Fairness perception of ancillary fees: Industry differences and communication strategies

This study examines fairness perception of ancillary fees across different industries, and ways to communicate ancillary fees in a way that reduces customers' feeling that they are being unfairly treated. Through surveys and consumer experiments, we show that consumers’ perception of fairness decreases as the level of ancillary fees increases, with differences across industries. Also, when the customer is given a cue that the ancillary fees are necessary for low base prices, fairness perception increases, explained by the “dual entitlement” concept. Another effective communication strategy is early disclosure, as opposed to late disclosure which decreases fairness perception and willingness to recommend.     

Understanding hospital quality: the case of cumulative and balanced quality

A more precise way to conceptualize and operationalize hospital quality is needed to increase hospitals’ productivity. This paper investigates how hospitals’ conformance quality (CQ) and experiential quality (EQ), in terms of their combined magnitude (i.e. their interaction) and relative balance (i.e. the absolute difference between them) impact hospital productivity. First, we explore the impact of both the ‘combined dimension of quality’ and ‘balance dimension of quality’ on hospital productivity. Second, we investigate quality dominance to analyze its impact on productivity when CQ is greater than EQ, and vice versa. Secondary data (January 2015 to December 2015) were collected from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and American Hospital Directory (AHD) for US acute care hospitals. The results provide strong empirical support for the benefit of minimizing the gap between the two types of quality. In addition, the results suggest that considering quality dominance (experiential vs. conformance) might be useful in shedding light on the inherent tension that exists when firms are forced to allocate resources to provide different types of quality simultaneously.     

Sustainable dressing: Consumers' value perceptions towards slow fashion

Slow fashion that improves with an increasing awareness of sustainability has changed consumers' value perception and purchasing behaviours. The aim of this study is to determine slow fashion dimensions that influence consumers' value perceptions for slow fashion products and to reveal the effects of the perceived value on consumers' intentions to purchase and willingness to pay higher prices. The sample includes 725 students pursuing higher education in Turkey and Kazakhstan. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to specify the factor structure of the variables used in the research, and structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses. Data analysis showed that authenticity, locality, and exclusivity aspects in Turkey and equity, functionality, locality, and exclusivity aspects in Kazakhstan contributed to perceived customer value. Perceived customer value in both groups positively affects the intention to purchase and the willingness to pay higher prices. In addition, consumers who intend to purchase slow fashion clothing are willing to pay higher prices than other products. The results suggest that consumers in different countries have different orientations that influence their perceptions of value. From this perspective, this study can provide designers with insights on the importance of making sustainable designs that are appropriate to the target market beyond the trends imposed by the global fashion industry.     

“Autonomous,yet Connected”: An esthetic principle explaining our appreciation of product designs

Esthetic principles describe the levels or combination of design dimensions that are esthetically appreciated. Current principles focus on dimensions connected to product design itself (e.g., unity and variety) or dimensions that refer to a product design's relationship to other product designs (e.g., typicality and novelty). However, product design also has a social significance—they help consumers shape their identity—and this social dimension has hitherto been overlooked in research on esthetic appreciation. In this paper, we propose and investigate the social esthetic principle “Autonomous, yet Connected.” In four studies, we show that a product's design leads to the highest esthetic appreciation if it strikes an optimal balance between nurturing the two seemingly opposite needs for connectedness and autonomy. Further, we show how conditions of safety and risk moderate the effects of the principle, which suggests our principle may have evolutionary grounding.     

The role of public space in constructing experience capital: A longitudinal analysis in the hotel context

Public space plays a primary role in shaping customers' hospitality experiences. Yet how public space conditions customers' experiential outcomes in accumulating capital for hospitality organizations remains underexplored. Inspired by the theory of psychological ownership, this research presents an in-depth analysis of the impacts of customers' public space experiences on their experiential outcomes using a longitudinal hotel industry dataset merging information from customer surveys, property performance, and surrounding accessibility insights. Findings revealed the positive effects of customers’ public space experiences on their overall service experiences, the perceived value of the experience, revisit intentions, and recommendation intentions. Moreover, hotel class, other customers, and surrounding accessibility were empirically verified as moderators conditioning the positive impact of public space. These findings offer valuable implications for theory and practice that are worthy of further exploration.     

Technological character,function type,and the longevity of standardized knowledge

This study seeks to determine the validity of the current de jure standards management system. The de jure standard is an important tool for innovation policy. However, its review interval has been fixed in the management system and maintained without the use of empirical analysis to guide its development. Therefore, this study (1) examines the factors that affect the longevity of the standards, and (2) outlines methods for improving how the de jure standards are managed. Results indicate that design and mark standards influence the longevity of standardized knowledge. This is notable, given that design for innovation is an emerging area of research that is commonly studied through the analysis of design patent data. Taken together, this study’s major findings are twofold. First, different technological categories have significantly different effects on longevity. Because the longevity of some technological sectors is naturally longer than others, there exists a need for a more flexible interval system. Second, the longevity of the mark and design standard is longer than the longevity of other types of standards. Both developing and developed countries utilize the de jure standard, so the policy implications of these findings are widely applicable.     

The aesthetic fidelity effect

Product aesthetics is a powerful means for achieving competitive advantage. Yet most studies to date have focused on the role of aesthetics in shaping pre-purchase preferences and have failed to consider how product aesthetics affects post-purchase processes and consumers' usage behavior. This research focuses on the relationship between aesthetics and usage behavior in the context of durable products. Studies 1A to 1C provide evidence of a positive effect of product aesthetics on usage intensity using market data from the car and the fashion industries. Study 2 corroborates these findings and shows that the more intensive use of highly aesthetic products may lead to the acquisition of product-specific usage skills that form the basis for a cognitive lock-in. Hence, consumers are less likely to switch away from products with appealing designs, an effect that is labeled as the ‘aesthetic fidelity’ effect. Study 3 addresses an alternative explanation for the ‘aesthetic fidelity effect’ based on mood and motivation but finds that the ‘aesthetic fidelity’ effect is indeed determined by usage intensity. Finally, Study 4 identifies a boundary condition of the positive effect of product aesthetics on product usage, showing that it is limited to durable products. In sum, this research demonstrates that the effects of product aesthetics extend beyond the pre-consumption stage and have an enduring impact on people's consumption experiences.     

Differentiating two types of learning in contract design: Evidence from the construction industry

This research investigates the learning of inter-organizational contract design in greater depth. Two types of learning, i.e. learning from all past partnerships and learning from one specific partner, are distinguished in terms of their influence on the complexity of three different functions of the contract, namely control, coordination, and adaptation. Contract design capability and interorganizational routines are employed as mediators to explain the two types of learning respectively. Empirical tests using data from the Chinese construction industry reveal that there are significant indirect effects between partner-specific experience and contractual coordination, and between general partnership experience and all the three functions of the contract. This research contributes to the literature by providing more nuanced conclusions regarding the contract learning issue.     

Is brain hemisphericity a correlate of performance in problem-solving courses? A case study from an HBCU

The authors set out to determine the brain dominance characteristics of students enrolled in business statistics courses in a historically Black university in a major southeastern Texas city. Thereafter, the authors investigated the relationship between a student’s brain hemispheric preference and academic performance in college courses, which emphasize problem solving. The results reported in this study reveal that left brain– and right brain–dominant students are at parity when it comes to performance in a problem-solving course. Moreover, both left brain– and right brain–dominant learners perform better than whole-brain dominant learners in a problem-solving course.