Stephen J. Carson

Hedonic and utilitarian motivations for online retail shopping behavior

Motivations to engage in retail shopping include both utilitarian and hedonic dimensions. Business to consumer e-commerce conducted via the mechanism of web-shopping provides an expanded opportunity for companies to create a cognitively and esthetically rich shopping environment in ways not readily imitable in the nonelectronic shopping world. In this article an attitudinal model is developed and empirically tested integrating constructs from technology acceptance research and constructs derived from models of web behavior. Results of two studies from two distinct categories of the interactive shopping environment support the differential importance of immersive, hedonic aspects of the new media as well as the more traditional utilitarian motivations. In addition, navigation, convenience, and the substitutability of the electronic environment to personally examining products were found to be important predictors of online shopping attitudes. Results are discussed in terms of insights for the creation of the online shopping webmosphere through more effective design of interactive retail shopping environments.

The Effects of Positive and Negative Online Customer Reviews: Do Brand Strength and Category Maturity Matter?

Research has shown brand equity to moderate the relationship between online customer reviews (OCRs) and sales in both the emerging Blu-ray and mature DVD player categories. Positive (negative) OCRs increase (decrease) the sales of models of weak brands (i.e., brands without significant positive brand equity). In contrast, OCRs have no significant impact on the sales of the models of strong brands, although these models do receive a significant sales boost from their greater brand equity. Higher sales lead to a larger number of positive OCRs, and increased positive OCRs aid a brands transition from weak to strong. This creates a positive feedback loop between sales and positive OCRs for models of weak brands that not only helps their sales but also increases overall brand equity, benefiting all models of the brand. In contrast to the view that brands matter less in the presence of OCRs, we find that OCRs matter less in the presence of strong brands. Positive OCRs function differently than marketing communications in that their effect is greater for weak brands.

Understanding institutional designs within marketing value systems

The authors show how institutional arrangements, which consist of contracting, ownership, and social elements, tie together the joint profits, or efficiency, of the marketing system. They use a cri...

A Note on Revenue Versus Profitability as Indicators of Motion Picture Performance

We examine systematic differences between motion picture performance results based on revenue and profitability, using a measure of ROI based on box office revenue relative to the combined production and advertising budget. Special attention is given to the endogeneity of revenue, budget, and the number of screens. In addition, the modeling approach explicitly addresses self-selection associated with sequel decisions. We show that the coefficients of the non-budget variables are the same for both revenue and profit when budget is one of the regressors, and produce only small differences in them when the budget variable is omitted. Substantively, we find major producers and distributors are associated with lower revenue and profits once budgets and screens are controlled. They tend to utilize higher budgets but do not produce more successful movies with them. Sequels are associated with advantages in terms of both ROI and revenue. Contrary to common speculation, they cost less to produce than similar original films. Relative to past research, we find that genres matter more and MPAA ratings matter less than previously suggested. We also highlight the high elasticity between movie buzz and profitability. Similar to previous studies, we find that budgets are positively related to revenue and negatively to profits, which indicates that studios generally overspend. However, we further show that while most films are unprofitable (even when rental sales are considered), ones that resonate with audiences can profitably utilize much larger budgets.