• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.22 no.9
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• pp.119-128
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• 2024

Purpose: his study examines the effect of message valence on consumer perceptions of sales messages and salesperson evaluations in retail contexts. In contrast to previous studies on the negativity effect, it examines the positivity effect, which implies that the effect of positive information may outweigh that of negative information in certain situations. In addition, the current research examines how the content of the sales message influences consumers' perceptions of salespeople. Research design and methodology: The study presents an analytical model in which a potentially altruistic salesperson transmits quality information as a form of cheap talk. Several predictions were derived from the model and then empirically tested in two experiments. Results: When the sales message is about relatively less expensive products, positive information can be more credible and diagnostic than negative information. In addition, positive sales messages about the less expensive products signal the salesperson's benevolence. Conclusion: This paper is one of the few studies to predict and empirically test the positivity effect. It also contributes to the literature on trust in salespeople by showing that message valence influences buyers' perceptions of salespeople.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.15 no.10
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• pp.51-63
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• 2017

Purpose - The current study examines the shopping behavior of Chinese tourists who purchase Korean cosmetics when visiting Korea, based on expectancy-disconfirmation of shopping satisfaction and brand attitude toward Korean cosmetics. A moderating effect of consumer conformity on the relationships between cosmetics selection factors and two dimensions of disconfirmation - expectation and performance is also examined. Research design, data, and methodology - We conducted a survey with 250 Chinese tourists who visited Jeju, Korea and had purchased Korean cosmetics during their stay. Excluding 43 respondents' inputs because of incomplete answers and missing values, 207 responses were used in the final analysis. All hypotheses were tested using structural equation model (SEM). Results - We found that the Chinese tourist expectations had positive impact on their satisfaction, and the factors for cosmetic selection had a positive effect on shopping satisfaction and brand attitude. A moderating effect of consumer conformity was found to be significant. Conclusions - Given the significantly increased demand for Korean cosmetics from Chinese tourists, Korean cosmetics firms need to better understand cosmetics selection attributes and preference of Chinese tourists, which can provide a guideline to develop retail stores and distribution outlets for Chinese tourists.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.23-34
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• 2021

Purpose: This study identifies the critical elements of relationship management required to be studied in distribution sciences to create a relational bond of watch manufacturers with their retailers in India. The offline watch retail market is undergoing a rapid transformation due to technology intervention in the product portfolio and the advent of online retailing. The study identifies the interrelationships amongst the constructs of interdependence, trust, affective commitment, and information exchange to form long-lasting relational bonds in the watch industry. Research design, data and methodology: We used a path analysis to investigate the relationship between interdependence, trust, affective commitment, and information exchange. Data has been collected from 143 watch retailers using judgmental sampling method. Results: The data analysis suggested the establishment of measurement and structural model. The absolute and relative goodness of fit models in the causal analysis are 0.628 and 0.959 suggesting a sufficient fit index. Based on the analysis of direct and indirect effects, the results indicate that trust fully mediates the effect of interdependence and information exchange of retailers with the manufacturer. Conclusions: Trust plays an important role in driving commitment and information exchange between watch manufacturers and retailers. Interdependence in the manufacturer-channel relationships would lead to affective commitment only when trust exists in the relationship. [AMAWATE, Vibhas.] in Web of Science and Scopus).

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.20 no.12
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• pp.23-33
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• 2022

Purpose: The objective of the study is to examine the role of approval goals, subjective norm, internal motivation, external motivation, attitude towards behavior, and perceived behavioral control on retail consumer's intention to consume fortified food in Pakistan. Research design, data, and methodology: The study was quantitative in nature. That is why the data were collected from 384 respondents approaching retail stores of Lahore, Gujranwala, and Faisalabad using mall intercept survey. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the data. Results: The results show that approval goals significantly influence subjective norms. Secondly, subjective norms positively influence internal and external motivation. Thirdly, attitude towards behavior and internal motivation significantly impacted on intention. However, the findings of the study show, non-significant relationship of external motivation and perceived behavioral control with intention to consume fortified food. Conclusion: Theory of reasoned goal pursuit was used to investigate consumer intention to consume fortified food in Pakistan. This study is helpful for the marketers to create a word-of-mouth strategy to enhance positive word of mouth for the company, which ultimately beneficial to develop the distribution strategy of the firm. Fortified food is full of health enriched ingredients which is beneficial for society at large.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.1-11
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• 2022

Purpose: This study attemptsto investigate the moderating effects of environmental turbulence (ET) between learning orientation (LO) and SMEs' performance. Research design, data, and Methodology: To gain insights and provide implications for manufacturing SMEs in Pakistan, this study adopted simple random sampling to collect 379 valid responses. Data were collected through a self-administrative questionnaire from manufacturing SMEs owners/managers. Partial least squares of structural equation modeling have been used to test research hypotheses by using SmartPLS® 3.0 software. Results: The study's primary finding is that LO has a significantly positive effect on SMEs' performance and this relationship is strengthened under the moderating influence of environmental turbulence (ET). Conclusion: Environmental turbulence (ET) enables SMEs to focus on learning capability to get a more competitive advantage. Moreover, SMEs owner/managers ought to emphasize continuous learning that accentuates the capability to compete with environmental changes. Findings support notifying Pakistan's Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (SMEDA) in dealings with Manufacturing SMEs in terms of improving their internal capabilities. This research contributes to the literature as it provides a more detailed and in-depth explanation of distribution management-related issues faced by SMEs. This research carries a significant influence on literature and relevant Resource-based view and contingency theories.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.97-125
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• 2015

In this study, we tried to evaluate the relative importance and find out the differences in consumer perceptions regarding service recovery strategies and the service provider in the distribution industry by using AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) analysis method. Therefore in this study, we tried to systematize various recovery strategies which were considered very important during service failure process in the distribution industry and analyze the relative importance for each recovery strategy. We set hierarchy composed of four items of monetary, action-oriented, psychological, and assured level as primary selection criteria and a total of 16 items(indemnity, refund, gift, gift certificate, prompt resolution, exchange, manager support, explanation, apology, empathy, acknowledge, kindness, assortment, after service, manage subcontractor, manage employee) as secondary selection criteria. We tried to take one step further from the service sector and study service recovery strategies specialized in distributor services. This study suggests various implications about service recovery strategies of distributors. First, this study can provide practical implications - e.g. service recovery efforts should be applied differently depending on service channels. There is a perceptual difference with respect to the importance of the types of service recovery strategies between service provider and final customer. Second, we can find theoretical implications in terms of identifying the priorities through hierarchy design of new recovery strategies and comparison of each element from the classifications of the current fractional recovery strategies. We hope to help service providers to build more efficient recovery strategy system based on the results of this study.

• The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.25-35
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• 2018

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to partition a last-mile delivery network into zones and to determine locations of last mile delivery centers (LMDCs) in Bangkok, Thailand. Research design, data, and methodology - As online shopping has become popular, parcel companies need to improve their delivery services as fast as possible. A network partition has been applied to evaluate suitable service areas by using METIS algorithm to solve this scenario and a facility location problem is used to address LMDC in a partitioned area. Research design, data, and methodology - Clustering and mixed integer programming algorithms are applied to partition the network and to locate facilities in the network. Results - Network partition improves last mile delivery service. METIS algorithm divided the area into 25 partitions by minimizing the inter-network links. To serve short-haul deliveries, this paper located 96 LMDCs in compact partitioning to satisfy customer demands. Conclusions -The computational results from the case study showed that the proposed two-phase algorithm with network partitioning and facility location can efficiently design a last-mile delivery network. It improves parcel delivery services when sending parcels to customers and reduces the overall delivery time. It is expected that the proposed two-phase approach can help parcel delivery companies minimize investment while providing faster delivery services.

• Fourth Industrial Review
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.23-29
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• 2021

Purpose - Faced with the great change of the 4th industrial revolution and the addition of the COVID-19 pandemic, great confusion and crises are occurring in the retail environment as well. The purpose of this study is to suggest the necessity of establishing a methodology for applying retail tech to offline distribution channels in crisis. Research design, data, and methodology - After examining the recent developments of representative fields to which retail technology is applied, it is rearranged through consideration through previous studies. Result - The retail industry must transform into digital commerce through digital transformation. According to the development of retail technology, the distribution industry is at a time of change from the stage of brokering product and service transactions to a structure that creates value based on information on production and consumption. The business model of the distribution industry must be converted to a platform business model in which both consumers and producers become users. Conclusion - In-depth analysis of the cases has not been conducted, and there are limitations in that the development is somewhat insufficient due to insufficient prior research data. However, it is meaningful to suggest the necessity of finding a methodology for applying retail technology to overcome the crisis of offline retailers through quantitative research on the retail technology area.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.69-78
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• 2017

Purpose - The study was AI as exploratory study on artificial intelligence (AI) shopping information services, to explore the possibility of a new business of the distribution industry. For research, we compare to IBM of consumer awareness surveys an AI shopping information service for retailing channel and target goods group. Finally, we present to service scenario for distribution service using AI. Research design, data, and methodology - First, to identify possible the success of the information service shopping using AI, AI technology for the consumer is very important for the acceptance of judgement. Therefore, we explored the possibility of AI information service for business as a shopping. The experimental data were used to interpret the meaning of the relevant literature and the IBM Institute of Business Value (IBV) Report 2015. This research is based on the use of a technical acceptance model (TAM) to determine whether the consumer would adopt the 'AI shopping information service' technology. Step 1 of the process assumes that the consumer adopts AI technology. In step 2, consumers find their preference channels and goods targeted at them as per their preferences. Finally Step 3, we present scenario for 'AI shopping information service' based on the results of Step 1 and 2. Results - Consumers have expressed their high interests in the new shopping information services, especially the on/off line distribution channels can use shopping information to increase the efficiency in provision of goods. Digital channel (such as SNS, online shopping etc.) is especially high value goods such as cars, furniture, and home appliances by displaying it to an appropriate product group. Conclusions - The study reveals the potential for the use of new business models such as 'AI shopping information service' by the distribution industry. We present seven scenario related AI application refer from IBM suggestion, and the findings would enable the distribution industry to approach target consumers with their products, especially high value goods. 'Shopping advisor' is considered to the most effective. In order to apply to the other field of the distribution industry business, which utilizes AI technology, it should be accompanied by additional empirical data analysis should be undertaken.

• Management & Information Systems Review
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.65-88
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• 2012

The reason customer satisfaction has been considered importantly in previous researches is that customer satisfaction can lead repurchase and loyalty. For a department store which tries to differentiate from other retailing stores by providing prestige services with customers, customer satisfaction is an essential element for keeping customer loyalty. Previous researches had mentioned only marketing mix to explain the customer satisfaction of department store. However, this paper would like to examine that differential services of department store can have an effect on the customer satisfaction, as well as marketing mix. As results, place(location) variable and promotion variable of four marketing mix influenced on the customer satisfaction significantly. The rest of marketing mix, product and price, were not confirmed statistically. Most of all, as an additional variable, service can have an strong effect on the customer satisfaction positively. Therefore, department store need to consider not only marketing mix but also service variable when building marketing strategies.