Understanding the Antecedents and Consequences of Live Chat Use in Electronic Markets

Online shopping has progressed from having consumers passively browse through the webpages of online stores to having them proactively engage in communication dialogues with the sellers themselves via live chat. Modern-day consumers can now directly contact online sellers and inquire about the products they intend to purchase through the live chat medium available in the webpages of online stores, such as Taobao.com. In this study, the conceptual framework of motivation, opportunity, and ability was extended to understand the antecedents of using live chat and to lengthen such an understanding on one’s eventual intention to transact on the website from the trust-oriented perspective. A total of 222 online consumers of Taobao.com were surveyed, and their responses validated the proposed conceptual model and confirmed the research hypotheses. Results of the investigation indicated that perceived information asymmetry and fears of seller opportunism, encapsulated under motivation dimension, and perceived personal expertise, which manifests ability dimension, significantly influence the use of live chat by consumers. The results further demonstrated that live chat use positively affects the perceived interactivity of consumers, thereby increasing their intention to transact. The influence of live chat use on the perceived interactivity of consumers and its effect on one’s intention to transact online are negatively moderated by the trust of consumers in a seller. The findings contribute to our understanding communication services for e-commerce in general and to the realization of real-time communication technology in particular.     

Satisfaction with Online Commercial Group Chat: The Influence of Perceived Technology Attributes, Chat Group Characteristics, and Advisor Communication Style

This study examines online commercial group chat from a structuration theory perspective. The findings support the influence of perceived technology attributes (control, enjoyment, reliability, speed, and ease of use) and chat group characteristics (group involvement, similarity, and receptivity) on customer satisfaction and the moderating role of advisor communication style on these influences. Furthermore, our results show that chat group characteristics influence customer satisfaction directly as well as indirectly via perceived technology attributes. Online chat satisfaction in turn influences behavioral intentions. Finally, group-level perceptions are found to add considerably to perceptions at the individual level. Our study illustrates that structuration theory provides a sound foundation for theoretical development and empirical investigation of online group chat. Also it shows that retailers need to carefully manage the intricate interplay between technology, chat groups, and online advisors to foster a satisfying experience for customers.     

Who's got my back? Comparing consumers' reactions to peer-provided and firm-provided customer support

This study demonstrates that when an individual encounters a product-related problem, fellow consumers (i.e., one's peers) have a unique advantage in providing social support to the affected consumer. Specifically, we find that social support can be a dominant driver of consumer satisfaction when the risk of customer defection is at its highest (i.e., following an unsuccessful attempt to solve the consumer's problem). Using real-world data from an online support community, a pilot study finds that if the problem that a consumer faces goes unsolved, satisfaction is greater when consumers receive peer-provided versus firm-provided support. Study 1 replicates this finding in a controlled experiment that realistically simulates an actual customer support incident in real-time. Study 2 identifies social support as the mechanism that underlies this effect and investigates whether firm employees can take steps to appear more customer-like and thereby replicate the advantage of peer-provided support. Finally, Study 3 reveals an alternative strategy (i.e., utilizing multiple employees) that firms can use to enhance social support and provides evidence that peer-provided support not only enhances satisfaction but also positively influences consumers' behavioral intentions.     

应急多方话务通信方案设计

针对突发地质灾难中无法利用常规通信网络通信的问题,提出一种基于于嵌入式微处 理器OMAP5912 的实时多用户通信方案。采用WiFi无线网卡组建Ad Hoc网络,通过AIC23芯 片实现语音采集和输出,利用动态多用户语音解码算法实现实时多用户话音通话功能。测试 表明,该系统支持多用户同时语音通信功能,语音延迟约60 ms,适合于各种应急通信 等无线应用场合。     

Influence of hedonic and utilitarian motivations on retailer loyalty and purchase intention: a facebook perspective

Social networks are an innovative tool that people use to communicate with family, friends and, increasingly, businesses. To optimize social networks as a marketing strategy, apparel retailers must understand consumers׳ motivations to interact with retailers via social media. We argue consumers׳ motivations for shopping on Retail Facebook Pages (RFP) compared to traditional retail formats may differ. The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of utilitarian and hedonic motivations (i.e., time savings, information access, bargain perception, and experiential shopping) on purchase intention and loyalty among consumers that use RFP. Using SEM, we show that experiential shopping influences loyalty, but not purchase intention, that bargain perception influences neither purchase intention nor loyalty, that information access influences time savings and loyalty, and that loyalty impacts purchase intention.     

‘We’ are more likely to endorse than ‘I’: the effects of self-construal and brand symbolism on consumers’ online brand endorsements

Recent research increasingly highlights that consumers engage in online brand endorsements (e.g. Facebook likes) to signal their identity, but has failed to explain why different consumers use this type of signaling to differing degrees. This paper addresses this gap by looking at a culturally constructed individual difference variable, namely self-construal. Self-construal, which can be independent or interdependent, refers to the extent that people define themselves in terms of the relations they have with others. In four studies, this research shows that consumers’ self-construal is related to their intention to endorse brands online. In particular, high levels of interdependent self-construal positively affect consumers’ intention to endorse brands online (Studies 1A & 1B). This effect is mediated by an increased perception of brands’ symbolic value (Study 2). Moreover, this positivity bias toward symbolic brand cues is conditional upon consumers’ brand attitude (Study 3). These findings demonstrate that consumers’ identity plays a central role in their brand perception and brand-related social media use.     

Understanding how the message appeal of moral beauty influences advertising effectiveness under mortality salience

Consumers may be reminded of life mortality by some life events and media content. Mortality salience as a contextual factor has not been sufficiently investigated in the existing literature of advertising. The present research analyzes how the interplay between mortality salience and moral beauty influences consumers’ perceptions of life meaning and their responses to advertisements. Results of two studies confirmed that participants perceived increased life meaning when viewing advertisements that presented moral beauty. In Study 1, participants who were reminded of death evaluated an advertisement that presented moral beauty more favorably than an advertisement without such content. In Study 2, younger (i.e., age 18–25) and older participants (i.e., 55 and above) were recruited and the results indicated that the phenomenon observed in Study 1 was only prominent among younger participants. These results are believed to provide interesting insights to marketing communication both theoretically and practically.     

Is the Internet a primary source for consumer information search?: Group comparison for channel choices

A recent report estimates that 79% of American Internet consumers have searched online for health information [Fox, S., 2005. Health Information Online. Pew Internet & American Life Project, Washington, DC]. Currently, little information exists about consumers’ usage of the Internet as a channel of health information. As more consumers are relying on the Internet as a medical and health information search medium, relevant implicative research that provides insights into consumers’ online information searching behavior should be conducted. The present research attempted to reveal factors that drive consumers to adopt the Internet as their main channel of health information. Specifically, multiple facets, such as consumers’ psychological factors (i.e., personal characteristics) and perceived quality dimensions, were explored. Two Internet user groups were selected by their primary channel when searching for health information. Structural equation modeling was utilized to compare the two groups and identified significant differences of personal characteristics and perceived quality.     

Viral marketing: Motivations to forward online content

Despite the increasing popularity of viral marketing, factors critical to such a new communication medium remain largely unknown. This paper examines one of the critical factors, namely Internet users' motivations to pass along online content. Conceptualizing the act of forwarding online content as a special case of a more general communication behavior, we identify four potential motivations: (1) the need to be part of a group, (2) the need to be individualistic, (3) the need to be altruistic, and (4) the need for personal growth. Using a survey of young adults, we examine the relationship between these motivations and the frequency of passing along online content. We also investigate if high trait curiosity can indirectly lead to more forwarding by increasing the amount of online content consumed. Results show that Internet users, who are more individualistic and/or more altruistic, tend to forward more online content than others.     

Cutting Through the Online Review Jungle — Investigating Selective eWOM Processing

Consumers frequently rely on online reviews, a prominent form of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), before making a purchase decision. However, consumers are usually confronted with hundreds of reviews for a single product or service, as well as rich information cues on online review websites (review texts, helpfulness ratings, author information, etc.). In turn, consumers face more information cues on online review websites than they can or want to process, and are likely to proceed selectively. This paper investigates selective processing of such eWOM information cues. Results of Study 1, an exploratory study using verbal protocols, confirm that consumers display selective eWOM processing patterns and are able to articulate them. Study 2 develops and applies a measurement instrument to capture these patterns. A subsequent cluster analysis on members of a large-scale online panel (N = 2,295) indicates five prominent eWOM processing types, termed “The Efficients”, “The Meticulous”, “The Quality-Evaluators”, “The Cautious Critics”, and “The Swift Pessimists”. Insights of this research can help firms to better understand consumers' eWOM processing and improve the user-friendliness of online review websites.     

Understanding the online consumer: A typology of online relational norms and behavior

Relational norms governing Web-based interaction provide the basis for a typology of relationship orientation manifested by consumers online. Clustering techniques are applied to survey data collected online to identify four groups: Transactional Community Members, Socializers, Personal Connectors, and Lurkers. Cluster assignment is validated by examination of segment means, under volitional versus constraint-based marketing contexts. Relational profiles are developed, differentiated by the strength of relational norms and exhibited interactive behavior. Results suggest investment in community-building infrastructure (i.e., chat rooms, bulletin boards, interactive events), has a positive effect on the future loyalty intentions of highly relational patrons. Implications and future research directions are discussed.     

“Don't Forget that Others Are Watching,Too!” The Effect of Conversational Human Voice and Reply Length on Observers' Perceptions of Complaint Handling in Social Media

When dissatisfied customers voice their complaints on companies' social media pages, many other consumers can observe such interactions. Yet, only limited research has investigated how complaint handling is perceived by this online audience. Since the final outcome of the complaint is rarely visible publicly, the message characteristics (e.g., length and style) of company replies can represent signaling cues for observers of how the complaint is handled. The results of two experimental studies show that the use of conversational human voice (CHV) leads to more positive observer perceptions of complaint handling as opposed to when a corporate voice is employed. We found that interactional justice fully mediates this process and that satisfaction with complaint handling positively impacts corporate image and indirectly observers' WOM intentions. Surprisingly, high CHV can negatively affect procedural justice, but these effects are mainly offset through interactional justice, as the observers focus on the fairness in the communication exchange. Interestingly, our findings show that, in the case of low CHV, other cues such as the length of the company's reply significantly change perceived justice dimensions; however, the length of reply does not lead to such changes when high CHV is employed. Our studies bring novel findings that contribute to justice and signaling theories in the context of complaints management in social media. Managerial implications are discussed.     

Animating the big middle

A Consumer Culture Theory (CCT) perspective captures the motivating social and cultural contexts of retail patronage and purchase behaviors and the myriad motivating factors behind the retail purchase decision. A CCT perspective complements behavioral decision theory and social cognition research in retailing. For consumers, retailers represent a field in which operant resources interact. In these marketspaces, firms and consumers exert a mutual gravitational pull. Firms compete for a role in the culturally constituted projects that consumers pursue by offering certain resource combinations. A CCT-based approach to retailing strives to account for co-creation, namely, how consumers deploy their own cultural resources, aided by retailer-provided resources, to accomplish the pursuit of their personal identity and communal projects. The paper discusses strategic orientations for retail firms that spring from a resource view, four types of firm supplied operant resources, suggests some mechanisms through which consumers animate cultural resources and their motivations to do so, and offers suggestions for future research.     

Regret and nonredemption of daily deals: Individual differences and contextual influences

The growth of online daily deal price promotions and the resulting consumer nonredemption of daily deal coupons is worthy of understanding from a psychological lens of nonconsumption. Whereas there is an emerging literature on daily deals and established literature on barriers to redemption, there exists a gap in where this scholarship intersects. This study provides a conceptual model explaining why consumers purchase daily deal coupons and do not redeem them. We explain consumers’ reasons for buying a daily deal upfront along with their reasons for not using it from theoretical lenses of reasons theory and social motivations theory. On testing the model empirically with qualitative and deepening insight via quantitative methods, the findings reveal that reasons for purchasing daily deals are rooted in individual consumer-level factors (i.e., price-consciousness, buying impulsiveness, and susceptibility to interpersonal normative influence). Further, reasons for nonredemption are explained by contextual elements of the daily deal (i.e., offer distinctiveness, the total number of daily deals sold, restrictions on using the deal, and low discount size). Our findings suggest that post-purchase regret ultimately explains a key reason deals go unused. Marketing implications are offered in the areas of characteristics of daily deal offers.     

Evaluating Advice: Self‐Presentational Biases between High and Low Self‐Monitors

Previous research has demonstrated that high and low self‐monitors sought advice from others who shared their underlying motivational dispositions. Here, three studies extend the prior research by exploring how consumers’ underlying motives direct the type of advice offered and how it is evaluated. In Study 1, high and low self‐monitors were asked to evaluate the advice they gave others. As predicted, high self‐monitors rated their advice more favorably than did low self‐monitors. The underlying motivation that caused high self‐monitors to evaluate their advice more positively was investigated in Study 2. Results indicated that high self‐monitors rated their advice higher because it appeared to be meeting a social‐adjustive function (i.e., self‐presentational needs). In Study 3, high and low self‐monitors created an advertisement that featured their advice on dating for a fictitious online matchmaking service. As expected, advertisements created by high self‐monitors contained advice that addressed social‐adjustive needs while those created by low self‐monitors contained advice that addressed value‐expressive needs. The results of these studies suggest that underlying motivations of the individual play an active role in how advice is crafted and evaluated.     

Nicknames as identity badges: How self-reflective nicknames can facilitate users’ online social interactions

An Internet nickname is essential in facilitating online interpersonal interactions. It is a pivotal element of interaction that provides other users with an initial impression and affects the decisions and behaviors of users during their online interactions. Although the existing literature has found that nicknames are relevant to users’ psychology and behavior, direct research on the motivation for and the effect of choosing a particular Internet nickname has been very limited. Borrowing from relevant theories on avatars, this paper summarizes the motivations behind Internet nickname choices in terms of three aspects: virtual exploration, social navigation and contextual adaptation. Moreover, from the perspective of collective self-esteem (CSE) and group identification, this research explores the influence mechanism between the motivations underlying Internet nickname choices and users’ online social interactions. A total of 394 samples were obtained from online communities in China to test our research model. We found that virtual exploration, social navigation and contextual adaptation are three motivations for creating Internet nicknames, and they have direct effects on the online social interactions of users. CSE has a full mediating effect between virtual exploration and online social interaction and acts as a mediated variable between social navigation and online social interaction. Group identification fully mediates the relationship between social navigation and online social interaction as well as that between contextual adaptation and online social interaction. The conclusion of this paper provides not only a new perspective for the study of Internet nicknames but also a potentially feasible way to stimulate users’ online social interactions.     

“Don't pretend to be my friend!” When an informal brand communication style backfires on social media

Social media are now essential platforms for marketing communications, and the volume of consumer-brand interactions on these platforms is exploding. Even so, it remains unclear how brands should communicate with consumers to foster relationships and, in particular, to gain their trust. A fundamental decision in this regard is the choice of a communication style, specifically, whether an informal or a formal style should be used in social media communications. In this paper, we investigate how adopting an informal (vs. formal) communication style affects brand trust and demonstrate that using an informal style can either have a positive or negative effect on brand trust, depending on whether consumers are familiar with the brand or not. We further show that these effects occur because consumers expect brands to behave according to social norms, such that the use of an informal style is perceived to be appropriate for familiar brands and inappropriate for unfamiliar ones.     

Consumers' attitudes and intentions toward Internet-enabled TV shopping

An increasing number of households are equipped with Internet-enabled televisions (IETVs) that yield opportunities for online activities. This research contributes by investigating the motivational factors of consumers’ attitudes and intentions toward IETV shopping. A quasi-experimental study in the environmental context of a living room was designed to explore IETV shopping behavior. Findings indicate that utilitarian motivations are determined by characteristics of technology and hedonic motivations from the physical environment. Attitudes toward IETV shopping are primarily influenced by hedonic shopping motivations. Conclusions suggest that by providing an IETV shopping app, retailers would make online shopping more enjoyable and comfortable for consumers.     

Why Forward Viral Fashion Messages? The Moderating Roles of Consumers’ Fashion Traits and Message Orientation

Businesses are now using social media as platforms for viral marketing. However, little is known about the motivations, attitudes, and behaviors of fashion consumers who engage with this marketing instrument. This study examines the factors that influence consumers’ use of social media and their behavioral intentions to forward viral fashion messages. An attitudinal model was proposed through the integration of uses and gratification theory and the elaboration likelihood model. Individuals’ fashion trait and message orientations were specified as moderating factors. An online survey was administered to collect data, and 381 college students participated in the study. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling. Findings showed that individuals’ intention to forward a message was affected by favorable functional and expressive attitudes towards the message, while motivations of using social media had only slight effects on individuals’ attitudes. Group comparisons showed significant moderating effects from identified individuals’ fashion trait and message orientation.