Akinori Ono

Consumer Motivations in Browsing Online Stores with Mobile Devices

We examine the effects of consumer motivations on browsing online stores with mobile devices and compare them with those on browsing physical stores. The results of the simultaneous analysis in multiple populations with structural equation modeling show that four kinds of motivations affect browsing mobile-based online stores, whereas three motivations affect browsing physical stores. This study implies that idea motivation is the most important determinant of both mobile and offline browsing. Also, it implies that adventure motivation and value motivation are important for mobile-based online stores, whereas gratification motivation is important for physical stores. This is the first study to examine the determinants of browsing intention in both physical stores and mobile-based online stores and will contribute to better understanding in-store browsing activity.

Manufacturers' intention to extend the relationships with distributors

Purpose – Today, it is becoming increasingly important for manufacturers to develop cooperative relationships with distributors and obtain customized distribution services. Previous research has suggested that, with specified assets, manufacturers might “hold up” distributors and that such a relationship would not be sustainable. In contrast, the purpose of this paper is to develop a causal model to explain why and how manufacturers intend to extend cooperative relationships with distributors.Design/methodology/approach – To propose a causal model, two approaches – relationship marketing and transaction cost analysis – are examined. To complement the defects of the two approaches, a repeated game theoretic approach was applied in the causal model. The proposed model is empirically tested with 144 strategic business units of manufacturers and the structural equation modelling. Also, a case from the US and Japanese automobile industries is proffered to discuss the validity of the model.Findings – The result...

The Effect of E-WOM Receivers’ Envy on Their Behavior Through Social Networking Site: An Abstract

Previous research has shown that if WOM (word-of-mouth) receivers are exposed to a video message in which a person says that he/she made great efforts to earn money and purchase an attractive product, they feel benignly envious and have higher WTP (willingness to pay) for the product. In contrast, if receivers are exposed to another message in which a person says that he/she made no effort to earn money and purchase the product, they feel maliciously envious and have a higher WTP for other products.

Cooperative Relationships between Product Brands and Ingredient Brands

Co-branding strategies have some advantages in gaining high brand equity with low risk because firms might be able to extend their brand by cooperating with other firms who have their own brands with high brand equity (Boad, 1999). Although co-branding typically means brand alliances among a couple of manufactures (product brands) in/outside of the product categories, it includes a variant in which manufactures (product brands) cooperate with suppliers (ingredient brands) to incorporate the suppliers’ brands into their own brands as ingredients. It is called ingredient branding (Desai and Keller, 2002). With the new type of brand alliance, manufacturers wishes to differentiate themselves from the competition through the inclusion of the ingredient brands into their final products (Luczak et al., 2007).

Effects of Ewom Campaigns with Rewards from the Perspectives of Givers and Receivers

This paper investigates how electronic word of mouth (eWOM) campaigns with rewards influence customer intention to post a review as eWOM givers and eWOM credibility with receivers. Recently, eWOM campaigns in which manufacturers and retailers give some rewards to customers for posting a review have come to be often seen on their websites. Although a considerable amount of research has been conducted focusing on eWOM, few studies treat this kind of campaigns.

The Effects of Health Claims and Symbolic Mark: A Case of Foshu (Food for Specified Health Uses) in Japan

Informative messages on product packages—especially on packages of food products—should be credible. Otherwise, the firm might experience a serious fall in brand equity. However, because nutrition intake and health promotion are “credence attributes”, it is difficult for consumers to evaluate them. Moreover, if nutrition message or health claims were false or puffery, consumers might suffer a serious health damage.

WHY DO NEGATIVE E-WOM MESSAGES SOMETIMES POSITIVELY INFLUENCE CONSUMER ATTITUDE?

With the advent of the Internet in the United States, Japan, and other developed countries, electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) consumer reviews have come into vogue. While most studies have shown that negative e-WOM has negative effects on consumer attitude, some recent studies implied that the existence of negative e-WOM on a single website can enhance consumer attitude toward the website.However, no research has not identified the conditions for the positive effects of negative e-WOM. Thus, we investigate the moderating effects of the types of receivers, reviews, and products. Also, we investigate the moderating effects of the order of positive and negative e-WOM reviews posted in a single website.The effects of four factors are investigated —product characteristic (utilitarian vs. hedonic), review characteristic (attribute- vs. benefit-centric), receiver characteristic (expert vs. novice), and the orders of negative e-WOM (top vs. bottom) when the ratios of positive to negative e-WOM reviews are 10:0, 8:2, and 6:4. A laboratory experiment with virtual e-WOM sites is utilized. Four hundred twenty students participate in the experiment. All hypotheses are supported in at least 5% levels.The results of ANOVA show that negative e-WOM has positive effects on consumer attitudes towards products in the case of hedonic products and expert consumers reading attribute-centric review. Moreover, negative e-WOM has a greater positive effect when it is at the top of the website as opposed to at the bottom. This study contributes to our current understanding of e-WOM effects on consumer behavior.

TWO HEALTH CLAIM REGULATORY SYSTEMS IN JAPAN: THE IMPACTS ON CONSUMER EVALUATIONS OF FOOD PRODUCTS

This study investigated the impacts of two different health claim regulatory systems, FoSHU (Foods for Specified Health Uses) and FFC (Foods with Function Claims) systems, in Japan on consumer evaluations of food products in terms of healthfulness.The FoSHU system was introduced in 1991 as an individual product approval system to allow product-specific health claims, while the FFC system was introduced lately in 2015 as a notification system like NLEA (Nutrition Labeling and Education Act) in the US. The latter system seems advantageous over the former in terms of shortening the product development period. However, the FoSHU system awards brand with a symbolic logo designed for FoSHU foods, whereas the FFC system does not. Which system leads to higher consumers’ healthfulness perceptions?The results of ANOVA showed that, if the health functions of the food product are not attributed to the product category, but to a specific food product brand, health claims have a strong impact on healthfulness. In contrast, if the health functions are attributed to the entire product category, health claims do not have a strong impact on healthfulness perception. In the latter cases, the FoSHU symbolic logo helps consumers to identify functional foods.Thus, in this study, it is suggested that, in Japan, the new US style health claim regulatory system is affective in the limited product categories. Public policy makers should recognize the important role of the symbolic logo for the previous system and consider introducing another logo to the new system.

Signaling and Attribute Effects of Country-of-Origin Information: Roles of Consumer Knowledge and Involvement

Today, an increasing number of products made in countires other than the country in which the product is consumered. Products made in a particular country may be preferred to products made in other country because consumers perceive them as being of higher quality and/or because consumers have a favorable image toward the “made in” country. Regarding these country-of-origin effects, recent studies have suggested that country-of-origin information can be treated as an extrinsic cue of product quality (a signalling effect) or as a product attribute that can provide consumer benefits (an attribute effect). However, no reported research has yet provided a causal model that describes the purchase decision-making process with both signaling and attribute effects of the country of origin. Thus, we proposed a structural equation model and tested the model with a consumer data set. By dividing the data set into consumer groups, we conclude that signaling and attribute effects of country-of-origin may be influenced by the level of consumer knowledge as well as consumer involvement.

Impacts of the FoSHU (Food for Specified Health Uses) system on food evaluations in Japan

Purpose – This study aims to examine the various effects of two licensing factors – health claims and “FoSHU seal”, which can be appeared on packages only with permission. In the Food for specified health uses (FoSHU) system, Japanese Government controls all health claims on packages of food products for the first time in the world. Design/methodology/approach – In Study 1, the authors investigate the signaling effects of the two licensing factors with a 2 (health claims: yes/no) × 2 (FoSHU seal: yes/no) factorial design. Then, in Study 2, the authors investigate the external effects on alternative brands with a 2 (package of the non-FoSHU brand: similar/dissimilar to the FoSHU brand) × 2 (presentation of the FoSHU brand: yes/no) design. Findings – The results show that food evaluations are affected by the FoSHU seal, indicating that, with the symbolic mark, FoSHU foods can be successfully differentiated from non-FoSHU foods. In contrast, food evaluations are not affected by health claims – health claims ...