Article

An Examination of Retail Website Design and Conversion Rate

January 2016
Journal of Business Research 69(11)

DOI:10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.04.040

Authors:

Texas State University

Retailers and manufacturers widely use Internet retailing as part of a multichannel promotion and distribution strategy. The rate at which site visitors convert to customers is low for online retail, resulting in high customer acquisition costs. Almost 96% of website visits end with no consumer purchase. This study examines empirical associations between website features and online conversion rates through regression analysis. Results indicate that certain website design features do explain a sizeable portion of the variance converting e-commerce visitors to purchasers. Features that promote flow, a psychological state of immersion into an activity, positively associate with conversion.

The evolving direct‐to‐consumer retail model: A review and research agenda

Article

Full-text available

Jul 2023
Int J Consum Stud

The substantial growth of e‐commerce sales, driven by digital advancements, has enticed brands to sell direct‐to‐consumers (DTC) online. Despite the growth of the DTC online retail model in practice, academic literature remains fragmented. This systematic review is timely as it meets the need for a comprehensive understanding of the evolution of DTC over two decades of research to 2023. A SPAR‐4‐SLR protocol combined with a Theory–Context–Methods (TCM) approach examines the extant literature through a marketing lens. An analysis of 81 articles reveals a need for consumer behavior theories to underpin research on the DTC retail model. We conclude the review by identifying areas for further development, such as the need for research on the technology‐driven balance of power between brands, retailers, and consumers. Contextually, the authors highlight research opportunities on SME brands' internationalization and the DTC online luxury experience. Methodological directions include empirical qualitative studies and experiments on the emerging topics of technology‐enabled retail services and the experiential e‐commerce impact on customer experience. These future research undertakings will help us to better understand the DTC retail model.

Exploring the influence of artificial intelligence technology on consumer repurchase intention: The mediation and moderation approach

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2022
Tech Soc

Assessing the Impact of COVID-19 on Website Technology Penetration on Businesses in Rural Towns

Conference Paper

Full-text available

Jan 2022

Rural small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) represent a significant proportion of SMEs, are typically micro-enterprises (MSMEs), and face different challenges to their urban peers yet are typically under-represented in research. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated enterprise internet adoption and use however extant reports primarily focus on large enterprises and SMEs, as a whole. This paper examines web technology (WT) adoption by 849 businesses in five rural towns prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Longitudinal data is analysed by town, technology, and economic activity. We find that COVID-19 resulted in significant growth in the adoption of online advertising, cloud computing, and e-commerce by rural businesses. Rural businesses located in commuter towns adopted more WTs than those in other rural towns. Highly digitalised sectors increased their WT adoption more than those reliant on physical products or human interaction. Similarly, those who already had high levels of WTs in place adopted more sophisticated technologies.

Conversion Rate Prediction Based on Text Readability Analysis of Landing Pages

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2021
Entropy

Digital marketing has been extensively researched and developed remarkably rapidly over the last decade. Within this field, hundreds of scientific publications and patents have been produced, but the accuracy of prediction technologies leaves much to be desired. Conversion prediction remains a problem for most marketing professionals. In this article, the authors, using a dataset containing landing pages content and their conversions, show that a detailed analysis of text readability is capable of predicting conversion rates. They identify specific features that directly affect conversion and show how marketing professionals can use the results of this work. In their experiments, the authors show that the applied machine learning approach can predict landing page conversion. They built five machine learning models. The accuracy of the built machine learning model using the SVM algorithm is promising for its implementation. Additionally, the interpretation of the results of this model was conducted using the SHAP package. Approximately 60% of purchases are made by nonmembers, and this paper may be suitable for the cold-start problem.

Motivations for Obtaining and Redeeming Coupons from a Coupon App: Customer Value Perspective

Article

Full-text available

May 2021

Process mining in the context of information systems, which consists of information flows, has been one of the major research areas in the past decade. One of the most common objectives of process mining is the automated business process discovery. There are many challenges in the business process discovery, such as spaghetti models, same-name activities, and discovering loop structures. The researchers have presented a variety of methods that focus on one or more challenges. Due to the importance of commercial systems and the diversity of flows in them, in this research, the process mining problem in the context of social commerce systems is studied. Moreover, the research objective is to present a new method for commercial process discovery that has not been considered before. The proposed method is based on network analysis methods, multi-layered networks (networks with heterogeneous relations), and attributed networks. The results obtained from the proposed method are more precise and more comfortable to understand than the previous ones.

Addressing the Urban-Town-Rural Divide: The Digital Town Readiness Assessment Framework

Conference Paper

Full-text available

Nov 2020

Economic growth, job creation, better public services, and improved quality of life are just some of the benefits from the digital transformation of society. Policymakers worldwide are not only investing in the infrastructure to deliver this digital future but measurement and benchmarking to assess digital progress. These benchmarks are, for the most part, national benchmarks heavily influenced by broadband connectivity and an increasing focus on cities and metropolises. Against the backdrop of global urbanisation, towns outside the functional urban area of cities are in danger of both being depopulated and disconnected. This paper proposes a definition for a digital town and outlines eight rationales for digital towns. Based on these rationales and a review of existing benchmarking frameworks for digitisation, we present a framework for measuring digital readiness at a town level. The framework can be used by local stakeholders and regional and national policymakers to understand digital town readiness and digital competitiveness; compare a town against selected national and international benchmarks; and stimulate stakeholder engagement on digital strategies for town development.

What is Stopping You from Using Mobile Payment? A PLS-SEM Approach

Chapter

Oct 2022

Mobile payments are rapidly taking over the market with their convenience and speed, creating new payment and profit models for consumers and organizations. While they are beneficial the adoption is still at the infancy. On this basis, this study combines consumers’ perceived risk (e.g., affective risk and performance risk) and consumers’ perceived value (e.g., economic value, emotional value, function value, social value) as second-order constructs with ease of use to study on the willingness of consumer to use mobile payment. Results indicate that all the hypotheses are supported in this study. The research enriches the literatures of mobile payment and deepens the understanding of mobile payment usage from a developing country perspective. KeywordsMobile paymentPerceived ease of usePerceived valuePerceived riskPLS-SEM

What’s Stopping You from Migrating to Mobile Tourism Shopping?

Article

Dec 2021

Tourism shopping via mobile applications has revolutionized the tourism industry. The research examined the antecedents to the adoption of mobile tourism shopping (MTS) via an integrated model, consisting of the Mobile Technology Acceptance Model, consumer perception of merchant ethics, consumer decision-making styles, and characteristics of mobile applications. The results were empirically validated via the PLS-SEM-ANN method. The findings indicated that mobile usefulness, mobile ease of use, application quality, and service quality have significant positive correlations with the intention to use MTS, whereas privacy concern has displayed a significant negative relationship. Moreover, source reliability, application reputation, perfectionism, and novelty-fashion consciousness were revealed to be statistically insignificant to the development of adoption intention toward MTS. Furthermore, the ANN results have indicated the existence of a non-linear hidden attribute in the prediction of ANN Model A. The research has generated valuable theoretical implications and practical insights. For one, the advantages that come with the adoption of MTS and the security measures taken by the service providers should be highlighted to the prospects via effective marketing messages to nurture confidence, which can subsequently drive adoption.

Measuring the role of factors on website effectiveness using vector autoregressive model

Article

Sep 2021
J Retailing Consum Serv

Behavioral actions of online customers play an important role in influencing the website's effectiveness for online retailers and online business entities. The leading web analytics software measures the customers' behavior on a website using many key web metrics. However, the role of key metrics in measuring the dynamics nature of website effectiveness has largely been unexplored, especially for the non-transactional website. The study builds on flow theory to fill this gap. It presents a methodology to predict the website's effectiveness by examining the impact of three metrics (average session duration, repeat visit, and bouncing rate) on consumers' online behavioral outcomes witnessed through goal completion (GC) and goal conversion rate (GCR). Vector autoregressive (VAR) method is adopted to analyze the dynamic relations and effect among the metrics. The study provides an in-depth insight into the time-varying effect of each variable on website performance. The findings reveal that an engaged customer with high ASD (average session duration) or who revisits (RV) the site positively impacts GC and GCR. A negative effect of bouncing rate (BR) was found on goal conversion rate and goal completion. Interestingly, the study found granger causality between GC and GCR & ASD, and RV. Based on the findings, the study provides vital theoretical and managerial implications.

Determinants of the success of online retail in India

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2021

Web-store image dimensions and online retail customer loyalty: investigating mediators and moderators

Article

Jan 2021

Pavleen Soni

Purpose In an era of burgeoning activity in online retail in India, the role of web-store design is paramount. Web-store design elements such as website functionality, brand assortment and product quality are expected to generate customer loyalty. Design/methodology/approach Using data collected from 553 students from two universities in north India, the present study investigates the indirect effect of web-store dimensions (through website functionality, brand assortment and product quality) on online store loyalty via an enjoyment state (flow) and customer satisfaction. Serial mediation has been analysed through PROCESS macro developed by Hayes version 3.0. In addition to this, the moderating role of gender and purchase frequency has also been investigated. Findings The present study renders support to serial mediation between website functionality, flow, customer satisfaction and loyalty. However, the path between brand assortment and loyalty is more strongly mediated by customer satisfaction only. Males experience less flow as compared to females while handling brand assortment on websites. The three-way interaction between brand assortment, gender and purchase frequency is also statistically significant. Originality/value The study examines the manner in which online retailers can choose to build customer loyalty when they try to build retail image using web store functionality and /or product/brand assortments. The study offers insights to retailers about how and when to focus on hedonism versus customer satisfaction or both of them in conjunction to enhance customer loyalty. This study is important as it investigates the relationships in Indian scenario witnessing a high rate of growth in online retail which can tremendously affect these relationships.

Social Network and Social Commerce

Chapter

Jan 2021

A social network refers to a network of social interactions using various social media sites such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. This chapter will first explain various concepts of social commerce involving the use of social networks and then elaborate on the key characteristics of social commerce and will highlight how it is different from e-commerce. A discussion is included on the concept of cross-border social commerce and its specific characteristics. Further, this chapter examines the trends in social commerce adoption by companies to promote international sales and the related benefits and challenges. It also presents a discussion on the use of social networks to understand and influence cross-cultural consumer behaviour in social commerce. Additionally, this chapter explores how social commerce can specifically benefit SMEs and born global firms to reach a larger audience in foreign countries and includes a discussion on cross-border social commerce strategy for business.

What women want? How contextual product displays influence women's online shopping behavior

Article

Feb 2021

A lack of touch and feel options inhibits online purchases; to enhance online product presentations, this study suggests a potential influence of rich contextual product displays, relative to plain white backgrounds. The results of five studies reveal that the product usage context influences purchase intentions among female customers. Women and men differ in their decision-making processes and evaluate different attributes and benefits prior to purchase. Displaying a product in a rich contextual setting appears to enhance women's perceptions of emotional value, which heightens their purchase intentions. This article also explicates the additive effect of including contextual elements and confirms the robustness of these effects across product categories and price changes. These findings suggest various notable implications for academics and practitioners.

DECONSTRUCTING E-COMMERCE PRESENCES - A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND RESEARCH AGENDA

Conference Paper

Full-text available

May 2023

This literature review systematically analyses recent studies on the effective design of e-commerce presences in order to provide a state-of-the-art overview on this important topic. To do so, our review focuses on the level of webshop elements (i.e., the building blocks to design webshops), which we cluster in eight categories (e.g., color usage, music usage, rich media usage), derived from previous website quality frameworks (e.g., SITEQUAL, WebQual) and prior reviews. The basis of our comprehensive literature review are 91 articles grouped into the webshop element categories and additionally analyzed along three key study criteria, namely the applied research methods, theories, and key dependent variables. Based on the findings from this bibliographic analysis, we formulate an agenda for future research avenues to guide researchers in further exploring the field of e-commerce presences and to support practitioners in their decision-making on the implementation of webshop elements.

Destination Management Organization (DMO) Website Features: Does Its Influence Users’ Intention To Visit A Destination?

Article

May 2023

Comparison of Bigdata Application in User Behavior for Short Video Industry: TikTok and Xiaohongshu

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2022

Fangxing Li

With the progression of innovation, the applications created based on enormous information will gotten to be increasingly copious. Since the computing control of computers and the gigantic sum of information accessible are not easy issue, cleverly applications spoken to by manufactured insights and profound learning will ended up more astute. Within the setting of such industry competition, each brief video stage still must deeply understand the contrasts of its clients in numerous division measurements, so as to realize more precise advertise situating and define more sensible improvement methodologies. This article uses two platforms which analyze user behaviors depending on bigdata. AARRR Model is a technological tool that helps firms to find their problems. Bigdata is a basic section to build up such model. According to the analysis, the two companies built their own big data analysis methods based on this model to help them achieve greater success. These results shed light on guiding further exploration of big data analysis implementation for short video industry.

Influence Of Appscape In Developing Mobile Application Customer Experience And Post-Purchase Behavior Among People Of Pakistan

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2022

This study aims to examine the role of mobile application atmospherics in enhancing customer experience. This enhanced experience leads to trust and satisfaction, which in turn influences repurchase intention and generates positive word of mouth. A cross-sectional study, with an experimental design method and an online survey for data collection, were used to examine proposed relationships by developing a real mobile application. Mobile application atmospherics have a positive and stronger influence on customer experience. This enhanced experienced leads to developing trust and satisfaction on the application and in consequence results in repurchase intention from the same application store and spreading positive word of mouth about the app. The present study contributed to the existing literature of mobile app atmospherics and customer experience with consequence behavior. This study empirically investigated the role of mobile app atmospherics in customers' evaluations of experience and their positive responses towards the app by developing real application.

Detecting User Exits from Online Behavior: A Duration-Dependent Latent State Model

Preprint

Aug 2022

In order to steer e-commerce users towards making a purchase, marketers rely upon predictions of when users exit without purchasing. Previously, such predictions were based upon hidden Markov models (HMMs) due to their ability of modeling latent shopping phases with different user intents. In this work, we develop a duration-dependent hidden Markov model. In contrast to traditional HMMs, it explicitly models the duration of latent states and thereby allows states to become "sticky". The proposed model is superior to prior HMMs in detecting user exits: out of 100 user exits without purchase, it correctly identifies an additional 18. This helps marketers in better managing the online behavior of e-commerce customers. The reason for the superior performance of our model is the duration dependence, which allows our model to recover latent states that are characterized by a distorted sense of time. We finally provide a theoretical explanation for this, which builds upon the concept of "flow".

THE ROLE OF SERVICE QUALITY AND ONLINE TRUST IN MAINTAINING CLIENTS FOR MALAYSIAN ONLINE ENTERPRISES Citation (APA): Mutaz

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2021

─ Customer retention is critical for firms to optimise their profits. As a result, this study was created to examine the relationship between website design, privacy, online trust, customer satisfaction, and retention. The study employed a cross-sectional research design. The research was conducted quantitatively. The data was acquired from Islamic Banks' customers in Kuala Lumpur. The data were acquired using questionnaires adapted from previous studies. The questionnaire was constructed using a Likert scale and distributed randomly. The questionnaire was issued to 490 Islamic e-banking customers in Malaysia. The study received 64.48 percent of responses. Smart PLS 3 was used to evaluate the data. The study's findings indicated that website design, privacy, online trust, and e-satisfaction all affected client retention. Additionally, this study revealed statistical evidence supporting the mediation function of e-satisfaction. The study's conclusions can assist Islamic bankers in developing Islamic banking policies.

Convenient = competitive? How Brick-And-Mortar Retailers can cope with Online Competition

Article

Full-text available

Jul 2022

Due to the rise of online retailing, traditional brick-and-mortar retailers need to understand what customers find convenient when shopping at physical locations and focus their efforts on those convenience dimensions to remain competitive. We test a service convenience model in the auto-parts retailing industry and examine how various dimensions of service convenience affect customers’ perceptions of the retailer (i.e., service quality, product quality, and perceived value), and subsequently their behavior (i.e., customer loyalty and share of wallet). The results suggest that in traditional retailing, the most important convenience dimensions are decision convenience and benefit convenience. We find that service convenience exerts its effect on customer loyalty and share of wallet through perceived service quality and perceived value, and product quality has an indirect effect through perceived value. Service convenience is an important driver of customer loyalty and share of wallet, and this study demonstrates the mechanism through which it happens. Keywords Convenience · Quality · Value · Share of Wallet · Customer loyalty · Retail

Voice bots on the frontline: Voice-based interfaces enhance flow-like consumer experiences & boost service outcomes

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2022

Voice-based interfaces provide new opportunities for firms to interact with consumers along the customer journey. The current work demonstrates across four studies that voice-based (as opposed to text-based) interfaces promote more flow-like user experiences, resulting in more positively-valenced service experiences, and ultimately more favorable behavioral firm outcomes (i.e., contract renewal, conversion rates, and consumer sentiment). Moreover, we also provide evidence for two important boundary conditions that reduce such flow-like user experiences in voice-based interfaces (i.e., semantic disfluency and the amount of conversational turns). The findings of this research highlight how fundamental theories of human communication can be harnessed to create more experiential service experiences with positive downstream consequences for consumers and firms. These findings have important practical implications for firms that aim at leveraging the potential of voice-based interfaces to improve consumers' service experiences and the theory-driven "conversational design" of voice-based interfaces.

The Impact of Website Design and Customer Support on Customer Experience and Its Relation to Fintech Adoption Intention in Saudi Arabia

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2022

Very little research has been conducted on customer experience (CE) in fintech to date, especially in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of website design (WD) and customer support (CS) on CE and its relation to fintech adoption intention (AI) in Saudi Arabia. Data was gathered from 296 individuals by means of a survey. After checking the validity and reliability of the results, structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses. The results showed that WD and CS have a significant positive impact on CE. Also, WD and CE positively influence AI in fintech, while CS does not have a direct relation. Furthermore, CE mediates both WD and CS with AI. This paper provides further conceptual understanding of antecedents and consequences of CE in fintech. Practitioners in the fintech sector could benefit from results in achieving long-term goals. There are some limitations in the study that suggest the need for further studies.

Understanding the Influence of Mobile Interface of Shopee and Lazada on Customer Conversion

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2022

Mobile commerce is an industry that has rapidly grown in value over the years. Fewer customers now use their mobile devices only as a single functioning unit, expanding their purpose even to shopping. Despite its increasing popularity, recent literature reviews did not reveal a definitive study on m-commerce app interface quality and its relation to customer conversion. This paper aims to understand the influence of mobile interface on customer conversion by examining the top 2 e-commerce apps in the Philippines – Shopee and Lazada. The Regression analysis method is applied in determining relationships between variables. From a total of 385 participants, results show that dimensions of the mobile interface (visual appeal, layout quality, information quality) influence credibility and usability, except for in-app banners, which has a negligible effect on customers. The study has also found that all aspects of mobile interface positively influence customer conversion. On top of that, the researchers have also taken steps to discover that perceived trust and ease of use greatly affect customer conversion. Hence, when a customer finds an e-commerce platform to be trustworthy and user-friendly, the more they will be likely to purchase a product.

Designing for Trust on E-Commerce Websites Using Two of the Big Five Personality Traits

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2022

Online consumers perceived performing an online transaction as risky. The inability to trust the website is one reason why online consumers are reluctant to perform an online transaction. In this research study, 46 design features are examined to identify features that are able to increase the value of trust. Eighty-nine individuals participated in this research study. Participants completed one questionnaire which was divided into four parts. The questionnaire collected information on demographics, personality traits, trust and website design features. Data were analysed using quantitative statistical methods. A pilot test was conducted prior to the main experiment. Results indicate there are sixteen design features that have the ability to increase the level of trust amongst participants with the neuroticism trait. Fourteen design features had the ability to increase the level of trust amongst participants with the conscientiousness personality trait. E-commerce website designers could use these design features to increase the online consumer’s perception of trust on e-commerce websites.

The Digital Economy and Digital Business

Chapter

Full-text available

Feb 2022

It is well-established that the use of digital technologies can generate clear advantages for enterprises including cost savings, operational efficiency, IT resilience and scalability, easier access to new markets, and market effectiveness, amongst others. However, the adoption and use of digital technologies by rural businesses typically lags urban enterprises. This chapter introduces and defines the concept of the digital economy and digital business. It discusses the main benefits and challenges in the adoption and use of digital technologies by enterprises in general and by those in a rural context. The chapter concludes with a discussion of international frameworks and composite indices for measuring the adoption and use of digital technologies by businesses.

The Evaluation of Online Persuasion Criteria on E-Commerce Website using Persuasive System Design (PSD) Model

Article

Full-text available

Dec 2021

Persuasive technology in online shopping is proven to assist people while purchasing online. It is crucial to study how was the implementation of such successful persuasive technology in the e-commerce domain. Also, there are certain marketing strategies against consumers from different generational cohorts. Each generation has unique lifestyles, generational history, demographics, experiences, expectations and values that influence their buying behaviours. The persuasive design of e-commerce websites is related to the website conversion rate and is shown to support people throughout the online purchasing process. The objective of this research study is to evaluate the online persuasion criteria on two largest e-commerce websites in Malaysia; Lazada and Shopee through Persuasive System Design (PSD) principles. The four main categories of design technique applied in PSD are primary task support, dialogue support, credibility support and social support. The result shows that both selected e-commerce websites have applied 71.43% of the PSD principles. The most emphasize design technique in Lazada and Shopee is primary task support, followed by dialogue support. Most of the persuasive features in this model has implemented in both e-commerce websites. However, this research proved that the success of the e-commerce websites is related with the implemented persuasive feature which can be manipulated and implemented by other e-commerce websites.

Digital Health Experience: A Regulatory Focus Perspective

Article

Oct 2021
J INTERACT MARK

Digital technology is an integral part of today's healthcare, yet little is known about how these technologies affect healthcare customers' experience. This study uses regulatory focus theory to understand how consumers' role clarity, perceived usefulness, ease of use (i.e., promotion orientation), security, and trust (i.e., prevention orientation) when using digital health technology affect their experience. A nationwide study shows that customer experience is driven by promotion- and prevention-related variables concurrently. Results also show that customer experience with digital health technology positively affects customers' attitudes toward using digital technology. This study offers valuable insights for marketers, technology developers, and healthcare managers interested in understanding and improving healthcare customer experience.

Journey of customers in this digital era: Understanding the role of artificial intelligence technologies in user engagement and conversion

Article

Full-text available

Sep 2021
Benchmark Int J

Purpose The first research objective is to understand the role of digital [artificial intelligence (AI)] technologies on user engagement and conversion that has resulted in high online activities and increased online sales in current times in India. In addition, combined with changes such as social distancing and lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, digital disruption has largely impacted the old ways of communication both at the individual and organizational levels, ultimately resulting in prominent social change. While interacting in the virtual world, this change is more noticeable. Therefore, the second research objective is to examine if a satisfying experience during online shopping leads to repurchase intention. Design/methodology/approach Using primary data collected from consumers in a developing economy (India), we tested the theoretical model to further extend the theoretical debate in consumer research. Findings This study empirically tests and further establishes that deploying AI technologies have a positive relationship with user engagement and conversion. Further, conversion leads to satisfying user experience. Finally, the relationship between satisfying user experience and repurchase intention is also found to be significant. Originality/value The uniqueness of this study is that it tests few key relationships related to user engagement during this uncertain period (COVID-19 pandemic) and examines the underlying mechanism which leads to increase in online sales.

The Cost of Fairness in AI: Evidence from E-Commerce

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2022
BUS INFORM SYST ENG+

Contemporary information systems make widespread use of artificial intelligence (AI). While AI offers various benefits, it can also be subject to systematic errors, whereby people from certain groups (defined by gender, age, or other sensitive attributes) experience disparate outcomes. In many AI applications, disparate outcomes confront businesses and organizations with legal and reputational risks. To address these, technologies for so-called “AI fairness” have been developed, by which AI is adapted such that mathematical constraints for fairness are fulfilled. However, the financial costs of AI fairness are unclear. Therefore, the authors develop AI fairness for a real-world use case from e-commerce, where coupons are allocated according to clickstream sessions. In their setting, the authors find that AI fairness successfully manages to adhere to fairness requirements, while reducing the overall prediction performance only slightly. However, they find that AI fairness also results in an increase in financial cost. Thus, in this way the paper’s findings contribute to designing information systems on the basis of AI fairness.

The mediating role of security and privacy on the relationship between customer interface features and e-word of mouth marketing

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2021

Pınar Yürük-Kayapınar

Recent developments in technology have led to an increase in Internet usage by consumers and businesses. This study examines the relationships between customer interface features, security and privacy, electronic word of mouth marketing and online purchasing intentions. In order to examine these relationships, a total of 438 consumers were reached from Edirne, Tekirdağ and Kırklareli provinces by using the convenience sampling method. According to the research aim, consumers who made purchases via e-commerce sites were selected, and data were collected by interviewing these people face to face. In order to analyze the collected data, first explanatory and confirmatory factor analyzes were applied and then the hypotheses were tested with the structural equation model. According to the results, customization and character directly affect security and privacy, whereas interaction, character, and customization directly affect electronic word of mouth marketing. Thus, security and privacy have a significant direct effect on the electronic mouth of mouth marketing, while customization has a significant direct effect on online purchasing intention. In addition, customization and character significantly affect electronic word of mouth marketing through the mediating role of security and privacy.

A Stacking Ensemble of Multi Layer Perceptrons to Predict Online Shoppers' Purchasing Intention

Conference Paper

Jan 2021

With the rapid development of the internet, the field of E-Commerce has seen tremendous growth. The easy accessibility of viewing and purchasing products, and having it delivered to your doorstep is what makes E-Commerce extremely successful. E-Commerce also caters to almost every possible field, ranging from electronics to fashion to groceries. The number of visitors on E-Commerce websites is growing at a rapid pace, but the number of purchases remains constant. A novel stacking ensemble system has been proposed, which makes use of Multi-Layer Perceptron's to detect the intention of a user on whether a product would be purchased or not. 'Online Shoppers Purchasing Intention' Dataset has been used. The proposed stacking ensemble model achieved an accuracy of 94% in predicting whether a user will purchase a product or not, based on the session details. To evaluate the proposed system, it is compared to over 15 classification algorithms, as well as existing systems that make use of the dataset. The results obtained show that the proposed stacking classifier outperforms the various classification algorithms as well as existing systems that make use of the dataset.

COVID-19’s Effects on Turkish Online Retail Consumers’ Retail Website Visiting Behavior

Article

Full-text available

Jun 2020

Ahmet Türkmen

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the economy on a global scale with its impacts on the way people work, socialize, shop and more. With many people started working remotely, and adopting self-quarantine like measures, the changes they make in their lives inevitably shaped a new normal where they change their daily habits, shopping included. This study aims to find out how the online shoppers’ online retailer website visits are affected by the revealed daily new cases, deaths, and recoveries from COVID-19 pandemic. Results of the study shows that there is a strong correlation, in general, between the daily online retailer website visit numbers and daily COVID-19 progression in Turkey between the dates of 10/04/2020, the day Turkish government first announced a curfew in all major cities, and 01/08/2020. Further, 28/06/2020 is identified as the start of the “normalization period” as it was the date President Erdoğan made it public that Turkey was to resume intra-country transportation, public transportation services, and public places were to re-open on 01/07/2020. When the data is split from the start of the normalization process, it was seen that the correlations still exist with some exceptions in pre-normalization and normalization periods within the studied dates. Also, three patterns that websites from the same online retail category follow are defined. The results suggest that the online retailer websites’ number of visits are correlated with the COVID-19 statistics revealed by the Turkish Ministry of Health; ergo the online consumers’ behavior is affected by COVID-19 pandemic.

Self-Quantification of Services: Cost of Real-Time Feedback

Article

Sep 2023
J BUS RES

Financial Consequences of Adding Bricks to Clicks

Article

Jun 2023
INT J RES MARK

Persuasive landing page design to optimize conversion rate in e-commerce website

Conference Paper

Jan 2023

Retail Website Interactivity and Firm Performance

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2022

Interactivity is an important feature of retail websites. Some research suggests that interactivity can be increased by implementing additional features while other studies point to the fact that “objective” interactivity - as measured by the mere number of features - is quite different from perceived interactivity (PI). Interestingly, while there seems to be initial evidence about the consequences of PI, a comprehensive assessment of attitudinal and behavioral outcomes of PI as well as the impact of PI on (objective) website and firm performance using field data has not been offered. Our study attempts to fill that void. Based on objective performance data of the top 500 retail websites over two years as well as ratings on 35 interactivity features, we find the majority of objective interactivity indicators to be unrelated to PI. Perceived responsiveness and perceived control relate positively to retailers’ sales differences. Perceived communication and objective responsiveness show negative indirect effects on sales, giving rise to the assumption that unobserved heterogeneity of the retailers’ websites might explain these counterintuitive findings.

A Deep Markov Model for Clickstream Analytics in Online Shopping

Conference Paper

Apr 2022

Optimal Search Engine Marketing Strategy Customer Behaviour (Case studies from Saudi Arabia)

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2022

In the era of the information age, it is normal for a business to have an online attendance on the Internet. However, existence alone is insufficient; the business has to be obviously visible on the search engine whenever a user searches for a product or service provided by that type of business in order to survive and thrive in a competitive market. Thus, the significance of an optimal search engine marketing strategy is extremely important for marketers in particular and for businesses. This study, two case studies from Saudi Arabia were selected to explore this subject. The essay considered how the two selected case studies use Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and paid listings such as Pay Per Click (PPC). Data was gathered from secondary data such as that provided by government departments and business reports. The objective of this study is to understand and explore the massive contribution of paid listings and SEO as search engine tools, to examine how both can serve to raise the number of user/potential customer visits to business websites and to determine what the major challenges are with respect to when and why marketers should use paid listings and/or SEO. This Studyfound that both case studies invest a low budget in their SEO. In contrast, they both devoted a larger part of their search engine marketing budgets to PPC. However, it was found that SEO brings a higher number of clicks compared to PPC, suggesting that more visitors/users that business could be converted into actual customers. The recommendations of this study can be used to guide the marketers to correct their choice of an optimal search engine marketing strategy, in turn allowing businesses to more accurately determine their online marketing budget.

Optimal Search Engine Marketing Strategy Customer Behaviour (Case studies from Saudi Arabia)

Article

Mar 2022

Nawaf H. Alqahtani, Tahani H. Alqahtani Nawaf H. Alqahtani, Tahani H. Alqahtani

In the era of the information age, it is normal for a business to have an online attendance on the Internet. However, existence alone is insufficient; the business has to be obviously visible on the search engine whenever a user searches for a product or service provided by that type of business in order to survive and thrive in a competitive market. Thus, the significance of an optimal search engine marketing strategy is extremely important for marketers in particular and for businesses. This study, two case studies from Saudi Arabia were selected to explore this subject. The essay considered how the two selected case studies use Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and paid listings such as Pay Per Click (PPC). Data was gathered from secondary data such as that provided by government departments and business reports. The objective of this study is to understand and explore the massive contribution of paid listings and SEO as search engine tools, to examine how both can serve to raise the number of user/potential customer visits to business websites and to determine what the major challenges are with respect to when and why marketers should use paid listings and/or SEO. This Study found that both case studies invest a low budget in their SEO. In contrast, they both devoted a larger part of their search engine marketing budgets to PPC. However, it was found that SEO brings a higher number of clicks compared to PPC, suggesting that more visitors/users that business could be converted into actual customers. The recommendations of this study can be used to guide the marketers to correct their choice of an optimal search engine marketing strategy, in turn allowing businesses to more accurately determine their online marketing budget.

Navigating in Online Stores: The Effect of the Primary Navigation on Consumers’ Response-a Study Based on the Apparel E-Retailer

Article

Mar 2022
ELECTRON COMMER R A

We use one eye-tracking experiment and two laboratory experiments to examine how the primary navigation (novel versus ordinary) of the apparel e-retailer influenced consumers’ attention, novelty perception, arousal, and approach behavior. Results show that the novel primary navigation leads to increased attention, novelty perception, and arousal and an increased willingness to approach the online store. Novelty perception and arousal serially mediate the effect of the primary navigation on approach behavior. In the relationship between the primary navigation and consumers’ approach behavior, the atmospheric responsiveness plays a moderating role. This study provides managerial implications for online store owners about the design of the primary navigation.

PAZARLAMA 5.0: PAZARLAMANIN DİJİTAL ORTAMDAKİ İŞLEMLERİ

Chapter

Mar 2022

Ayşe Ersoy Yıldırım

Dünyanın döngüsünü değiştiren teknoloji, endüstriyi yeniden şekillendirmiştir. Endüstriyi oluşturan ve endüstriye hizmet eden işletmelerin, bütünleştirici ve tamamlayıcı konumundaki pazarlama unsurlarının dönüşümüyle, pazarlama da bu evrimin parçası olmuştur. Tarım, tekerlek, elektrik, matbaa, buharlı makineler, kimyasallar, petrol derken gelişen pazarda tüketiciler, davranış ve eylemlerinin ne ölçüye kadar kaydedildiğinin, satıldığının ve pazarlama amaçlı kullanıldığının pek de farkında değilken günümüzde artık mikro işlemcilerin teknoloji ve gündelik hayatın devamlılığındaki evrim anlarına şahit olmaktadır. Özellikle 2020 yılında dünyayı etkisi altına alan Koronavirüs salgınıyla dijitalleşmeye geçiş hız kazanmış, eğitimden iş yaşamına, sağlıktan iletişime, alışverişten rekreasyona kadar hayat, dijital dünyaya taşınmıştır. Siber- fiziksel sistemlere ve dinamik veri işlemeye dayalı olarak bütün nesnelerin bağlantı kurarak, birbirleriyle etkileşim ve iletişim içinde bulunabildiği böylesi bir dijitalleşme daha önce görülmüş bir şey değildir. Dijital ortamdaki işlemlerin, IoT, Blockchain, Robot Teknolojileri, Artırılmış Gerçeklik, Sanal Gerçeklik gibi sınırsız etkileşimli teknolojilerle bütünleşmesiyle iş süreçlerinin başlangıcında ve devamında, pazarlama stratejilerinin hayata geçirilmesinde ve geri bildirim mekanizmasının gerekçelendirilmesi gibi pazarlamayı yakından ilgilendiren konularda daha da işe yarar hale geleceği düşünülmektedir. Bu nedenle önümüzdeki yıllarda Pazarlama 5.0 uygulamalarının dünyayı muazzam değişimlere doğru sürükleyeceği öngörülmektedir.

Elektronik Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi ® www.esosder.org Electronic Journal of Social Sciences SOSYAL MEDYADA ETKĠLEġĠM VE DÖNÜġÜM ORANI ARASINDAKĠ ĠLĠġKĠNĠN ĠNCELENMESĠNE YÖNELĠK FACEBOOK ÖRNEĞĠ THE FACEBOOK EXAMPLE OF EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ENGAGEMENT AND CONVERSION RATE IN SOCIAL MEDIA

Article

Full-text available

Jan 2022

Bu çalışmada e-ticaret sitelerine ait Facebook hesaplarında paylaşılan çeşitli içerik türleri ile web sitesinde yapılan satın almalar arasındaki ilişkinin incelenmesi amaçlanmaktadır. Bu bağlamda, Katz (1959) tarafından geliştirilmiş olan kullanım ve memnuniyet teorisine dayanan ve medya araştırmacıları tarafından takipçilerin yapılan paylaşımlarla etkileşime girme nedenlerini araştırdıkları ‗Bilgilendirici‘, ‘Eğlendirici‘ ve ‗Ödüllendirici‘ içerik türleri kullanılmaktadır. Facebook sayfasında seçilen firmanın ilgili içeriklerinin belirlenmesine yönelik 342 adet paylaşımı için İçerik Analizinden yararlanılmıştır. Gerçekleştirilen kodlamalara ilişkin kodlayıcılar arası güvenilirlik katsayısı 0,93 olarak tespit edilmiş olup, belirlenen içeriklere yönelik etkileşim oranları hesaplanmıştır. Her bir içeriğe ait etkileşim oranları, Web sitesi dönüşüm oranlarıyla karşılaştırılarak, bu oranlar arasındaki ilişki incelenmiştir. Ayrıca bu ilişkiyi daha geniş açıdan değerlendirmek için yapılan paylaşımlarda web sitesine yönlendiren linklerin olup olmamasının etkileri de incelenmiştir. Elde edilen bulgular, içerik türlerine göre etkileşim oranlarının gösterdiği farklılıkları ve bunun neticesinde takipçi etkileşimlerinin web sitesinde satın almaya hangi oranlarda dönüştüğünü ortaya koymaktadır. Çalışma bu yönüyle literatüre özgün bir değer katarken Facebook sayfa yöneticileri için de bakış açısı kazandırabilecek sonuçlara sahip olmaktadır.

Etkileşimden Dönüşüme Tüketici Mutasyonu: Türkiye’de Örnek İşletme İncelemesi

Article

Full-text available

Nov 2021

Bu çalışmada e-ticaret sitelerine ait Facebook hesaplarında paylaşılan çeşitli içerik türleri ile web sitesinde yapılan satın almalar arasındaki ilişkinin incelenmesi amaçlanmaktadır. Bu bağlamda, Katz (1959) tarafından geliştirilmiş olan kullanım ve memnuniyet teorisine dayanan ve medya araştırmacıları tarafından takipçilerin yapılan paylaşımlarla etkileşime girme nedenlerini araştırdıkları ‘Bilgilendirici’, ’Eğlendirici’ ve ‘Ödüllendirici’ içerik türleri kullanılmaktadır. Facebook sayfasında seçilen firmanın ilgili içeriklerinin belirlenmesine yönelik 341 adet paylaşımı için İçerik Analizinden yararlanılmıştır. Gerçekleştirilen kodlamalara ilişkin kodlayıcılar arası güvenilirlik katsayısı 0,93 olarak tespit edilmiş olup, belirlenen içeriklere yönelik etkileşim oranları hesaplanmıştır. Her bir içeriğe ait etkileşim oranları, Web sitesi dönüşüm oranlarıyla karşılaştırılarak, bu oranlar arasındaki ilişki incelenmektedir. Ayrıca bu ilişkiyi daha geniş açıdan değerlendirmek için yapılan paylaşımlarda web sitesine yönlendiren linklerin olup olmamasının etkileri de incelenmektedir. Elde edilen bulgular, içerik türlerine göre etkileşim oranlarının gösterdiği farklılıkları ve bunun neticesinde takipçi etkileşimlerinin web sitesinde satın almaya hangi oranlarda dönüştüğünü ortaya koymaktadır. Çalışma bu yönüyle literatüre özgün bir değer katarken Facebook sayfa yöneticileri için de bakış açısı kazandırabilecek sonuçlara sahip olmaktadır.

The effect of consumer group breadth and depth on movie sales: the mediating effect of eWOM-to-viewing ratio

Article

Sep 2021
Asia Pac J Market Logist

Purpose The purpose of this study is to analyze the effect on movie performance of the breadth and depth of consumer groups targeted by movies and to analyze the ways in which electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) mediates these relationships. Design/methodology/approach For empirical analysis, 45 days of sales and eWOM data for 63 movies released in Korea in 2017 were collected, and a panel regression analysis was conducted on a total of 2,835 data items. In addition, the analysis was rigorously verified through three robustness tests. Findings The breadth and depth of consumer groups targeted by movies have a non-linear relationship with sales, and this relationship is mediated by the eWOM performance of social media websites. In addition, eWOM performance has a non-linear relationship with sales, and these effects differ depending on the type of eWOM platform involved. Originality/value The effects of the breadth and depth of the consumer groups targeted by movies on eWOM performance and movie performance have not been sufficiently investigated. This paper expands on previous studies that reported a linear relationship between eWOM and sales by finding that the effects of consumer group breadth and depth on sales are not linear in terms of the mediation of eWOM performance. In addition, a new research direction is suggested by conceptualizing consumer group breadth and depth using eWOM data, on which basis the new concept of eWOM-to-viewing ratio (eWOM ratio) is proposed.

Beauty matters: reducing bounce rate by aesthetics of experience product portal page

Article

Jun 2021
IND MANAGE DATA SYST

Purpose This study aims to investigate the impact of experience product portal page aesthetics on bounce rate. Design/methodology/approach This research collected data from an online shop selling original design furniture on Taobao.com. It employed deep learning algorithm and manual coding to operationalize image and text aesthetics. Findings The empirical results indicate that text aesthetics has a U-shaped relationship with bounce rate, whereas the relationship between image aesthetics and bounce rate is insignificant. Moreover, the U-shaped relationship between text aesthetics and bounce rate is weakened by image aesthetics. Originality/value This study addresses an important but understudied topic – the bounce rate of experience products in the context of e-commerce. Although the high bounce rate has increasingly gained attention from practitioners, there remains a scarcity of research that addresses the effect of product portal page aesthetics in the specific context of experience products. The authors theorize product portal page aesthetics as the design elements of an e-commerce website and deeply analyzed the role of product portal page aesthetics by classifying it into text aesthetics and image aesthetics. The authors’ findings provide implications for online sellers and platforms to effectively design product profile pages to reduce the bounce rate.

Quo vadis, e-commerce? Insights on and innovative approaches towards selected current challenges in the e-commerce context

Thesis

Apr 2021

Theresa Maria Rausch

E-commerce has seen a steady increase in usage since its establishment in the 1970s and 80s: By 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population (4,913.9M people) are expected to be e-commerce users. Throughout these decades, e-commerce businesses had to face a variety of different challenges, which, to some extent, determined their survival within their competitive environment. Within this thesis, two selected current phenomena are shed light on with which e-commerce businesses are struggling: A shift within society’s mindset towards environmental awareness and analytical approaches to manage the infinite pool of data about online consumer behavior. Since both research fields have an extremely granular spectrum of different facets, many sub-facets still lack a comprehensive investigation. The overall purpose of this research is thus twofold: (1) Gathering insights on consumers’ sustainable clothing consumption behavior and (2) proposing Artificial Intelligence-driven approaches for analytical problems in the e-commerce context. More specifically, Part A focuses on consumers’ sustainable clothing consumption behavior as the textile industry causes an excessive environmental footprint considering valuable resources as ever inexhaustible and, simultaneously, yields the highest sales among all e-commerce segments. Research Paper No. 1 hence takes a macro-perspective on sustainable clothing consumption behavior by examining the determinants of consumers’ purchase intention for sustainable clothing and factors influencing the intention-behavior gap. Research Paper No. 2 and No. 3 take a deeper dive and provide micro-perspectives on the topic: the impact of specific sustainable clothing attributes on customer satisfaction is investigated (Research Paper No. 2). To complement these findings, the importance of specific sustainable clothing (and online shop) attributes is then compared to the importance of specific conventional clothing (and online shop respectively) attributes (Research Paper No. 3). Within Part B of this thesis, Research Paper No. 4 and No. 5 focus on call center arrivals’ forecasting as call centers still constitute an essential customer touchpoint for e-commerce businesses: Reliable forecasts can enhance customer satisfaction with shortened waiting times and avoid overstaffing (and thus, unnecessary costs). Research Paper No. 4 therefore investigates the trade-off between accuracy and practicability of different machine learning models as these have been neglected by traditional forecasting literature. Research Paper No. 5 draws on these preceding findings and proposes a new dynamic harmonic regression model by incorporating the benefits of both approaches without (i.e., time series models) and with explanatory variables (i.e., machine learning and regression models). Research Paper No. 6 considers another prediction problem, which is particularly inherent to the online context of e-commerce, i.e., online shopping cart abandonment. It investigates the trade-off between accuracy and practicability of machine learning models for shopping cart abandonment prediction. Overall, this thesis allows the reader to gather a better understanding of the underlying challenges by providing fruitful insights and proposes different approaches as a solution. Thereby, it makes several key contributions to extant literature and provides essential insights and implications for practitioners.

Session stitching using sequence fingerprinting for web page visits

Article

Apr 2021
DECIS SUPPORT SYST

The nature of people's web navigation has significantly changed in recent years. The advent of smartphones and other handheld devices has given rise to web users consulting websites with more than one device, or using a shared device. As a result, large volumes of seemingly disjoint data are available, which when analysed together can support decision-making. The task of identifying web sessions by linking such data back to a specific person, however, is hard. The idea of session stitching aims to overcome this by using machine learning inference to identify similar or identical users. Many such efforts use various demographic data or device-based features to train matching algorithms. However, often these variables are not available for every dataset or are recorded differently, making a streamlined setup difficult. Besides, the often result in vast feature spaces which are hard to use for actionable interpretation. In this paper, we present an alternative approach based on the fingerprinting of web pages visited by users in a single session. By learning behavioural patterns from these sequences of page visits, we obtain features that can be used for matching without requiring sensitive user-agent data such as IP, geo location, or device details as is common with other approaches. Using these sequential fingerprints does not rely on pre-defined features, but only requires the recording of web page visits, making our approach actionable. The approach is empirically tested on real-life web logs and compared with matching using regular user-agent features and state-of-the-art embedding techniques. Results in an ecommerce context show sequential features can still obtain strong performance with fewer features, facilitating decision-making on session stitching and inform subsequent related activities such as marketing or customer analysis.

Journal of Business strategies Customer Experience in On Line Store Environment Based on the Stimulus- Organism-Response (SOR) Framework

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2021

Nima Soltani-Nejad

Perceived Risk, Trust and Familiarity of Online Multi-Sided Pure-Play Platforms Selling Physical Offerings in an Emerging Market

Article

Full-text available

Aug 2019

Understanding how customers perceive trust and risk when engaging with online pure-play multi-sided platforms (MSPs), has become critical to the performance of digital marketing strategies. This study explored the relationship between perceived trust, perceived risk and user familiarity associated with MSPs. For the purpose of this study, MSPs are conceptualised as firms that operate only online, that seek to provide transacting services to buyers and sellers, and that sell physical offerings in an emerging market context. Primary data were collected through an online instrument across five MSPs and the study reported the results pertaining to differences and similarities between groups and platforms. The results show that while familiarity drives trust, its impact is moderated by perceived risk. Contrary to common belief, the results show gender differences, but do not confirm age differences in trust and the moderation effect of risk. Moreover, the results also show that the influence of familiarity is not significantly different across MSPs.

Drivers of managers’ affect (emotions) and corporate website usage: a comparative analysis between a developed and developing country

Article

Oct 2020
J BUS IND MARK

Purpose Existing literature reveals a general lack of research on business-to-business (B2B) ecommerce showcasing how managers’ affect plays a role in enhancing their attitude toward the businesses they work with. The purpose of this study is to fill that void by ascertaining whether managers’ corporate website knowledge, corporate website expertise and affect toward a corporate site influence their attitude toward the corporate website. It also investigates whether managers’ attitude guides corporate website usage intention in the context of two culturally diverse countries. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from managers from the USA and Kuwait using an online survey method. Structural equation modeling using EQS 6.2 software was used for analysis. Findings The results indicate that corporate Web knowledge influences Web expertise and affect in the US sample; in the Kuwaiti sample, Web knowledge influences Web expertise but does not influence affect. The findings in both studies reveal that managers’ knowledge about the Web has a positive effect on their attitude toward a business website. For Kuwaiti managers, Web expertise has a positive influence on affect. However, Web expertise does not influence managers’ affect in the US sample. The results further suggest that affect influences a manager’s attitude toward corporate websites in the US and Kuwaiti samples. Originality/value Self-efficacy and affect infusion theories serve as the foundation for this study. This research adds to these two theories in three ways. First, it examines the combined influence of affect and attitude on B2B managers’ intent to use a corporate website. Second, it proposes a single model that examines the combined relationships among managers’ knowledge and managers’ Web expertise that elicit managerial affect toward corporate websites. Third, the proposed model was tested using samples from two diverse countries (developed, the USA, and developing, Kuwait).

A Grounded Theory of Online Shopping Flow

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2015

With the increasing number of websites that have found their way into our daily lives, substantial resources are invested in enhancing user experience beyond mere functionality. Optimizing flow—the psychological state of deep focus while conducting a fluent activity—seems a promising approach, resulting in a win–win situation for both users and website operators. Flow has been found to result in " optimal " user experience leading to intrinsically motivated behavior, engagement, and loyalty. However, to date, there is little concrete knowledge of or advice on how to design a website for flow. This study develops a grounded theory of flow experiences in the context of online shopping, and sheds light on the theoretical relationships between concrete realizable website design options, corresponding latent constructs, and flow experience. Based on our findings we derive theoretical as well as practical implications for understanding and designing flow experience on the web.

Effects of Interactivity in a Web Site: The Moderating Effect of Need for Cognition

Article

Full-text available

Mar 2005

This paper examines how consumers process the information available, and what their experiences are, when exposed to an interactive Web site as compared with a noninteractive Web site. The experiment developed analyzes two versions of a Web site in which the capacity to interact with the message has been manipulated. The results show that the interactive Web site leads to more information processing, higher favorability toward the product and the Web site, and greater flow state intensity. In addition, the findings confirm the hypothesized moderating effect of need for cognition on information processing. Implications for new media researchers and practitioners are discussed.

Converting Web Site Visitors into Buyers: How Web Site Investment Increases Consumer Trusting Beliefs and Online Purchase Intentions

Article

Full-text available

May 2006
J MARKETING

The authors investigate the impact of Web site design investments on consumers' trusting beliefs and online pur-chase intentions. Such investments signal the component of trusting beliefs that is most strongly related to online purchase intentions: ability. These effects were strongest when consumers' goals were to search rather than to browse and when purchases involved risk.

Measuring the Customer Experience in Online Environments: A Structural Modeling Approach

Article

Full-text available

Feb 2000

Intuition and previous research suggest that creating a compelling online environment for Web consumers will have numerous positive consequences for commercial Web providers. Online executives note that creating a compelling online experience for cyber customers is critical to creating competitive advantage on the Internet. Yet, very little is known about the factors that make using the Web a compelling experience for its users, and of the key consumer behavior outcomes of this compelling experience. Recently, the flow construct has been proposed as important for understanding consumer behavior on the World Wide Web, and as a way of defining the nature of compelling online experience. Although widely studied over the past 20 years, quantitative modeling efforts of the flow construct have been neither systematic nor comprehensive. In large parts, these efforts have been hampered by considerable confusion regarding the exact conceptual definition of flow. Lacking precise definition, it has been difficult to measure flow empirically, let alone apply the concept in practice. Following the conceptual model of flow proposed by Hoffman and Novak (1996), we conceptualize flow on the Web as a cognitive state experienced during navigation that is determined by (1) high levels of skill and control; (2) high levels of challenge and arousal; and (3) focused attention; and (4) is enhanced by interactivity and telepresence. Consumers who achieve flow on the Web are so acutely involved in the act of online navigation that thoughts and perceptions not relevant to navigation are screened out, and the consumer focuses entirely on the interaction. Concentration on the navigation experience is so intense that there is little attention left to consider anything else, and consequently, other events occurring in the consumer's surrounding physical environment lose significance. Self-consciousness disappears, the consumer's sense of time becomes distorted, and the state of mind arising as a result of achieving flow on the Web is extremely gratifying. In a quantitative modeling framework, we develop a structural model based on our previous conceptual model of flow that embodies the components of what makes for a compelling online experience. We use data collected from a largesample, Web-based consumer survey to measure these constructs, and we fit a series of structural equation models that test related prior theory. The conceptual model is largely supported, and the improved fit offered by the revised model provides additional insights into the direct and indirect influences of flow, as well as into the relationship of flow to key consumer behavior and Web usage variables. Our formulation provides marketing scientists with operational definitions of key model constructs and establishes reliability and validity in a comprehensive measurement framework. A key insight from the paper is that the degree to which the online experience is compelling can be defined, measured, and related well to important marketing variables. Our model constructs relate in significant ways to key consumer behavior variables, including online shopping and Web use applications such as the extent to which consumers search for product information and participate in chat rooms. As such, our model may be useful both theoretically and in practice as marketers strive to decipher the secrets of commercial success in interactive online environments.

Website design: Viewing the web as a cognitive landscape

Article

Full-text available

Jul 2004
J BUS RES

Web content has been identified as one of the main factors contributing to repeat visits. As content on the web includes text, pictures, graphics, layout, sound, motion and, someday, even smell, making the right web content decisions are critical to effective web design. While an understanding of marketing strategies that attract visitors to websites is beginning to emerge, how to convert web surfers to repeat visitors is a less well-understood phenomenon. Through an empirical study, the authors develop the Website Preference Scale (WSPS) based upon the work in environmental psychology of Rachel Kaplan and Stephen Kaplan. The results identify underlying dimensions of effective website design and provide insight into site design characteristics, which may lead to a higher likelihood of revisit.

The Influence of Avatars on Online Consumer Shopping Behavior

Article

Full-text available

Oct 2006
J MARKETING

An impediment to Web-based retail sales is the impersonal nature of Web-based shopping. A solution to this problem is to use an avatar to deliver product information. An avatar is a graphic representation that can be animated by means of computer technology. Study 1 shows that using an avatar sales agent leads to more satisfaction with the retailer, a more positive attitude toward the product, and a greater purchase intention. Study 2 shows that an attractive avatar is a more effective sales agent at moderate levels of product involvement, but an expert avatar is a more effective sales agent at high levels of product involvement.

Understanding Web home page perception

Article

Full-text available

Apr 2005

A home page is the gateway to an organization's Web site. To design effective Web home pages, it is necessary to understand the fundamental drivers of user's perception of Web pages. Not only do designers have to understand potential users' frame of mind, they also have at their choosing a stupefying array of attributes - including numerous font types, audio, video, and graphics - all of which can be arranged on a page in different ways, compounding the complexity of the design task. A theoretical model capable of explaining user reactions at a molar level should be invaluable to Web designers as a complement to prevalent intuitive and heuristic approaches. Such a model transcends piecemeal page attributes to focus on overall Web page perceptions of users. Reasoning that people perceive the cyberspace of Web pages in ways similar to their perception of physical places, we use Kaplan and Kaplan's informational model of place perception from the field of environmental psychology to predict that only two dimensions: understanding of information on a Web page, and the involvement potential of a Web page, should adequately capture Web page perception at a molar level. We empirically verify the existence of these dimensions and develop valid scales for measuring them. Using a home page as a stimulus in a lab experiment, we find that understanding and involvement together account for a significant amount of the variance in the attitude toward the Web page and in the intention to browse the underlying Web site. We show that the informational model is a parsimonious and powerful theoretical framework to measure users' perceptions of Web home pages and it could potentially serve as a guide to Web page design and testing efforts.

How to Acquire Customers on the Web?

Article

Full-text available

May 2000
HARVARD BUS REV

Most retailers on the Web spend more to acquire customers than they will ever get back in revenue from them. Many think that sky-high spending on marketing is necessary to stake out their share of Internet space. But is it really? How do retailers know how much to pay? Consider CDnow, which has developed a multifaceted customer-acquisition strategy that reflects a clear understanding of the economics of an on-line business. At the heart of its strategy is affiliate marketing, a concept the company pioneered. Under its BuyWeb program, anyone can put a link to CDnow on his or her Web site, and if a customer uses that link to arrive at CDnow and make a purchase, the referring site owner gets a percentage of the sale. CDnow pays no money if no sale is made, which makes the marketing program completely efficient. But CDnow didn't stop there. Being a Web store, it had complete data on the number of visitors to its site and what they bought, which it used to work out the lifetime value of an average customer. CDnow used that figure to determine how much to wager on the expensive and risky world of traditional advertising to reach a wider audience that wasn't already on-line. CDnow's experience, still a work in progress, contradicts John Wanamaker's oft-quoted lament: "I know half the money I spend on advertising is wasted, but I can never find out which half." As the CDnow example demonstrates, there is a way to find out which half really works.

The Influence of Avatars on Online Consumer Shopping Behavior

Article

Oct 2006
J MARKETING

A synthesis of research on the properties of effective Internet commerce Web sites

Article

Dec 2002

This study synthesizes 59 studies of properties characterizing successful Internet commerce Web sites. These include 51 subjective studies, based on designers' opinions, and eight empirical studies based on Web users' ratings of sites. Statements about properties from the literature were coded into standard property phrases. A total of 68 standard phrases were found, such as "Simple uncluttered page design." Standard phrases were organized into 12 property groups containing closely related phrases. A compendium of the property groups and standard phrases is presented. For each phrase, citations are given for the studies mentioning the phrase. The most frequently mentioned property groups include: easy to understand and use, good values of the traditional store, customer services beyond expectations, efficient and fast, an effective home page, products quickly and easily found, a common design which is applied to all pages, and buying products is fast and easy.

In Internet branding, the off-lines have it

Article

Jan 2000

R. Harvin

Modeling online consumer behavior: Preeminence of emotions and moderating influences of need for cognition and optimal stimulation level

Article

Jun 2015
J BUS RES

The Global Internet Shopper: Evidence from Shopping Tasks in Twelve Countries

Article

May 2001
J ADVERTISING RES

Globally, the characteristics of a website that are critical to increasing the likelihood that customers will shop at that site and will come back for future purchases are largely unknown. Actual shopping tasks by 299 respondents from 12 countries indicate that site quality, trust, and positive affect toward it are critical in explaining both the purchase intentions and loyalty of visitors to the site. This research indicates that the impact of these factors varies across different regions of the world and across different product categories. Results of this research highlight the need to tailor websites according to each world region and product being offered for sale.

Shopping online for goods vs. services: Where do experiential features help more?

Article

Mar 2015
Int J Consum Stud

This study investigates how the type of offer sold online (goods vs. services) moderates the relationships between perceived experiential values and customers' attitudes towards the website. A sample of 107 e-shoppers of services and 110 e-shoppers of physical goods responded to a survey on their most recent e-shopping experiences. Results support the majority of hypotheses. It was found that although offering experiential values on the site improves customers' attitudes for both physical goods and services websites, the impact is much stronger in the case of services. Theoretical and managerial contributions are discussed.

The Influence of Website Dimensionality on Customer Experiences, Perceptions and Behavioral Intentions: An Exploration of 2D vs. 3D Web Design

Article

Jan 2015
INFORM MANAGE-AMSTER

As online retailers seek to attract customers through innovative electronic storefront designs, some are experimenting with three-dimensional (3D) websites. Drawing on Kaplan's theory of environmental preferences, this study extends the cognitive absorption nomological net and examines the influence of website dimensionality on cognitive absorption, perceptions of website usefulness and ease of use, as well intention to buy online using the website. Findings indicate that, while website dimensionality influences absorption, perceived ease of use and, indirectly, perceived usefulness, the relationships are not always in the direction predicted based on the Kaplan's theory. Implications for research and practice are discussed. Article can be downloaded from http://www.datastore.ro/lucianvisinescu/research.html

Toward a conceptualization of the online shopping experience

Article

May 2014
J Retailing Consum Serv

Interactive functions and their impacts on the appeal of internet presence sites

Article

Mar 1998

Internet Presence Sites (IPS) are becoming important mechanisms for marketing communication. Therefore it is vital to understand what affects the attractiveness of a firm's IPS. In this research, we focus on the multidimensional factor of interactivity. We use statistical models such as Logit to evaluate the effects of interactivity on IPS appeal. We find that the greater the degree of interactivity, the more likely it is for the IPS to be considered as a top site. Additionally we find that the "customer support" component of interactivity has a significant positive impact on the likelihood of an IPS being included in a list of high-quality Web sites. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for design of corporate Web sites.

Determinants of Reach and Loyalty – A Study of Website Performance and Implications for Website Design

Article

Nov 2007

For many organizations the corporate website has emerged as the primary vehicle for inter-organizational and intra- organizational information exchange, as well as for sales and promotion activities. The performance of websites in terms of the extent to which they can attract and retain traffic, strongly influences the volume of business transacted on them. Iden- tification of factors that influence website performance is there- fore necessary, for appropriately focusing website development efforts toward specific design parameters and including relevant performance-influencing features within the website. Although studies have described different characteristics related to web- sites, a systematic and comprehensive identification of ante- cedents to website performance is missing. This paper is based on an empirical study of the performance of 190 websites. It identifies seven factors that influence two different measures of website performance, the Reach and Loyalty. Information content, usability, ease-of-navigation and security are significant predictors of Reach. Ease-of-navigation, customization, security and availability are determinants of Loyalty. The paper explains these results and uses them to suggest guidelines for website design.

Modeling Purchase Behavior at an E-Commerce Web Site: A Task-Completion Approach

Article

Aug 2004

Abstract The authors develop and estimate a model,of online buying using clickstream data from a Web site that sells cars. The model,predicts online buying,by linking the purchase,decision to what,visitors do and to what,they are exposed,while at the site. Predicting Internet buying poses several modeling,challenges. These include: (1) online buying,probabilities are usually low which can lead to a lack of predictive and explanatory power from models, (2) it is difficult to effectively account for what Web users do, and to what they are exposed, while browsing a site, and (3) because online stores reach a diverse user population across many competitive environments, models of online buying must account for the corresponding user heterogeneity. To overcome these hurdles, the authors decompose the user’s purchase process into the completion,of sequential,Nominal,User Tasks (nuts) and account,for heterogeneity,across visitors at the county,level. Three major,user tasks required to complete,a purchase,are: (1) completion of product configuration, (2) input of complete personal information, and (3) order confirmation,with provision of credit card data. These tasks are managerially,meaningful,and correspond,to considerable,visitor loss. Using a sequence,of binary probits estimated,through Bayesian methods, the authors model the visitor’s decision of whether or not to complete each task for the first time, given that the visitor has completed the previous tasks at least once. The propensity for completing,one task is also allowed to affect the propensity for completing subsequent,tasks. Results indicate that visitors’ browsing,experiences,and navigational,behavior,are pre- dictive of task completion for all decision levels. The use of interactive decision aids, the

A framework for improving e-commerce websites usability using a hybrid genetic algorithm and neural network system

Article

Jul 2012

An ever-increasing use of Internet has greatly been affecting the importance of e-commerce websites. As such, analyzing those websites and discovering customers’ purchasing power, the present study tends to propose a framework and an appropriate structure to make the websites more flexible and highly functional. Such an efficient and effective framework facilitates customers’ purchasing capacities. In this framework, different techniques and methods including the genetic algorithm, neural networks, and collaborative filtering are utilized. The pre- and post-execution data show that the proposed framework changes the website structure based on the two criteria, i.e., sales conversion rate and average pre-purchase page views and finally leading to improved website usability.

Why do shoppers abandon shopping cart? Perceived waiting time, risk, and transaction inconvenience

Article

May 2009

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the factors leading to the consumer's propensity to abandon the shopping cart at the transaction completion stage. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using a self‐administered survey distributed through the internet. The sample consisted of consumers who shopped online at least once during the preceding one‐year period. Findings The results indicate that perceived transaction inconvenience is the major predictor of shopping cart abandonment. The other predictors are perceived risk and perceived waiting time. Positive relationship was found between perceived transaction inconvenience, perceived risk and propensity to abandon the shopping cart. It was also found that propensity to abandon the shopping cart is negatively associated with the perception of waiting time. Practical implications The paper provides transaction completion stage specific guidance to the managers operating in an online environment to prevent shopping cart abandonment at the transaction completion stage. Specifically, the findings suggest that marketers must pay attention to the perception of risk and transaction inconvenience; otherwise they risk losing consumers during the final stage of transaction. Originality/value The paper examines the unexplored area of consumer behavior at the final stages of transaction culmination and, hence, is an initial step toward filling that gap.

The Role of Bundling in Price Competition

Article

Mar 2002
INT J IND ORGAN

We focus on price competition between several multiproduct firms which produce differentiated systems, each consisting of two complementary products. Firms offer their products separately and/or as a bundle. Consumers are homogeneous but assign different values to different systems. We find that equilibrium always exists (unlike the case where bundling strategies are excluded), and consumers purchase socially best systems. Consumers extract the entire surplus unless a firm produces at least one of the components of every socially best system. We show that bundling may increase consumer surplus. A sufficient condition for a system to be sold as a bundle at a discount price is provided.

A finite horizon lot-sizing problem with time-varying deterministic demand and waiting-time-dependent partial backlogging

Article

Sep 2004
INT J PROD ECON

This paper presents a general time-varying demand inventory lot-sizing model with waiting-time-dependent backlogging and a lot-size-dependent replenishment cost. It differs from many related trended inventory replenishment models in two directions. First, our model not only allows part of the backlogged demands to turn into lost sales, but this backlog-to-lost-sales conversion rate is modeled by a general continuously decreasing function of the remaining waiting time until the next replenishment delivery. Second, this paper considers the dependence of replenishment cost on lot size. We derive the model's cost function for a “shortages followed by inventory” replenishment policy. Some convenient mathematical properties of the cost function are identified, with which an effective numerical solution procedure is developed for determining the optimal replenishment policy. Numerical examples and some sensitive-analysis results are then reported.

Cross-Category Effects of Induced Arousal and Pleasure on the Internet Shopping Experience

Article

Oct 2001
J RETAILING

Online retailers are likely to try to influence consumers’ shopping behavior through atmospherics and service, just as physical stores do. The impact of online atmospherics can be measured by the degree of stimulation and pleasure that is provided by a website. It is suggested that the characteristics of products and websites that are encountered early in online browsing can significantly influence the level of arousal and pleasure that consumers experience, and thereby can influence their later shopping behavior. Two experiments show that if the initial experiences encountered in a simulated Internet shopping trip are higher in pleasure, then there is a positive impact on approach behaviors and subjects engage in more arousing activities (e.g., more exploration, more tendencies to examine novel products and stores, higher response to promotional incentives). Further, if higher stimulation or information load is provided by the initial Internet experience, then consumers subsequently tend to engage in less arousing activities.

The development of initial trust in an online company by new customers

Article

Jan 2004
INFORM MANAGE-AMSTER

Lack of trust in online companies is a primary reason why many web users do not shop online. This study proposes a model to explain how new customers of a web-based company develop initial trust in the company after their first visit. The model is empirically tested using a questionnaire-based field study. The results indicate that perceived company reputation and willingness to customize products and services can significantly affect initial trust. Perceived web site usefulness, ease of use, and security control are also significant antecedents of initial trust. Finally, we found no support for the hypothesized effect of individual customer trust propensity on initial trust.

Internet Retailing: Enablers, Limiters and Market Consequences

Article

Jul 2004
J BUS RES

Despite a tremendous and enthusiastic reception for Internet retailing in the last few years, this new channel has not performed as anticipated, nor has its acceptance been as pervasive as originally expected. This paper details the many inherent structural and functional weaknesses of Internet retailing. Various strategies designed to improve the performance of e-tailers are explored.

A model of consumer web navigational behavior: Conceptual development and application

Article

Aug 2005
J BUS RES

Despite recent success by companies using the Internet to deal with their customers, one of the major remaining problems concerns understanding navigation on the Web and its relationship with Internet marketing. This study looks at the factors that can affect customers' prepurchase intentions by surveying visitors to a real pharmaceutical web site, and it models the behavior of consumers when they are confronted with the navigational characteristics of an Internet site. The model of flow designed by Hoffman and Novak and previous findings and theories about several relevant behavioral variables are taken into account to propose and empirically test a model of consumers' web navigational behavior. We use structural equations modeling to test 10 major hypotheses and more than two third of the 28 subhypotheses are supported. The findings contribute to theoretical and managerial understanding of the web navigation behavior of visitors.

The effect of web interface features on consumer online purchase intentions

Article

Jan 2009
J BUS RES

Corporations spend millions of dollars a year creating and maintaining corporate websites, yet many of these sites fail to reach the organization's goals [Freemantle D. The psychology of crm. Int J Cust Relatsh Manag 2002; http://www.superboss.co.uk/articles2main.htm]. Recent research suggests that these failures reflect poor website design, yet this research lacks the specificity necessary to provide practical recommendations for improving site performance [Rosen EE, Purinton E. Website design: viewing the web as a cognitive landscape. J Bus Res 2004; 57:787–94]. This study fills that gap by providing specific recommendations regarding website design elements that generate positive managerial outcomes. First, the study tests a wide range of design elements to determine those that provide human elements and computer elements. Next, these elements are linked through intermediaries using the uses and gratifications theory, technology acceptance model, and the concept of flow to explain purchase intentions and intentions to revisit the site.

Flow and Internet shopping behavior: A conceptual model and research propositions

Article

Oct 2004
J BUS RES

Researchers have acknowledged that flow is a useful construct for explaining consumer behavior in the context of computer-mediated environments. However, the issue of how flow can actually facilitate particular Internet shopping behaviors has not been adequately investigated. This article will explore conditions under which different dimensions of flow facilitate different aspects of Internet shopping behaviors (browsing, one-time purchases, and repeat purchases) and how this relationship is moderated by consumer-related factors (perceived risk, willingness to buy, consumer self-confidence), the nature of the product (goods vs. service), and the nature of the purchase occasion (planned vs. impulse). We offer managerial implications and future research directions resulting from our research.

Personal values' influence on e-shopping attitude and behavior

Article

Apr 2004
INTERNET RES

Chanaka Jayawardhena

A value-attitude-behaviour model was applied to investigate the roles of personal values in e-shopping consumer behaviour. Structural equation modelling identified that personal values (self-direction values, enjoyment values and self-achievement values) were significantly related to positive attitudes toward e-shopping. Individual attitudes toward e-shopping were a direct predicator of e-shopping behaviour and mediated the relationship between personal values and behaviour. This hierarchical relationship among personal values, attitudes and behaviour may be exploited by e-tailers to position e-shops and provide a persuasive means for e-shoppers to satisfy their needs.

Factors affecting purchase intention on mobile shopping web sites

Article

Aug 2009
INTERNET RES

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore a conceptual model for analyzing customers' perceptions of using mobile commerce services for online shopping. This paper provides insights into consumer behavior, and the results have important implications for designers, managers, marketers, and system providers of mobile shopping (m‐shopping) web sites. Design/methodology/approach An empirical investigation was carried out to test the hypotheses. The samples include 369 professional participants. For testing the relationships of the model, structural equation modeling (SEM) is used. Findings The results demonstrate that anxiety, which is an affective barrier against using innovative systems, is a key negative predictor of a customer's intentions to use mobile phones. Also, the consumer's self‐perception of mobile skillfulness significantly affects anxiety, enjoyment, and usefulness. Furthermore, enjoyment, usefulness, and compatibility have an impact on a customer's behavioral intentions. Practical implications The findings of this study help to understand what hinders or encourages the m‐shopping intention of online customers. Originality/value The results not only help develop a sophisticated understanding of mobile commerce theories for researchers, but they also offer useful knowledge to those involved in promoting m‐shopping to potential purchasers. The value of the paper is that the results could be applied to other portable information technology service adoptions, such as personal digital assistants (PDA), smart phones, advanced mobile phones, and portable global positioning systems (GPS).

Pricing Research in Marketing: The State of the Art

Article

Feb 1984

Vithala R Rao

Capturing Evolving Visit Behavior in Clickstream Data

Article

Dec 2004
J INTERACT MARK

Many online retailers monitor visitor traffic as a measure of their stores' success. However, summary measures such as the total number of visits per month provide little insight about individual-level shopping behavior. Additionally, behavior may evolve over time, especially in a changing environment like the Internet. Understanding the nature of this evolution provides valuable knowledge that can influence how a retail store is managed and marketed. This paper develops an individual-level model for store visiting behavior based on Internet clickstream data. We capture cross-sectional variation in store-visit behavior as well as changes over time as visitors gain experience with the store. That is, as someone makes more visits to a site, her latent rate of visit may increase, decrease, or remain unchanged as in the case of static, mature markets. So as the composition of the customer population changes (e.g., as customers mature or as large numbers of new and inexperienced Internet shoppers enter the market), the overall degree of visitor heterogeneity that each store faces may shift. We also examine the relationship between visiting frequency and purchasing propensity. Previous studies suggest that customers who shop frequently may be more likely to make a purchase on any given shopping occasion. As a result, frequent shoppers often comprise the preferred target segment. We find evidence supporting the fact that people who visit a store more frequently are more likely to buy. However, we also show that changes (i.e., evolution) in an individual's visit frequency over time provides further information regarding which customer segments are more likely to buy. Rather than simply targeting all frequent shoppers, our results suggest that a more refined segmentation appr...

Reality bites—Etail gets derailed

Jan 2000

Bulkeley

Bringing the corner-store online: The challenges and promises of online customer service. Doctoral dissertation, University of Michigan

Jan 2004

Awad

The effect of webpage background on viewer attitudes

Jan 2000
29

Bruner

Essays on interactive marketing: Predicting online purchase conversion using web path analysis. Doctoral dissertation, Carnegie Mellon University, 2004

Jan 2004

E-commerce (a special report): A buyer's market — Pay for performance; technology allows advertisers to know what an ad is worth — To the dismay of some websites

Jan 2001

Loftus

Effects of interactivity in a website

Jan 2005
31

Sicilia

Online retailers see lots of room for improvement in their industry

Jan 2004

Tsai

An Examination of Retail Website Design and Conversion Rate

Abstract

No full-text available

Recommendations

Identifying Purchase Perceptions that Affect Consumers' Internet Buying

Identifying Purchase Perceptions that Affect Consumers' Internet Buying

Perceived irritation in online shopping: The impact of website design characteristics

Aggressive sales tactics on the internet and their impact on American consumers