An Empirical Study on the Factors Affecting Online Shopping Behavior of Millennial Consumers

The online market in India is growing at an exponential rate, predominantly driven by the massive and extensive promotional activities. This strategy may not be appreciable in the long run, hence a real value addition is essential, which is explored through this study. The main objective of this research is to study about the determinants that are affecting the online purchasing behavior of millennial consumers. Conceptual framework, which consists of four factors that may induce online purchase behavior among millennial consumers: consumer innovativeness, perceived benefits, perceived risks, attitude and intention. The population of the study is from the millennial customer’s segment of Chennai metro, Tamil Nadu, India, and the study used systematic random sampling. The statistical tools applied are chi-square, ANOVA, correlation, multiple regression, and factor analysis. From the outcomes of this study, factors influencing online purchase are analyzed, and suggestive strategies for online companies are recommended.     

EDITOR'S COMMENTS

ABSTRACT

The key to improving pricing methods lies in establishing a clear relationship between the price paid by customers and the value received. A company's understanding of how a decision in its pricing policy will affect the perceptions its potential consumers will have of these prices, is fundamental if it wishes to make sure that its offer is properly perceived. Thus, if companies identify the rules used by purchasers to price their products, they will be successful in getting the objective signal they send via their communication strategies to be perceived in the desired manner. This analysis shows that both monetary and non-monetary costs are considered by consumers when determining the final cost perception associated with the acquisition of a good, and that the understanding of the internal reference price is essential for determining the nominal price effect on the monetary component of total sacrifice.     

Factors Influencing Successful Brand Extensions

Organisations frequently follow brand extension strategies. This paper investigates the impact of category similarity, brand reputation, perceived risk and consumer innovativeness on the success of brand extensions in FMCG, durable goods and services sectors. A set of hypotheses were developed and tested in a study amongst 701 consumers. The findings show that extensions into categories more similar to the original brand tend to be more readily accepted. Likewise, the reputation of the original brand is an important factor influencing the success of the extension. These findings are consistent across FMCG, durable goods and services brands. However, perceived risk about the extension category was only found to enhance acceptability of extensions for durable goods and services brands. Innovative consumers are more positively disposed towards service brand extensions than FMCG and durable goods brand extensions.     

Corporate social responsibility: a boon or bane for innovative firms?

In today’s dynamic business landscape, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is considered as an important strategic initiative for attaining sustainable competitive advantage. The present study aims to examine (i) the influence of consumer’s perceived firm innovativeness (CPFI) and consumer trust on perceived CSR activities of the firm and (ii) the mediating role of perceived CSR in the relationship between (iia) consumer’s perceived firm innovativeness and purchase intention (iib) consumer trust and purchase intention. Four hypotheses were tested with the primary data (n = 287) collected through a structured questionnaire. The regression analysis revealed that CPFI and consumer trust have direct positive impacts on the perceived CSR. Further, perceived CSR mediates the relationship between CPFI and purchase intention. However, perceived CSR does not play a mediating role between Consumer Trust and Purchase Intention. Overall, the findings of this study indicate that engagement in the CSR activities tend to reduce the perceived risk associated with innovation and consequently, influence the purchase intention among consumers. Theoretical and managerial implications are further discussed.     

错过价格促销情境下消费者感知价值损失及其对负向购买意愿的影响

文章构建了错过价格促销情境下价格促销类型、促销幅度、感知价值损失和负向购买意愿关系的理论模型.通过2(价格促销类型:直接降价/间接降价)×2(价格促销幅度:大/小)的因子实验设计,研究发现:在错过价格促销情境下,消费者感知价值损失因价格促销的类型不同、幅度不同而有显著差异,价格促销类型和价格促销幅度对消费者感知价值损失有交互作用,消费者感知价值损失对负向购买意愿存在显著的正向影响.     

Hierarchical effects of product attributes on actualized innovativeness in the context of high-tech products

This paper examines the influence of product attributes in high-tech products on consumers' actualized innovativeness. In Stage 1, product attributes are identified based on interviews with consumers. In Stage 2, a survey is conducted with a different set of consumers in order to classify the product attributes into primary, secondary or tertiary attributes and to test the hypotheses. The results reveal that primary, secondary and tertiary attributes have a reverse hierarchical influence on actualized innovativeness. That is, tertiary attributes influence the actualized innovativeness most, followed by secondary, and then by primary attributes. However, only primary attributes positively moderate the relationship between inherent and actualized innovativeness. These results can help marketing researchers and practitioners understand the influence of product attributes on behavioral aspects of consumer innovativeness.     

消费者创新性的结构测量及对创新性行为的影响

现有文献比较全面地揭示了消费者创新性与新产品创新性行为之间的多重关系,并探讨了这些关系产生的条件和机制。但绝大多数的理论和经验研究都将消费者创新性视为一个单维构念来进行操作性界定和测量,很少有研究去探索其内在结构并在此基础上检验每个维度与新产品创新性行为之间的关系。文章旨在探讨消费者创新性的结构维度并在此基础上观察不同类型的消费者创新性对创新性行为的影响。结论表明,消费者创新性是一个包括感知创新性和认知创新性的双维构念;作为整体的消费者创新性与新产品采用行为并没有显著的相关性,只有认知创新性才与新产品的采用行为正向相关,而感知创新性只与新产品的创新性信息搜寻正向相关。上述结论为消费者创新性提供了一个新的认识,也为今后学者从该角度来研究有关消费者创新性的其他问题提供了变量测量的工具,而且还为新产品的营销实践提供了新的管理启示。     

出口商品的价格博弈分析

我国商品出口价格之低廉,是世界公认的。近年来,我国许多出口企业为了自己的利益在国际市场上拼价格、拼终端,陷入了一个价格博弈的困境。这种价格博弈与萨缪尔森的"囚徒困境"模型很类似。本文将基于"囚徒困境"模型分析出口商品的价格博弈,指明其带来的危害,并给予相关建议,以期企业能够正确对待价格博弈,实现"双赢"。     

基于无形性的工业品牌价值产生机理解析

聚焦于工业品的无形性,本文通过Mudambi品牌价值风轮（pinwheel）模型说明无形性是工业品牌存在的前提条件。因为工业品的无形性,品牌成为一种工具,无论是从一致于信息经济学派的品牌理论的感知风险的视角出发,品牌减少了风险,还是从一致于认知心理学派的品牌理论化范式的感知质量的视角出发,品牌增加了感知价值,都为顾客带来了价值,这种价值便是工业品牌价值。     

Effects of Extrinsic Attributes on Perceived Quality,Customer Value,and Behavioral Intentions in B2B Settings: A Comparison Across Goods and Service Industries

ABSTRACT

The traditional formulation of customer value is a trade off of benefits and sacrifices, with intrinsic quality typically being the primary benefit, and price typically being the primary sacrifice. While additional sacrifices have been proposed in the literature (e.g., time and effort), we explore three additional benefits, the extrinsic attributes of industry leadership, innovation, and customer focus and their effects on a hierarchical quality-value-intention system. Data gathered from two distinct business-to-business domains, one goods and one services, showed that extrinsic attributes impacted elements of the quality-value-intention system. It was also found that quality and customer focus (an extrinsic attribute) differed in their effects across goods and services contexts. Managerial implications are discussed for creating customer perceived value in goods and services industries.     

Differentiation value through services in a manufacturer's delivery chain

The delivery of industrial goods includes various possibilities for service business. Previous research has concentrated on third-party logistics (3PL) providers' perspective on service opportunities. This study takes the manufacturer's perspective in inter-organizational relationships and investigates the potential for differentiation value though services associated with the delivery of industrial goods. Field observation was carried out on three high-volume construction component deliveries, to uncover differentiation value drivers and the emergence of service opportunities in a manufacturer's delivery chain. The results complement earlier 3PL-centered goods delivery research by showing that the manufacturer's unique product and process competences, and activities in the delivery chain drive differentiation value, enable new service opportunities. The findings, thereby, draw attention to manufacturers and their competences as sources of added-value service in the delivery of industrial goods. Manufacturing firms have various options for differentiation and centrality in the inter-organizational network through cooperation with third parties. The results reveal that third parties can be hidden sources of added customer value in the goods delivery chain. The differentiation value for different firms in the industrial goods' delivery chains can emerge when firms begin to develop and offer services to each other, and therefore a proactive and in-depth analysis of their customers' differentiation-oriented value hierarchies is required.     

基于服务公平性的顾客满意感与忠诚感关系—面向武汉酒店业的实证研究

在高度竞争的市场环境中,赢得顾客并与顾客维持长久关系是非常重要的,而这种长久关系的建立在很大程度上是以顾客满意为基础的。因此,如何提高顾客满意度、培育和维系忠诚的顾客群体是现代企业生存和发展亟待解决的重要课题。本论文提出了一个包含服务公平性、顾客感知质量、顾客感知价值、顾客满意感和顾客忠诚感概念模型及18项相关研究假设,并在武汉市20家酒店展开了问卷调查．最后采用规范的、科学的实证研究方法对此概念模型和研究假设进行了检验。