96 research outputs found
The impact of trial on technology adoption: the case of mobile TV
No full textPurpose - Recent years have seen the introduction of many new technology-based services. In this study, we look at television delivered to a mobile device in order to better understand the adoption of such services. This research focuses on the role of trial in new technology-based services’ adoption. We hypothesize that trial increases both perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, and that it is especially effective with women.
Methodology- A field experiment was conducted to test the hypotheses of the study. A two group independent groups design was used to manipulate product trial (presence vs absence), while the others variables were measured by questionnaire.
Findings - Our empirical results reveal that product trial positively impacts perceived ease of use, but not perceived usefulness. We also show that the relationship between product trial and ease of use is stronger for females that for males. Moreover, product trial, working through perceived ease of use, influences the intention to adopt the new technology.
Practical Implications - In many cases where the service is provided by software, the cost of offering a trial is quite modest and management ought to therefore give it serious thought as a promotional tactic.
Social implications - Our research suggests that trial can be quite efficacious especially on the female target: It could help to increase its confidence in its ability to use new technologies.
Originality - Curiously, scholars have not studied the potential of trial with respect to new technology-based innovations and the contribution of the current work is to fill this gap
Use and Participation in Virtual Social Networks: a Theoretical Model
No full textManagers are increasingly interested in the social web as it provides numerous opportunities for strengthening and expanding relationships with customers. Firms want to leverage the willingness of consumers to join and contribute to virtual social networks in many ways. Firms rely on users to provide product support in online help forums, to create product reviews in e-tailing, and to post blogs, photos, videos, bookmarks and conversation in advertising-supported online models. Despite this, the network processes that lead to these user-based assets are poorly understood.
In this paper we explore factors influencing use and participation in virtual social networks. We begin by discussing some unusual drivers and inhibitors present with virtual social networks – highlighted by the presence of positive network externalities, as well as of fears that the content will be misused. We next discuss the relevant theoretical background to the phenomenon of online social networks. Finally, we will offer hypotheses stemming from a model of how all these factors work together, test the model with a dataset collected from two different virtual social networks, and discuss the implications of our work.
Findings offer managers insights on how to nurture web 2.0 processes
Supporting retailers to exploit online settings for internationalization: the different role of trust and compensation
No full textThe development of virtual technologies discloses two main opportunities for retailers, namely the possibility of complementing their offer through a multi-channel strategy in the marketplace they operate, and of extending their business in foreign countries. The online internationalization strategy requires retailers to overcome customers'' privacy concern facilitating their information sharing with the firm so as to conclude the online transaction. This paper aims at helping retailers in reaching this goal by investigating the effect on behavioural information sharing in online settings of two variables emerged as relevant in literature: trust and compensation (as a form of incentive). The results of an experimental study show the key role of trust on increasing online information sharing
Adding store to web: migration and synergy effects in multi‐channel retailing
No full textPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the topic of multi-channel retailing. Specifically, the research intends to determine if and to what extent the opening of physical stores by a former web-only retailer reduces or extends overall retail sales, and whether such effects tend to change over time. Empirical analysis focuses on data elaboration from a retailer who has passed from the initial mono-channel model (pure online), to a multi-channel one with the opening of stores. Design/methodology/approach – Through the analysis of an internal data set of a leading consumer electronics retailer applying Probit and Logit estimation techniques, the authors extract information about actual customers’ purchases (or rather retail sales) in three newly opened stores and about online purchases (through an e-commerce web site managed by the same retailer with the same store brand) by people living in the new store service areas before and after the openings. Findings – The paper shows that, for the single customer, the probability of purchasing online is reduced by the store opening in the short term, but tends to increase in the long term. Besides, results indicate that long-term synergy between the two channels depends mainly on indirect influence due to the mere presence of the store brand in the area rather than on the direct experience of shopping in the store. Research limitations/implications – The study highlights that channel portfolio enlargement from mono- to multi-channel retailing tends to activate a sort of life cycle; while in the early phase of store addition web sales tend to be cannibalized because the two channels are perceived as “substitutes” for each other, in the long run migration turns into a synergy effect; different channels tend to interact with and reinforce each other as customer touch points of the same retailer, in an omni-channel perspective. Originality/value – The paper herein presents various original elements concerning types of available data (actual sales rather than consumers’ intentions/perceptions and individual level data rather than aggregate level ones), estimation technique used (binary choice model) and research hypotheses (distinguishing between “direct” and “indirect” synergy effects in multi-channel retailing)
The Influence of Personality on Active and Passive Use of Social Networking Sites
No full textManagers are more and more interested in social networking sites because they provide opportunities for strengthening relationships with customers as well as site content and service. Using social networking sites effectively, however, depends on understanding both the psychological attributes and social interactions of participants. The paper addresses these topics by presenting the results of a two-study inquiry into the importance of two personality traits (consumer innovativeness and expressiveness) to active and passive use of social networks among Italian consumers. In Study 1 (n = 753) it was found that innovativeness is positively related to active and passive use. Study 2 (n = 277) revealed that self-identity expressiveness and social identity expressiveness positively influence only active use. These results suggest that managers need to distinguish between, and differentially encourage, joining and browsing such sites on the one hand and actively contributing to them on the other. Managers can also enhance the impact of their social networking sites by taking into account social and self-identity expressiveness to increase affiliation and market share and by encouraging consumers to use these sites actively
Trust in online customer-firm interaction: a literature review and directions for research
No full textTrust is a key element in developing customer-firm relationships in virtual marketplace. The peculiarities of the online settings, however, threaten firms' capability to exploit opportunities derived from such environments. This can lead to customers mostly using the online setting as an information source rather than as a place to conduct transactions. Trust is a key antecedent of online transactions. In this chapter, the authors focus on trust's role in the virtual marketplace by reviewing a series of relevant studies and proposing directions for future research
Overcoming privacy concern and enhancing online information sharing: the role of initial trust and incentives
No full textNo abstract availabl
Increasing customers' information sharing in the online setting: an empirical investigation on the role of trust and compensation
No full textNo abstract availabl
Customers’ information sharing with e-vendors: the role of incentives and trust
No full textNo abstract availabl
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