Jamie Carlson

Exploring the relationships between e‐service quality, satisfaction, attitudes and behaviours in content‐driven e‐service web sites

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to develop a conceptual model to examine the relationships among e‐service quality, consumer satisfaction, attitudes towards the web site and behavioural intentions in the context of content‐driven web sites.Design/methodology/approach – Data from an online survey of 518 consumers were collected with the partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modelling technique used to empirically test the model.Findings – Findings suggest that positive evaluations of e‐service quality influences positive levels of consumer satisfaction, consumer attitudes towards the web site and behavioural intentions within the specific service context of content‐driven professional sports web sites.Research limitations/implications – The study specifically focuses on content‐centric web sites within a single service domain being professional sport. Future research can apply the framework to other service sectors on the internet, as well as to other cultural settings.Practical implicat...

Developing a framework for understanding e-service quality, its antecedents, consequences, and mediators

Purpose – This research seeks to extend the work of Dabholkar et al. into the e‐retail domain to assess alternate theoretical frameworks of e‐service quality. Particular focus is placed on e‐service quality and whether elements of e‐service quality should be viewed by dimensions, as antecedents to a global evaluation of e‐service quality, or as a formative configuration to predict behavioral intentions. The mediating role of customer satisfaction is also to be explored in these frameworks.Design/methodology/approach – This paper is premised on an empirical study using cross‐sectional data from actual consumers. Data from a survey of 518 online consumers were used to test the research models through the use of a structured equation modeling (SEM) tool.Findings – The results show support for all three theoretical models, and slightly stronger support for the formative model. Customer satisfaction was also found to play a mediating role on behavioral intentions within these e‐service quality models.Research ...

An empirical assessment of consumers' evaluations of web site service quality: conceptualizing and testing a formative model

Purpose – The objective of this study is to develop and test a specific conceptualization and modeling specification of web site service quality and the influence web site service quality has on e‐service provider loyalty and word‐of‐mouth.Design/methodology/approach – Data from an online survey of consumers across two studies were obtained.Findings – The results support the conceptualization and operationalization of web site service quality and its effects on word of mouth and loyalty.Research limitations/implications – Implications for the measurement of consumer perceptions of web site service quality are highlighted for researchers, and directions for future research are discussed.Practical implications – E‐service providers should carefully consider customer experiences on their web sites, and their management efforts to ensure they design and deliver the appropriate levels of service quality derived through the specific components of web site service quality.Originality/value – The findings are of ...

Creating commercially compelling website-service encounters: an examination of the effect of website-service interface performance components on flow experiences

While the study of flow has attracted the interest of scholars seeking to understand its nature and effects on consumption related behaviors, it has received limited attention from Internet researchers seeking to understand factors controllable by firms which influence its formation. This study contributes to literature by examining the impact of consumer evaluations of website service interface performance components on the development of flow. The study also examines the moderating role of Internet self-efficacy. The analysis of data collected from consumers of organizations across two samples involved in the professional sport sector and e-retailing sector, indicate that the delivery of compelling website-service interface performance (via web-based components) is significantly related to the development of flow experiences.

Managing web site performance taking account of the contingency role of branding in multi-channel retailing

Purpose – The paper aims to examine the role of service branding and web site performances in a multi‐channel retail context by studying consumers who have on‐going relationships with retailers. Focus is placed on understanding perceptions of image congruency of the retail service brand across physical and electronic channels, together with web site performance perceptions influencing web site attitudes. The effects of web site attitudes on behavioural loyalty are also investigated.Design/methodology/approach – Data were gathered via an online survey from 196 consumers and analysed using structural equation modelling via PLS analysis.Findings – The findings shed light on the importance of cross‐channel service brand management together with managing critical web site service interface capabilities in the retail environment to engender favourable web site attitudes and customer loyalty outcomes.Practical implications – Multi‐channel retailers should carefully consider the degree to which consumers perceive...

Examining the influence of different levels of sexual-stimuli intensity by gender on advertising effectiveness

Abstract Sexual appeals grab attention and elicit emotional responses, yet the existing literature surrounding this area of research has yielded inconsistent findings with regard to their ability to influence consumer liking and preference. Little attention has also been given to investigating sexual appeals beyond the scope of the effects of gratuitous sexual stimuli (nudity), and as such, most of what is known about sexual appeal advertising is centred on the effects of nudity alone. The current study examines sexual-stimuli intensity (explicit vs. mild) in print advertising and assesses its influence on advertising effectiveness and how this varies by gender for Australian consumers. An experiment is conducted as a test of the hypothesised relationships, with findings indicating that the level of sexual-stimuli intensity in print advertising is more effective in influencing consumers’ attitudinal and behavioural responses when depicted at a mild intensity level than at an explicit intensity level. These findings offer important insights for marketers in the design and configuration of sexual appeals used in advertising to maximise the effectiveness of ads to achieve favourable consumer behaviour outcomes.

A Data-Driven Approach to Reverse Engineering Customer Engagement Models: Towards Functional Constructs

Online consumer behavior in general and online customer engagement with brands in particular, has become a major focus of research activity fuelled by the exponential increase of interactive functions of the internet and social media platforms and applications. Current research in this area is mostly hypothesis-driven and much debate about the concept of Customer Engagement and its related constructs remains existent in the literature. In this paper, we aim to propose a novel methodology for reverse engineering a consumer behavior model for online customer engagement, based on a computational and data-driven perspective. This methodology could be generalized and prove useful for future research in the fields of consumer behaviors using questionnaire data or studies investigating other types of human behaviors. The method we propose contains five main stages; symbolic regression analysis, graph building, community detection, evaluation of results and finally, investigation of directed cycles and common feedback loops. The ‘communities’ of questionnaire items that emerge from our community detection method form possible ‘functional constructs’ inferred from data rather than assumed from literature and theory. Our results show consistent partitioning of questionnaire items into such ‘functional constructs’ suggesting the method proposed here could be adopted as a new data-driven way of human behavior modeling.

Cultivating group-oriented travel behaviour to major events: assessing the importance of customer-perceived value, enduring event involvement and attitude towards the host destination

Abstract Major events, such as the Olympics and Glastonbury music festival, attract tourists and result in increased consumer spending in host economies. The purpose of this study is to gain insights into the key determinants driving future intentions of travel consumers to participate in group-based travel to major events. An integrated theoretical model is empirically tested with 424 travel consumers who have had prior experience travelling in a group to a major event. The results substantiate the model showing that customer value perceptions of a past group-travel consumption experience conceptualised with multiple benefit dimensions has the largest relative effect on future intentions to engage in group-travel behaviour to major events, followed by attitude towards the host destination and enduring event involvement. The results provide managers with holistic insights into components that are used as the basis upon which group-travel consumers develop their choice behaviour which can be used to effectively cultivate more attendees to major events.

Modeling a Formative Measure of Relationship Quality and Its Effects: Evidence From the Hong Kong Retail Banking Industry

This article explores a formative, hierarchical model of relationship quality and its effects in the Hong Kong retail banking services sector. Data were collected from a survey of 269 customers and analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings support the theoretical framework showing relationship quality impacts repurchase intention, cross-buying intention, recommendation behavior, and reduced switching behavior to competitor offerings. Further, a moderating effect of gender was not observed in the framework. The study offers relevant implications as it is among the first to adopt a hierarchical, formative configuration of relationship quality and its effects on consumer behavior in retail banking.

Resource-based model of e-business adoption in China: an empirical investigation

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the effects of market orientation and organizational learning on individual e‐business adoption functions and firm performance in the context of Chinese firms.Design/methodology/approach – A cross‐sectional design was adopted for the study, whereby a sample of companies was selected from the province of Sichuan, China. The questionnaire was distributed via a personally administered method to senior managers. Partial least squares was used for analysing the data.Findings – It was found that market orientation affected e‐order‐taking, whereas organizational learning affected e‐communication, e‐procurement and internal administration through e‐business technologies, and firm performance. Whilst market orientation was found only to effect e‐order‐taking and e‐communication was found to have a positive influence on firm performance.Research limitations/implications – A limitation of the study is the sample size and obtaining the convenience sample from one province in China...