Inwon Kang

Transfer From Offline Trust to Key Online Perceptions: An Empirical Study

Research has provided little evidence that trust in an offline bank can encourage adoption of the banks online business. Yet, more and more brick-and-mortar banks and other businesses are investing in online Web sites that supposedly ldquoleveragerdquo positive consumer impressions of their offline business. The main purpose of this study is to test empirically whether or not trust in an offline bank transfers (i.e., influences) perceptions about that companys online bank. In order to do so, we analyze how trust in an offline bank influences four perceptions about its online banking counterpart (flow, structural assurance, perceived Web site satisfaction, and perceived extent of future use). The study tests the hypothesized influence of offline trust using a sample of 199 South Korean consumers responding about offline and online banking. Results show that offline trust influences all four online perceptions, just as proposed. These effects were especially prominent among respondents new to online banking. Thus, offline-to-online transfer should be considered when designing strategies for online channels. This study fills a key research gap by examining transfer of cognitive beliefs from an offline to an online setting.

Internet addiction as a manageable resource: a focus on social network services

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to reinterpret addiction to social network services (SNSs), not from the traditional clinical perspective as a disorder, but from a management perspective as consumer behaviour to examine its possibility as a manageable resource.Design/methodology/approach – A survey was conducted on heavy users of SNSs. Based on the data the authors performed an exploratory factor analysis to define SNS addiction and to construct its dimensions.Findings – The authors termed SNS addiction as an “addictive consumption trait” (ACT) of SNS and its underlying dimensions are salience, euphoria, immersion, compulsion, and association.Research limitations/implications – The authors used SNS user behaviour as the sample for their empirical analysis. However there is a variety of other internet services available and different internet services may show different consumer behaviour. Therefore, for future research, the authors suggest conducting a comparative study on the influence of addictio...

Service Evaluation Model for Medical Tour Service

Medical tourism is a high-involvement and high-risk service. Because of these characteristics, consumers make decisions either by increasing benefit or by reducing risk. Therefore, there should be different decision-making procedures for different types of medical tour services. Consumers may perceive higher risk from significant treatment medical tour services, whereas lifestyle-related medical tour consumers may pay more attention to benefits. In this context, we propose a medical tour service evaluation model that reflects service characteristics and consumers’ involvement. From the results of this study, we drew meaningful marketing strategies for hospitals, travel agencies, and governments.

An evolutionary perspective of opportunism in high-technology alliance: the evidence from South Korean companies

Abstract Adopting an evolutionary perspective, we introduce an alternative approach to the opportunism in strategic alliance where the accumulated risks during alliance operation lead to opportunism in alliance. To examine this process, a total of 358 employees from South Korean firms in the high technology sector completed a survey on opportunism in strategic alliance, measuring each firms perceived risks on the relational and operational issues in alliance and their antecedents and outcomes. Key results show that perceived risks on the relationship between alliance partners cause a passive type of opportunism, whereas perceived risks both on the relationship between alliance partners and on the achievement of alliance objectives cause an active type of opportunism. Specifically, cultural difference showed the largest influence on relational risks, whereas issues in equity involvement showed the largest influence on performance risk. Based on the findings, theoretical and practical implications on the opportunism management in strategic alliance are discussed.