Kyle B. Murray, Jianping Liang and Gerald Häubl
This paper seeks to review current research on assistive consumer technologies (ACT 1.0) and to discuss a series of research challenges that need to be addressed before the field…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to review current research on assistive consumer technologies (ACT 1.0) and to discuss a series of research challenges that need to be addressed before the field can move towards tools that are more effective and more readily adopted by consumers (ACT 2.0).
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper. The perspective, commensurate with the current research and areas of expertise, is that of consumer researchers.
Findings
The paper argues that, while substantial advances have been made in the technical design of ACTs – and the algorithms that power recommendation systems, there are substantial barriers to wide‐scale consumer adoption of such tools that need to be addressed. In particular, future ACT designs will need to better integrate current research in human judgment and decision making to improve the ease with which such tools can be used.
Originality/value
From the perspective of consumer researchers, the paper highlights a set of key areas of enquiry that have the potential to substantially advance assistive consumer technology research.
Details
Keywords
Examines the cross‐national applicability of a model of the effects of country of origin and brand name on consumers’ evaluations of a product. Specifically, investigates the…
Abstract
Examines the cross‐national applicability of a model of the effects of country of origin and brand name on consumers’ evaluations of a product. Specifically, investigates the structures of country‐of‐origin and brand effects on the evaluation of a new automobile by German and French car owners. Uses a multi‐group structural equation modelling approach to assess the invariance of the proposed model across countries. Reports findings indicating both the factor structure and the structural model relationships are invariant, thus providing support for the hypothesis of the model’s cross‐national generalizability. Also notes that both brand name and country of origin turned out to have a significant impact on consumers’ evaluations of the automobile. Discusses the implications of the study for international manufacturing decisions and new product development.