Sesia J. Zhao

Herd behavior in consumers' adoption of online reviews

It has been demonstrated that online consumer reviews are an important source of information that affect individuals’ purchase decision making. To understand the influence of online reviews, this study extends prior research on information adoption by incorporating the perspective of herd behavior. We develop and empirically test a research model using data collected from an existing book review site. We report 2 major findings. First, argument quality and source credibility predict information usefulness, which affects the adoption of online reviews. Second, we determine that the adoption of online reviews is also influenced by 2 herd factors, namely, discounting own information and imitating others. We further identify the key determinants of these herd factors, including background homophily and attitude homophily. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Can consumers be persuaded on brand microblogs? An empirical study

Abstract Building upon the persuasion theory in the social psychology literature, this study investigates how companies can use microblogging services to influence consumers’ participation and brand loyalty. We develop and empirically test our research model using an online survey in China. Our findings show that persuasion factors, including information quality, perceived similarity, and source credibility, increase community commitment. Perceived similarity and source credibility exhibit bias effects on information quality. Community commitment affects participation and brand loyalty, which is also influenced by participation. We expect that this research can contribute to the existing literature and provide marketers with important practical suggestions.

Examining the effects of motives and gender differences on smartphone addiction

Smartphones have become increasingly popular in recent years. However, it may be addiction-prone and result in negative outcomes. Given that relevant research remains limited, this study attempts to address two research gaps in the extant information systems literature. First, research on the determinants of smartphone addiction remains scarce. Second, the role of individual characteristics (i.e., gender) in the formation of smartphone addiction is far from clear. To fill these research gaps, this study develops a research model of smartphone addiction from the functionalist perspective and highlights the moderating role of gender with the insight of social orientation. We propose four categories of motives, including enhancement (i.e., perceived enjoyment), social (i.e., social relationship), coping (i.e., mood regulation and pastime), and conformity motives (i.e., conformity). Empirical results from our online survey illustrate that perceived enjoyment, mood regulation, pastime, and conformity positively affect smartphone addiction, whereas social relationship has no significant effect. Moreover, we find that gender moderates the effects of perceived enjoyment, pastime, and conformity on smartphone addiction. We expect that this study can enrich the theoretical understanding of how motives play different roles in the development of smartphone addiction. Implications are offered for both research and practice. We examine the effects of motives and gender differences on smartphone addiction.We assess four categories of motives: enhancement, social, coping, and conformity.The moderating role of gender is also examined.All motives except for social relationship affect smartphone addiction.Gender significantly moderates the influences of motives.

Examining the Effects of Perceived Enjoyment and Habit on Smartphone Addiction: The Role of User Type

Existing studies have widely suggested that perceived enjoyment and habitual usage of information systems (IS) are favorable factors which lead to positive outcomes of IS adoption. In this study, we examine the dark sides of these factors with a sample of 384 respondents of smartphone users. Drawing upon previous research, we propose that perceived enjoyment can facilitate the formation of habit and smartphone addiction. However, habit shows no significant impact on smartphone addiction. Meanwhile, we argue that users who primarily use value-added functions of smartphone may experience higher enjoyment and easily form habitual usage behavior. Further, these users are more likely to become smartphone addicts. Theoretical and practical implications, limitations and future work directions are discussed.

Understanding compulsive smartphone use: An empirical test of a flow-based model

Abstract Smartphones have gained significant popularity. With the rising concerns of compulsive smartphone use, understanding how smartphone users develop compulsive behaviors is crucial. In this study, we aim to investigate the role of flow in the formation of compulsive smartphone use. Drawing upon the flow theory, we incorporate the psychological state of flow as a key factor in our research model. We identify its determinants based on the desirability–feasibility perspective and reinforcement sensitivity theory. We empirically test our model by conducting an online survey with 384 valid responses. We expect that our findings can provide noteworthy insights on the formation of compulsive smartphone use.

A Theory of Planned Behavior Perspective on Blog Service Switching

Blog has been one of the social technologies that greatly change many online users’ daily lives. Bloggers not only can publish personal dairies on it, but also can develop relationships with other bloggers or blog visitors. Although many blog services are provided freely, its service switching behavior have attracted much attention from practitioners. Blog service switching is a specific instance of the broader social technology switching phenomenon. It differs from general usage behavior as it involves both membership attraction and retention. Thus, prior research on information technology usage may not fully account for the phenomenon. In this study, we adopt a theory of planned behavior perspective and build up a switching model to explain blog service switching behavior. We employ a survey to explain how two quality beliefs (service quality and quality of alternatives) and two types of costs (sunk costs and relationship costs) exert influence in determining bloggers’ switching behavior. Discussions and implications are provided to better understand the switching behavior of blog and other social technologies.

How to Increase Users' Social Commerce Engagement? A Technology Attractiveness Model

With the proliferation of social networking and electronic commerce, social commerce helps people engage in various forms of online social commercial activities through sharing their product or service knowledge and experiences. A better understanding of users’ engagement in social commerce websites thus become increasingly important. Based on the attractiveness theory, this study proposes a research model that highlights the unique role of technology attractiveness, including task, social, and physical attractiveness, in promoting user involvement, which in turn affects social commerce engagement. Results demonstrate that users’ perceptions of technology attractiveness are positively associated with their involvement with social commerce websites, and further stimulate engagement. In addition, website involvement partially and fully mediates the effects of social and physical attractiveness, respectively, on social commerce engagement. The limitations and implications of this study for research and practice are further discussed.

Halo Effect on the Adoption of Mobile Payment: A Schema Theory Perspective

Whether or how firms can employ the halo effect to facilitate their mobile payment service adoption remains a critical and puzzling issue in e-commerce research. Using the schema theory and the value literature as theoretical lenses, this study investigates the role of halo effect on mobile payment value perceptions and usage intentions. More specifically, we identify two types of mobile payment value: utilitarian and hedonic value. A field survey with 273 responses is conducted to test the research model and hypotheses. Our findings show that the two factors of the web-mobile payment relationship, namely perceived similarity and perceived business tie, can lead to increased value perceptions of mobile payment. Moreover, both utilitarian value and hedonic value are positively associated with mobile payment usage intention. We expect this study can provide valuable insights regarding the significant role of halo effect when consumers make the decision to use mobile payment services. Limitations, theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

Understanding Consumer Participation on Companies’ Brand Microblogs

The purpose of this research is to understand consumer participation on companies’ brand microblogs. We propose a research model to explain that such participation may be a positive consequence of consumers’ brand attachment process. That is, consumers’ perceived self-congruence and partner quality may influence their trust and commitment toward brands. Trust and commitment further affect participation on brand microblogs. We empirically examine our research hypotheses using an online survey. The results show that self-congruence and partner quality positively affect trust and commitment. Trust has significant effects on commitment and participation, while commitment also affects participation. Our findings provide insights on user participation behavior in a social computing context, while practitioners may apply our findings for brand building and to understand consumer participation in similar contexts.

User Contribution and IT-Enabled Features of Online Review Platforms: A Preliminary Study

Online review platforms are increasing popular websites where consumers can easily find others’ evaluations, opinions, or comments on many products or services. These review messages become important online information sources affecting consumers’ purchase decision, and thus are essential assets for online review platforms. The survival of platforms largely depends on a number of users’ voluntary contribution of online reviews. In this study, we shed light on the user contribution of online review platforms. In particular, we attempt to understand how information technology (IT) enabled features can facilitate users’ online review contribution. To achieve this objective, we conduct a preliminary study on a Chinese online review platform. The findings confirm that social networking technology and virtual community technology provide helpful IT-enabled features to attain a high level of user contribution on the platform. Implications for both researchers and practitioners are discussed.