Jacques Nel

Customer–brand engagement and Facebook fan-page “Like”-intention

Purpose The potential outcomes of social media-facilitated customer–brand relationships have prompted many firms to develop strategies that would enable them to connect with as many customers as possible through social media. Nevertheless, the marketing value of these artificial connections is questionable. Therefore, this paper aims to identify determinants of customers’ intention to connect with a brand on social media (i.e. Facebook) in the absence of “pull-strategies”. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the concept of customer–brand engagement (CBE) is applied to the intentions to “Like” a brand’s Facebook fan page using structural equation modelling. Findings The results show that the three dimensions of CBE collectively explain about 50 per cent of the intentions to “Like” a brand’s Facebook fan page. Additionally, the results show that the influences of two of the CBE dimensions on the two “Like”-intentions are conditional effects of brand trust. Originality/value Because of the novelty of the CBE construct, further investigation of its application in a social media setting is lacking. To address this gap in the literature, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how CBE influences customers’ intention to “Like” a brand’s Facebook page.

Development of application-based mobile-service trust and online trust transfer: an elaboration likelihood model perspective

ABSTRACT Many firms are developing application-based mobile services (ABMS) as a complementary channel to their online service. Although perceptions of the ABMS determine trust in the ABMS, trust transfer from the online channel plays a role in the formation of ABMS trust. Applying the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) to the study, two objectives were pursued: (1) to investigate the role different influence processes play in the formation of ABMS trust and (2) to assess whether the effects of these influences vary across users, and if so, how. Data collected from 344 users of the online services of a price-comparison service also offering an ABMS were analysed. Based on the ELM, central and peripheral routes of information processing were identified in the formation of ABMS trust. The central routes of information processing that play a role are the influence of online-service trust and ABMS perceived usefulness on ABMS trust, while the influence of ABMS perceived ease-of-use on ABMS trust emerged as a peripheral cue. Furthermore, online-service trust is also a peripheral cue for ABMS perceived ease-of-use. Other theoretical contributions offered by this study are findings that show that ABMS self-efficacy and online-service use influence information processing, but use different ELM routes.

Towards Understanding Intention to Purchase Online Music Downloads: A South African Survey

The worldwide diffusion of broadband networks and the invention of the Motion Picture Experts Group Layer 3 (better known as MP3), along with the diffusion of peer-to-peer (P2P) software, enabled effortless music file-sharing between Internet users. To manage the file-sharing phenomenon from a marketing perspective, some researchers have developed conceptual models to predict the legal online purchasing of music downloads. There is a need for research on consumer acceptance models for purchasing online music downloads in developing countries; such research has previously only been done in developed countries. Therefore, the research question involves which factors influence the intention of Internet users in developing countries to purchase online music downloads. The primary objective of this research is to identify factors influencing the intentions of undergraduate Internet users at a mid-size South African university to purchase online music downloads. To identify factors that influence the intentions of the target population, the Technology Acceptance Model was extended with cost, trust, risk, enjoyment and self-efficacy beliefs.

Technology Cluster Effect as Moderator in the Technology Acceptance Model: The Case of Text Messaging and Wig Mobile Banking Adoption

Mobile banking is considered by some commentators to be one of the most value-adding and important mobile services available to consumers. However, although mobile banking delivers unparalleled convenience and ubiquity compared to other self-service banking options, the adoption rate remains slow.