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The purpose of this study is to address the following research questions: How do customer input and service provider (in this study, the terms firm and service provider are used interchangeably) input coproduce customer experience and response? Do different components of customer input influence customer experience differently?

Structural equation modeling (SEM) was adopted to conduct tests of the measurement model and the main hypotheses represented in Figure 1. LISREL 8.80 (Jöreskog and Sörbom, 1993) was applied for data analysis in the current study. A survey instrument was designed and used to gather data for use in this study. Data were collected using an online survey administration tool (www.qualtrics.com).

The results indicate that two dimensions of customer participation – information resource and codeveloper activities – demonstrate distinct impacts on customers’ responses. Specifically, customer participation (information resource) is negatively related to customer shopping values and satisfaction. However, another dimension of customer participation (codeveloper activities) is positively related to the same outcomes.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to integrate customer participation and customer orientation to understand the phenomenon of customer co-creation. The study applies for a two-dimensional customer input construct and empirically tests their impacts on customer experience. Both utilitarian value and hedonic value are included in the research framework to assess customer value experience.

Given resource constraints such as time and staffing, hotels cannot respond to all negative online reviews (NORs). Therefore, this study investigates (1) what types of NORs hotels should prioritize responding; and (2) what response strategies are more effective in handling different types of NORs to minimize the negative ramifications.

Four experiments in the context of hospitability were used to test the hypotheses.

Our findings show that NORs with implicit conclusions (e.g. “I do not believe that is a good choice, you know what I mean.”) are more dissuasive than NORs with explicit ones (e.g. “Do not buy it.”) because the former NORs are perceived as more objective than the latter NORs. More importantly, our results show that firms do not need to respond to explicit NORs. When responding to implicit NORs, firms should prioritize those related to service failures caused by external (e.g. weather, technological misfunction) rather than internal (e.g. poor management, employee skills) factors.

Our studies focus on the language styles of Chinese NORs, and future research should investigate how language styles influence dissuasion in other languages.

Our results show that NORs with implicit conclusions negatively impact consumer attitude and thus hurt performance more significantly than those with explicit conclusions. Therefore, firms should allocate limited staffing and resources to NORs with implicit conclusions. When responding to implicit NORs, firms should select NORs that can be attributed to external factors.

Our findings shed light on the importance of the language styles of NORs and provide marketers with insights into how to handle NORs. Our results reveal that consumers perceive higher objectivity of NORs when these reviews are implicit than when they are explicit. Furthermore, this study contributes to the online review literature by suggesting that firms should tailor their response strategies for NORs based on the reviewers’ language styles.

As self-service technologies (SSTs) become more prevalent, service providers are actively encouraging customers’ involvement with these technologies, sometimes even forcing their customers to use SSTs. This paper aims to examine the influence of the SST-only (vs full-service) mode on customers’ negative attitude toward SST providers through the mediating mechanism of powerlessness and explores how SST familiarity and SST anthropomorphism moderate the impacts of the SST-only mode on powerlessness.

Three experiments were performed, study 1 tested the main and mediating effect and studies 2 and 3 verified the moderating effects.

The results suggest that customer perceived powerlessness mediates the relationship between SST-only (vs full-service) mode and negative attitude toward SST providers. When the levels of SST familiarity and SST anthropomorphism are high, the impacts of SST-only on powerlessness are attenuated. Alternative mediating mechanism of powerlessness is examined and ruled out.

Future research should investigate other moderators that may reduce the impacts of SST on customer powerlessness. These moderators could be service-operating procedures, SST interface design, types of service situations and customer characteristics. In addition, other consequences of powerlessness, other than the negative attitude toward SST providers and intention to switch investigated here, should be investigated as well.

This research provides guidelines helping service providers to improve their customers’ SST usage experience by showing both SST familiarity and SST anthropomorphism may alleviate the negative effects of SST-only mode on customer perceived powerlessness more effectively.

This research examines the role of customers’ psychological reactions toward the SST-only mode, particularly from the perspective of power and control.

This study aims to extend prior studies by examining the mediation effects of sticker shock on the relationship between price discount and buying intention. Sticker shock refers to the discrepancy between a brand’s sale price (SP) and an individual’s internal reference price (IRP) (Winer 1985).

Prior marketing research on sticker shock is primarily model-based. The authors employed a between-subject experimental design, and hypotheses were tested using a series of regression functions (Baron and Kenny 1986).

The results suggest the effect of price discount on buying intention is partially mediated by sticker shock.

The research results suggest that consumers take into account price messages from different sources, such as advertised reference price, SP and IRP. IRP is a key reference point that consumers use to develop the “gain” or “loss” perception. Firms may apply different strategies to influence consumers’ internal reference point and, in turn, influence the perception of the attractiveness of the sale product.

This study contributes to the literature by first testing the mediation effects of sticker shock on the relationship between price discount and buying intention.

The purpose of this paper is to better understand the relationships between the paradoxes of social networking sites (SNSs) and users' loyalty toward these websites.

This study surveyed 180 students enrolled in graduate and/or undergraduate level classes in three different universities in the Midwest and Southwest regions of the USA. The structural equation modelling (SEM) technique was employed to analyze data and examine the conceptual model proposed in the current study.

The results suggest that the paradoxes of social networking sites (assimilation/isolation and competence/incompetence) are significant antecedents of online social networking pleasure and loyalty. Furthermore, the results suggest that pleasure mediates the relationships between paradoxes of social networking sites and loyalty toward social networking sites.

A sustainable business strategy for SNSs would be to maintain a safe environment that on one hand promotes continuous innovations and on the other hand facilitates desired feelings such as fun, pleasure, and adventure. Results based on student sample suggest more works are needed to generalize the findings.

This study points out online communication technologies (e.g., SNSs) are a double‐edged sword for consumers. Marketers need to manage consumers' feeling and experiences effectively.

This study with few other studies extends social marketing literature by offering theoretical and statistical evidence regarding how paradoxes of SNSs impact users' experience. Specifically, this study addresses the underlying reasons that may cause SNS users decrease their participation over time, and the role of SNS users' feelings play in forming their overall SNS usage experiences.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and empirically test a new framework that shows how different signals of movie quality along with key control variables affect consumers’ post-consumption evaluations, critics’ reviews (CR), and movie box office revenues.

The data set consists of a sample of 332 movies released between 2000 and 2008. Regression was used to test the study hypotheses.

The results suggest that the three signals of movie quality exhibit different effects on three movie performance measures. Of the three cues, the peripheral quality signal is positive related to movie box, moviegoers’ evaluations (ME), and CR. Furthermore, star performance quality is positive related to both ME and CR. Surprisingly, overall quality signal does not display any influence on movie performances.

The primary limitation is the use of cross-sectional study design and future research should apply for time-series technique to test the relationships between movie quality signals and movie performances.

The findings suggest that consumers and critics evaluate movie qualities based on various movie quality signals. Furthermore, the characteristics of movies also have mixed impacts on movie performances. Movie studios may take these findings into account to produce better movies.

This study proposes and empirically tests the impacts of three groups of movie signals – peripheral quality signal, star performance quality signal, and overall quality signal on motion picture performance. This study contributes to service quality literature and signal theory by categorizing different Academy Awards into three groups of quality signals and by empirically testing the proposed relationships.

Today’s society interest in mobile photography drives consumers’ and brands’ growing usage of Instagram. This paper aims to address the consequences of excessive use of Instagram on the negative feeling of losing information when not connected and the emotional fatigue resulting from an overcharge with new information. The mediating role of addiction between Instagram overuse and the two outcomes is also analyzed.

Data from 342 active Instagram users were used to test the proposed model, applying the partial least square equation modeling method (SmartPLS 3).

Addiction partially mediates the impact of overuse on emotional fatigue and instastress. Addiction to Instagram was mainly due to respondents’ lack of control over the time spent on it resulting in incapability to reduce its usage.

Social networking site managers, educators, families and public institutions should promote an adequate use of Instagram, making users (especially the young) aware of the potential threats of its excessive usage. The control on the amount of time devoted to Instagram is a key factor for detaining overuse and addiction, as well as avoiding the negative outcomes analyzed in this research.

The findings contribute to the extant knowledge on the negative side of the digitization of the individual, as little is known about it to the best of the authors’ knowledge.

La presente investigación aborda las consecuencias del uso excesivo de Instagram relacionadas con el sentimiento negativo de pérdida de información, cuando no se está conectado, y la fatiga emocional derivada de la sobrecarga de información. El estudio también analiza el papel mediador de la adicción entre el uso excesivo de Instagram y ambas consecuencias.

Para testar el modelo propuesto se utilizó información de 342 usuarios activos de Instagram, aplicándose el método de ecuaciones estructurales por mínimos cuadrados parciales (SmartPLS 3).

La adicción media parcialmente el impacto que el uso excesivo de Instagram tiene sobre (i) la fatiga emocional y (ii) el Instastress. La adicción a Instagram se deriva principalmente de la falta de control del tiempo invertido en su uso, lo que da como resultado su incapacidad para reducir dicho uso.

Los responsables de los medios sociales, los educadores, las familias y las instituciones públicas deberían promover un uso adecuado de Instagram, haciendo que los usuarios (especialmente los más jóvenes) sean conscientes de las amenazas potenciales de su uso excesivo. El control sobre la cantidad de tiempo dedicado a Instagram es un factor clave para detener el uso excesivo y la adicción, así como para evitar los resultados negativos analizados en esta investigación.

Los resultados contribuyen a ampliar el conocimiento sobre el lado negativo de la digitalización del individuo, dada la escasa literatura al respecto.

Adicción, Uso excesivo, Instastress, Fatiga emocional, Redes sociales, Instagram

Artículo de investigación

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that are significant in contributing to the per capita income growth of countries that are experiencing or have experienced the lower-middle and upper-middle income traps.

The study comprises 85 countries over the period 1960 to 2017 spanning across three income groups: lower-middle, upper-middle and high. A panel data structure was used to run a fixed effect and random effect estimation on three models of income groups. The Hausman specification test, which was used for further statistical fitness, confirmed the appropriateness of fixed effect over the random in explaining the estimation of factor variables.

The results show that unemployment is a pervasive problem that negatively affect countries at all income levels. Foreign direct investment and population of dependents are associated with economic progression of countries that have experienced or are experiencing the lower-middle income trap. Furthermore, rising income inequality and foreign aid assistance are detrimental to countries that have experienced or are experiencing the upper-middle income trap. Moreover, income inequality, disproportionate urban population and rising dependent population are damaging for high income countries that never experienced any of the middle-income traps. Conversely, openness to trade, inflation and exchange rate volatility had limited capacity in explaining growth dynamics.

This study could not incorporate geopolitical, demographic, geographical and other such exogenous factors, which could have episodes of influences on the economic development of countries. These were outside the study's realm of quantitative analysis.

This paper contributes to existing literature by providing an empirical cross-sectional comparative analysis of countries belonging to different income groups. The prevailing literature lacks such a cross-tabulated presentation of factors affecting countries that avoided the middle income trap and those that could not.

Intumescent coatings are nowadays a dominant passive system used to protect structural materials in case of fire. Due to their reactive swelling behaviour, intumescent coatings are particularly complex materials to be modelled and predicted, which can be extremely useful especially for performance-based fire safety designs. In addition, many parameters influence their performance, and this challenges the definition and quantification of their material properties. Several approaches and models of various complexities are proposed in the literature, and they are reviewed and analysed in a critical literature review.

Analytical, finite-difference and finite-element methods for modelling intumescent coatings are compared, followed by the definition and quantification of the main physical, thermal, and optical properties of intumescent coatings: swelled thickness, thermal conductivity and resistance, density, specific heat capacity, and emissivity/absorptivity.

The study highlights the scarce consideration of key influencing factors on the material properties, and the tendency to simplify the problem into effective thermo-physical properties, such as effective thermal conductivity. As a conclusion, the literature review underlines the lack of homogenisation of modelling approaches and material properties, as well as the need for a universal modelling method that can generally simulate the performance of intumescent coatings, combine the large amount of published experimental data, and reliably produce fire-safe performance-based designs.

Due to their limited applicability, high complexity and little comparability, the presented literature review does not focus on analysing and comparing different multi-component models, constituted of many model-specific input parameters. On the contrary, the presented literature review compares various approaches, models and thermo-physical properties which primarily focusses on solving the heat transfer problem through swelling intumescent systems.

The presented literature review analyses and discusses the various modelling approaches to describe and predict the behaviour of swelling intumescent coatings as fire protection for structural materials. Due to the vast variety of available commercial products and potential testing conditions, these data are rarely compared and combined to achieve an overall understanding on the response of intumescent coatings as fire protection measure. The study highlights the lack of information and homogenisation of various modelling approaches, and it underlines the research needs about several aspects related to the intumescent coating behaviour modelling, also providing some useful suggestions for future studies.

Although the importance of green supplier integration (GSI) has been recognized, the knowledge of how it can be enhanced is still limited. Using insights from transaction cost and resource dependence theories, this paper aims to explore how to balance coercive and non-coercive powers to enhance GSI and the mediating role of relationship commitment and the moderating role of relationship closeness.

To validate the hypotheses, this study conducted hierarchical regression analysis and bootstrapping using the survey data collected from 206 Chinese manufacturers.

The results indicate that coercive power undermines normative commitment, while non-coercive power promotes normative and instrumental commitments. Both normative and instrumental commitments enhance GSI. Normative commitment mediates the impacts of coercive and non-coercive powers on GSI, while instrumental commitment only mediates the impact of non-coercive power on GSI. Moreover, supplier trust and dependence negatively moderate the positive link between instrumental commitment and GSI.

Executives should carefully balance coercive and non-coercive powers to encourage firms to maintain good relationships with suppliers and develop common environmental values under different mediating effects of normative and instrumental commitments. However, they should also be aware that high level of trust and dependence can affect the impacts of powers.

This study contributes to GSI literature by opening the “black box” between power and GSI and verifying its boundary conditions.