How close do we feel to virtual product to make a purchase decision? Impact of perceived proximity to virtual product and temporal purchase intention

This study, utilizing construal level theory, aims to understand the underlying effect of perceived proximity to a virtual product on perceived purchase intention in the near future through perceived measurement feedback and perceived generality. This research examines a lab experiment to test six hypotheses. Results indicate that perceived proximity to virtual products enhances perceived measurement feedback and, thereby, perceived generality. In addition, perceived generality fully mediates the effect of perceived measurement feedback on perceived purchase intention in the near future when consumers interact with non-augmented reality applications. In contrast, perceived measurement feedback directly influences perceived purchase intention in the near future in AR applications. Furthermore, the absence of product in consumers’ consideration set dilutes the effect of perceived generality on perceived purchase intention in the near future when consumers interact with non-augmented reality application. This study suggests several managerial implications for AR developers and online retail managers.     

How different are the entrepreneurs in the European Union internal market?—An exploratory cross-cultural analysis of German, Italian and Spanish entrepreneurs

Little research has analyzed the similarities or differences between entrepreneurs from different European Union countries. The European Union is a single market, but also an international business arena where the entrepreneurs from any member state can make their first move in the direction of internationalizing their business. This work presents an exploratory study of the personal values and attitudes of European entrepreneurs based on a cross-cultural analysis of entrepreneurs from Germany, Italy, and Spain. The analysis uses Hofstede’s model to study the cultural and social values of these entrepreneurs, and their personal values have emerged from case studies. The results show that the entrepreneurs of the three different nationalities share a similar pattern of personal values. These findings are discussed and proposals for further empirical research suggested.

“Yes,we do. Why not use augmented reality?” customer responses to experiential presentations of AR-based applications

Augmented reality (AR) is regarded as a visually transformative technology that enables consumers to gain immersive and enjoyable information about experience products/services during the purchasing process. Based on the stimulus-organism-response (S–O-R) paradigm, this study investigates how experiential AR applications (apps) influence customers' experiential value, in turn enhancing continued usage intention. Furthermore, perceived customer support plays an even more important role in enhancing customers’ continued usage intention. This study obtained data through an online survey of 437 customers of the YouCam Makeup app in Taiwan. We used SmartPLS software to analyze the data and test the hypotheses. The findings suggest that the features of an experiential AR app have a greater positive impact on hedonic value than utilitarian value; in turn, only hedonic value has a positive impact on continued usage intention. The results further demonstrate that the effect of hedonic value on continued usage intention is positively moderated by perceived customer support.     

How do you feel when you see a list of prices? the interplay among price dispersion,perceived risk and initial trust in Chinese C2C market

The issues of trust fraud, product genuineness and price dispersion jointly make Chinese C2C buyers difficult to identify trustworthy sellers with a low price. Little is known about the generation of initial trust when buyers search products and receive lists of widely ranged prices. This study proposes a theoretical model to explain how price dispersion interacts with other factors in C2C purchase, such as initial trust, perceived risk, perceived value and purchase intention. Product type is considered as a moderator. 261 students were invited in a survey-based experiment. The results from PLS analysis show that price dispersion negatively affects perceived value, whilst, positively affects perceived risk, which further influences perceived value negatively. Price dispersion also negatively influences initial trust through perceived risk. Moreover, the negative effects of price dispersion are stronger when buyers purchase high-touch products.     

How do economic,cultural, and global-connectedness distances moderate the effect of customers’ experiences on their intention to revisit non-indigenous restaurants? Evidence from Korean restaurants

In this study, we evaluate how the effect of customers' experiences on revisit intention for non-indigenous restaurants can be moderated by economic distance (ED), cultural distance (CD) and global-connectedness distance (GD) between the country of origin for a given non-indigenous restaurant and the customer’s resident country. Surveys were conducted in seven countries across three continents, and the levels of ED, CD and GD between Korea and the seven countries were used as moderators. The findings suggest that the types of food and staff are two elements that should be emphasized in countries that are relatively close to Korea. Conversely, elements like the atmosphere of the restaurant and word of mouth should be emphasized in countries that have greater distances from Korea. Of the three distances considered in the study, GD had the strongest moderating effect on the relationship between customers’ experiences and their intentions to return to the restaurant. As a whole, the results imply that ED, CD and GD are important points of reference when considering prior experience while selecting a target country based on the strength of the restaurant’s experience management.     

The “right to consume”? Re-thinking the dynamics of exclusion/inclusion in consumer society

ABSTRACT

Consumption is a political relationship. This article considers competing political discourses around consumption as different versions of a hypothetical right to consume. In the first section, we consider how the domain of consumption can express the critical potential of the “right to the city,” a concept inspired by Henri Lefebvre that has had widespread influence in urban studies and related fields. In the second section we consider how the right to consume can also become a bulwark for capitalist ideologies of an individualistic and destructive right to consume. A third section concludes on recent trends in consumption studies that point to ways that capitalism seeks to assuage and manage these tensions through ongoing innovations in consumer technology and finance. New questions about rights and democracy must emerge to confront this new techno-economy of consumer relations. In short, while we affirm the right to consume for the most vulnerable, we also insist on deconstructing the system of consumption as it is currently configured.     

“What’s the Harm in Being Unethical? These Strangers are Rich Anyway!” Exploring Underlying Factors of Double Standards

Previous studies show evidence of double standards in terms of individuals being more tolerant of questionable consumer practices than of similar business practices. However, whether these double standards are necessarily due to the fact that one party is a business company while the other is a consumer was not addressed. The results of our two experimental studies, conducted among 277 (Study 1) and 264 (Study 2) participants from a Western European country by means of an anonymous self-administered online survey, demonstrate that the respondents were not only harsher in their judgments of unethical business (vs. consumer) behavior, but also harsher in their judgments of unethical behavior by prosperous (vs. non-prosperous) consumers and prosperous (vs. non-prosperous) business companies (Study 1). Further, they were also less tolerant of unethical behavior by consumers (vs. one’s best friend) and business companies with which they have a less than good (vs. a good) relationship (Study 2). These results indicate that double standards are due to differences in perceived wealth between subjects and in the individual’s relationship with subjects. These two factors imply that double standards are not strictly reserved to consumer–business relations, but might also be used in business–business and consumer–consumer relations. Further, these results indicate that companies need to be aware of the fact that good financial figures may backfire as they might lead individuals to be more critical of a company’s deceptive practices. Moreover, these findings point to the importance of businesses investing resources—and to keep investing resources—in developing a good relationship with stakeholders as these good relationships lead to stakeholders being less prone to make moral condemnations.     

How do Small and Medium Enterprises Go “Green”? A Study of Environmental Management Programs in the U.S. Wine Industry

In industries populated by small and medium enterprises, managers’ good intentions frequently incur barriers to superior environmental performance (Tilley, Bus Strategy Environ 8:238–248, 1999). During the period when the U.S. wine industry was beginning to promote voluntary adoption of sound environmental practices, we examined managers’ attitudes, norms, and perceptions of stakeholder pressures to assess their intentions to implement environmental management programs (EMP). We found that managers within the simple structures of these small and medium firms are responsive to attitudes, norms, and pressures from internal stakeholders and that voluntarily established EMP increased the success of firms’ implementation of energy conservation and recycling practices. Applications of our findings to future research on small and medium enterprises as well as direct practical applications of our results are discussed.     

Talking to Mr.Loscertales——How does “Better City,Better Life” integrate the cultures of the world？

Despite the financial crisis, there has only been very limited impact on the world expo. So far, the International Exhibition Bureau （IEB） has not received a single withdrawal application resources, capital and information, driving up consumption in the transoortation, accommodations, catering, retail,