Sunyoung Hlee, Jaehyun Park, Hyunsun Park, Chulmo Koo and Younghoon Chang
The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate what aspects of service robot interactions with customers can lead to meaningful outcomes in the view of customers. The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to empirically investigate what aspects of service robot interactions with customers can lead to meaningful outcomes in the view of customers. The study examines functional and emotional elements of AI service robots in terms of meaningful outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
This study highlights AI service robots' meaningful outcomes as a viable research problem and proposes a research model utilizing the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) framework. As an empirical approach, 260 datasets were collected from customers who have experience with AI service restaurants in China.
Findings
The study examines the functional and emotional elements of AI-powered service robots on the attitude of and meaningful outcomes for customers. The results showed that the emotional (perceived friendliness and perceived coolness) and functional (perceived safety and robot competence) attributes of human–robot interactions (HRI) significantly affect the attitude toward using service robots. Second, the attitude toward using service robots significantly influences the experiential outcome and instrumental outcome of meaningful engagement.
Research limitations/implications
This study highlights two elements (i.e. functional and emotional) of HRI effectiveness using two metrics: experiential and performance outcomes. Future studies should generalize the research findings of service robots in the current study using a larger quantity of data from various service fields.
Originality/value
As the first empirical study highlighting the customer experience with service robots, this study opens up a feasible research direction for the service industry to pursue in terms of conducting HRI studies from the view of customers. It identifies a research model pursuant to customers' experience with HRI in creating meaningful outcomes and it theoretically extends the SOR model to the hospitality study, focusing on the HRI issue.
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Brad McKenna, Wenjie Cai and Hyunsun Yoon
Research into older adults' use of social media remains limited. Driven by increasing digitalisation in China, the authors focus on Chinese older adults (aged 60–75)’ use of…
Abstract
Purpose
Research into older adults' use of social media remains limited. Driven by increasing digitalisation in China, the authors focus on Chinese older adults (aged 60–75)’ use of WeChat.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a qualitative interpretive approach and interviewed Chinese older adults to uncover their social practices of WeChat use in everyday life.
Findings
By using social practice theory (SPT), the paper unfolds Chinese older adults' social practices of WeChat use in everyday life and reveals how they adopt and resist the drastic changes in Chinese society.
Originality/value
The study contributes to new understandings of SPT from technology use by emphasising the dynamic characteristics of its three elements. The authors synthesise both adoptions and resistance in SPT and highlight the importance of understanding three elements interdependently within specific contexts, which are conditioned by structure and agency.
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Emmanuel Mogaji and Hyunsun Yoon
Prospective students are exposed to abundant choices, and they are eagerly searching for information to select the best universities for themselves. Likewise, prospectuses are…
Abstract
Purpose
Prospective students are exposed to abundant choices, and they are eagerly searching for information to select the best universities for themselves. Likewise, prospectuses are regularly produced by universities to meet this information needs; the purpose of this paper is to examine the key marketing messages used in their prospectuses.
Design/methodology/approach
The 2017 undergraduate prospectuses of 121 universities in the UK (out of the 134 members of University UK) were thematically analysed using NVivo10.
Findings
Messages were predominantly about the location, the course, student experience, credibility and career progression. They are framed in an appealing way, filled with facts and figures, images of beautiful buildings and smiling students, testimonials of facilities and experiences that form a sense of compatibility and belonging.
Research limitations/implications
This study provides insights for the higher educational institutions to enhance their future marketing communications strategies in terms of effectively differentiating one university from another by highlighting the predominantly used appeals among 121 prospectuses and the need for adopting a more consistent approach between the clearing period and non-clearing period in terms of designing the prospectuses. This study has considered only the print platform, and therefore future studies should also look at social media and university websites in the context of the integrated marketing communications.
Practical implications
Accurate and coherent narratives should be provided, taking into consideration the diverse nature of target audience. Universities need to realise that they can be held responsible for the promises presented in their prospectuses. Using the city appeal by many universities may be challenging, as there is need to attract students not just to the city itself, but to the university’s campus.
Originality/value
Having a significantly larger sample than any other previous studies in this field, the empirical evidence provided in this paper is rich and in-depth, thanks to the size and age of the sample as well as the integrated and combined methodological approach. Five keys themes with sub-themes, descriptions and examples were provided, suitable for future research in higher education marketing.
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The purpose of this paper is to better understand why people are willing or hesitant to use Financial technology (Fintech) as well as to determine whether the effect of perceived…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to better understand why people are willing or hesitant to use Financial technology (Fintech) as well as to determine whether the effect of perceived benefits and risks of continuance intention differs depending on user types.
Design/methodology/approach
Original data were collected via a survey of 243 participants with Fintech usage experience. The partial least squares method was used to test the proposed model.
Findings
The results reveal that legal risk had the most negative effect on the Fintech continuance intention, while convenience had the strongest positive effect. Differences in specific benefit and risk impacts are found between early and late adopters.
Originality/value
This empirical study contributes to the novel understanding of the benefit and risk factors affecting the Fintech continuance intention.
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Hani Hafiera Khahar, Ali Vafaei-Zadeh, Haniruzila Hanifah and T. Ramayah
This study leverages an enhanced expectation confirmation model of information technology continuance to explore the factors that shape the continuance intention toward cloud…
Abstract
Purpose
This study leverages an enhanced expectation confirmation model of information technology continuance to explore the factors that shape the continuance intention toward cloud computing services.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from personal cloud computing service users in Malaysia, resulting in a total of 567 usable responses. The research used partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) for comparative analysis and model selection based on predictive accuracy.
Findings
The study findings demonstrate that perceived benefits, ease of use, usefulness, risk and trust play crucial roles as antecedents to user confirmation and satisfaction, thereby influencing the intention for continuous service usage. Notably, the hypotheses formulated for the study received robust support, with 13 out of 14 anticipated relationships proving statistically significant.
Originality/value
This study presents a novel investigation into the continuance of personal cloud computing services among Malaysian users, contributing to a deeper understanding of user intention dynamics in this context. Integrating an expanded ECM-IT framework offers a comprehensive analytical approach that simultaneously considers information systems and non-IS factors. Additionally, the study underscores the significance of predictive capability assessment using the PLSpredict method, providing a valuable benchmark for model selection in future research.