Consumers are increasingly using their smartphones for making purchases, with the other modes being traditional offline and online channels (Kim et al., 2017). In light of the growing number of smartphone users worldwide, many e-commerce companies have responded by launching mobile apps that offer more convenient and flexible shopping experiences to smartphone users (Bang et al., 2013). A number of e-commerce related studies have identified crucial differences between mobile shopping (m-shopping) and online shopping. They find that m-shopping provides greater flexibility in terms of time and place as well as multi-tasking capabilities (for instance, a mobile shopper can communicate with others and even post a picture of an item to social media asking for others’ opinions and comments, all while shopping via a mobile app). These types of apps simultaneously cater to consumers’ shopping and social affiliation needs (Yang et al., 2012). Current research has shown that this type of shopping has gradually become habitual or automatic (Shankar et al., 2016). This new type of e-commerce has brought about a change in the shopping behavior of customers, thereby challenging companies to develop specific strategies to attract this new breed of shoppers.

This study aimed to identify whether or not four service situations varying according to positive and negative combinations of physical evidence and functional service influence store image and purchase behavioral intentions of customers at bulgogi restaurants. The video-scenario technique was used for the study. Data were analyzed with the SPSS (Window 19.0) package using frequency analysis, one-way ANOVA, 2 by 2 factorial ANOVA, exploratory factor analysis, and multiple regression analysis to confirm the hypotheses. The combined effect of functional service and physical evidence influenced store image and purchase intention. In terms of seperate effect of physical evidence and functional service, the effect of employee service on store image was more powerful than that of physical evidence, even though the effect differed depending on the situation. Purchase intention was only influenced by functional service quality from employees under the four different scenarios. Thus, when opening a Korean restaurant, proper management of tangible evidence suitable to service, and the prices expected from local customers should be determined. Additionally, extremely high or low levels of physical evidence management should be avoided.

목적 : 본 연구는 안경체인 가맹점주의 만족도가 고객 만족과 고객 수 증가에 어떤 영향을 미치는지 살펴보기 위하여 하였다. 방법 : 설문조사는 전국 A 안경체인 가맹점의 가맹점주를 대상으로 자기기입법(self-adminstration method) 으로 응답하도록 하여 결과를 SPSS 18.O 통계 프로그램을 이용하여 분석하였다. 결과 : 안경체인 가맹점주의 인구사회학적 및 사업 관련 특성을 살펴보면, 가맹점주는 남성이 대부분을 차지하고 있었고, 연령은 40대와 30대가 많았다. 가맹점주 만족도의 일반적 경향을 살펴보면, 유통지원에 대한 만족도가 가장 높고 운영지원과 가격 및 조건에 대한 만족도가 낮은 것으로 나타났다. 가맹점주들의 만족도가 고객 만족에 미치는 영향을 살펴보았는데, 가맹점주 만족도의 하위요인 중 가격 및 조건에 대한 만족도, 제품 관련 요인에 대한 만족도가 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타났다. 결론 : 가맹점주의 제품 관련 요인에 대한 만족도가 높을수록 고객 수가 감소하고, 판매촉진 요인과 가격 및 조건요인에 대한 만족도가 높을수록 고객 수가 증가한다는 것을 알 수 있었다.

스포츠 상품 시장에서 각 브랜드가 소비자에게 미치고자 하는 영향력은 여러 가지 형태로 시도 되었으며, 그 효과 또한 증명되어 가고 있다. 각 브랜드들이 자신들이 활용할 가치가 있다고 판단하여 수립한 다양한 마케팅 전략들이 증명되어가고 있는 것이다. 하지만 최근 나타난 새로운 소비 유형이라 할 수 있는 스포츠 상품 수집가를 활용한 마케팅 전략은 지금껏 그 영향력이 실증적으로 검증된 바가 없었다. 기존의 스포츠 상품 시장에서 나타난 수집 행위에 이해도가 매우 낮았기 때문이다. 어느 정도 한계에 봉착했다고 여겨지는 스포츠 상품 시장에 새로운 마케팅 전략이 필요하다고 판단한 도전적 사고에서 본 연구를 시작하였으며 스포츠 상품 수집가를 활용한 마케팅 전략을 수립함에 있어서 그 영향력이 형성되는 경로를 설정하고 증명하는데 그 목적을 두고 있다. 이 연구의 목적을 달성하기 위하여 가상의 스포츠 상품 수집가의 상품 설명에 대한 자극물을 접한 잠재 소비자 231명을 대상으로 SPSS 21.0과 AMOS 20.0을 이용하여 빈도분석, 신뢰도분석, 상관관계분석 및 확인적 요인분석과 구조방정식을 이용하였다. 이 연구에서 도출된 결과를 바탕으로 하여 스포츠 상품 시장에서 스포츠 상품 수집가들이 보유하고 있는 전문성을 바탕으로 하는 새로운 마케팅 전략의 경로를 발견하였다고 할 수 있으며, 이를 바탕으로 침체된 우리나라 스포츠 상품 시장에 새로운 성장 동력의 하나로 작용할 수 있기를 기대하는 바이다.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of perceived risk, community usage motive, and price sensitivity of customers who purchase children’s wear directly from overseas on customer satisfaction. Specifically, this study is aimed at verifying the moderating effect of price sensitivity when perceived risk and community usage motive significantly influence customer satisfaction. A survey was conducted among consumers who experienced directly purchasing children’s wear from overseas and engaging in communities. A total of 415 questionnaires were distributed, which 41 responses were insincere and excluded; thus, 374 responses were analyzed. Results of this study are as follows. First, the analysis on how perceived risk and community usage motive influence customer satisfaction reveals the significant influence of economic and social psychological risk on customer satisfaction. Moreover, informational, recreational, and social emotional usage motive have a significant influence on customer satisfaction. Second, the effect of perceived risk and community usage motive on customer satisfaction based on different levels of price sensitivity was verified. As a result, delivery and economic risks affect customer satisfaction for consumers with high price sensitivity. Moreover, recreational usage motive has a significant influence on customer satisfaction for high price sensitive consumers. In conclusion, perceived risk negatively impacts customer satisfaction. Therefore, it is essential to provide a system that can reduce the perceived risk of consumers who purchase children’s wear directly from overseas.

Online reviews enable brands to promote their products by means of word-of-mouth communication. In an e-commerce environment, user-generated customer feedback, as a form of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), is a crucial source of information in the prepurchase stage as many customers base their purchase decision on feedback from other customers. eWOM is perceived as a reliable source of information and has become especially important in an online environment (Chevalier & Mayzlin, 2006; Li & Zhan, 2011). Existing research has shown that customer feedback positively influences sales (Chevalier & Mayzlin, 2006; Forman, Ghose, & Wiesenfeld, 2008; Ha, Bae, & Son, 2015). Yet, only very limited research on how to communicate customer feedback to maximize a company’s top-line growth has been conducted (Packard & Berger, 2017). In this study, we aim to fill this gap by investigating how numerical customer feedback metrics should be communicated to attract new customers. Using an experiment, we empirically investigate which of the two widely established numerical customer feedback metrics, a customer recommendation rate or a customer satisfaction rate, is better suited to attract new customers and hence stimulate company growth. The impact of the stimulus on the purchase process is measured by means of three different dependent variables to imitate the hierarchy of a purchase decision: consumers’ interest towards the ad, their attitude towards the product shown in the ad as well as their purchase intention. Furthermore, we include several moderating factors, which have proven to be relevant when looking at online reviews, namely product type as well as consumers’ motivation and ability to process persuasive communication (Gupta & Harris, 2010; Klein, 1998; Petty & Cacioppo, 1986).

Over the course of the past decades, technological advancements accompanied a plethora of new types of data and consumer insights (e.g., Erevelles, Fukawa, & Swayne, 2016). Companies value opportunities provided by the availability of large data sets for their business strategy. Customers, however, are wary, as these analyses require the collection and storage of large amounts of personal information. Therefore, it is vital for companies to understand what customers perceive to be fair with regard to their personal data (e.g., Malhotra, Kim, & Agarwal, 2004). However, research still lacks deeper insights into customers’ expectations of fair data handling (Marketing Science Institute, 2016). Yet, only few studies have covered the field of expectations regarding fair data collection and use (Earp, Antón, Aiman-Smith, & Stufflebeam, 2005; Milne & Bahl, 2010). Importantly, however, previous studies have frequently neglected how companies’ fulfillment of customers’ expectations translates into subsequent consumer behavior. Moreover, we have yet to understand if companies’ actual behavior meets customers’ expectations. Grounded on psychological contract and justice theory, we investigate how customers want their data to be handled and in which ways they want to be informed about its usage, while also exploring how customer expectations translate into subsequent behavioral intentions. Additionally, we shed light on current company behavior, thus analyzing if customers’ expectations of fair data collection and usage are aligned with company perspectives. Responding to calls for a mixed methods approach in business research (e.g., Harrison, 2013; Woodside, 2010), we undertook qualitative and quantitative studies to address our research goals. In Study 1, we conduct in-depth interviews with customers and experts to gain an overview of customer expectations with regard to fair data collection and usage. Based on these findings, we conducted a quantitative study (Study 2) investigating each of the customer expectations identified in the prior study. The findings of Study 2 reveal that customers expect a simplification of privacy statements as well as easier control options for their data. Moreover, customers are willing to switch to a competitor, if it better fulfills expectations. Study 3 applies a content analysis of company homepages and privacy statements. Aligning the results from Study 2 and Study 3, we demonstrate that companies currently do not sufficiently meet customers’ expectation of fair data collection and usage.

Failure in servicing has detrimental effects upon customers, which can be translated into loss of resources. As such, this study employed the conservation of resources (COR) theory and developed a novel conceptualization that captures customers’ resource losses (after a failure), as well as their complaint process, by capturing dynamic loss, activation, and recovery of customers’ resources, in the case of a service failure. The use of online features and platforms for customers to voice their complaints was conceptualised as resource integration between the customer and the firm. The outcomes revealed online complaining as self-protective and selfenhancement behaviour. It is also unravelled in this study that various personal- and firm-related resource integrations in an online complaining context could result in varying emotional states and behavioural intentions among the affected customers towards the defaulting firm. These results open up an avenue for firms to devise effective intervention strategies.

Satisfaction paradox indicates customer satisfaction does not necessarily translate into customer repurchase. Competitor’s attractiveness and customer demographics are two main moderators for the paradoxical phenomenon. Competitor’s attractiveness exhibits customer switching effect, whereas customer demographics imply customers moored with their current service provider. Still, the cases were few investigated in B2B settings where customers are in general more complex than consumers as involving more intricate organizational network influences. In a business network, transactions may incur buyer/seller relational activities that mitigate paradoxical behavior. Nonetheless, the variable is yet identified and the interacting effects between the moderating variables are not clarified. Thus, this study aims to develop an operational model to classify satisfied customers into loyal, moored and paradoxical segments using three genres of moderators: competitor’s attractiveness, organizational and transactional variables in a B2B setting. In the model, the theoretical bases of switching behaviors are applied for four statistical analysis executed in a logic sequence, including a factor analysis to consolidate quality measurements, a quadrant analysis to locate the effect of competitor’s attractiveness, a clustering analysis to segment satisfied customers into four segments, and finally, nonparametric tests to validate the organizational and transactional segmentation variables. Empirically, we study Taiwanese manufacturers who engaged in global trade and have had experiences in choosing the global air express services that form an oligopolistic market and a strategic group so competitor’s attractiveness can be better calibrated. A total of 180 valid samples are collected and analyzed. The results contribute to the literatures of B2B service marketing.

Digital revenues from music and video have surpassed the physical revenues and, remarkably, access-based services are solely responsible for the growth of digital revenues, whereas (legal) downloading behavior and revenues from paying for ownership are declining (ERA, 2017; IFPI, 2017). However, access-based digital consumption business models are heavily dependent on customers’ continued use of their services. Through two studies, this research aims to investigate customers’ behavioral trajectories in digital entertainment services. Study 1 examines cross-lagged effects of non-financial personal investment on frequency of use and vice versa, while relating attitudinal and demographical antecedents to both trajectories. Study 2 investigates the moderating influence of financial investment on the relation between non-financial investment on frequency of use in a video streaming service with a freemium business model and studies at what point in time users decide to switch from a free service to a paid service. The results of the first study indicate that there are effects of the frequency of use of a service on the amount of non-financial investment put in the service (i.e. creating a list of favorites for later consumption), but the effects of non-financial investment on frequency of use are only found for women. Furthermore, in line with the self-service literature, perception of hedonic rewards is the strongest predictor of frequency of use and the amount of non-financial investment made in the service. For men, perceived ease of use is negatively related with the amount of non-financial investment made, indicating that men are less likely to see the added value of personal investment, when it is easy to find what they are looking for. Lastly, older people perceive new digital entertainment platforms as less hedonically rewarding, less easy to use and less useful, suggesting that they are more favorably disposed towards traditional forms of entertainment, such as the traditional TV. The results of the second study are still in progress and will be presented at the 2018 GMC conference.

Tourism and hospitality service providers have been seeking ways to engage customers into the value creation process to deliver personalized customer experience. Rapid development of information communication technology has facilitated such practice by providing various computer-based or mobile platforms. While online platforms such as social network sites and online communities have received most research attention, mobile instant messaging (IM) remains under-researched in spite of its unique potential for firm-customer interaction and communication. Based on service-dominant logic (Vargo & Lusch, 2004) and computer-mediated communication theories (Walther, 1996), this study examines (1) the factors influencing customers’ perceived co-creation experience facilitated by mobile IM, and (2) customers’ perceived value of personalization results from such experience in the tourism and hospitality context. Data was collected via online survey targeting Chinese users and was analyzed using structural equation modelling. The results found significant positive effects of users’ perceived social presence, perceived media richness and prior experiences on their co-creation experience. The significant positive relationships between customers’ co-creation experience and perceived personalization of the service offering validate the unique potential of mobile IM to engage customers into value co-creation with tourism and hospitality service providers. The findings extend the theoretical framework of value cocreation to a context mediated by mobile IM. Managerial suggestions are provided for tourism and hospitality companies to engage with customers using mobile IM.

Service recovery strategies have been examined for their effectiveness in compensating for the customer’s loss and in restoring customer satisfaction. Current research on service recovery has largely focused on the customer involved. For instance, the most common recovery strategies hotels used for the guest involved are compensatory (e.g., discount), corrective (e.g., correction), and personal response (e.g., apology). Service recovery research suggest that, while corrective responses are viewed by customers as the minimal action, both apology and compensation have been shown to be effective in increasing customer satisfaction (e.g., Goodwin & Ross, 1992). Due to the prevalence of online reviews, our understanding of service failure and recovery must expand beyond the customer involved to include potential customers who are searching online. The difference between the customer involved and the potential customer is that while the focal customer suffered an economic or psychological loss, the potential customer has not. Past studies suggest that this difference may change the attribution tendency of potential customers (e.g., Wan, Chan, & Su, 2011). Consequently, one can expect that potential customers may use different criteria in assessing recovery strategies. For instance, in line with the equity theory which posits that people in general seek fairness in social interactions (Blodgett et al., 1997), potential customers might be more concerned about justice rather than the compensation. From the company’s perspective, in order to recover effectively from a service failure, it must know whether what works for the customer involved would also work for potential customers. The current research provides evidence that potential customers’ reaction to an online review and a hotel reply is contingent on the perceived similarity between this potential customer and the focal guest (i.e., the customer involved in the incident that the review describes), the type of hotel reply (i.e., no reply, apology, and explanation with no apology). Moreover, results suggest that the psychological mechanism that underlies this relationship is not due to negative emotions but a sense of vulnerability.

Boutique hotels have gained popularity across the world. Despite this, they still have to face fierce competition from large hotel chains to attract guests to stay. This study aims to investigate different factors which may contribute to generation Y/millenials' intention to stay at a boutique hotel. Questionnaires were distributed online to generation Y respondents. Data gained was analyzed using partial least square structural equation modelling. The findings suggest that knowledge of a boutique hotel has a significant positive influence towards perceived value of staying at a boutique hotel. Moreover, perceived authenticity and perceived value were also found to have positive significant influence on intention to stay at a boutique hotel. The findings of this study contribute to better understanding of the factors which drive millennial customers to stay at a boutique hotel. It is imperative that the boutique hotel managers deliver the promised values of their accommodation to the existing and potential customers. In addition to that, knowledge was also shown to influence perceived value of a boutique hotel, indicating a strong need to educate potential customers about the values of staying in a boutique hotel.

Nostalgia refers to the sentimental longing for the valued past (Sedikides, Wildschut, & Baden, 2004). It is considered a bittersweet emotion, involving both wistful joy and sadness (Sedikides et al., 2004). Nostalgia is also a social emotion. Nostalgic memories typically center on social activities involving the self and close others (Wildschut et al., 2010). Prior research has mainly focused on the social and emotional nature of nostalgic narratives, and researchers have only recently started to investigate the motivations triggered by the process of recalling nostalgic narratives. For example, recalling a nostalgic event can heighten people’s motivation to savor such an experience and prolong it (Huang, Huang, & Wyer, 2016). In the current research, we posit that thinking about nostalgic events can trigger another motivation, namely, a desire to revive the past. Whenever people experience nostalgic feelings, they are likely to perceive differences between the present and their memorable past and desire to go back in time (Hepper et al., 2012; Sedikides et al., 2004). This motivation, once activated, can lead people to take actions to change their current state in the hope of reviving the past (Koole & Jostmann, 2004; Kuhl, 1985). This tendency of taking actions to make changes may generalize to subsequent unrelated situations (Kruglanski et al., 2002), and consequently increase consumer switching behavior (Jiang, Zhan, & Rucker, 2014). These predictions were tested across five studies in various consumption contexts. Our findings contribute to consumer research in two important ways, (a) by demonstrating a novel motivational impact of nostalgia on consumer behavior, and (b) by delineating a systematic influence of an unexplored but pervasive emotional factor— nostalgia—on consumer switching behavior. This research also offers practical implications. Conventional wisdom suggests that nostalgia can make consumers prefer products reminiscent of the “old days”. Our findings show that nostalgia can have broader implications for consumer choices and marketers may use it to manage consumer switching behavior.

Online review sites such as Booking.com or Tripadvisor are considered to be the most accessible and valuable feedback platform in the hospitality industry (Verma et al., 2012; Xiang & Gretzel, 2010; Yoo & Gretzel, 2008). To keep pace with customers’ use of social media, hotels have recently begun to use customer-generated content or online reviews to assist in decision-making (Chan & Guillet, 2011; Leung et al., 2013) since reviews can affect customer satisfaction and ultimately hotel sales and profitability (e.g. Ye et al., 2011; Zhang et al., 2011; Kim et al., 2016; Berezina et al., 2016;). However, limited research efforts have been made to understand customers’ satisfactory and unsatisfactory experiences by analysis of online reviews (Kim et al., 2016; Berezina et al., 2016; Rhee & Yang 2015 a;b; Levy et al., 2013; Li et al., 2013; Kim et al., 2015; 2016; Kwok & Xie, 2016). Furthermore, the effect of different service characteristics on hotel performance is expected to be assymetrical and non-linear (Mikulic & Prebežac, 2008; Füller et al. 2006; Kim et al., 2016; Zhang and Cole, 2016). The objective of this study is to analyse online reviews and determine whether different hotel service characteristics have assymetrical or symmetrical effects on hotel customer satisfaction. A total of 8.540 online customer reviews (from Booking.com) for 42 4 and 5 star hotels in Athens, Greece were analysed in terms of the overall score of the hotel and the individual service characteristics (cleanliness; location/access; personnel quality; installation quality; room quality; food quality; service process quality, and perceived value) for a 2-year period. Data was analyzed using penalty-reward analysis (Mikulic & Prebežac, 2008) and the three factor (satisfiers, dissatisfiers, hybrid) theory of customer satisfaction (Matzler & Sauerwein, 2002; Matzler et al., 2003). Results show that there are indeed asymmetric effects on customer satisfaction. The most powerful frustrators are cleanliness and perceived value and the highest impact dissatisfier is room quality, followed by installation quality and food quality. Only personnel quality and location/access are hybrid factors, meaning that they can have symmetric effects on customer satisfaction. Also, no characteristic was found to be a satisfier or delighter showing that delighting customers is very difficult. Results also differ according to reason for travel (leisure / business) and type of traveller (solo, groups, families, friends). The results of this study can serve as a guide for customizing hotel services for each type of customer. This can lead to higher customer satisfaction and higher perceived overall performance of hotels as expressed in online reviews. Also, higher review ratings can influence overall profits.

As information technology advanced, customers’ service consumption process heavily shifted to the online environment, particularly social media and mobile. A new topic, customer engagement, has emerged along with the fast advancement of social media. Customer engagement refers to a type of customer behavior that is beyond purchase such as spreading word-of-mouth, providing recommendations to family and friends, interacting with fellow customers, and writing online reviews (Bijmolt et al., 2010; Verhoef, Reinartz, & Krafft, 2010). This study introduces the Flow theory, which is especially important to understand consumers’ online experiences, with the intention to shed light on how to better engage consumers in the hospitality industry (Bilgihan, Okumus, Nusair, & Bujisic, 2014; Hoffman & Novak, 2009). The purpose of this study is to examine the antecedents of flow and further investigate its influence on positive attitude and continuance intention among restaurant social media users. This study specifically examines restaurant customers who use social media through their smart phones in searching information and sharing experiences with others. A self-administered questionnaire was developed and a Structure equational modeling (SEM) was employed to test the proposed hypotheses. Study results support the hypotheses, indicating the importance of creating flow to increase customer engagement. Academically, this study contributes to the limited body of literature on flow experience and customer engagement in the hospitality context. Additionally, it provides practical insights for hospitality marketers on how to gain competitive advantages by strategically managing customer engagement on social media marketing through flow.