Esther Swilley

E-Services: A Synthesis and Research Agenda

Services marketing research increases in both intensity and relevance as services contribute an increasing share of the world’s economy and as firms and their customers increasingly interact through electronic networks. E-services present sharp new challenges to both researchers and practitioners because the processes from beginning to end of the e-service value chain are markedly different than those for offline services and because the electronic environment offers increased flexibility throughout the value chain. This flexibility creates the requirement to impose some sort of structure on all of the possible service and channel design choices. E-service flexibility creates an opportunity, and the need, to think about the consumer early in the design process. Finally, flexibility makes it difficult, but critically important, to consider various scenarios suggesting future developments in e-services. Our goal is to provide an over-view of the past and some projections for the future in the new field of e-services.

The moderating influence of hedonic consumption in an extended theory of planned behaviour

This study extended the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to predict youth’s customer loyalty. Replacing TPB’s traditional subjective norm with a norm from a behaviourally relevant group, the findings supported the model’s predictive efficacy. However, youth’s hedonic consumption moderated the relationships between TPB’s predictors and loyalty. Hedonic consumption increased group interactions, which in turn increased group norm’s influence. Conversely, with low hedonic consumption, attitude and perceived behavioural control were stronger than the group norm. The findings suggested the importance of group norm, particularly with hedonic behaviours enacted in groups. Managerial implications included how to reach youth through hedonic consumption and peer groups.

Technology rejection: the case of the wallet phone

Purpose – A wallet phone is a type of cell phone that is used for storage of all information, including identification, pictures, even airline tickets. This study seeks to understand consumer rejection of a technology, specifically wallet phone technology, using the technology acceptance model.Design/methodology/approach – Two studies were conducted using different samples in order to assess the differences in a student sample and a more diverse sample. In the first study, 226 students were sampled. In the second study, an online survey was conducted through a consumer panel and 480 surveys were collected. Structural equation modeling was used for analysis in order to test the hypothesized relationships.Findings – The findings suggest that a wallet phone is not seen by consumers as either easy to use or useful, as both were not found to be significant in their influence on attitudes toward wallet phones. Perceived risk was found to be significant. In addition, security and privacy were found to have a neg...

The Evolution from E-Commerce to M-Commerce: Pressures, Firm Capabilities and Competitive Advantage in Strategic Decision Making

This study focuses on the isomorphic pressures and firm capabilities that affect strategic decision-making in organizations in the context of m-commerce. The authors take into consideration that the three isomorphic forces set forth by DiMaggio and Powell 1983, mimetic, coercive and normative pressures, work together to impact strategic decisions based on stakeholder influences. This study found that the effects of mimetic pressures seen in results of previous studies may be the result of model misspecification. Findings also indicate that firms want to leverage capabilities gained from e-commerce in the m-commerce wave in order to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace

Assessing the Impact of Corporate Credibility and Technology Acceptance on Online Shopping

The purpose of this study was to assess the relationships between perceived ease of use, usefulness, trustworthiness, and expertise with self-reported willingness to give information to an e-vendor, future e-vendor purchase intentions, and to recommend the e-vendor to others. Data from a survey of 70 adult respondents showed that perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and perceptions of corporate trust were positively correlated with future purchase intentions and willingness to recommend the e-vendor to other consumers. Only trust, however, was positively associated with information giving. Perceived corporate expertise was virtually unrelated to how consumers evaluated their online vendors.

Aesthetic technology: scale development and measurement

Development of scale to measure the aesthetics of a technology device is the focus of this research. The aesthetic technology (AT) construct takes into account technology as an art form, and allows for the examination of artistic quality, as well as the artistic value consumers are seeking in technology products. The reliability and validity of this scale are established and the AT measure is found to be a reliable measure in understanding consumer attitudes and intentions toward technology product aesthetics.

Extending Flow Theory To Mobile Shopping

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of flow theory on mobile shopping on cell phone devices. Specifically, we examine the relationship between flow and the formation of mobile shopping attitudes. We surmise that the consciousness state of consumers has a profound effect on their ability to become involved in mobile shopping on their mobile phones. We also examine skillfulness as an antecedent of flow, as skillfulness determines the ability of consumers to operate mobile devices accurately. As more firms integrate mobile marketing into their comprehensive plans, retailers need to understand fully the intrinsic and extrinsic motivators of mobile commerce and its viability as a consumer retail channel. In this vein, we undertake a study to examine the antecedents of mobile retail shopping with the goal of further explaining consumer behavior in this arena. We find that skillfulness positively influences the flow experience in this context. Ironically, consumers were less likely to focus their attention on the shopping activity while on their cell phones. As more firms integrate mobile promotions into their marketing strategies, a better understanding of consumers’ experiences will aid in developing mobile applications and websites that maximize outcomes. Additional antecedents, besides flow, should be considered in order to build a comprehensive picture of the m-commerce process. Advancing research into the flow theory and mobile commerce with continued development and refinement of this association should uncover other interesting relationships.

Moving Virtual Retail into Reality: Examining Metaverse and Augmented Reality in the Online Shopping Experience

Online retailing has proven to be advantageous to retailers in terms of revenue building. Consumers are spending time and money on retailer e-commerce sites, and now, m-commerce sites. In fact, Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving, is exceeding revenue goals previously sought on Black Friday (Internet Retailer 2011). However, the online shopping experience has not kept pace with the offline experience. Brick and mortar allows for more experiential shopping that creates engagement, brand experience, as well as excitement. Catalog and television shopping affords the comfort of shopping at home. Now, many shoppers are turning to their tablet computers for online shopping. However, the shopping experience on tablets must compete with other online activities, including games and other interesting applications. Retailers should respond to needs of the consumer by developing a more robust online shopping experience. This can also enhance the experiences of shoppers in both electronic commerce and mobile commerce.

Investigating Virtual World Dynamics Using AST: A Research Agenda

The purpose of this paper is to develop a research agenda that will assist in deepening our understanding of the social dynamics of virtual worlds. Virtual worlds are computer-based simulated worlds that are populated by human-controlled avatars, or graphical representations of individuals. These worlds are real-time, interactive societies based on three-dimensional Internet technology. Interaction in virtual worlds has developed a set of behaviors, which are unique to each world.

An Examination of Regifting: A Look at the Behaviors Behind this Gift-Giving Phenomenon

Johnny Carson once said that there is a single fruitcake being given year after year, from one person to another. What he implied was that some people take gifts and give them to other recipients to enjoy. This type of behavior was defined by the character Elaine, on an episode of Seinfeld, as regifting. Regifting refers to the act of giving a gift to someone else, which was originally given to the gift giver. Some people have no qualms in regifting, while others abhor the practice. Regifting is so commonplace in our society that Emily Post has given etiquette guidelines on how to regift. It is a form of gift-giving behavior that has not been introduced into academic literature, even though other gift-giving activities have been researched. Gift-giving has been studied in not only marketing, but in anthropology, sociology and economic literature. This research introduces the regifting phenomenon and conceptualizes it as an extension of gift-giving behavior. The purpose of this research is to explore the motivations for regifting behavior. This study is the first to collect empirical evidence on the type of individuals most likely to regift, to whom regifted items are most often given, the motivations behind regifting, and the types of items most likely to be regifted.