Exploring how consumers cope with online behavioral advertising

This study explores how consumers cope with a computer technology-driven persuasion tactic called online behavioral advertising (OBA). By tracking consumers’ online behaviors, OBA delivers highly tailored advertising messages to individual consumers, giving rise to serious privacy concerns due to their covert nature. Integrating the persuasion knowledge model and the protection motivation theory, we employed a survey method (N = 442) to examine how consumers cope with OBA based on their persuasion knowledge, cognitive appraisal, and cognitive processing variables. The results reveal that persuasion knowledge was indirectly associated with coping behavior of ad avoidance throughout cognitive appraisal process (perceived risks; perceived benefits; self-efficacy). Privacy concerns partially mediated such associations with ad avoidance. Interestingly, cognitive processing variables (reactance; perceived personalization) were significantly associated with ad avoidance without being related to persuasion knowledge. The implications for theoretical, managerial, and social contributions are discussed.     

Acceptance of recommendations to buy in online retailing

Nowadays, many online shops try to improve their customer service by personalization. Personal welcomings, individual assistance as well as recommendations to inform and buy are getting an integral part of the customer communication. These new elements are assumed to increase the retailer's share of wallet and – ideally at the same time – the customer's satisfaction with the online shop. However, till date only few studies have analyzed which external factors influence the customer's acceptance of such assistance. This paper closes this gap by an experiment, where a modified Technology Acceptance Model is used for measuring the customer's acceptance. Volunteers are offered an online shopping experience with individually generated recommendations to buy. The results show a high acceptance of the generated recommendations and how close this acceptance is connected to the quality and shopping relevance of the recommendations. Even though the results are limited to the specific recommendation types used, they give important implications for an adequate design of modern online shops.     

Online service personalization for apparel shopping

This study explores the dynamics of online service personalization in the online apparel retailing context, with regard to customers’ actual online shopping activities. From an empirical study of American Internet shoppers (n=204), three types of widely-used online service personalization, that is (i) offer, (ii) recognition, and (iii) personal advice, were identified. Moreover, grounded by the Theory of Reasoned Action [Fishbein, M., Ajzen, I., 1975. Belief, Attitudes, Intention, Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research. Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA], relationships between customers’ online service personalization attitudes and their online shopping activities—regarding apparel items—have been investigated. Findings of this study empirically present the dynamics of online service personalization in the context of online apparel retailing. Also, the results show that customer online shopping experiences may impact on their online service personalization attitudes. Theoretical and managerial implications are also discussed regarding online service management. Based on the results, Internet-based apparel retailers may benefit from developing various types of personalization services by enhancing shopping intentions of their customers, in particular, of those who are loyal to the retailers.     

How Does Web Personalization Create Value for Online Retailers? Lower Cash Flow Volatility or Enhanced Cash Flows

This study examines the performance consequences of web personalization (WP), a type of personalization in which web content is personalized and recommendations are offered based on customer preferences. Despite the growing popularity of personalization, there is a dearth of research at the firm level on whether and how web personalization creates shareholder value. We develop and test a conceptual model that proposes that the impact of WP on shareholder value is mediated by (1) cash flow volatility and (2) premium price. The hypotheses are tested based on 603 firm-quarter observations spanning 80 firms over six years in the online financial services industry. The results suggest that while WP lowers the volatility of cash flows, it only enables firms to charge premium prices when online trust is high. Additional tests reveal that the reduction in cash flow volatility is because of lower churn as opposed to acquiring new customers or greater cross-buying. Finally, online trust positively moderates the relationships between WP and cash flow volatility and price premia. Practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

我国网络购物乱象的经济学分析

网络购物产业在我国发展迅猛,具有广阔的市场前景。但同时网络购物乱象丛生,诸如商品质量、诚信缺失等问题损害了消费者权益,也成为抑制网络购物产业快速健康发展的桎梏,引发社会普遍关注。本文运用经济学理论分析网络购物乱象背后的经济原因,并据此提出化解网络购物乱象、促进产业健康发展的政策建议。     

网上购物顾客满意度研究

随着网上购物的逐渐普及,近年来针对网上购物的相关研究越来越多。基于顾客满意度理论,提出测量指标体系,通过定量分析及实证研究,得出结论：在网上购物过程中,导航简单明了、价格、注册过程、送货过程、产品质量、交付信息的安全性、对顾客抱怨的处理等因素的重要性较高,也是影响顾客满意度的主要因素。     

Message‐to‐person versus person‐to‐message: An alternative way to conceptualize personalized advertising

This study provides an alternative way to conceptualize personalized advertising and discusses when and why nonpersonalized information can be more effective than personalized information in changing people's attitudes and behavioral intentions. Different from the traditional personalization approach in the literature that personalizes a message for an individual, this alternative way of thinking is to personalize an individual for a message. It is argued that an individual can be personalized for a message via priming tactics and it leads to reverse personalization effects where a nonpersonalized message generates stronger persuasion effects than a personalized message. The effects of priming on personalization are moderated by perceived prime credibility and mediated by perceived message relevance.     

基于预期不确认理论和技术接受模型的网络购物顾客满意度影响因素分析

基于预期不确认理论和技术接受模型构建网络购物顾客满意度影响因素模型,将顾客满意度影响因素分为五个维度:个体创新性、顾客期望、网站特性认知、质量与服务感知和网购接受程度。通过结构方程模型方法进行验证,结果支持该模型及大多数假设,其中顾客期望、网站特性认知、质量与服务感知和网购接受程度均显著影响顾客满意度,个体创新性对顾客满意度的影响并不显著,并且网站特性认知、质量与服务感知和网购接受程度之间的假设关系得到验证。     

An empirical analysis of online shopping adoption in Beijing,China

The Internet is a global communication medium that is increasingly being used worldwide as an innovative tool for marketing goods and services. At the end of 2010, Internet users in China reached 420 million. However, online shopping in China is not widely practiced and organisations investing in B2C online shopping need to understand the factors that affect Chinese consumers′ online buying behaviour. This research develops a theoretical research model as a framework to identify the key decision factors influencing Chinese consumers′ to shop, or not to shop online. A self-administered questionnaire was used to gather information from 435 respondents in Beijing, China. The empirical analysis identifies and ranks seven important decision factors: perceived risk, consumer resources, service quality, subjective norms, product variety, convenience, and website factors. All of these decision factors impact on Chinese consumers′ adoption of online shopping. Moreover, managerial implications and recommendations are also presented.     

网络购物环境下的电子服务质量探究

近年,随着网络购物迅猛的发展,网络企业的服务质量好坏对于企业竞争优势的获取意义重大。通过对电子服务质量文献进行综合分析和研究,将电子服务质量划分为服务环境质量、服务过程质量和服务结果质量三个维度,并开发了相应的电子服务质量量表,为今后的电子服务质量的研究和网络企业服务质量的提高提供了理论依据。但探究验证表明,从具体行业着手,利用国外现有的模型进行评估,大多较少从理论本源上研究服务质量构成要素,大大限制了我国的服务质量研究水平。     

Unraveling the Personalization Paradox: The Effect of Information Collection and Trust-Building Strategies on Online Advertisement Effectiveness

Retailers gather data about customers’ online behavior to develop personalized service offers. Greater personalization typically increases service relevance and customer adoption, but paradoxically, it also may increase customers’ sense of vulnerability and lower adoption rates. To demonstrate this contradiction, an exploratory field study on Facebook and secondary data about a personalized advertising campaign indicate sharp drops in click-through rates when customers realize their personal information has been collected without their consent. To investigate the personalization paradox, this study uses three experiments that confirm a firm's strategy for collecting information from social media websites is a crucial determinant of how customers react to online personalized advertising. When firms engage in overt information collection, participants exhibit greater click-through intentions in response to more personalized advertisements, in contrast with their reactions when firms collect information covertly. This effect reflects the feelings of vulnerability that consumers experience when firms undertake covert information collection strategies. Trust-building marketing strategies that transfer trust from another website or signal trust with informational cues can offset this negative effect. These studies help unravel the personalization paradox by explicating the role of information collection and its impact on vulnerability and click-through rates.     

Personalization has a Price,Controllability is the Currency: Predictors for the Intention to use Personalized eGovernment Websites

Content personalization on government websites provides individuals with a personal selection of information. In this study, we determine the role of trust in a government organization, trust in the technology, and perceived controllability on the intention to use content personalization for eGovernment websites. A total of 1141 participants were presented with scenarios describing a nonpersonalized webpage and one of four approaches to online content personalization, followed by an online survey. Results were analyzed by means of structural equation modeling. Perceived controllability is the most important antecedent of the intention to use online content personalization for eGovernment; trust in the technology also has a considerable influence. Trust in the government organization plays a minor role. The adaptable approach to online content personalization has the highest likelihood of citizen acceptance. When designing personalized eGovernment information services, designers should instill a feeling of controllability over the coming about of tailored content and trust in the technology.     

A New Architecture for Personalization Engines: An Open Source Approach

There are many benefits in having personalized engines on a Web site. Several types of architecture have evolved to support this information system. Even though, a recent survey has shown that online shopping behavior is not altered by installing these systems on a Web site, enormous money is being spent on their use. These commercial personalization engines are very expensive to buy and are proprietary in nature. One alternative advocated in this article is to use a new architecture that follows an open source philosophy and uses a situation questions, problem questions, implication questions, need-payoff questions (SPIN) based question-answering strategy to interact with visitors. An implementation (called JESPER, a Jess-enabled personalization system) of such an architecture using JESS (Java-based expert system shell) is also presented. Our experience shows that personalization engines built this way for a Web site can be quite cheap and rigorous.     

A contextual perspective on consumers' perceived usefulness: The case of mobile online shopping

This research aims to study the origins of consumers' usefulness perceptions through the example of mobile online shopping adoption in Europe. The results of an empirical study, which is grounded in technology acceptance theory, reveal the pivotal role of consumers' beliefs about the quality of mobile online stores in the formation of usefulness perceptions prior to adoption. While this study identifies that consumers form their usefulness evaluations depending on the respective shopping tasks, the results of a moderation analysis yield usefulness predictors that differ in relevance across product categories and shopping touchpoints. This contextual perspective has implications for both adoption and (online) channel research. It also helps managers to identify starting points on how to promote (mobile) online shopping adoption.     

虚拟社区、在线口碑与消费者行为

随着电子商务的发展,虚拟社区成为消费者分享个体购物经验、消费体验和沟通信息的重要场所,消费者在购物时也将虚拟社区中的口碑信息作为重要参考依据。本文在对国内外相关文献的研究基础上,构建出在线口碑对消费者行为的影响因素模型,并运用因子分析法对假设的模型进行了修正,发现口碑信息源因素、口碑信息传播方向因素、社区成员自身因素、社区成员互动因素和产品因素,在网络口碑对虚拟社区成员消费行为的影响过程中起了很大作用;企业若要利用好口碑信息就应提供充足的口碑信息,增加信息的可信度,提高在线口碑作为反馈机制的效益,提高在线口碑的间接收益,并掌握处理负面口碑的应急之策。     

基于顾客满意的消费者网上购物影响因素分析

在技术接受模型、交易成本理论和顾客满意度理论的基础上,提出了基于顾客满意度消费者网上购物决策模型,并通过结构方程模型方法对所建模型进行实证研究。基于顾客满意度消费者网上购物决策模型对消费者网上购物行为具有较好的解释度。     

Culture, product type, and price influences on consumer purchase intention to buy personalized products online

With personalization, consumers can choose from various product attributes and a customized product is assembled based on their preferences. Marketers often offer personalization on websites. This paper investigates consumer purchase intentions toward personalized products in an online selling situation.The research builds and tests three hypotheses: (1) intention to purchase personalized products will be affected by individualism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, and masculinity dimensions of a national culture; (2) consumers will be more likely to buy personalized search products than experience products; and (3) intention to buy a personalized product will not be influenced by price premiums up to some level. Results indicate that individualism is the only culture dimension to have a significant effect on purchase intention. Product type and individualism by price interaction also have a significant effect, whereas price does not. Major findings and implications are discussed.     

Personalized charity advertising. Can personalized prosocial messages promote empathy,attitude change,and helping intentions toward stigmatized social groups?

This study examines the role of personalized charity advertising in promoting empathy, attitude change, and helping intentions toward stigmatized social groups. Based on theories of message involvement, empathy, and reactance, we predicted that higher levels of involvement elicited by a personalized charity advertisement would reinforce empathy and prosocial outcomes. An online experiment was conducted using a personalized and a nonpersonalized version of a charity advertisement for a campaign soliciting donations of winter coats for homeless people. As expected, structural equation modeling revealed a positive indirect effect of personalization on prosocial outcomes (attitudes and behavioural intentions toward homeless people, and willingness to donate to the campaign) that was mediated by involvement and empathy. However, in addition to promoting involvement and empathy, personalization also led to heightened reactance, which detracted from the positive effects. Theoretical as well as practical implications of the findings for personalized charity advertising are discussed.     

The Influence of Consumers’ Cognitive and Psychographic Traits on Perceived Deception: A Comparison Between Online and Offline Retailing Contexts

In this article, we examine the role of several consumers’ cognitive and psychographic traits in their perceptions of retailers’ deceptive practices (perceived deception) and the different effects on perceived deception associated with online vis-à-vis in-store shopping. Building on theoretical models of persuasion in consumer behavior, we hypothesize that the antecedents of perceived deception in traditional settings are the same as those on the Internet, while the intensity of the impact of these antecedents differs between the online and the offline environment. Results suggest that the effects of individual’s cognitive traits (Internet-based information search and perceived Internet usefulness) and risk aversion on perceived deception are more relevant when consumers shop online than when they purchase from traditional stores. Conversely, psychographic traits (shopping enjoyment and materialism) play a more important role in explaining perceived deception in the traditional shopping context as compared to the online channel. Several theoretical and managerial implications are derived from these findings.     

Does involvement matter in online shopping satisfaction and trust?

Consumer involvement in online shopping can play a moderating role when explaining Web site effect on satisfaction and trust. This study proposes a set of hypotheses based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) of persuasion, a conceptual model that explains the formation of individual attitudes that are prompted by central and peripheral cues. The model proposes the use of central signals when the buyer is highly involved and peripheral signals when the buyer is less involved. Nevertheless, the results of this study would suggest that these relationships are not so clearly defined in the case of online buying, which implies that certain assumptions associated with the ELM need to be revised to take the particularities of the online context into account. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.