• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.81-94
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• 2010

The online shopping environment has radically changed consumer shopping behavior. Without the actual physical shopping experience in a brick-and-mortar store, consumers make purchasing decisions over the Internet. They make an effort to obtain product information not only from online merchants, but also from previous purchasers in order to make an informed decision. Accordingly, customer comments are expected to have a significant impact on decisions to purchase goods and services online. This paper focuses on one type of electronic word-of-mouth, the online consumer review. It derives several motivations why customers post product reviews on shopping mall sites. Customer motives were identified through an in depth one-on-one interview with twenty female respondents conducted twice from June $17^{th}$ to September $11^{th}$, 2009. The interviews lasted between 40 and 60 minutes. The results showed that consumers write product reviews based on six motivations: to receive a reward or remuneration for writing a product review, to share information with other customers, to improve the quality of goods and services, to reduce customer dissatisfaction, to recommend products and services, and to derive pleasure.

• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.96-107
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• 2006

This paper explores the benefits provided by the adoption and implementation of electronic commerce in a particular SME-intensive productive environment: the geographical cluster. This study develops a conceptual framework that highlights the six types of benefits obtained by integrating online business with offline business. Using data from 73 traditional companies in Korean port clusters, factor analysis was used to figure out six benefits including sharing information, cost savings, value-added service, customer relationship, enhanced trust, and marketing efficiency. The six empirically derived critical benefit factors were then used to examine how they improve management performance of the traditional offline companies in the cluster measured by Balanced Scorecard(BSC). According to the results, we concluded that the offline firms in the cluster can take advantages of extending to online business.

• KSII Transactions on Internet and Information Systems (TIIS)
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.148-167
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• 2020

Today, digital shoppers express increasingly complex buying behavior. They can use multiple channels for shopping and also they can switch from one to another channel almost effortlessly, in the result of engaging in omnichannel shopping behavior. A few years ago, consumers were using brick and mortar stores to make their purchases. However, nowadays, they possess different digital devices (mobile and/or desktop) to search for different alternatives and to make a better shopping choice. These devices (mobile and desktop) are different and offer unique benefits to consumers. However, there has been very little research that has treated mobile and desktop devices separately. Perhaps this study is the pioneer when it comes to investigating the effect of regulatory focus (prevention vs. promotion) and chronotype (morning and evening person) on a sample of university students using desktop and mobile channels for their shopping. The findings from a sample of 312 digital consumers (mobile and/or desktop) confirmed that the desktop channel provides a greater fit for morning-type respondents and that the mobile channel offers better value for evening-type respondents in e-retail. Furthermore, promotion-focused shoppers favor the mobile channel, and prevention-focused shoppers favor the desktop channel. The new insights and contributions of this study provide a better understanding of digital consumers to help sellers to develop a more effective e-retail strategy.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.57-68
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• 2018

Purpose - The development of technologies lead the volume of sale on online market increase but an off-line shopping center is still a core component in the omni-channel strategy. It is generally thought that high-level retailtainment on brick and mortar store affects purchase intentions positively, but some previous studies dispute that and have reported that retailtainment does not affect purchase intentions. So we have studied the additional factors' effect - the nature of purchase and utility - with retailtainment. Research design, data, and methodology - There are 8 treatment groups which were assigned by the method of retailtainment (high vs. low), nature of purchase (essential vs. non-essential), and utility (acquisition vs. transaction). A total of 240 subjects (office workers = 163, 68%; undergraduates = 77, 32%; average age = 30s; female = 39%) were divided into groups and exposed to one of the eight scenarios. Participant's purchase intention was the dependent, and ANOVA and L-matrix were used to analyze for main and interactive effects between factors. Results - First, the main effect and interactive effect between retailtainment and the nature of purchase are significant. We also found that the contrast between essential and non-essential at low-level retailtainment is higher than that of high-level retailtainment. Second, in the case of retailtainment and utility, transaction utility under high-level retailtainment affects purchase intentions positively. Third, between the nature of the purchase and utility, the main effect of the nature of purchase and the interactive effect is significant, but the main effect of utility is not significant. In the case of non-essential goods, the purchase intention was high when transaction utility was provided but in the case of essential goods, acquisition utility increased purchase intentions. Finally, when transaction utility is given, purchase intentions of essential goods increase under low retailtainment, and the purchase intentions of non-essential goods increase under high retailtainment. Conclusions - When customers buy essential goods, discounts decrease purchase intentions. During the season for bargain sales, purchase intentions increase when retailtainment of essential goods is low, and retailtainment of non-essential goods is high.

• Journal of the Korean Data and Information Science Society
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.1211-1224
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• 2010

The study derives various anticipated benefits resulting from locating small and medium sized IT service firms in a specific industrial cluster area. The study also derives IT service agility factors to obtain competitive advantages vital to real-time global enterprises. The anticipated benefits were then used to analyze how they improve the firms' agility. Using questionnaire data, factor analyses were used to figure out eight anticipated benefit factors including coordination, information sharing, business costs, speciality, communication, trust improvement, mutual business understanding, and reciprocity. The eight empirically derived benefit factors were then used to examine how they affect the IT service agility including flexibility, speed, responsiveness, and lean efficiency. The results of regression analyses showed that each one of the anticipated benefit factors except communication influence one or more IT service agility factors.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.223-245
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• 2007

Purpose: While empirical importance of dimensionality of perceived value is widely accepted, our understanding of experiential value dimensions in other retail channels and other cultures has not been explicitly tested. This study attempted to determine if the dimensions of experiential value scale (EVS) by Mathwick, Malhotra, and Rigdon (2001) identified in US catalog and Internet contexts could be applied in other international markets (South Korea) and in other retail channels (department store versus Internet shopping mall). Methodology/Approach: Two data sets, one from 220 department store shoppers and the other from 359 Internet shopping mall shoppers, were analyzed. Findings: Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed four different EVS dimensions by retail channels. Overall, entertainment and intrinsic enjoyment values were found to be more important in department store while economic and efficiency value dimensions were interpreted critical in Internet shopping mall context. Visual appeal aspect constitutes distinct value dimension in two channels. Practical Implications: One separate dimension of time efficiency in Internet shopping mall suggests that more efficient web design and functions that can save time and promote convenience are needed to better accommodate their customers. Internet has heavily relied on traditional attributes, such as factual information, price comparability, and brand name reliance. However, this study suggests that Internet shopping mall retailer should offer visual diversion and stimulation just as brick and mortar shopping malls do. Originality /Value of Paper: Although the research findings must be viewed as tentative because the results are from one country, they provide a rich basis for further understanding the dimensions of experiential value in other international markets and other retail channels. Category: Research Paper

• Asia pacific journal of information systems
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.29-47
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• 2007

Owing to the rapid growth of using the Internet, not only click-and-mortar companies but also brick-and-mortar ones have been expanding their distribution channels into online, Moreover, since online channels are more attractive than offline ones in control and maintenance, switching customers into online ones is emerged as one of very important managerial issues in a view of reduction of cost as well as expansion of services. However, the switched customers should be faced by uncertainties which could not have been experienced in offline. Specifically, in online channels, buyers and sellers are separated temporally and spacially and there are always so many kinds of threat for security as well as not enough systems and conventions for them yet. Therefore, trust has been considered as one of the most critical mechanisms for resolution of such uncertainties in online transactions. However, it is not easy to build and maintain the relationships in online since most of them are virtual and indirect generally. Therefore, in order to switch offline customers into online ones, it is very important to make strategies based on identification of the relationship between online transaction and offline trust which has been built in offline business. Generally offline trust, which has been built independent of online, could not include trust for online-dependent activities such as payment security during or after transactions, while most of online trust include it. Therefore, a customer with high offline trust does not always perceive high security and assure safe transactions. Accordingly, while online trust, where technical capabilities for online security is one of main bases, includes control trust implicitly or explicitly, offline trust does not. However. in spite of such clear discrimination and independence between offline trust and perceived security, there can be the significant dependency between these two beliefs. The customers with high offline trust believe that the company would do some activities for online security for customers' safe transactions since it has been believed of doing well for customers' trust. Theoretically, users' perception of security is interpreted as a kind of control trus, which is trust for company's technical control capacities in order to resolve technical uncertainties in online. Therefore, the relationship between two beliefs can be considered as transference from offline trust to another type trust. that is, control trust. The objective of this study is to analyze the effect of offline trust on online transaction uses mediated by perceived security. For this purpose, we suggest a research model based on technology acceptance model (TAM). Reuse intention is adopted as a dependent variable and TAM is modified by adding perceived risk (PR) as well as two beliefs of using Internet banking, perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU). Moreover, perceive security (PS) is adopted as an external variable for PR and PU, while offline trust (OT) is an antecedent of PS. For an empirical test, sampling from 108 visitors to the banks in Daegu, Korea, we analyze our model by partial least square (PLS) approach. In result, our model is shown to explain 51.4% of the variance in reuse intention and all hypothesis are supported statistically. A theoretical implication of this study is to identify a role of PS between offline trust and reuse intention of using online transaction services. According to our result, PS can be considered as a mediation variable for bridging between two different concepts: trust that explains social aspects of customers and companies, and TAM that explains customers' reuse intention.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.137-164
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• 2011

In the past, retailers secured customer loyalty by offering convenient locations, unique assortments of goods, better services than competitors, and good credit policy. All this has changed. Goods assortments among stores have become more alike as national-brand manufacturers place their goods in more and more retail stores. Service differentiation also has eroded. Many department stores have trimmed services, and many discount stores have increased theirs. Customers have become smarter shoppers. They don't pay more for identical brands, especially when service differences have diminished. In the face of increased competition from discount storess and specialty stores, department stores are waging a comeback war. Growth of intertype competition, competition between store-based and non-store-based retailing and growing investment in technology are changing the way consumers shop and retailers sell. Different types of stores-discount stores, catalog showrooms, department stores-all compete for the same consumers by carrying the same type of merchandise. The biggest winners are retailers that have helped shoppers to be economically cautious, simplified their increasingly busy and complicated lives, and provided an emotional connection. The growth of e-retailers has forced traditional brick-and-mortar retailers to respond. Basically brick-and-mortar retailers utilize their natural advantages, such as products that shoppers can actually see, touch, and test, real-life customer service, and no delivery lag time for small-sized purchases. They also provide a shopping experience as a strong differentiator. They are adopting practices as calling each shopper a "guest". The store atmosphere should match the basic motivations of the shopper. If target consumers are more likely to be in a task-oriented and functional mindset, then a simpler, more restrained in-store environment may be better. Consistent with this reasoning, some retailers of experiential products are creating in-store entertainment to attract customers who want fun and excitement. The retail experience must deliver value to turn a one-time visitor into a loyal customer. Retailers need a tool that measures the full range of components that define experience-based value. This study uses an experiential value scale(EVS) developed by Mathwick, Malhotra and Rigdon(2001) which reflects the benefits derived from perceptions of playfulness, aesthetics, customer "return on investment" and service excellence. EVS is useful to predict differences in shopping preferences and patronage behavior of customers. EVS consists of items measuring efficiency, economic value, visual appeal, entertainment value, service excellence, escapism, and intrinsic enjoyment, which are subscales of experiencial value. Efficiency, economic value, service excellence are linked to the utilitarian shopping value. And visual appeal, entertainment value, escapism and intrinsic enjoyment are linked to hedonic shopping value. It has been found that consumers value hedonic experiences activated from escapism and attractiveness of shopping environment as much as the product quality, price, and the convenient location. As a result, many department stores, discount stores, and other retailers are introducing differential marketing strategy based on emotional/hedonic values. Many researches suggest that consumers go shopping not only for buying products but also for various shopping experiences. In other words, they seek the practical, rational value as well as social, recreational values in the shopping process(Babin et al, 1994; Bloch et al, 1994). Retailers may enhance buyer's loyalty to store by providing excellent emotional/hedonic value such as the excitement from shopping, not just the practical value of buying good products efficiently. We investigate the effect of perceived shopping values on the emotional experience and store loyalty based on the EVS(Experiential Value Scales) developed by Holbrook(1994), Mathwick, Malhotra and Rigdon(2001). This study assumes that the relative effect of shopping value dimensions on the responses of shoppers will differ according to types of stores and analyzes the moderating effect of store type(department store VS. discount store) on the causal relationship between shopping value dimensions and store loyalty. Emprical results show that utilitarian values of shopping experience and hedonic value of shipping experience give the positive effect on the emotional response of consumers and store loyalty. We also found the moderating effect of store types. The effect of utilitarian shopping values on the attitude toward discount store is higher than the effect of utilitarian shopping values on the attitude toword department store. And the effect of hedonic shopping value on the emotional response to discount store is higher than on the emotional response to department store. The empirical results reflect on the recent trend that discount stores try to fulfill the hedonic needs of consumers as well as utilitarian needs(i.e, low price) that discount stores traditionally have focused on

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.188-198
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• 2010

This study attempts to examine the influence that negative WOM (NWOM) has in an online context. It specifically focuses on the impact of the service failure description and the perceived intention of the communication provider on consumer evaluations of firm competence, attitude toward the firm, positive word of mouth and behavioral intentions. Studies of communication persuasiveness focus on "who says what; to whom; in which channel; with what effect (Chiu 2007)." In this research study, we examine electronic web posting, particularly focusing on two aspects of "what": the level of service failure communicated and perceived intention of the individual posting. It stands to reason electronic NWOM that appears to be trying to damage a product’s or firm's reputation will be viewed as more biased and will thus be considered as less credible. According to attribution theory, people search for the causes of events especially those that are negative and unexpected (Weiner 2006). Hennig-Thurau and Walsh (2003) state "since the reader has only limited knowledge and trust of the author of an online articulation the quality of the contribution could be expected to serve as a potent moderator of the articulation-behavior relationship. We therefore posit the following hypotheses: H1. Subjects exposed to electronic NWOM describing a high level of service failure will provide lower scores on measures of (a) firm competence, (b) attitude toward the firm, (c) positive word of mouth, and (d) behavioral intention than will subjects exposed to electronic NWOM describing a low level of service failure. H2. Subjects exposed to electronic NWOM with a warning intent will provide lower scores on measures of (a) firm competence, (b) attitude toward the firm, (c) positive word of mouth, and (d) behavioral intention than will subjects exposed to electronic NWOM with a vengeful intent. H3. Level of service failure in electronic NWOM will interact with the perceived intention of the electronic NWOM, such that there will be a decrease in mean response on measures of (a) firm competence, (b) attitude toward the firm, (c) positive word of mouth, and (d) behavioral intention from electronic NWOM with a warning intent to a vengeful intent. The main study involved a2 (service failure severity) x2 (NWOM with warning versus vengeful intent) factorial experiment. Stimuli were presented to subjects online using a mock online web posting. The scenario described a service failure associated with non-acceptance of a gift card in a brick-and-mortar retail establishment. A national sample was recruited through an online research firm. A total of 113 subjects participated in the study. A total of 104 surveys were analyzed. The scenario was perceived to be realistic with 92.3% giving the scenario a greater than average response. Manipulations were satisfactory. Measures were pre-tested and validated. Items were analyzed and found reliable and valid. MANOVA results found the multivariate interaction was not significant, allowing our interpretation to proceed to the main effects. Significant main effects were found for post intent and service failure severity. The post intent main effect was attributable to attitude toward the firm, positive word of mouth and behavioral intention. The service failure severity main effect was attributable to all four dependent variables: firm competence, attitude toward the firm, positive word of mouth and behavioral intention. Specifically, firm competence for electronic NWOM describing high severity of service failure was lower than electronic NWOM describing low severity of service failure. Attitude toward the firm for electronic NWOM describing high severity of service failure was lower than electronic NWOM describing low severity of service failure. Positive word of mouth for electronic NWOM describing high severity of service failure was lower than electronic NWOM describing low severity of service failure. Behavioral intention for electronic NWOM describing high severity of service failure was lower for electronic NWOM describing low severity of service failure. Therefore, H1a, H1b, H1c and H1d were all supported. In addition, attitude toward the firm for electronic NWOM with a warning intent was lower than electronic NWOM with a vengeful intent. Positive word of mouth for electronic NWOM with a warning intent was lower than electronic NWOM with a vengeful intent. Behavioral intention for electronic NWOM with a warning intent was lower than electronic NWOM with a vengeful intent. Thus, H2b, H2c and H2d were supported. However, H2a was not supported though results were in the hypothesized direction. Otherwise, there was no significant multivariate service failure severity by post intent interaction, nor was there a significant univariate service failure severity by post intent interaction for any of the three hypothesized variables. Thus, H3 was not supported for any of the four hypothesized variables. This study has research and managerial implications. The findings of this study support prior research that service failure severity impacts consumer perceptions, attitude, positive word of mouth and behavioral intentions (Weun et al. 2004). Of further relevance, this response is evidenced in the online context, suggesting the need for firms to engage in serious focused service recovery efforts. With respect to perceived intention of electronic NWOM, the findings support prior research suggesting reader's attributions of the intentions of a source influence the strength of its impact on perceptions, attitude, positive word of mouth and behavioral intentions. The implication for managers suggests while consumers do find online communications to be credible and influential, not all communications are weighted the same. A benefit of electronic WOM, even when it may be potentially damaging, is it can be monitored for potential problems and additionally offers the possibility of redress.