Frans Feldberg

Satisfaction with virtual worlds: An integrated model of experiential value

Although virtual worlds increasingly attract users today, few studies have addressed what satisfies virtual world users. We therefore defined and tested an integrated model of experiential system value and virtual world satisfaction. Drawing upon expectancy-value and cognitive evaluation theories, four important facets of experiential system value were hypothesized as determinants of virtual world satisfaction. Structural equation modeling was employed on a sample of 567 users of the virtual world Second Life. Direct and indirect effects were tested and are reported. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Negative online word-of-mouth: Behavioral indicator or emotional release?

The influence of negative online word-of-mouth on the behavior of those receiving it has been addressed extensively in the academic literature. Remarkably, the question whether negative online word-of-mouth should also be seen as a behavioral indicator of its sender remains unaddressed. Answering this question is relevant as it provides companies with insight into the need to engage in interaction with those who negatively express themselves online or whether these expressions should be seen as temporary emotional releases without any intended conduct. To fill the existing research gap, this research paper proposes and empirically tests a sender-oriented model, investigating the influence of emotions, negative online word-of-mouth on repatronage and switching intentions. As disclosing negative feedback online may also reflect the senders motivation to inform the consumer community or to provide constructive feedback to the company responsible for the dissatisfying consumption, community usefulness and company usefulness are included as behavioral moderators. The results of an empirical survey conducted amongst real senders of negative information confirm that negative online word-of-mouth is directly driven by positive and negative emotions and is strongly predictive for the senders intended conduct. The motivation to help other consumers was demonstrated to function as behavioral moderator. The paper concludes with theoretical and managerial implications, and suggests avenues for further research.

Lost in space? Cognitive fit and cognitive load in 3D virtual environments

In this paper, we explore how visual representations of information in 3D virtual environments (3DVEs) supports both individual and shared understanding, and consequently contribute to group decision making in tasks with a strong visual component. We integrate insights from cognitive fit theory and cognitive load theory in order to formulate hypotheses about how 3DVEs can contribute to individual understanding, shared understanding, and group decision making. We discuss the results of an experiment in which 192 participants, in 3-person teams, were asked to select an apartment. As proposed by cognitive fit theory, our results indicate that 3DVEs are indeed more effective in supporting individual understanding than 2D information presentations. Next, in line with cognitive load theory, the static presentation of 3D information turns out to be more effective in supporting shared understanding and group decision making than an immersive 3DVE. Our results suggest that although the 3DVE capabilities of realism, immersion and interactivity contribute to individual understanding, these capabilities combined with the interaction and negotiation processes required for reaching a shared understanding (and group decision), increases cognitive load and makes group processes inefficient. The implications of this paper for research and practice are discussed.

Virtual Customer Service Agents: Using Social Presence and Personalization to Shape Online Service Encounters

By performing tasks traditionally fulfilled by service personnel and having a humanlike appearance, virtual customer service agents bring classical service elements to the web, which may positively influence customer satisfaction through eliciting social responses and feelings of personalization. This paper sheds light on these dynamics by proposing and testing a model drawing upon the theories of implicit personality, social response, emotional contagion, and social interaction. The model proposes friendliness, expertise, and smile as determinants of social presence, personalization, and online service encounter satisfaction. An empirical study confirms the cross-channel applicability of friendliness and expertise as determinants of social presence and personalization. Overall, the study underlines that integration between technology and personal aspects may lead to more social online service encounters.

Benefitting from virtual customer environments

We propose and test a model for studying customer engagement within VCEs.Hedonic, social, and cognitive benefits positively influence customer engagement.Personal integrative benefits do not influence customer engagement.System-specific VCE characteristics influence the perceived benefits of a VCE.The results are robust across three datasets of actual VCE users. Customer engagement has been labeled as a prerequisite for the success of virtual customer environments. A key challenge for organizations serving their customers via these environments is how to stimulate customer engagement. This study is among the first to shed light on this issue by examining customer engagement and its drivers. Using the theory of uses and gratification as theoretical lens, we develop a model that relates characteristics of virtual customer environments, perceived benefits of using these environments and customer engagement intentions. The model is validated using partially least squares structural equation modeling on three samples of real users of different virtual customer environments in the Dutch telecom industry. The results provide clear support for the validity of the hypothesized relationships and show high robustness of the findings across the three datasets. An important finding of this study is that cognitive, social integrative and hedonic benefits appear to be significant in their influence on customer engagement intentions. Overall, the findings add to the underexplored field of customer engagement study and hold implications for research into and the management of virtual customer environments.

Debating big data: A literature review on realizing value from big data

Abstract Big data has been considered to be a breakthrough technological development over recent years. Notwithstanding, we have as yet limited understanding of how organizations translate its potential into actual social and economic value. We conduct an in-depth systematic review of IS literature on the topic and identify six debates central to how organizations realize value from big data, at different levels of analysis. Based on this review, we identify two socio-technical features of big data that influence value realization: portability and interconnectivity. We argue that, in practice, organizations need to continuously realign work practices, organizational models, and stakeholder interests in order to reap the benefits from big data. We synthesize the findings by means of an integrated model.

Present it like it is here

Emerging product presentation technologies create perceptions of local presence.Local presence brings the online product experience to offline settings.Virtual mirrors outperform 360-spin and pictures in terms of local presence.Local presence increases perceptions of product tangibility and product likability. Advanced online product presentation technologies such as virtual mirrors enable consumers to experience products like they are actually present with them in the real world. This study is one of the first to address the mechanism underlying this phenomenon. Inspired by literature on media technology the concept of local presence is put forward and applied to the online consumer behavior domain. A key objective of this paper is to examine whether local presence adds to our understanding of how emerging product presentation formats influence online product experiences. To this end, a laboratory experiment (N=366) was conducted with product presentation format as a three level (pictures, 360-spin rotation, and virtual mirror) independent variable, allowing for a comparison of the effectiveness of different presentation formats in creating perceptions of local presence. As a second objective, the influence of local presence on perceptions of product tangibility and product likability, two key facets of the online product experience, were assessed. The results, obtained with the use of analysis of variance and partial least squares modeling, show the superiority of the virtual mirror in creating local presence, and demonstrate that local presence is highly predictive of product tangibility and product likability. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Virtual Team Work: Group Decision Making in 3D Virtual Environments

This study investigates how three-dimensional virtual environments (3DVEs) support shared understanding and group decision making. Based on media synchronicity theory, we pose that the shared environment and avatar-based interaction allowed by 3DVEs aid convergence processes in teams working on a decision-making task, leading to increased shared understanding between team members. This increases team performance. An experiment was conducted in which 70 teams of three participants had to decide on a spatial planning issue. The teams interacted using synchronous text-based chat, a 3D virtual decision room, or were present in the virtual environment (VE) mirroring the spatial planning task. Results revealed that in the virtual decision room and the VE, shared understanding was higher than in the text-based chat condition. This led to higher task performance in terms of consensus, satisfaction, and cohesion. Our results show that 3DVEs offer potential for team collaboration over more traditional text-based collaboration technologies.

Satisfaction with virtual communities in B2B financial services: social dynamics, content and technology

This study explores satisfaction with Virtual Communities in a Financial Services setting. Based on Expectancy Value Theory and the concept of Experiential Value we hypothesize that three sources of value drive user satisfaction in a B2B-VC: social ties, content and technology. We propose a theoretical model to operationalize these concepts. The hypotheses in the model are tested via a Partial Least Square analysis on data gathered via a survey among participants in a leading Virtual Community in the Financial Services industry. As such, we aim to contribute to the growing body of knowledge on Social Media, in particular addressing the relatively unexplored domain of Business-to-Business (B2B) where individuals act on behalf of a company instead of their own interests. Our findings show that user satisfaction in a B2B-VC is driven by the three aforementioned sources of value.