Martin Waiguny

Entertainment matters! The relationship between challenge and persuasiveness of an advergame for children

We investigate the extent to which the challenge of playing an advergame impacts childrens brand attitudes. Results show that brand attitudes are highest for those optimally challenged (i.e. ‘in the flow’) and lowest for those who are underchallenged. However, such effects are qualified by the childrens persuasion knowledge (PK) of the advergame; identification of the commercial content has a significantly negative effect on brand attitudes. Further, significant two-way interactions of challenge and PK show that brand attitudes suffered the most for those who are underchallenged and recognized the commercial content. Implications for advergame effectiveness are discussed in detail in this article.

Performance Monitoring of CRM Initiatives

Since the late 1990s CRM has become a buzzword especially among business practitioners and consultants. Companies have invested or are planning to invest huge amounts to implement CRM strategies, tools and infrastructure in order to attract and retain profitable customers in todays increasingly competitive markets. However, the existing academic literature and the practical applications of CRM do not provide definite guidance how to assess the profitability of CRM projects. What is also missing is a comprehensive measurement system that allows a holistic assessment of the ongoing contribution of CRM initiatives to the financial performance of the business firm. The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework for a systematic cost-benefit-assessment and for ongoing performance monitoring of CRM initiatives. Based on well-known methods and instruments for measuring business performance the authors propose an integrated approach to determine and measure the effectiveness and efficiency of CRM projects

Consequences of Customer Confusion in Online Hotel Booking

Consumer Confusion is a relatively new concept in consumer behavior research. Increasingly, consumers get swamped by a large variety of opportunities to choose, similar products and information, and the increasing complexity of products and services. While previous studies mostly explored the markets for convenience- and shopping-goods in the stationary retail industry, this paper investigates the consequences of customer confusion in online booking of hotels. In the first part of the paper, the concept of consumer confusion and its outcomes are discussed. In the empirical part of the paper, based on a survey on 228 tourists, the causal relationships between customer confusion and its consequences are tested using structural equation modeling.

Differences in Children’s Processing of Advergames and TV Commercials

Advergames are a new and fast-growing category of interactive advertising tools (Faber et al, 2004). Most of the common advergames can be described as casual browser games constructed around one particular brand, and in most cases they are available for free either on the manufacturer’s own site or on a high-traffic website (Lee and Youn, 2008; Svahn, 2005; Waiguny and Terlutter, 2009). Like TV advertising, advergames are part of marketing communications and usually promote only one brand. From the advertisers’ point of view, the main objectives of marketing communications are to foster brand awareness, to emotionalize brand attitude, and to foster brand relationships. However, advergames are different from TV advertising in several key ways (active vs. passive reception, non/low vs. high interactivity while exposed to the brand, exposure time etc.).The basic research question addressed by this study is: In terms of advertising effects, how do advergames differ from traditional TV advertising?

Insights Into the Impact of Online Physician Reviews on Patients’ Decision Making: Randomized Experiment

Background Physician-rating websites combine public reporting with social networking and offer an attractive means by which users can provide feedback on their physician and obtain information about other patients’ satisfaction and experiences. However, research on how users evaluate information on these portals is still scarce and only little knowledge is available about the potential influence of physician reviews on a patient’s choice. Objective Starting from the perspective of prospective patients, this paper sets out to explore how certain characteristics of physician reviews affect the evaluation of the review and users’ attitudes toward the rated physician. We propose a model that relates review style and review number to constructs of review acceptance and check it with a Web-based experiment. Methods We employed a randomized 2x2 between-subject, factorial experiment manipulating the style of a physician review (factual vs emotional) and the number of reviews for a certain physician (low vs high) to test our hypotheses. A total of 168 participants were presented with a Web-based questionnaire containing a short description of a dentist search scenario and the manipulated reviews for a fictitious dental physician. To investigate the proposed hypotheses, we carried out moderated regression analyses and a moderated mediation analysis using the PROCESS macro 2.11 for SPSS version 22. Results Our analyses indicated that a higher number of reviews resulted in a more positive attitude toward the rated physician. The results of the regression model for attitude toward the physician suggest a positive main effect of the number of reviews (mean [low] 3.73, standard error [SE] 0.13, mean [high] 4.15, SE 0.13). We also observed an interaction effect with the style of the review—if the physician received only a few reviews, fact-oriented reviews (mean 4.09, SE 0.19) induced a more favorable attitude toward the physician compared to emotional reviews (mean 3.44, SE 0.19), but there was no such effect when the physician received many reviews. Furthermore, we found that review style also affected the perceived expertise of the reviewer. Fact-oriented reviews (mean 3.90, SE 0.13) lead to a higher perception of reviewer expertise compared to emotional reviews (mean 3.19, SE 0.13). However, this did not transfer to the attitude toward the physician. A similar effect of review style and number on the perceived credibility of the review was observed. While no differences between emotional and factual style were found if the physician received many reviews, a low number of reviews received lead to a significant difference in the perceived credibility, indicating that emotional reviews were rated less positively (mean 3.52, SE 0.18) compared to fact-oriented reviews (mean 4.15, SE 0.17). Our analyses also showed that perceived credibility of the review fully mediated the observed interaction effect on attitude toward the physician. Conclusions Physician-rating websites are an interesting new source of information about the quality of health care from the patient’s perspective. This paper makes a unique contribution to an understudied area of research by providing some insights into how people evaluate online reviews of individual doctors. Information attributes, such as review style and review number, have an impact on the evaluation of the review and on the patient’s attitude toward the rated doctor. Further research is necessary to improve our understanding of the influence of such rating sites on the patients choice of a physician.

The influence of advergames on consumers’ attitudes and behaviour: an empirical study among young consumers

Companies are increasingly making use of advergames. Advergames are regarded as innovative tools for relationship building with the customer, which are suitable for both existing and new products, for both established companies and business start-ups. This paper investigates the influences of advergames on consumers’ brand attitudes and behaviour intentions. As most of the current advergames target children, this study reports on findings from an experiment conducted with 97 school pupils aged between nine and 12. Implications of the use of advergames; e.g., for launching new products, public policy issues and selected limitations will be discussed. This research can be considered highly innovative since hardly any studies exist, which have analysed the effects of advergames on existing consumer attitudes. No single study has shown the influence on behaviour, and finally, this study has been applied in the special context of young consumers.

Usability, Emotions and Customer Satisfaction in Online Travel Booking

Usability is a key factor in Electronic Commerce. High usability enables the customer to use a web page effectively and efficiently. Hence, usability is strongly related to customer satisfaction. In this study we investigate the impact of usability (in terms of effectiveness and efficiency) on emotions that are elicited by the web page’s usability, and on customer satisfaction and its outcomes (word of mouth, reuse and booking decision). To find causalities between these constructs an experimental study on online booking of a railway ticket was conducted. The causalities were tested with structural equation modelling using PLS. The results show that usability drives positive and negative emotions, customer satisfaction and its outcomes.

Positive or Negative Effects of Technology Enhancement for Brand Placements? Memory of Brand Placements in 2D, 3D, and 4D Movies

Brand placements in movies are common throughout the world. Within the last few years, 3D movie technology has experienced substantial growth in both cinemas and home entertainment. Furthermore, advanced cinemas also offer 4D experiences by adding scent, airflow or tactile stimuli to the 3D film. Based on the limited capacity model of information processing and the levels of processing effect theory, we conduct two studies to investigate how delivery modes of a 2D movie clip, compared to a 3D and a 4D (3D + scent) movie clip, influence recall and recognition of brands that are placed in either prominent or subtle ways. With regard to subtle placements, results from both studies demonstrate that the memory of subtle brand placements is negatively affected by the enhancement offered by 3D or 4D, as compared to 2D movies. With regard to prominent placements, results indicate that the memory of a highly prominent brand placement benefits from 3D, but not from 4D technology. This article addresses implications for research as well as for marketers and movie makers, while also outlining directions for further research.

“I Believe More in Factual Reviews” – But Not so Much When the Reviewer is Similar to the Reader and the Product is Hedonic

It is increasingly common for consumers to consult online reviews before making their (online) purchase decision. Online reviews are a specific form of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) which can be defined as any positive or negative statement made by potential, actual, or former customers about a product or company via the Internet (Hennig-Thurauet al., 2004).

The influence of online social networks on performance of small and medium enterprises: an empirical investigation of the online business to business network XING

Social networks are considered a contributing factor in the growth and performance of companies, especially in the context of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This paper examines how CEOs of SMEs perceive online social networks (OSNs) as beneficial for their companies. As CEOs strongly identify with their SME, the influence of the OSN on the SME is largely driven by the CEOs value perception of OSN utilisation. Results of a focus group discussion and survey among 181 owners and CEOs of Austrian SMEs, who are members of the OSN XING, revealed indeed that trust in the OSN and access to resources available only through OSN membership lead to satisfaction with the OSN. Although access to resources does not lead to growth itself, it is mediated by the perceived value of the OSN. Trust and perceived value of the OSN increase the intention of recommending the OSN to other business partners (i.e., word of mouth). These outcomes are largely mediated by company growth and the perceived value of OSN participation. Implications for the use of OSN are discussed from the customers (i.e., SMEs) perspective, as well as from the corporate OSN perspective.