Influences of Identified Victim Images on Processing Fluency

The aim of this study was to explore whether identifiable victim and processing fluency effects would be confirmed in the context of a charity ad encouraging viewers to help a victim in need. The processing fluency was examined by both objective fluency data captured by eye movement and subjective experiences of processing fluency. An eye-tracking experiment (N = 197) found a message that was easy to process required little time to process. A one-way multivariate analysis of variance revealed that participants in the identified victim condition experienced a greater fluency. A victim’s sad face versus happy face caused viewers’ emotional contagion into the victim’s negative emotional state, and this negative affect guided information processing. The objective fluency was found to mediate the effect of viewers’ negative affect on their sympathetic state, which in turn led to a greater willingness to help the victim in need.     

Psychological antecedents of consumer trust in CRM campaigns and donation intentions: The moderating role of creativity

Cause-related marketing (CRM) refers to charitable donation contingent on consumer purchase of a product by supporting a specific cause that is linked to a non-profit organization (NPO). The present research examines the influence of consumer psychographic traits on trust in CRM campaign and its resulting impact on intention to donate money to NPO. The results indicate that collectivism and hedonism have positive effect on trust in CRM campaign, but individualism and utilitarianism have negative effect on trust in CRM campaign. Moreover, the result shows that trust in the CRM campaign had significant positive effect on donation intentions. We further have investigated the role of cognitive process and demonstrated the moderating effect of creativity on the impact of trust in CRM campaign and donation intentions, such that the higher level of creativity led to higher level of donation intentions, if consumers have trust in CRM campaign. This research offers marketers and advertising professionals’ practical insights to design effective CRM campaigns. Additionally, it assists NPO managers to understand the crucial role of trust and creativity in CRM campaigns and its positive impact on donation intentions. Academic and managerial implications of this research study along with future directions are discussed.     

Relations between organizational commitment and focal and discretionary behaviours

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the relations between organizational commitment (OC) dimensions and two focal and discretionary behaviours (intention to stay and organizational citizenship behaviour). Drawing on a sample of 310 Spanish employees of small services firms, this research reveals that in contrast to recent findings that detected a nonlinear (inverted U-shaped) relationship between continuance commitment and intention to stay, the form of the relationships between OC dimensions and the proposed outcomes is linear rather than nonlinear. Furthermore, when dividing continuance commitment into two subcomponents, the research results indicate that the dimension associated with commitment based on few existing employment alternatives is significantly, negatively and linearly related to intention to stay and organizational citizenship behaviour. This suggests that the three-component model of OC suffers from a conceptual inconsistency, which is further discussed.     

Using Eye Tracking to Assess the Impact of Advertising Appeals on Donor Behavior

This research examines print advertisements of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) using eye-tracking technology and a nonverbal, emotional scale to assess donor behavior. Attention to three areas of interest, including the text, face, and brand/logo, was visually tracked. Next, three eye-tracking metrics (Time to First Fixation, Fixation Count, and Total Visit Duration) and corresponding donor behavior were measured. The eye-tracking metrics were effective indicators of an advertisement’s propensity to stimulate donor behavior. The findings in this research show that NPO advertisements should encourage viewers to look at the face in the advertisement layout. The more times the subject went back and looked at the face, and the more total time spent looking at the face, the greater the likelihood they would recommend to others to donate. These characteristics are shown in this research to be those of negative emotional appeals.     

An Integrative Model of Alumni Loyalty—an Empirical Validation Among Graduates From German and Russian Universities

Alumni could be considered a large source of support for their alma maters in such areas as lobbying, volunteering (e.g. mentoring), information, donations, investment, and networking. However, in order to increase alumni contribution, it is necessary to identify key factors that influence alumni loyalty. In this article, the authors develop an integrative model of intention to alumni loyalty (IAL model), which proposes that alumni loyalty is determined by the main model dimensions of relationship quality, philanthropic effect, and discretionary collaborative and student dropout behavior. In order to validate the proposed model structure, the authors test the IAL model using the structural equation modeling approach and empirical data from a survey of leading German and Russian universities. The results indicate that a predisposition to charity, benefits from alumni association, and quality of teaching are crucial for intention to alumni loyalty for both Russian and German universities. Suggestions for the work of alumni associations are derived from the findings.     

Intention to Try Unfamiliar Food: The Role of Level and Type of Unfamiliarity,Food Neophobia,and Ethnocentrism

The present work is focused in some aspects of the adoption process of unfamiliar foods. We make a distinction for the concept of unfamiliar food based on consumers’ degree of knowledge of the ingredients, therefore, we categorize unfamiliar food in two different types: unknown food (unknown ingredients) and novelty combination food (known ingredients combined in a novel or unusual way). Based on this distinction, we analyze the effect of this different source of food unfamiliarity on the intention to try it, considering personal traits such as food neophobia and consumer ethnocentrism. Our results show that the degree of food unfamiliarity has a higher impact on intention to try in consumers with low levels of consumer ethnocentrism, and that type of unfamiliarity moderates the effect of level of unfamiliarity on intention to try only in consumers with high level of consumer ethnocentrism.     

The Effects of Attitudinal and Demographic Factors on Intention to Buy Pirated CDs: The Case of Chinese Consumers

This study examines the impact of attitude toward piracy on intention to buy pirated CDs using Chinese samples. Attitude toward piracy is measured by a multi-item scale that has been shown to have a consistent factor structure with four distinct components, namely, social cost of piracy, anti-big business attitude, social benefit of dissemination, and ethical belief. Our findings reveal that social benefit of dissemination and anti-big business attitude have a positive relationship with intention to buy pirated CDs while social cost of piracy and ethical belief have a negative relationship. Among these components, ethical belief tends to most strongly predict intention to buy pirated CDs. Demographic variables such as gender and age also help explain the respondents' intention to buy pirated CDs. In addition, those respondents with experience of buying pirated CDs would tend to be more likely to buy pirated CDs than those without such experience. The results are discussed with a view to helping copyright businesses to effectively suppress piracy, and directions for future research are suggested.     

Do Interruptions Pay off? Effects of Interruptive Ads on Consumers' Willingness to Pay

We present the results of a study designed to measure the impact of interruptive advertising on consumers' willingness to pay for products bearing the advertiser's brand. Subjects participating in a controlled experiment were exposed to ads that diverted their attention from a computer game they were testing. We measured subjects' willingness to pay for a good associated with the advertised brand. We found that the ads significantly lowered the willingness to pay for goods associated with the advertising brand. We do not find conclusive evidence that providing some level of user control over the appearance of ads mitigates the negative impact of ad interruption. Our results contribute to the research on the economic impact of advertising, and introduce a method of measuring actual (as opposed to self-reported) willingness to pay in experimental marketing research.     

我国NGO监管问题研究——以“格桑花”事件为例

随着我国经济体制和政治体制改革的不断深入,小政府、大社会模式的进一步建设,非政府组织(NGO)在国内社会扮演的角色越来越重要,逐渐成为了社会治理结构变革的一股新的中坚力量。本文结合青海格桑花教育救助会遭遇信任危机的事件,结合志愿失灵理论对我国NGO监管模式存在的问题以及成因进行分析,并提出具体优化建议。     

Omnichannel approach: Factors affecting consumer acceptance

Abstract

The omnichannel approach is a new commercial opportunity that aims to offer consumers a unique and satisfying experience through any touch point. This research aims to understand the factors that might lead consumers to accept and use this new approach. The conceptual model was tested empirically using primary data collected from 210 Portuguese participants. The results reported suggest that perceptions of usefulness, ease of use, and compatibility have a positive effect on brand experience, which strongly affects the behavioral intention to use. Additionally, a moderation analysis, using user status as a moderator, shows that while usefulness is important to uniquely explain use intention for low frequency, ease of use is only a good predictor of use intention for high-frequency users. This research provides useful insights for academic research by shedding light on this new phenomenon, and simultaneously for businesses by deriving some implications for defining their omnichannel strategies.     

Reluctant employees and felt stress: The moderating impact of manager decisiveness

Job stress is an integral part of the organizational landscape and particularly severe in the sales profession. A host of studies have looked at felt stress, its antecedents, and consequences. This research examines how employee resistance to change and a manager's decisiveness affect the salesperson's felt stress and turnover intentions. This study shows that the salesperson's resistance to change is positively associated with felt stress. Study results also show that the impact of an employee's resistance to change on felt stress is moderated by a manager's decisiveness. Model hypotheses are tested with responses from 255 bank salespeople in India.     

Trust disposition,trust antecedents,trust, and behavioral intention

Trust is important for fostering successful relationships, reducing uncertainty and risk, and increasing willingness to purchase. This study tests the replications in the mobile banking (m-banking) industry and the influence of trust on purchase intention via investigating the relationships between disposition to trust, and trust antecedents to trust in forming trust in m-banking services, which in turn leads to behavioral intention to adopt those services. In spite of numerous studies being focused on the critical role of trust in recent decades, the topic of multidimensional trust antecedents in m-banking, as well as the effects of disposition to trust on m-banking adoption intention has been relatively neglected. Based on the data collected in Taiwan, the results reveal significant positive relationships between disposition to trust, trust antecedents, and trust. Meanwhile, the relationship between trust and behavioral intention are positively significant. Contributions and managerial implications are discussed.     

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.     

Examining the role of receptivity to green communication,altruism and openness to change on young consumers’ intention to purchase green apparel: A multi-analytical approach

The current study aims to examine the impact of receptivity to green communication, altruism and openness to change on young consumers' purchase intention towards green apparel in India. Using a two stage approach, the research model is assessed with data collected through an online survey from a sample of 549 young consumers. In the first step, structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to determine the linear relationship among factors in the theoretical model. In the second step, artificial neural network (ANN) analysis is used to determine the predictive accuracy of the significant factors obtained from the SEM. The results from the SEM analysis reveal that receptivity to green communication, altruism and openness to change, along with the three predictors of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) significantly affect consumers’ purchase intention towards green apparel. Further, there is an indirect effect of altruism and openness to change on purchase intention through attitude supporting the value-attitude-behavior cognitive hierarchy (VABH). Besides, perceived behavioral control is found to mediate the impact of openness to change on intention to purchase green apparel. The root mean square of error (RMSE) values obtained from the ANN analysis suggest that the models show good predictive accuracy. The study contributes to the existing literature by confirming the applicability of the TPB and the VABH as well as suggesting a robust predictive framework by using ANN for green apparel purchase intention.     

Reducing employee turnover intention: a customer relationship management perspective

Research examining ways to prevent employee turnover has observed varied and often inconsistent findings, yet this remains a challenge to many firms, particularly call centers. This study therefore examines the impact of customer relationship management (CRM) dimensions on employee job satisfaction and intention to quit. A two-step methodological approach utilizing data from the Malaysian call center industry was used. The study conducted preliminary qualitative investigations (from literature and a focus group), and survey data were then used to test the conceptual model via structural equation modeling. The findings establish that a properly initiated and implemented CRM strategy will engender employee job satisfaction thereby resulting in significantly reduced intention to quit. The study identifies the key CRM dimensions that can be useful for call center managers in enhancing employee job satisfaction and averting employee turnover intentions. Implications for marketing theory and practice as well as areas for future research are discussed.