Julian Ming-Sung Cheng

Why do customers utilize the internet as a retailing platform?: A view from consumer perceived value

Purpose – This study aims to investigate the impact of perceived value on customer intention to use the internet as a retailing platform and, more specifically, the impact that perceived value (comprising functional, social, emotional and epistemic values) has on Taiwanese customer intention to conduct the two distribution channel functions, i.e. information collection and order placement, through the internet.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 295 usable survey responses were collected in the main commuter district of Taipei, Taiwan.Findings – The findings indicate that both functional and epistemic values have a significant impact on information collection and order placement. Nevertheless, social value has an impact only on information collection, whereas emotional value has a significant impact only on order placement.Originality/value – The aforementioned issue has rarely been researched but is essential to the development of a channel of distribution theory and is of immediate relevance to mar...

Do consumers perceive differences among national brands, international private labels and local private labels? The case of Taiwan

Purpose – This research attempts to investigate the differences of consumer perceptions on product quality, price, brand leadership and brand personality among national brands, international private labels and local private labels. It aims to use product categories as the moderator of the preceding perceptions.Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected outside the entrances of the main rail station of Taipei, Taiwan. A systematic sampling was adopted and 254 questionnaires were eventually collected.Findings – The findings revealed that on the whole national brands were perceived as significantly superior to international private labels, while international private labels were perceived as being superior to local private labels in terms of all perceptions except price perception. The findings also revealed that product categories moderated price and brand personality perceptions across the three brand types, while product categories failed to moderate the effect of the three brands types on quality ...

Determinants of Joint Action in International Channels of Distribution: The Moderating Role of Psychic Distance

Joint action, a key element of relational exchanges, has largely been ignored in the international channel literature, and not much is known about the determinants of joint action in cross-border exchanges. In view of this, the authors investigate the role of interchannel communication in motivating buyers for joint action in cross-border channel exchange relationships. The authors also propose and examine the moderating effect of psychic distance, a crucial aspect of cross-border exchanges. They use partial least squares to analyze survey data collected from Taiwanese importers, and the findings reveal that trust and satisfaction fully mediate the relationships between frequent and bidirectional communication and joint action. The authors also confirm the detrimental moderating impact of psychic distance on the relationships between communication facets and relational mediators (trust and satisfaction). However, psychic distance does not hinder the relationships between the relational mediators and joint action. The research provides insights into two underresearched areas—namely, joint action and intercultural communication—and advances theoretical understanding on how to encourage joint action in psychically distinct buyers and sellers.

Social media advertising value: the case of transitional economies in Southeast Asia

This research investigates the antecedents of social media advertising value, and the effect of this advertising value on online purchase intention in transitional economies in Southeast Asia. More...

The purchasing impact of fan identification and sports sponsorship

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically verify the conventional cause‐and‐effect relationship of fan identification and purchase intention in the context of Asian fans when both the sponsoring firm and the sponsored team are Western. The paper also proposes and examines the mediating role of sponsor credibility and attitude towards sponsor in the relationship between fan identification and purchase intention.Design/methodology/approach – A field study was conducted in Bangkok, Thailand, where 350 questionnaires were collected from football fans.Findings – The findings reveal that, even when both the sponsoring firm and the sponsored sports team are western (i.e. foreign), Asian fans’ identification with the team increases their purchase intention for sponsoring firms goods. The research also confirms that sponsor credibility and attitude towards sponsors partially mediate the fan identification‐purchase link.Originality/value – The paper provides valuable insights into the under‐researched ...

The glocalisation of channels of distribution: a case study

Purpose – This study aims to provide insights into glocalisation of international channels of distribution. The study also seeks to identify the key principles and patterns of glocalisation in general.Design/methodology/approach – The authors utilise the single case study approach to study glocalisation in international channels of distribution by conducting in‐depth interviews with the firms senior executives.Findings – Results reveal that the firm employs glocal channels of distribution strategies. The study specifically identifies two types of glocalisation: inter‐decision and intra‐decision, and it is found that the firm follows a combination of both. The findings also suggest that the decision on how to glocalise channel strategies is based upon the firms global practices as well as several local conditions specific to individual markets.Practical implications – The study concludes that there is no uniform formula to pursue glocalisation. Firms may choose to pursue inter‐decision or intra‐decision ...

E-government evaluation: the case of Vietnam's provincial websites

In this research, an attempt is made to evaluate e-government performances in Vietnam. Four types of website contents are used for the evaluation. The results show that, in general, more developed provinces/cities where IT infrastructure is relatively well constructed provide better and more website content and thus their e-government performances are better. In individual types of website content services, more advanced provinces/cities also perform better. Such findings reveal the positive relationship between an areas level of development and e-government performances in countries where online information is just beginning to disseminate and e-government development is still in its infancy.

A Study of the Perceived Recognition Affecting the Adoption of Innovation with Respect to the Online Game in Taiwan

The potential of online games to become a major global business and the existence of limited related references led to the current study. In this study, Rogerss diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory is applied to investigate the principles for the adoption of online games in Taiwan. The findings suggest that relative advantages and compatibility both have a significant effect on the adoption of online games for purposes of amusement, with the former being more important for early gamers and the latter being regarded as more critical for later gamers. In addition, complexity is found to impede online game diffusion and is regarded as the most important facilitator.

Information quality, online community and trust: a study of antecedents to shoppers' website loyalty

The internet is changing the way consumers shop for and purchase goods and services, and it has been rapidly adopted globally. Since online shopping is a new phenomenon that has recently experienced rapid growth, research on the formation of consumer loyalty online remains scarce. This investigation of the characteristics of online shopping interactions (for example, online ordering of goods) discusses the effects of information quality, online communities and online consumer trust as factors of online consumer loyalty. An online survey conducted in Taiwan obtained 250 valid responses (online shoppers). Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) analysis indicated an acceptable goodness-of-fit for the proposed model. This study confirmed two antecedents – information quality and online communities via online consumer trust – to increased online loyalty in online shopping websites.

The Influence of the Provision of Online Channel Functions on Exporting Channel Performance: The Moderating Effect of International Experience

ABSTRACT The purpose of this research is to investigate the effect of the provision of two online channel functions on exporting channel performance, using international experience as a moderating variable. The study setting is Taiwan. The results confirm that the provision of online communication and transaction functions can increase exporting channel performance. Moreover, international experience can better facilitate the effect of the provision of online transaction functions on exporters’ channel performance for less-experienced firms rather than for experienced firms. However, its facilitation reverses in course of the provision of online communication functions (albeit in a different direction than hypothesized).