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Despite the availability of side‐by‐side price comparisons, online retailers often charge very different prices for the same product. The purpose of this paper is to identify the drivers of price differences in an online retail marketplace by examining pricing information from a sample of sellers in the market.

An empirical, quantitative research study of Amazon Marketplace, using 498 observations of online sellers of a variety of electronics products was conducted. A regression analysis is employed to determine the drivers of these sellers' prices.

The results provide a set of factors associated with deviation from the mean price Amazon Marketplace retailers charge for a given product. The authors find that online retailers that charge higher prices post additional channels of customer service, post their return policy, have lower reputation scores, display a retail brand logo, offer more products, and are not electronic specialists.

The paper contributes to the theoretical understanding of the effects of information quality and governance structures on prices. This is the first study to focus on these issues in an online marketplace setting.

Despite the availability of methods and techniques designed to assist with predictive and retrospective evaluation of ICT initiatives, management continues to struggle to perform meaningful evaluations, and the measurement of ICT investment payoff remains a challenge. A recurring problem associated with failed ICT‐based investment is poor change management. This paper aims to focus on the value of understanding the change management aspects of ICT investments.

A framework was developed from a study of the change management literature. An empirical investigation involving a qualitative case study approach was then conducted in order to assess the efficacy of the framework during the evaluation process.

Business benefit from ICT is likely only when ICT investment is accompanied by appropriate change management skills. The study highlights the particular importance of communication, championing and change agency, resources, and the project timescale.

Results were generated from a single case study. It is also acknowledged that it is unclear what impact (if any) a parallel project had on the project under investigation.

The paper highlights the value of effective change management, placing particular emphasis on effective communication during all stages of a project.

The paper explicitly employs change management techniques in order to identify potential problem areas. It recommends longitudinal research be conducted in order to employ the framework during both ex ante and ex post evaluation for a single initiative.

The literature on software project management is extended into the broader domain of large‐scale IS management by studying enterprise‐wide system upgrade projects. In particular; examines the role that the intervention of project management practices (formal project methodologies and outsourcing) play in large and/or complex IS projects, which result in good project performance.

A survey instrument was completed by 449 information systems managers about a specific upgrade project. The primary analytical approach used was structural equation modeling (SEM).

It was found that neither project complexity nor project size are good indicators of meeting a project's target date. Large projects that adopted formal project management practices were more probable to meet the project target date. Projects with a high degree of complexity which involved outsourcing and adopted formal project management practices, were more likely to meet the project target date.

Clearly, the message to managers of IS projects is to establish a project methodology, especially in large, enterprise‐wide projects, and when some degree of outsourcing is required.

Future research should consider additional measures of performance such as cost, end‐user satisfaction and business value.

Much had been written in the literature about how large, complex IT projects have high failure rates. Our study provides conclusive evidence that, the greater the degree of methodology implementation, the greater the chance for meeting the project's target date. Prior to this research, this had not been explicitly shown in the research literature.

Many companies are increasing their expenditure on information technology and information systems (IT/IS) to obtain or even sustain a competitive advantage in their respective marketplaces. Many managers, however, are often left with the quandary of how to evaluate their investments in technologies. Reasons of this difficulty have been suggested in the normative literature as centring on the socio‐technical (human, organisational and technical) dimensions associated with the adoption of IT/IS. The inability of managers to determine the true costs of deploying IT/IS is considered attributable to a lack of knowledge and understanding of IT/IS related costs. In developing a broader picture of such cost dimensions and their respective taxonomies, the research presented in this paper uses a structured case method to gain an understanding of how a construction firm embraced the IT evaluation process. A review of the IT cost literature is presented and a conceptual IT evaluation framework that focuses on indirect costs is proposed.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether offering free Wi‐Fi improves hotels' online ratings, which are considered a measure of customer satisfaction.

Empirical research was conducted using the salient features of downloaded reviews (e.g. dates and types of travelers) of 26,439 hotels in 200 destinations.

It was found that offering free Wi‐Fi helps hotels improve their ratings by up to 8 percent. Business centers and room service are irrelevant to customers. Allowing pets can improve ratings by up to 1 percent. Business hotels clients are systematically more dissatisfied than those who stay at non‐business hotels.

The quality of the Wi‐Fi offered (e.g. its speed, ease of use, and areas of availability) was not measured. It would also be interesting to perform further analyses based on the profiles of the reviewers.

Hotels must offer free Wi‐Fi and should consider information and communication technologies as a way to improve customer satisfaction.

The number of hotels studied guarantees accurate results. The study provides a clear measurement of the improvement that can be achieved by offering a specific amenity and assesses the relative significance of other hotel amenities (i.e. business centers, room service).

The purpose of this paper is to examine the driving forces, challenges benefits, barriers and strategies to decrease barriers to information and communication technologies (ICTs) adoption and assimilation by small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in this era of globalization.

The paper is based on a review of literature, both online and print.

The paper concludes that, ICTs adoption and assimilation in SMEs is critical to enhance their competitiveness. In addition, ICTs usage in SMEs will enhance accessibility into the international markets.

The major limitation of this paper is that it only reviews relevant literature and that empirical findings are not obtained to give an insight and holistic view of ICTs adoption and assimilation by SMEs.

Effective use of ICTs in SMEs has great impact on its competitiveness and sustainability. In addition, owners/owner managers, policy makers and other stakeholders would be in a position to understand the challenges faced by SMEs in ICTs adoption and come up with various interventions to assist SMEs.

Despite the challenges faced by SMEs on ICTs adoption, SMEs stand to benefit from adopting ICTs in their business processes especially in accessing international markets. SMEs play a great role in the economy and thus need special attention.

The purpose of this paper is to understand the decision process of enterprise software acquisition. The research aims to focus on identifying significant influences on enterprise software acquisition decisions.

As a research model and theoretical background, the organizational buying model (OBB) is proposed for the acquisition of enterprise systems. Influences on enterprise software acquisition decision processes were found by an empirical study carried out from a practitioner's perspective. The study collected data via a mail survey administered to information systems (IS) professionals involved in the acquisition of enterprise software (ES). The survey questionnaire was developed based on a previous research project and a literature review. Organizational buying behavior (OBB) models in the literature served as the basis for the influences included in the survey instrument. Factor analysis was carried out on the survey data to identify the most significant factors/influences.

The following five factors emerged as significant influences on the acquisition decision process of enterprise software: ES strategy and performance; BPR and adaptability; management commitment and user buy‐in; single vendor integrated solution; and consultants, team‐location, and vendor's financing. These factors are discussed and managerial implications are extracted. Conclusions are derived from the study findings and guidelines for further research are suggested.

The present study provides a starting point for further research in understanding a more comprehensive list of influences on enterprise software acquisition. A bigger sample from more industries is required to examine whether the significance of the influences remains stable.

Using OBB models has proven to be useful for organizations in making effective decisions on enterprise software acquisition.

The purpose of this paper is to utilize the existing theories and knowledge surrounding information systems (IS) evaluation and Green information technology (IT)/IS investments to develop a conceptual model for helping decision makers to overcome and reduce the impacts from Green IT/IS investment related to cost overruns or under-optimized budgets.

The paper is discursive, based on the analysis and synthesis of literature pertaining to IS evaluation, Green IT/IS adoption and Sustainable/Green/CSR within an aviation context. Gaps in the preceding research have been identified, and a conceptual model is proposed. Additionally, further research and a methodology are suggested.

The paper proposes a conceptual model that can identify factors including external factors derived from institutional theory, internal organizational factors, and a list of indirect costs associated with Green IT/IS investments for an aviation organization.

As a conceptual paper, the study is limited to literature, identifying gaps, and proposing a model. The paper recommends further empirical validation of the proposed conceptual model.

The conceptual model is helpful for decision makers within the aviation industry to enhance their understanding of the identification and management of indirect costs within the aviation context, which results in effective management of Green IT/IS indirect costs.

The paper fills gaps in the knowledge of IS evaluation, Green IT/IS adoption/evaluation within aviation context through helping decision makers to understand, identify, and manage the associated indirect costs.

The study examines the potential moderating effects of repeating purchase cues and product knowledge on the relationship between the varying consistency of the review set and causal attribution. This study also investigates how causal attribution correlates with the perceived misleadingness of the review set.

A scenario-based experiment was conducted with 170 participants to explore the relationship between the consistency of the review set and causal attribution and how repeating purchase cues and product knowledge moderates this relationship.

Findings suggest that inconsistent review sets lead to more product (vs reviewer) attribution than consistent review sets. The repeating purchase cues mitigate the negative relationship between the consistency of the review set and product attribution, whereas product knowledge mitigates the positive relationship between the consistency of the review set and reviewer attribution. Furthermore, the results indicate that high product attribution and low reviewer attribution are associated with low perceived misleadingness.

This study is novel because it examines the moderating effects of repeating purchase cues and product knowledge on the relationship between the consistency of the review set and causal attribution. It adds to the literature by shedding light on the causal attribution process underlying the formation of perceived misleadingness of online reviews. The findings of this study provide valuable insights for managers on how to enhance the positive effects of consistent review sets and mitigate the negative effects of inconsistent review sets.

The authors investigate the varying impact of three categories of conflicting consumer reviews (i.e. conflicting opinions on attributes of a product item, conflicting ratings of an item and the intensity of conflicting reviews of an item) on the potential customers' perceived informativeness, which is expected to affect the perceived correct purchase.

To test their proposed hypotheses, the authors conducted an experiment using a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design for each conflict type comprising two levels (low vs high).

The results of this study found that conflicting opinions on product attributes can enhance potential customers' perceptions of informativeness and subsequent correct purchase decisions while conflicting ratings and the intensity of conflicting reviews can diminish potential customers' perceptions of informativeness. In addition, conflicting ratings negatively moderate the effect of conflicting attributes on perceived informativeness such that the positive effect of conflicting attributes on perceived informativeness will be less prominent when conflicting ratings are present (vs absent).

While potential customers are browsing product descriptions, reviews and comments from other purchasers are also playing a role in influencing a potential customer's purchase decision. However, given the different experiences and temperaments of individuals, the subjective remarks and ratings of individuals are sometimes inconsistent or even conflicting, which can lead to confusion among potential customers. The authors categorize the positive or negative effects of the three conflicting reviews based on the two dimensions of ease of capture and product diagnosticity. The findings can help platforms optimize the display of product reviews to help potential customers make more accurate purchase decisions.