Choon Ling Sia

Credibility of Electronic Word-of-Mouth: Informational and Normative Determinants of On-line Consumer Recommendations

Word-of-mouth (WOM) study is extended to the on-line context (eWOM) by examining the informational and normative determinants of the perceived credibility of on-line consumer recommendations. A survey of users of an on-line consumer discussion forum in China substantiated the effects of the determinants, although post-hoc analyses revealed that prior knowledge and involvement level moderate some of them. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Group Polarization and Computer-Mediated Communication: Effects of Communication Cues, Social Presence, and Anonymity

Group polarization is the tendency of people to become more extreme in their thinking following group discussion. It may be beneficial to some, but detrimental to other, organizational decisions. This study examines how computer-mediated communication (CMC) may be associated with group polarization. Two laboratory experiments were carried out. The first experiment, conducted in an identified setting, demonstrated that removal of verbal cues might not have reduced social presence sufficiently to impact group polarization, but removal of visual cues might have reduced social presence sufficiently to raise group polarization. Besides confirming the results of the first experiment, the second experiment showed that the provision of anonymity might also have reduced social presence sufficiently to raise group polarization. Analyses of process data from both experiments indicated that the reduction in social presence might have increased group polarization by causing people to generate more novel arguments and engage in more one-upmanship behavior. Collectively, process and outcome data from both experiments reveal how group polarization might be affected by level of social presence. Specifically, group discussion carried out in an unsupported setting or an identified face-to-face CMC setting tends to result in weaker group polarization. Conversely, group discussion conducted in an anonymous face-to-face CMC setting or a dispersed CMC setting (with or without anonymity) tends to lead to stronger group polarization. Implications of these results for further research and practice are provided.

Web strategies to promote internet shopping: is cultural-customization needed?

Building consumer trust is important for new or unknown Internet businesses seeking to extend their customer reach globally. This study explores the question: Should website designers take into account the cultural characteristics of prospective customers to increase trust, given that different trust-building web strategies have different cost implications? In this study, we focused on two theoretically grounded practical web strategies of customer endorsement, which evokes unit grouping, and portal affiliation, which evokes reputation categorization, and compared them across two research sites: Australia (individualistic culture) and Hong Kong (collectivistic culture). The results of the laboratory experiment we conducted, on the website of an online bookstore, revealed that the impact of peer customer endorsements on trust perceptions was stronger for subjects in Hong Kong than Australia and that portal (Yahoo) affiliation was effective only in the Australian site. A follow-up study was conducted as a conceptual replication, and provided additional insights on the effects of customer endorsement versus firm affiliation on trust-building. Together, these findings highlight the need to consider cultural differences when identifying the mix of web strategies to employ in Internet store websites.

Understanding customer knowledge sharing in web-based discussion boards: An exploratory study

Purpose – The proliferation and advance of web‐based technologies create expanded opportunities for retailers to gain a better understanding of their customers. However, the success of these web‐based discussion boards depends solely on whether customers are willing to share their knowledge and experience with other customers in these discussion boards. Thus, this study aims at identifying the factors that drive knowledge sharing among customers in web‐based discussion boards.Design/methodology/approach – An exploratory study with 104 respondents was conducted to identify and categorize the key factors of customer knowledge sharing in web‐based discussion boards.Findings – The results indicate that the enjoyment of helping others is the most frequently cited reason for customer knowledge sharing in web‐based discussion boards. On the other hand, the lack of knowledge self‐efficacy is the mostly cited reason explaining why customers do not want to share knowledge with others.Research limitations/implicatio...

Effects of environmental uncertainty on organizational intention to adopt distributed work arrangements

Uncertainty in the external environmental context has been shown to affect organizational change and innovation. Distributed work arrangement is an organizational innovation that has the potential to enable a firm to meet the challenges of an uncertain environment more effectively. With the emergence of virtual organizations, such work arrangements are likely to gain increasing popularity. This exploratory empirical study employs a structural model to examine how environmental uncertainty affects organizational predisposition (adoption intention) toward distributed work arrangements. Environmental uncertainty has two different dimensions: environmental complexity (heterogeneity) and environmental variability (dynamism). In this paper, environmental dimensions are modeled to influence adoption of distributed work arrangements through shaping the organizational perceptions of three innovation characteristics: perceived relative advantage, compatibility and complexity. Data analyses using partial least squares statistical technique revealed that environmental complexity is negatively associated with perceived relative advantage, and perceived compatibility. Perceived relative advantage and perceived compatibility are in turn positively related to adoption intention for distributed work arrangements. However, environmental variability has no significant effect on the three innovation characteristics. Contrary to past findings that suggest organizations are more predisposed toward innovations in a complex environment, our study found that organizations in an environment of lower, rather than higher complexity are more likely to adopt distributed work arrangements. Implications for organizations are discussed.

How Positive Informational Social Influence Affects Consumers’ Decision of Internet Shopping?

Given the amount of perceived risk involved in Internet shopping, many potential Internet shoppers tend to wait and observe the experiences of others who have tried it before considering adopting it. This study explores how positive informational social influence affects consumers’ decision of Internet shopping using a laboratory experiment. The research results reveal that positive informational social influence reinforces the relationships between perceived ease of use and consumer attitude toward Internet shopping, as well as attitude and their intention to shop. Implications for the current investigation and future research directions are provided.

A partial test of the task-medium fit proposition in a group support system environment

A laboratory experiment was carried out to partially test the task-medium fit proposition in a GSS environment. Communication medium was varied using a face-to-face GSS and a dispersed GSS setting. Task type was varied using an intellective and a preference task. Group decision outcome variables of interest were (actual and perceived) decision quality, decision time, decision satisfaction, and decision process satisfaction. With the intellective task, there were no significant differences between face-to-face GSS and dispersed GSS groups for all group decision outcome variables. With the preference task, face-to-face GSS groups performed significantly better than dispersed GSS groups for all group decision outcome variables. These findings suggest that group decision outcomes in a GSS environment tend to be adversely affected when the communication medium is too lean for the task but not when the communication medium is too rich for the task. Consequences of providing groups with too rich and too lean a communication medium for their task are discussed. Implications of these findings, and other related results, for practice and for future revisions of media richness theory are explored.

Exploring the effects of some display and task factors on GSS user groups

Abstract This study examines the impact of public screen and task types on consensus change and influence equality in a GSS environment. The researchers employed a controlled laboratory experiment with 44 five-person groups. The independent variables were public screen type and task type. Two kinds of public screens were studied: common and individual. Two task types were examined: intellectual and preference. The dependent variables were consensus change and influence equality. The findings were that a common public screen promotes consensus change with the preference but not the intellectual task. Moreover, individual public screens and the intellectual task encourage influence equality.

Can a GSS stimulate group polarization? an empirical study

This study investigates the impact of the electronic communication and anonymity capabilities of a group support system (GSS) on group polarization. Three support levels were studied: verbal support, identified GSS support, and anonymous GSS support. Information exposure was varied at two levels: exposure to positions without arguments and exposure to positions with arguments. The dependent variables were preference change and choice shift. Anonymous GSS groups produced higher choice shift than verbal groups. Anonymous GSS groups who were exposed to positions with arguments also had higher preference change than groups in other treatments. These results indicate that the anonymity and electronic communication capabilities of a GSS can be used conjointly to stimulate group polarization, especially when groups exchange mutual positions and arguments.

Leveraging social grouping for trust building in foreign electronic commerce firms: An exploratory study

Abstract Internet development has fueled e-commerce firms’ globalization efforts, but many have met with only limited success. This often stems from the foreign firms’ limited understanding of a focal countrys local culture and idiosyncrasies. Foreign firms are usually viewed as out-group entities, which lowers consumers’ trust in them. The extent of such a phenomenon varies. In locations where people are more skeptical of out-groups, a critical question is whether it is possible to transform such foreign out-group firms into in-groups, specifically with the support of popular social networking media. Based on Social Identity Theory and Trust Transference Process, five strategies leveraging social grouping and social ties to build trust for foreign electronic commerce firms were proposed. A survey was conducted to examine their effectiveness. The results suggest that social-grouping strategies are useful for in-grouping foreign out-group entities to build trust, and the effectiveness of strategies is determined by the social similarity and psychological distance between the consumer and the endorser. This has important implications for scholars and practitioners, both local and abroad, to leverage social grouping to boost Internet sales.