisers alike. As little research is available on consumer response to sponsored advertising as an interactive technology innovation, the current study assesses the effects of user perceptions of privacy risk, intrusiveness concerns and utilities of sponsored advertising on consumer attitudes and purchase intent. Testing a model derived form the technology acceptance model (TAM), the study found that privacy and intrusiveness concerns are both valid antecedent variables to perceived usefulness but not perceived ease of use of sponsored advertising. While both antecedent variables also influence consumer attitudes toward sponsored advertising, only privacy concerns have an impact product purchase intentions. The hypothesized relations between perceived usefulness, ease of use, attitudes and purchase intentions were also validated.     

Do customization programs of e-commerce companies lead to better relationship with consumers?

The purpose of this study is to propose a model that explains the consumers’ perception of customization in e-commerce. This study suggests two determinants of consumer attitude toward the e-commerce website with customization options: perceived participation and perceived company responsiveness. Consumer attitude was posited to influence consumers’ intention to consider a long-term relationship with an e-commerce company. In this model, two consumer characteristics—consumer expertise and preference stability—were considered as moderators of the relations between consumers’ perception of participation and company’s responsiveness and consumer attitude toward the customization program. The model was tested by structural equation modeling (SEM) using AMOS 14.0, and the posited relations were confirmed. The moderating effect of preference stability was found significant. The perceived participation level of those with a more stable preference influenced their attitude toward the customization experience, while the company’s responsiveness was influential only for those with a less stable preference.