Candy K. Y. Ho

Prior Relationships and Consumer Responses to Service Failures: A Cross-Cultural Study

The authors examine the mitigating effect of an established trusting relationship between service providers and consumers on the consequences of service failures as a function of interdependent–independent self-construal. Two studies reveal that the effect of prior relationship, defined as the length of past patronage of a service provider, on consumer behavioral responses to service failure tends to be more pronounced among consumers with interdependent (vs. independent) self-construal. This variation in the mitigating effect of prior relationship can be attributed to the differential impact of trust in the service provider on the two groups of consumers. The authors conclude with a discussion of managerial implications.

Developing consumer-based service brand equity via the internet: The role of personalization and trialability

The commercialization of the Internet has provided opportunities for building service brands in the minds of consumers. Services are characterized as intangible, heterogeneous, inseparable, and perishable features that often engender high information costs and, hence, low perceived value to potential consumers. When a service is available via the Internet—a medium that can subdivide and rebuild the service into personalized offerings—potential consumers become better informed in advance of what the service provides. The Internet also permits most services to be trialable before consumption. These new features, empowered by the Internet, have important implications for what we call consumer-based service brand equity (CSBE), the value that potential consumers assign to a service brand. This article investigates the effects of service personalization and trialability on the development of CSBE of Internet banking service, a typical service available via the Internet. Results from a laboratory experiment indicate that both service personalization and trialability have significant positive influences on the development of the CSBE of an Internet banking service brand. While personalization was found to indirectly influence CSBE development by mediating the perceived benefits of the brand, trialability exerted both a direct and an indirect effect. Trialability developed the brands CSBE by first mediating the information through gathering cost savings and then the perceived benefits of the brand. Implications of the studys results are discussed.

Choice decision of e-learning system: Implications from construal level theory

Abstract This study investigates user acceptance of a new e-learning system when users can choose between the old and the new systems. Drawing upon construal level theory and technology acceptance model, this study proposes that users’ construal level of an e-learning system interacts with their perceptions of the system (i.e., PEoU and PU) and affects their adoption intention. Data collected from 131 participants in a laboratory experiment show that a higher construal level strengthened the effect of PEoU but mitigated the effect of PU on participants’ attitude toward using the system, thus affecting adoption intention. Theoretical contributions and implications are discussed.