Social selling cues: The dynamics of posting numbers viewed and bought on customers' purchase intentions

Online retailers provide social selling cues, such as “39 customers bought this product” or “156 customers viewed our product per hour”, to encourage sales. Revealing the numbers bought has been shown to increase purchase intentions, but what remains unexplored are the ramifications of posting the number of brand-related views or revealing both numbers bought and viewed so customers can determine the views-to-bought ratio. The number of views is much higher than the numbers bought, which customers may anchor on as a signal for product quality; however, a countervailing force is that views are a more ambiguous, hence a less diagnostic, cue. Five experiments revealed that: (1) showing the number of views or bought can, but does not always, increase purchase intentions; (2) revealing the number bought has a monotonically increasing (at diminishing rate) effect on purchase intentions; and (3) views exhibit a concave curvilinear effect in that, beyond a tipping point, increasing the number of views lowers purchase intentions. Given the anchoring effect of the larger views number, if the number of views or the number bought are relatively low, it is better to show the larger views number, but the reverse is true if the respective numbers are both high. Additional insights reveal that it is only advantageous to reveal both numbers if the views-to-bought ratio is lower than 20:1, which would apply to about the top 25% of brand landing pages. These findings were further validated in a choice experiment. Perceptions of product quality mediate the relationship between these social selling cues and purchase intentions; however, this is not the case for perceived skepticism (lack of trust in the information). Revealing these social selling cues is an online retailer’s prerogative; hence, these insights are theoretically interesting and have practical relevance.     

Dissecting the mixed effects of human-customer service chatbot interaction on customer satisfaction: An explanation from temporal and conversational cues

Human-customer service chatbot interaction has had mixed effects on customer satisfaction in sales-related services. To dissect these conflicting results, three 2 (temporal cues: instant versus anthropomorphic delayed response) × 2 (conversational cues: task- versus social-oriented) between-group experiments were conducted. The results revealed the complex effects of temporal cues, conversational cues, and their interactions on perceived warmth, perceived competence, and satisfaction. And, perceived warmth and competence mediated the effects of temporal and conversational cues on satisfaction. Furthermore, the product attribute type (functional versus experiential) affected the relationships between these variables. These findings provide two explanatory perspectives (temporal and conversational cues) for dissecting the mixed effects of human-customer service chatbot interaction on customer satisfaction, and provide practical insights for improving customer service chatbots and enhancing customer satisfaction.     

Uncertainty risks and strategic reaction of restaurant firms amid COVID-19: Evidence from China

To contain the pandemic of coronavirus (COVID-19), social distancing, self-isolation and travel restrictions have been imposed globally. To shed light on how COVID-19 is affecting restaurant industry, this study aims to explore the factors that affect restaurant firms’ financial turnaround for their sustainability after the business shutdowns amid the COVID-19 pandemic. By utilizing a total of 86,507 small- and medium-sized restaurant firms’ sales data collected from nine cities in Mainland China, the exploratory approach of this study successfully determines positive impacts of three aspects of operational characteristics (i.e., delivery, discounts, and service type) and brand effects as uncertainty minimizing factors amid distinctive business shutdowns and restrictions. This is the first empirical study in the management realm on the impacts of COVID-19 on restaurant industry. This paper strengthens the extant literature by highlighting the impact of COVID-19 on the restaurant industry after the business restrictions are lifted.     

Examining the direct and interaction effects of picture color cues and textual cues related to color on accommodation-sharing platform rental purchase

Given the increasing popularity of peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation-sharing platforms (i.e., Airbnb), this paper aims to explore the effects of both picture color cues and textual cues related to color (TCC) on rental decisions made on these platforms in China. Based on cue utilization theory, this paper distinguishes picture color cues signaled from photos listed by hosts and TCC signaled from online guest reviews. The paper conducts an empirical study using data crawled from Xiaozhu.com. The research model is tested with poisson regression using 2520 valid listings collected in Guangzhou and is verified with additional data collected in Shanghai. Results show that both picture color cues and TCC affect rental transactions. Properties displayed with warm-colored pictures are more likely to be rented than those with cold-colored pictures. In addition, the consistency of picture color cues and TCC is found to have a significant impact on rental decisions. Interestingly, we also found an invert-U effect of brightness on rental purchase.     

Understanding the Influences of Atmospheric Cues on the Emotional Responses and Behaviours of Museum Visitors

ABSTRACT

The ability of an atmosphere to affect consumer emotions and behaviour is known to be particularly relevant for service organisations. This study examined the role of atmospherics in a service domain via a survey of the responses to relevant stimuli among a sample of visitors to ten UK museums. A model indicating the relationships between museum atmospherics and visitor conduct was developed and tested. Visitors' internal reactions to various atmospheric factors were explored and the consequences of these responses for an individual's approach-avoidance behaviour were evaluated.     

Response modes in negotiation

Negotiators may respond to each other’s offers and demands in different ways. Whereas many negotiation experiments present participants with numerical information about offers and counteroffers (e.g., “I propose 6–8–2”; numerical response mode), real life negotiations often involve affective and evaluative statements (e.g., “I didn’t like your last offer, but I would be happy to explore alternatives”; affective response mode). The present research explores the differential consequences of responding in affective as opposed to numerical terms. Specifically, we predicted and found that affective responses increase the impact of social and contextual cues on negotiation behavior. Three studies demonstrate that the impact of other’s toughness (Experiment 1), other’s respectability (Experiment 2), and other’s appearance (Experiment 3) on a negotiator’s demands and concessions is greater when the other provides affective rather than numerical feedback.     

The role of intrinsic in-flight cues in relationship quality and behavioural intentions: segmentation in less mindful and mindful passengers

The current study quantifies the relationship between intrinsic in-flight cues, passenger satisfaction, affective commitment, trust, and behavioural intentions in passengers travelling in low-cost carriers and legacy airlines. As far as we know, this is the first attempt to employ a multi-group analysis to test (1) if passengers in low-cost carriers and legacy airlines, and also (2) if the group of mindful passengers and the group of less mindful ones, have significantly different perceptions about flights in Europe. A total of 304 cases of legacy airlines and low-cost carriers were used in data analysis. Overall, affective commitment and trust are mainly triggered by in-flight ambience and space/function. Satisfaction and affective commitment play a more important role in behavioural intentions. As expected, the findings do not reveal significant differences associated with the paths between low-cost carriers and legacy airlines in short-haul flights in Europe. Nevertheless, compared with less mindful passengers, mindful ones tend to be more critical about in-flight attributes and do not easily develop a committed relationship.     

Differential effects of atmospheric cues on emotions and loyalty intention with respect to age under online/offline environment

Effects of atmospheric cues are usually not compared across offline and online contexts as well as across age groups. This study proposes a model that examines the effect of the atmospheric cues graphics design and information design on positive emotions and loyalty intentions. The model is compared across offline and online stores and regards the consumers' age as moderator. A field study was conducted, which collected data from 363 customers. Hypotheses are tested using structural equation modeling. Results for the offline context reveal that graphics design foster positive emotions and loyalty. Information design predicts loyalty. Results for the online context reveal that information design is salient over graphics design. Information design fosters positive emotions and loyalty, while graphics design does not. Further, we found that in the offline context positive emotions predict loyalty among younger customers but not among older ones. In the online context the effect of graphics design on loyalty is stronger and, thus, significant for younger customers than compared to older ones.     

Multi-sensory congruent cues in designing retail store atmosphere: Effects on shoppers’ emotions and purchase behavior

This paper explores the effects of multi-sensory congruent cues om shoppers’ emotions and purchase behavior in designing retail store atmosphere. Prior research suggests atmospheric stimuli to contribute to establish an appealing atmosphere and studies have confirmed that shoppers react to different stimuli. However, extant studies have not examined how multi-sensory congruent cues added to a visually dominant store atmosphere might impact shopper emotions and purchase behavior. The findings demonstrate a positive effect of multi-sensory congruent cues on shoppers’ emotions, through valence, and purchase behavior, through time spent and purchase. It is evident that shoppers perceive multi-sensory cues, such as auditory and olfactory ones, to be more effective in a dominant visual store atmosphere compared to only adding new visual stimuli. For retailers, a visually dominant store atmosphere should be designed more in the direction of a multi-sensory atmosphere in offering shoppers more appealing experiences of the retail setting.     

The influence of culture,emotions, intangibility,and atmospheric cues on online behavior

This paper examines how emotions and website atmospheric cues influence service tangibility and consumer attitudes. The proposed model was compared across three cultures: North America (Canada and U.S.), China, and the Middle East. The findings support the overall model and demonstrate several non-invariant paths across the groups. Particularly, the results suggest how the influences of two emotional dimensions (pleasure and dominance) on consumer perceptions of site atmospherics vary across cultures. Moreover, the effects of service tangibility dimensions (physical tangibility, specificity, and mental tangibility) on consumers' attitudes toward the website and service vary significantly across the three cultures. Mental tangibility has the greatest influence on North American customers' attitudes, while physical tangibility and specificity have the greatest impact on Chinese and Middle Eastern customers' attitudes, respectively.