Chuanlan Liu and Sandra Forsythe
The purpose of this paper is to examine post‐adoption usage of the internet as a shopping channel. It aims to examine the effects of innovation attributes on post‐adoption…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine post‐adoption usage of the internet as a shopping channel. It aims to examine the effects of innovation attributes on post‐adoption shopping behaviours to determine whether factors predicting initial adoption will be effective in predicting post‐adoption. It also aims to examine the links between two usage patterns (purchasing experience product versus search product) and online shopping continuance. The paper also seeks to compare strength of identified links among innovation attributes, online purchase behaviors and online shopping continuance.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey of a national sample of online shoppers identifies online purchase behaviours for search and purchase goods; data are analysed using structural equation modelling to test the proposed model and the hypotheses.
Findings
The analysis finds support for the proposed research model and indicates that experience product purchasing has the most salient effect on online shopping continuance. Innovation attributes predicting initial adoption do not play the same roles in post‐adoption usage.
Research limitations/implications
The survey suffered from self‐selection and self‐reporting limitations normally associated with a panel sample.
Practical implications
Post‐adoption actual use behaviour is the most robust predictor of channel‐loyal shopping behaviour; therefore, focusing solely on improving online shoppers' favourable perceptions or positive attitudes toward shopping online might not be an efficient approach.
Originality/value
This research contributes to the marketing literature on consumer innovation diffusion by extending the consumer innovation adoption process to the post‐adoption context.
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Jiyeon Kim and Sandra Forsythe
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors affecting the adoption of product virtualization technology (PVT) for online shopping small consumer electronics by…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors affecting the adoption of product virtualization technology (PVT) for online shopping small consumer electronics by applying a modified electronic technology acceptance model (e‐TAM) and tested model invariance male/female shoppers in the overall adoption process.
Design/methodology/approach
Online surveys are completed by a US national panel of online shoppers. The data are analyzed using single‐ and multiple‐group structural equation modelling.
Findings
The results provide empirical support for e‐TAM in the context of PVT acceptance for online small consumer electronics shopping. In addition, two external constructs – technology anxiety (TA) and innovativeness (INN) – show significant influences on the beliefs (perceived usefulness, ease‐of‐use and entertainment value). There is no significant gender difference in the overall adoption process of PVT.
Research limitations/implications
More specific consumer characteristics such as time‐consciousness, opinion leadership or age differences under different categories may be useful to investigate.
Practical implications
PVT may provide a valuable tool that online retailers can use to enhance their consumers' purchase behaviour, either by reducing the perceived risk through better online product evaluation or by enhancing consumers' enjoyment of the shopping process on their web site by increasing the number of unique and repeat traffic visitors to the site and ultimately establish an online competitive advantage.
Originality/value
Inclusion of TA and INN in e‐TAM for PVT acceptance and the equivalence test of the hypothesized model across gender make the research unique, adding to the explanatory and predictive power of the e‐TAM.
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Jiyeon Kim and Sandra Forsythe
The purpose of this study is to investigate online shoppers' adoption of visual sensory enabling technologies, showing that these sensory experience enablers provide a dual role…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate online shoppers' adoption of visual sensory enabling technologies, showing that these sensory experience enablers provide a dual role in enhancing online apparel shopping by reducing perceived product risk, and increasing the entertainment value of the online shopping process.
Design/methodology/approach
The researchers conducted a focus group interview and pre‐test with a college student sample and a main test with a US national sample of online shoppers. The data were analyzed using single‐ and multiple‐group structural equation modeling.
Findings
The findings provide empirical support for perceived usefulness and perceived entertainment value as strong predictors of consumers' attitudes towards using all three of the sensory enabling technologies (SETs) – 2D larger view and alternative views, 3D rotation views, and virtual try‐on. The impact of perceived ease‐of‐use was significant only for 3D rotation views, suggesting that the impact of perceived ease‐of‐use differs by technology. Attitudes towards using sensory enabling technologies had a significant impact on the actual use of all three SETs; however, the impact of technology anxiety and innovativeness on the use of SETs also differed by technology.
Originality/value
The results provide empirical validation of the proposed SE‐TAM model. Based on the current findings, SETs may provide a valuable tool that online apparel retailers can use to increase online purchases, either by reducing the perceived risk through better online product evaluation, or by enhancing consumers' enjoyment of the shopping process on their web site.
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Jiyeon Kim and Sandra Forsythe
The purpose of this study is to investigate whether online apparel shoppers' adoption of product virtualization technologies is facilitated more by hedonic motivations than…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate whether online apparel shoppers' adoption of product virtualization technologies is facilitated more by hedonic motivations than functional motivations due to the hedonic nature of the product virtualization technologies.
Design/methodology/approach
In addition to the focus group interview, two separate online surveys with links to a stimulus web site containing one of the two product virtualization technologies was conducted to a national online shopper sample. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling by comparing the structural coefficients of hedonic and functional motivations on the attitude toward using the product virtualization technologies. The linear combination of functional and hedonic roles of each technology was examined using discriminant function analysis to see if the results were consistent.
Findings
The results showed that the hedonic motivation had a stronger positive relationship than functional motivations with the attitude toward using product virtualization technologies. The empirical findings of this study confirm our proposition that perceived entertainment value is a stronger determinant of attitude toward using product virtualization technologies than perceived usefulness.
Originality/value
The findings of the paper support the idea that the direction of technology acceptance model related research should be drawn by the (functional or hedonic) purpose of the technology/system. Based on the current findings, it seems likely that the predictive importance of the hedonic or functional benefits on attitude toward using a particular technology/system will depend, to a large extent, on the primary purpose of the system/technology.
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Jai‐Ok Kim, Sandra Forsythe, Qingliang Gu and Sook Jae Moon
This study examined the relationship of consumer values, needs and purchase behavior in two Asian consumer markets, China and South Korea. Between self‐directed values and social…
Abstract
This study examined the relationship of consumer values, needs and purchase behavior in two Asian consumer markets, China and South Korea. Between self‐directed values and social affiliation values, self‐directed values were the underlying determinant of needs to be satisfied by apparel products. Among the three types of needs identified to be satisfied through apparel (i.e. experiential, social and functional needs), experiential needs were the most important needs that influenced apparel purchases of female consumers in both Asian markets. Consumers in both country markets exhibited brand loyal behavior in apparel purchases, fulfilling all three needs. However, actualization patterns of each need through brand loyal behavior differed between the two consumer samples. While for brand‐loyal Chinese consumers experiential image was the most important aspect of the branded apparel appeal to female consumers, social image with performance quality assurance was a more important feature of the branded apparel appeal to consumers in Korea. Implications for brand image management for international markets were discussed.
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Yi Sheng Goh, Veena Chattaraman and Sandra Forsythe
– This study aims to investigate the influence of two critical brand extension design components
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the influence of two critical brand extension design components
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brand design consistency and category design consistency
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on the formation of consumers ' product attitudes and purchase intentions. It also aims to examine the underlying mechanism for attitude formation towards new brand extensions using processing fluency theory and the moderation of brand strength.
Design/methodology/approach
A 2 (brand design consistency: high vs low)×2 (category design consistency: high vs low)×2 (brand strength: strong vs weak)×2 (processing fluency: conceptual vs perceptual) between subjects experiment with 642 participants was used to test the proposed hypotheses and model.
Findings
Results obtained from SEM and ANCOVA demonstrate that both brand and category design consistencies assert significant effects on new product attitude in brand extensions; however, the relative effect of category design consistency is greater. Further, the effect of category design consistency varies as a function of brand strength, and is stronger for weak brands than for strong brands.
Practical implications
Brand managers should maintain consistency of extension product design with both the parent brand and the new product category, and prioritize the latter for weak brands.
Originality/value
This study integrates brand extension and aesthetics research on prototypicality to formulate and test important research questions, previously unexamined. Further, realistically-rendered product images, allowing both conceptual and perceptual processing, were used in the experiment to provide a better imitation of real product choices – an approach different from most extant brand extension studies, which utilize verbal stimuli.
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Jessica Strübel and Monica Sklar
In 1930s Britain, tennis champion Fred Perry was a household name. However, the name Fred Perry is more commonly associated with striped-collar polo shirts featuring a laurel…
Abstract
In 1930s Britain, tennis champion Fred Perry was a household name. However, the name Fred Perry is more commonly associated with striped-collar polo shirts featuring a laurel wreath logo. In the late 1960s, Fred Perry polo shirts were standard mod and Skinhead dress. When worn by working-class youth the shirt became subversive commentary on English elitism because it had originally been designed for the tennis courts. Many punks also aligned with the brand in dual demonstration of association with working-class ethics as well as an alternative to t-shirts. In the 1980s and onward, this sartorial style was appropriated by right-wing white nationalists, which stripped it of its subcultural spirit. Patriot groups, such as neo-Nazis and the alt-right have continued to co-opt the subcultural style, simultaneously turning the Fred Perry polo into a symbol of racism and bigotry. The multi-use of the Fred Perry brand creates a challenge in how to interpret visual cues when one garment has competing perceptions that at times can be completely opposing. This study examines the history of the Fred Perry brand through the lens of symbolic interactionism, specifically how the shirt evolved from a rather innocuous, yet subversive, form of merchandize repurposed from the tennis world to youth subcultures where the polo communicated group identity. As the brand has moved through fashion cycles, the association of the Fred Perry polo with deviant groups has reduced the brand to representations of hate and separation, which has impacted sales and brand image with its intended consumers.