Optimal timing to invest in e‐commerce

The timing of investment in e‐commerce remains hotly debated in both the academic and investment communities. This study develops a framework for analyzing the optimal timing for a company to invest in e‐commerce for conducting its business‐to‐business (B2B) or business‐to‐consumer (B2C) transactions. This study applies a real option theory to assess a new risk–reward dynamic for investing in e‐commerce. The numerical results demonstrate that the optimal timing of investment in e‐commerce depends on uncertainties regarding future cash flows and the opportunity costs associated with e‐commerce. Implications with regard to the behavior of Internet companies from a financial perspective are discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Four visions of e‐commerce in Latin America in the year 2010

Excitement is growing around the world about the Internet's potential to enable a global electronic commerce. The reality, however, differs a great deal depending on what part of the world we consider. In Latin America, the e‐commerce theme is often found in the popular press portraying it as a solution for multiple national problems and as a catalyst to propel the region to a stronger position in the world economy. Unfortunately, many of the “new” capabilities required to harness the economic benefit of e‐commerce, which emphasize value‐adding steps performed through and with information, are very scarce in the region. This article raises questions about Latin America's ability to exploit the Internet, and to implement and capitalize on e‐commerce applications. It underscores the region's need to engage in a future planning discourse about the adoption of e‐commerce within organizations, communities, and across traditional boundaries of competition and national borders. To start the dialogue, four scenarios are presented as “future snapshots” written from the vantage point of the year 2010. Each scenario considers issues regarding technological adoption and potential social responses, and discusses some of the critical assumptions about patterns observed in the region today and their implications for the future. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The quality of consumers' decision‐making in the environment of e‐commerce

It is very important that e‐commerce practitioners leverage the technological power (e.g., information control) of the Internet in order to provide consumers with the information they need to make purchasing decisions. In this study, it is hypothesized that, to improve decision‐making quality, the degree of information control should be matched to the degree of expertise of consumers. The experiment method was used to test the hypothesis, and 120 student subjects voluntarily participated in the experiment. The empirical results of the study show that experts perform better at decision making in high‐information conditions, whereas novices perform better in low‐control conditions. The results of this research strongly support the match hypothesis of information control. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The theory of planned behavior in e‐commerce: Making a case for interdependencies between salient beliefs

To provide more specific explanation of consumers' purchase intention on the Internet, this study expanded the original theory of planned behavior (TPB) by decomposing belief constructs and by including interdependency terms between salient beliefs. The findings of this study supported the existence of interdependencies between salient beliefs in TPB. Also, the decomposition of attitude components is expected to provide on‐line retailers with more clear‐cut information about customers' evaluative criteria for e‐tailers when they make a purchase decision on the Internet. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

An empirical study of the international marketing strategies of e‐commerce companies

This study surveyed a random sample of 136 e‐commerce companies to provide baseline information about their marketing and international marketing strategies. The findings show that one in five companies do not market internationally and another four in ten generate 10% or less of their sales from international markets. About half of the companies reporting international sales did not adapt their strategies to the international markets. This may have contributed to the failure of many of these companies. A more savvy use of international marketing strategies by e‐commerce companies could be very helpful to their future well‐being. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The future impact of Trans‐Pacific Partnership’s rule‐making achievements: The case study of e‐commerce

While policymakers and scholars often emphasise the significance of the rule‐making aspect when they discuss the benefits of negotiating free trade agreements (FTAs), we know little about the ways in which rules are actually made. We need impartial assessment of the status of rule‐making to draw any concrete policy implications. Moreover, “how international economic rules develop” in terms of enforceability has been a neglected but important research question for students of international economics and laws. International economic rules evolve through a series of FTAs that are signed by a different set of countries. By using the case study of e‐commerce chapters, this paper will specifically examine: (1) how earlier FTAs paved the way to the Trans‐Pacific Partnership (TPP) e‐commerce negotiations; (2) whether rule‐making achievements of TPP are substantial compared against earlier FTAs; and (3) whether rule‐making achievements of TPP, if any, are likely to have some impact on post‐TPP FTAs.     

Sense and sensibility in personalized e‐commerce: How emotions rebalance the purchase intentions of persuaded customers

This research develops and tests a theoretical model of customer persuasion in personalized online shopping, building on information processing theory, and addressing cognitive and affective stages of the persuasion process. Data from 582 experienced online customers were used to validate the proposed model through structural equation modeling and multigroup analysis. Results show that quality of personalization, message quality, and benefits of the personalized recommendations are important in the persuasion process. Positive emotions increase the effect of persuasion on purchase intentions, contrary to negative emotions. The study extends online personalization theory, offers an in‐depth analysis of the persuasion process in online shopping, and provides valuable recommendations for personalized online marketing.     

The roles of trust and experience in consumer confidence in conducting e‐commerce: a cross‐cultural comparison between France and Germany

Based on the Eurobarometer survey data, this study examined the roles of experience and cultural propensity to trust in consumer confidence in conducting e‐commerce. Compared with consumers in a low‐trust culture (France), consumers from a high‐trust society (West Germany) exhibit more confidence in conducting e‐commerce. This cultural difference is only evident among consumers with no prior e‐commerce experience but disappears among consumers with prior e‐commerce experience. There is no interaction effect of culture and experience. While consumer confidence in conducting e‐commerce declines with age within each culture, consumers of the same age groups tend to have higher confidence in conducting e‐commerce in West Germany than in France. Academic and practical implications were provided.     

Evaluating Small Businesses' Performance in Public e‐Procurement: Evidence from the Italian Government's e‐Marketplace

e‐Procurement is widely advocated as an effective tool to promote the participation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as micro enterprises in the public procurement market. However, little evidence exists as to what factors may influence the allocation of contracts to differently sized suppliers. We address this issue by analyzing a rather rich and unique data set, namely the “direct award” (low‐value) transactions that took place on the Italian e‐marketplace during the period 2005–2010. In this paper, we exploit data from low‐value transactions to test the impact of different structural dimensions of the national public e‐marketplace on the probability that firms of different size are awarded public contracts, particularly focusing on micro and small firms. We find that both the nature of the public buyer and the characteristics of the traded goods/services do have an impact on different firms' ability to be awarded public contracts. We also test to what extent the geographical distance between public buyers and private suppliers explains the propensity of different size class of firms to be awarded public contracts, proving, at least to some extent, that some features of “physical” procurement markets are mirrored in the “virtual” market.     

A hierarchical model approach for identifying the trait antecedents of general gambling propensity and of four gambling-related genres

In two studies, we employed a hierarchical model of personality to examine the trait antecedents of gambling. The results revealed that a set of more abstract traits were predictive of a general gambling propensity, including materialism, body resource needs (negative), competitiveness, impulsiveness, sports fanmanship, superstition, and financial conservatism (negative). In Study 2, we controlled for the general gambling propensity and investigated the trait predictors of four gambling-related genres: online, lottery, sports gambling, and marketing sweepstakes/contests. We found that general gambling propensity predicted each genre. In addition, divergent patterns of more basic traits were predictive of the different gambling forms.     

An integrative model of consumer satisfaction in the context of e‐services

This research examines how customer satisfaction affects its antecedent and outcome variables such as expectation, performance, disconfirmation, word‐of‐mouth, brand loyalty, attribution and repurchase. This research also takes the important integrative step of understanding the consumer behavioural constructs of consumer satisfaction. Although researchers have focused on the antecedents of consumer satisfaction, our integrative model has extended the outcomes of consumer behaviour on consumer satisfaction. Furthermore, this model strongly suggests a positive view of the inter‐relationships between the antecedent variables and outcome variables of satisfaction. In particular, our model is not consistent with Oliver's attribution models in which satisfaction is a consequence of attribution processing. All hypothesized variables were supported by our empirical study. The findings present a variety of guides to formulating marketing strategies for both practitioners and academics.     

A cross‐national investigation of trait antecedents of mobile‐banking adoption

Although there is a near agreement in the literature on the main predictors of consumers' attitudes toward technological innovation, the potential ways through which personal traits and national environmental differences contribute to significant variations in mobile‐banking adoption have received limited attention. Based on insights from innovation adoption and personality research, this study tested a model of mobile‐banking adoption using data from a developed and a developing country. Survey data came from a sample of 1,340 participants from the United Kingdom and Ghana. The results indicate that intrinsic traits are stronger in explaining consumers' attitude toward mobile banking in Ghana than in the United Kingdom. However, no significant variance between the two countries was observed with regard to the mediation effect of consumers' attitude on the intention to use mobile banking. The practical and theoretical implications of this study are discussed.     

The Use of Electronic Brokerage Systems in China: A Modified e‐Commerce Model

I applied the DeLone and McLean (2004) information systems success model to the use of electronic brokerage systems in China. Several modifications to the model are proposed, including the addition of specific measures of customer perceptions concerning both the perceived costs and benefits of using such systems. Structural equation modelling revealed that the DeLone and McLean (2004) model is not a good representation of those who use electronic brokerage systems for cross‐national transactions, but that the modified model is a good fit for all customers. Copyright © 2011 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comfort in brick and mortar shopping experiences: Examining antecedents and consequences of comfortable retail experiences

This paper explores the comfort construct in brick and mortar retail settings. As a psychological construct, consumer comfort reflects a sense of ease and peace of mind during a shopping experience. Previous research suggests comfort carries a number of positive consequences for managers, such as strengthening customer relationships and increasing customer satisfaction (Gaur and Xu, 2009). However, these studies take a more interpersonal relationship theory approach and have not considered the impact of non-social aspects of retail environments on consumers' comfort. Moreover, these extant studies have not considered how comfortable environments create value for consumers. Consequently, this study examines how atmospheric elements contribute to creating consumer comfort, and how comfort impacts consumers' perceptions of shopping value. Findings from survey data demonstrate that not all atmospheric elements influence consumers' comfort levels. Moreover, comfortable environments were found to increase both utilitarian value and hedonic value. The implications of the findings for academics and managers are discussed.     

A cognitive and behavioral hierarchical decision‐making model of college students' alcohol consumption

This study examined college students' drinking behaviors from a consumer behavioral perspective. A consumer‐oriented, cognitive, and behavioral‐hierarchical decision‐making model was developed and tested with the use of structural equation modeling. Questionnaires were collected from undergraduate students ( n = 269) attending a large state university in the southwestern United States. Results indicated that personal values can serve as significant predictors of the attitudes college students have toward alcohol use, which in turn can predict intentions to drink. Results also indicated that intentions to drink are strongly related to actual alcohol consumption, and that gender‐predicted attitudes and alcohol use during the past month influences intentions to drink. However, the structure of the model was similar after controlling for gender differences in alcohol use and for the stability of past behavior. The model delineated the specific roles played by personal values (self‐actualizing values vs. social–hedonic values) and attitudes toward the physical and psychological consequences of drinking. Overall, social–hedonic values and psychological consequences predicted actual alcohol consumption far better than did self‐actualizing values and physical consequences, respectively. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, and directions for future research are suggested. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A study of e‐retailing management: analysing the expectations and perceptions of Spanish consumers

This article analyses various elements that influence the purchasing behaviour of online consumers. These elements include the aesthetic aspects of a web site and the interactive processes that take place at the time of purchase. The study analyses the expectations and perceptions of a sample of Spanish online customers. On the basis of these attitudes, the sample of respondents is segmented. In addition, the main factors that determine online service satisfaction are identified. The segments of respondents are then positioned with respect to these identified factors in online service quality. The analysis thus allows differentiation of both customers and service quality. The paper concludes with recommendations for online retailers who wish to operate a successful ‘virtual’ retail outlet.     

Quasi‐legal commerce in southeast asia: Evidence from myanmar

The historical absence of formal political borders in the mainland Southeast Asian region, combined with the nature of the geography, mean that unofficial and illegal forms of crossborder movement and economic activities are pervasive and significant throughout the region. This is particularly true in Myanmar (formerly Burma), where pressure on international firms to comply with a boycott of the country, togeth‐er with the covert activities of the government conspire to make border trade a viable form of international business. Although illegal trade such as smuggling is perhaps a universal feature of international economic activities, what is more interesting is the phenomenon of quasi‐legal trade, which includes such activities as parallel importing and reimporting, and advertising by proxy. In many cases, there is evidence that multinational firms collude with distributors, quasi‐legal importers, and government officials to enable the continuation of the marketing of their brands within a country in which this would otherwise be prohibited. This article reports on research conduct‐ed in Myanmar during 1997 and 1998 concerning this issue. The study included a wide‐ranging program of qualitative research with in‐depth interviews of leading overseas executives, intermediaries, and government officials. This research in Myanmar is unique, and it was conducted under considerable difficulties and extreme need for security and provision of confidentiality. In describing the role of multinational companies and others in pursuing quasi‐legal border trade, the article makes a significant contribution to the understanding of the business environment in Myanmar and, more generally, in Southeast Asia. The wider implications of this for international marketing are also described. ? 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

E‐commerce: consumer protection issues and implications for research and education

The impact of e‐commerce on consumers, public policy, business and education is examined. It behoves academics and students alike to keep abreast of new developments in this field and to contribute to the public debate on the widespread effects of e‐commerce. A discussion of public policy initiatives, research questions and ideas for future research are given.     

Usefulness,Enjoyment, and Self‐Image Congruence: The Adoption of e‐Book Readers

One challenge when launching new technologies is to overcome consumer resistance to change so as to accelerate market acceptance. This is the case of e‐book readers. The present study investigates individuals’ perceptions of the utilitarian and hedonic values of such devices and their congruence with self‐image as determinants of adoption. Additionally, consumer profile and familiarity with the new technology as a whole influence individuals’ perceptions of this particular technology and its congruence with self‐image. Findings show that perceived enjoyment and self‐image congruence complement perceived usefulness in forging a favorable attitude toward e‐book readers and adoption intention, and that knowledge proves essential in the adoption process. Moreover, people highly involved with reading tend to perceive e‐book readers as useless, which hampers their adoption.