Stanley Widrick

Attitude and age differences in online buying

Purpose – This paper examines the shopping and buying behavior of younger and older online shoppers as mediated by their attitudes toward internet shopping.Design/methodology/approach – Over 300 students and staff from a US university completed a survey regarding their online shopping and buying experiences for 17 products.Findings – The results show that, while older online shoppers search for significantly fewer products than their younger counterparts, they actually purchase as much as younger consumers. Attitudinal factors explained more variance in online searching behavior. Age explained more variance in purchasing behavior if the consumer had first searched for the product online.Research limitations/implications – The limitations of the present research are threefold. First, the sample was restricted to university faculty, staff and students. Second, a better measure of the hedonic motivation construct is needed. Third, additional independent measures such as income should be included to understan...

Quality management applied to higher education

In the last decade, many universities and American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) have increased their interest in applying principles of quality management to higher education. There is general agreement on the tools of quality management, however, there is limited discussion and no universally agreed upon model of quality management. We propose a model of quality management that has three components: quality of design, quality of conformance and quality of performance. The model is applied to Rochester Institute of Technologys College of Business. It provides a framework to identify research, teaching and operational improvement opportunities.

Quality management in US higher education

The paper uses a quality management framework to analyze quality management approaches that have been implemented in institutions of higher education in the USA. The framework is comprised of three parameters, which are quality of design, quality of conformance and quality of performance. It turned out that only one of the nine articles that were examined dealt explicitly with quality of performance issues.

A Comparative Analysis of Quality Management in US and International Universities

The paper compares the implementation of quality management programmes of higher education in US and international academic institutions. The comparison is based on the use of formal quality models such as ISO 9000 and Malcolm Baldrige Criteria, Quality-of- Design, Quality-of-Conformance, and Quality-of-Performance. An interesting outcome was the absence of Quality-of-Performance among US universities.

An Exploratory Study of Operant Conditioning Theory as a Predictor of Online Product Selection

The present research applies operant conditioning theory to the question of what products and services consumers will shop for and buy online. Operant conditioning theory explains differences between products that are used to alleviate uncomfortable experiences (negative reinforcement) and those providing enjoyable experiences (positive reinforcement). The preliminary results described in this study confirmed the importance of operant conditioning as a factor in the behavior of online shoppers. For example, when asked to provide an open-ended list of products that they had shopped for, our respondents mentioned products that produce positive reinforcement 476 times versus only 4 mentions for those that create negative reinforcement. Furthermore, for a list of seventeen common product categories, the results showed that respondents were not only less likely to shop for negative reinforcement products but also even less likely to purchase negative products online than positive products. The results of this exploratory study lay the groundwork for future research by introducing negative and positive reinforcement as a predictor of Internet shopping behavior.

IDENTIFYING NEGATIVE PRODUCTS: DO CUSTOMERS LIKE TO PURCHASE YOUR PRODUCTS?

Negative products/services are seen by customers as an unpleasant buying necessity to avoid or reduce some disutility. The negative concept as it relates to products/ services is based on the behavioral modification phenomena of negative reinforcement. Empirical data are presented in this article, which places fourteen product categories relative to the degree of negative perception associated with them. This procedure provides a model by which marketing executives can empirically determine whether their products/services are viewed as negative ones. This article is designed to: 1. Discuss the operant conditioning concepts of positive and negative reinforcement as they relate to purchasing and consumption behavior. 2. Suggest a pragmatic method for marketing practitioners to make distinctions between negative and positive products. 3. Aid marketers in examining the difference between the two to support the making of effective strategic and tactical decisions.