Hyunjoo Im, Hae Won Ju and Kim K.P. Johnson
Little research has been done to understand how individual elements (e.g. advertisements) within a webpage are processed and evaluated when visual complexity is increased. Thus…
Abstract
Purpose
Little research has been done to understand how individual elements (e.g. advertisements) within a webpage are processed and evaluated when visual complexity is increased. Thus, this study aimed to investigate how consumers allocate attention and evaluate products and advertisements on complex webpages when they are casually browsing.
Design/methodology/approach
This study conducted two experiments to test the causal effects of different degrees of visual complexity on consumer responses to products and advertisements. An eye-tracking experiment (n = 90) and a follow-up online experiment (n = 121) were conducted using undergraduate students as participants.
Findings
Participants formed a global impression from the overall webpage complexity, which spilled over to evaluation of individual elements on the webpage (e.g. product, advertisement). The inverted U-shaped relationships (vs. linear negative relationships) between webpage visual complexity and attitude toward the webpage, products, and advertisements were observed. The focal product was given a consistent level of attention regardless of the complexity level.
Practical implications
This study provides implications for website organization and design to maximize positive consumer experiences and marketing effectiveness. The findings provide implications for retailers and advertisement buyers.
Originality/value
This study expanded the knowledge by examining the interplay between individual elements of webpages and the whole webpage complexity when consumers browse visually complex webpages. It is a novel finding that the overall webpage complexity effect spills over to locally attended products or advertisements.
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Juanjuan Wu, Hae Won Ju, Jieun Kim, Cara Damminga, Hye-Young Kim and Kim K.P. Johnson
The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of three virtual fashion stores using product display methods dominant by colour, visual texture and style coordination…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of three virtual fashion stores using product display methods dominant by colour, visual texture and style coordination on consumers' retailer interest, retail pleasure, perception of merchandise quality, patronage intention, and purchase behaviour to provide empirically tested, actionable product display methods to visual merchandising researchers and practitioners.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors used mixed methods for this exploratory study, combining experimental and focus group methods to gather data. For the experiment, data were collected via a between-subjects design reflecting manipulation of three variables (i.e. colour, style coordination, visual texture). After the experiment, participants completed a self-administered online questionnaire. A segment of the participants also participated in focus group discussions of the virtual stores.
Findings
Participants who shopped in the style coordination store spent significantly more money than those who shopped in colour or visual texture stores. Participants who shopped in the colour store experienced significantly more retail pleasure and showed significantly higher patronage intention than those who shopped in the visual texture and style coordination stores; and they showed more retailer interest than subjects in the visual texture store. Retail pleasure and interest were found to mediate the link between methods of product display and patronage intention. Participants' fashion involvement moderated the relationship between fashion product display methods and retail interest.
Originality/value
This research is one of the first to create three virtual stores featuring product display methods dominant by colour, visual texture, and style coordination using 3D technology – a Mockshop software package. The effect of these different display methods on shoppers' reactions and responses was tested, which provided actionable results for visual merchandising practitioners, not only in the physical but also in the virtual store environment.
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Discusses the Bill of Lading and its differences under UK, US and Greek law. Bases the paper on the fact that, under UK and US law, property in the goods sold passes from seller…
Abstract
Discusses the Bill of Lading and its differences under UK, US and Greek law. Bases the paper on the fact that, under UK and US law, property in the goods sold passes from seller to buyer when the parties intend to pass it (regardless of whether or not delivery actually took place); whereas, under Greek law, ownership of goods passes from seller to buyer only if the intention to pass goods is supported by actual delivery. Asserts that this difference in national law causes problems in international trade. Explores the law in more depth, citing a number of cases and quoting legal precedents. Concludes that the intention of the parties concerned should be taken into consideration.
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Industrialization in capitalist societies ushered in the growth of trade unions and the development of union activities of industrial workers. In the late eighteenth and the early…
Abstract
Industrialization in capitalist societies ushered in the growth of trade unions and the development of union activities of industrial workers. In the late eighteenth and the early nineteenth centuries in the West when unionism began, trade unions took diverse forms. These forms varied by society and were significantly influenced by the country’s specific historical background and socioeconomic and cultural conditions. Yet such diverse union structures began to merge into “industrial unionism” in the late nineteenth century, which embraced all types of workers within the boundaries of an industry. Industrial unionism has been considered the organizational form that most effectively ensures the collective power of trade unions and their sociopolitical sway over contending forces, notably, the state and employers’ associations, and thus has remained a prototypical union system. Accordingly, nonwestern societies and latecomers to unionism in the West have modeled their unions on the basis of the industrial union structure.
Purpose – The purpose of the research was to examine the process of new teacher evaluation policy development in South Korea, in order to gain insight into how a controversial…
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of the research was to examine the process of new teacher evaluation policy development in South Korea, in order to gain insight into how a controversial policy could be established in education. Research questions were about the process of the policy development, political actors involved and their influences, and the meaning of teacher evaluation in the newly established teacher evaluation policy.Methodology – The study uses a qualitative and descriptive-analytical process from a hermeneutics perspective that views policy as text to be interpreted. This perspective allows policy to be connected to a larger social context through interpretations of text. The main data sources included policy documents, statements by various organizations, research reports, and public media artifacts produced between 2000 and 2012. For data analysis, constant comparison and content analysis methods were used.Findings – The findings show that the process of developing a teacher evaluation system demonstrated an unsuccessful attempt to apply the Habermasian notion of discursive democracy. Relevant stakeholders were invited to deliberate on the reform, but official meetings ended prematurely without consensus. In the end, the government proceeded without full support of any stakeholders. During the deliberation process, teacher organizations and parent groups demonstrated conflicting perspectives on teacher work and the new evaluation system only partially accommodated both perspectives. The effectiveness of the new evaluation system remains to be researched.Value – The policy development process and the evaluation system shown in this study should inform similar efforts in other contexts.
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Sumbul Zaman and Amirul Hasan Ansari
There is a compelling need for developing constructs in management science rather than adapting the constructs that have been developed in other domains. Having emerged in the…
Abstract
Purpose
There is a compelling need for developing constructs in management science rather than adapting the constructs that have been developed in other domains. Having emerged in the 1950s, quality of work-life (QWL) measures have proved to be ineffective due to the lack of conceptual clarity and theoretical support. The article analyses the QWL measures highlights their coherence and verifies them for being used in specific contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
The study includes three stages to develop a QWL Measurement Scale. Fourteen questions were developed based on QWL concepts. They were validated using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) which split the dimensions into five factors. A survey was conducted on 375 medical residents. Finally, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), convergence and validity were tested along the five dimensions.
Findings
Results extend the QWL concept and provide theoretical support for the same. Five dimensions were developed to measure QWL namely: pay and benefits, supervision, intra-group relations, working conditions and training.
Practical implications
The study may offer an overview of evaluation strategies to researchers and organizations that aim to improve employee QWL while they enhance its effectiveness through reliable instruments.
Originality/value
The scale developed in this study contributes to the body of QWL literature in the healthcare arena. It may be beneficial to carry out further research in this domain.