In-app advertising: a two-step qualitative comparative analysis to explain clicking behavior

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens Mattke ◽  
Christian Maier ◽  
Lea Reis ◽  
Tim Weitzel

Purpose Individuals only click on a very small fraction of the in-app advertisements (ads) they are exposed to. Despite this fact, organizations spend generously placing in-app ads without theoretical knowledge of how the structure and the semantics of in-app ads influence individuals’ clicking behavior. This study aims to identify how the processing of structural and semantic factors leads to clicking behavior. Design/methodology/approach Based on the limited capacity theory, this paper proposes that the sequential processing of structural and semantic factors leads to clicking behavior. To mirror the sequential process, this paper applies a process-oriented configurational approach and performs a two-step qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) using 262 incidents of exposure to in-app ads. Findings The results support the proposed sequential processing and show that neither structural nor semantic factors alone lead to clicking behavior. This paper reveals four different paths of sequential processing of in-app ads that lead to clicking behavior. The results show that individuals click on non-animated in-app ads even though these are perceived as irritating or privacy-concerning. When the in-app ads are animated, individuals do only click on them when these are not irritating, privacy-concerning and personalized. Research limitations/implications Organizations can use these findings to improve their in-app ads and generate more clicks. This study recommends that organizations place in-app ads in a prominent location, design them similar to the design of the app and use bright colors. The advertising message needs to have new and relevant information in a credible and entertaining way. Depending on the degree of personalization, organizations should use different sizes of the in-app ad and only use animation if it is unlikely that the in-app ad caused irritation or privacy concerns. Practical implications Organizations can use these findings to improve their in-app ads and generate more clicks. This paper recommends that organizations place in-app ads in a prominent location, design them similar to the design of the app and with bright colors. The advertising message needs to have new and relevant information in a credible and entertaining way. Depending on the degree of personalization, organizations should use different sizes of the in-app ad and only use animation if it is unlikely that the in-app ad caused irritation or privacy concerns. Originality/value From the in-app ad perspective, this study is the first to theoretically develop and empirically show the sequential processing of structural and semantic factors of in-app ads. From the methodological perspective, this study applies an advanced configurational two-step QCA approach, which is capable of analyzing sequential processes and is new to marketing research.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Antonetti ◽  
Danae Manika

Purpose Consumer animosity toward a foreign country can affect negatively international brands. Existing international marketing research offers inconsistent accounts of the factors that explain product quality perceptions, negative word of mouth (NWOM) and product avoidance in animosity contexts. This paper aims to demonstrate that such inconsistency is caused by the fact that different explanations apply to different consumer subgroups. Searching for a single solution, thus, leads to erroneous predictions for sizable subgroups of consumers. Design/methodology/approach The study implements a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to two quantitative surveys examining Chinese consumers’ (n = 476) reactions to Japanese products and American consumers’ (n = 517) reactions to Chinese products. Findings The analysis yields novel explanations of the outcomes of animosity. Only in some causal configurations reduced quality evaluations explain product avoidance and NWOM, while in others negative behaviors co-exist with positive quality perceptions. Moreover, negative emotions’ role varies across forms of animosity. While anger is often associated with the behavioral outcomes of animosity, fear plays an important role in only a few specific combinations. Research limitations/implications General models of animosity need to be complemented with accounts that examine the multiple mechanisms underpinning animosity outcomes. Practical implications Marketers should identify which animosity model applies to their consumer segment(s) as different mechanisms require different marketing approaches. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study recognizing that the same animosity outcomes are explained by multiple mechanisms offering a more nuanced picture of the motivations associated with consumer animosity.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dedong Wang ◽  
Hui Li ◽  
Yongqiang Lu

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the factors influencing the transaction costs (TCs) in megaprojects to provide a basis for controlling project costs.Design/methodology/approachThis study selects six factors influencing the TCs in megaprojects from the perspective of TC theory and relational contract theory (RCT) through literature review. On the basis of crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis (QCA), this study tests combined factors influencing the TCs and the interaction between them.FindingsResults show that in megaprojects, TCs are affected by combination factors. The combination of asset specificity, uncertainty, transaction frequency and trust and the combination of asset specificity, reputation and trust will control TCs in certain situations. In the configuration leading to high project TCs, the combination of environmental and behavioral uncertainties is a necessary condition.Originality/valueThis paper fills up the research gap in the field of megaproject TCs, and researchers can focus on this field in the future.


2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 294-325 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Kapsali ◽  
Jens K. Roehrich ◽  
Pervaiz Akhtar

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine combinations of contract clauses in order to ascertain which combinations correlate to high operational performance (OP). Design/methodology/approach Two hypotheses were formulated from contracting theory and tested on data collected from 45 projects. Fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis was used and validated with multiple regression and simulation. Findings The hypotheses were tested to determine whether combinations of classical, relational, and/or associational contract clauses correlate to high OP. The results show that whereas high OP correlates to combinations of relational and associational contract clauses, classical and relational clauses should not be combined. Research limitations/implications Directions are proposed to guide future research in order to produce a more nuanced testing of contractual complementarity. Practical implications The managerial implications of the findings include a more thorough understanding of the use of contract clauses and of which clauses managers should combine to achieve high OP. Originality/value This study contributes to the theory of contractual incompleteness and complementarity, specifically in the context of project contracting. The analysis produced two theoretical implications: first, that better performing contracts are created when combining relational and associational contract clauses; and second, that in projects, relational and classical contract clauses are not complementary with regards to realizing high OP.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sajad Rezaei ◽  
Ree Chan Ho

PurposeThis study aims to examine the asymmetrical relationships among information-sharing desire, moral attitudes, lack of concern, relative advantage, market maven tendency and complexity as the antecedents of E-waste-word of mouth (EW-WOM) generation.Design/methodology/approachTo obtain a holistic view and the interrelationships between conditions, the configural analysis was conducted to assess the asymmetrical relationships using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fs/QCA). In addition, construct validity, reliability and symmetrical relationships between antecedent conditions (i.e. exogenous constructs) and outcome conditions (i.e. endogenous constructs) are examined using variance-based structural equation modeling (VB-SEM) technique.FindingsResults imply that market maven tendency accounts for 86.8% of the sum of the memberships in EW-WOM generation. In total, 11 configurations show sufficiency in constructing EW-WOM generation. The configuration of relativeadvanta*moralattitudes*marketmaventend shows the highest consistency value (0.939684) in producing EW-WOM generation (outcome condition). The ∼relativeadvanta *moralattitudes*complexity*∼lackfconcern with raw coverage of 0.626757 and consistency value of 0.864088 show the most sufficient configuration path in producing the outcome.Originality/valueProduct review and recommendation are easily shared in various communication formats and consumers are prone to disseminate information and their experiences with other market segments. However, the role and phenomena of such viral communication in preventing environmental issues caused by electronic and electrical devices (i.e. E-waste) are not well understood. This study is among a few attempts at understanding consumer's decision-making process to engage in E-waste activities such as the reduction of garbage, recycling, compositing and the reuse of electronic or electrical devices.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-11-2019-0343


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Esteban R. Brenes ◽  
Gabriel Rodríguez ◽  
Joseph Acuña ◽  
Yadira Villalobos ◽  
Caleb A. Pichardo

PurposeBy analyzing variables from the fields of business and neuropsychology, this document examines alternative combinations of behavioral economics and neuropsychological characteristics that would explain a successful entrepreneurial profile.Design/methodology/approachThe research is based on information gathered through a survey of 1,080 entrepreneurs. The findings offer interesting perspectives for academics, professionals and government institutions, which illustrate various neuropsychological characteristics that a person must have to be a successful entrepreneur. The method consists of a novel perspective that integrates qualitative comparative analysis (QCAs), a method based on Boolean algebra that offers a study from a configurational perspective.FindingsFrom the mixture of configurations, the paper explores following possible traits of an entrepreneurial mindset: cognitive flexibility, risk-taking, decision-making and teamwork.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the literature on emerging attempts and approaches to understand the entrepreneurial mindset and the possible skillset that underpins successful entrepreneurship.


2020 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 219-246
Author(s):  
Ruwan Bandara ◽  
Mario Fernando ◽  
Shahriar Akter

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine privacy issues in the e-commerce context from a power-responsibility equilibrium theory (PRE) perspective. Design/methodology/approach The data was collected using an online survey (n = 335) from online shopping consumers. This study used partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) techniques to empirically examine the proposed relationships. Findings A lack of corporate privacy responsibility and regulatory protection can deprive consumers of privacy empowerment and damage consumer trust to trigger privacy concerns and subsequent defensive responses. Also, the fsQCA revealed five causal configurations to explain high consumer defensive behaviours. Research limitations/implications This study identifies the importance of PRE theory in the privacy context. Consumer privacy concerns, privacy empowerment and trust are established as strong mediators between corporate/regulatory privacy protection efforts and consumer backlash. The application of fsQCA verified that consumer privacy behaviour can be better explained by different configurations of the same causal antecedents. Practical implications The findings highlight the importance of increasing trust and privacy empowerment as mechanisms to manage privacy concerns and consumer backlash through responsible organisational and regulatory privacy protections. The importance of balancing power and responsibility dynamics for maintaining a healthy information exchange environment is identified. Originality/value This study extends the PRE framework of privacy to include corporate privacy responsibility, privacy empowerment and trust. This is one of the first studies to explore both antecedents and outcomes of privacy empowerment. Also, the application of complexity theory and fsQCA to explain consumers’ defensive responses is novel to the literature.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 717-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola Cucari

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide comprehensive mapping of qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) applications in business and management research and to examine the sub-fields of corporate governance research in this context. Design/methodology/approach Through a systematic literature review of 22 articles, the paper describes and analyses how QCA is used in the corporate governance field, what can be learned from the methodology’s implementation in corporate governance studies and why authors justify its use. Findings The findings highlight that QCA in corporate governance is still at an early stage of development. The paper encourages governance scholars to use this method to transform QCA from a niche into a mainstream method because it is appropriate for understanding both complex phenomena of social reality and issues of corporate governance that require an approach able to capture configurations of conditions, asymmetric patterns and equifinal explanations. Originality/value This is the first complete overview of the existing literature concerning QCA’s application in corporate governance research and reveals implications for its future use. In this way, it extends the previous work on QCA’s benefits to management researchers and other critical reviews of applications in QCA. This study encourages scholars to renew their understanding of corporate governance issues through a new analysis method that can help to discover conceptual and empirical relations among case-oriented and variable-oriented analyses in terms of interrelations to examine corporate governance practices holistically.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ning Zhang ◽  
Bo Liu

Purpose This paper aims to find out how business aligns with robotic process automation (RPA) and whether the alignment has the same factors as for IT–business alignment. Design/Methodology/Approach Condition configurations for positive and negative impact for business alignment with RPA. Findings The positive and negative configurations that possibly impact business alignment with RPA. Research limitations/implications There are some human instincts during conditions dichotomization and limited number of cases. Practical implications The findings can be used to guide practice application in real industry. Originality/value This paper adopted crisp-set qualitative comparative analysis to find condition configurations for alignment of business and RPA for more generalization.


Author(s):  
Ivan Russo ◽  
Ilenia Confente ◽  
David Gligor ◽  
Nicola Cobelli

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to introduce qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) to the field of supply chain management and provide a detailed roadmap that supply chain researchers can utilize when applying this methodology.Design/methodology/approachData collection focused on the evaluation of product returns management practices as perceived by business customers who operate in a supplier–customer context. In order to analyze the data using the QCA approach, a multi-step analysis was developed.FindingsThe results indicate five solutions that lead to high levels of customer satisfaction. The existence of multiple sufficient configurations for customer satisfaction indicates equifinality because multiple alternative solutions can lead to the same outcome.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors make a methodological contribution by applying the QCA method to the field of supply chain management and providing a detailed roadmap that supply chain researchers can utilize.Practical implicationsThe authors provide managers five different and novel combinations of antecedents that lead to higher levels of customer satisfaction.Originality/valueThis study offers supply chain researchers a better understanding of when it is appropriate to use QCA and how to apply this methodology. From a theoretical perspective, past studies focused exclusively on the “net effects” of these antecedents, thus, did not capture the complexity of the relationships between these various antecedents and customer satisfaction. This is a noteworthy contribution as it highlights the complexity of the amalgam of relationships and factors that impact customer satisfaction within the context of reverse supply chain.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bodo Steiner ◽  
Moritz Brandhoff

Purpose This paper aims to explore the role of configurations of relationship quality dimensions for explaining sources of behavioral outcomes in the globalized manufacturing industry. Design/methodology/approach A joint analysis of behavioral and objective performance data from globalized manufacturing links perceptual customer metrics that relate to dimensions of relationship quality (i.e. attitudinal loyalty, perceived customer orientation, customers’ perceived innovativeness of the supplier and perceived customer influence on supplier innovation) with behavioral outcomes (i.e. share of wallet (SOW) and customer account profitability). Using data from a global business-to-business (B2B) customer survey together with archival performance data from a multinational mechanical engineering firm, a fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is performed. Findings The fsQCA results suggest that perceptual customer metrics related to innovation can be relevant aspects of relationship quality, in line with Anderson and Mittal’s (2000) satisfaction-repurchase-profitability chain framework and its adaptation to SOW. However, the underlying complexities in the different combinations of attributes in the recipe are such that they are not equifinal in leading to higher SOW or higher profitability. This paper finds indications for non-linearities between perceptual measures investigated and profitability of customer accounts, with particular relevance for the role of perceived customer orientation, perceived product innovativeness of the supplier and attitudinal loyalty. Research limitations/implications The analysis faces a number of limitations, starting with its reliance on cross-sectional survey data, which does not enable us to account for feedback mechanisms, for example, arising from customer perceptions regarding innovation aspects. The lack of a multidimensional conceptionalization of the perceptual customer constructs may have limited the analysis, considering also recent evidence from retail companies in the furniture sector in Spain, suggesting that the multidimensional conceptualization of relationship value explained satisfaction and loyalty levels to a greater extent than the one-dimensional conceptualization (Ruiz-Martínez et al., 2019). Practical implications In terms of managerial implication, the results suggest that customers perceive limited value in participating in the focal firm’s innovation value chain funnel, hence customer loyalty cannot be bought using simple incentive strategies. The results with regard to customer account profitability suggest that B2B customers investigated here may distinguish when interacting with their globalized supplier in the innovation funnel: they may see a positive customer value when the innovation is a product, and thus, relation-specific, whereas they may see limited customer value when innovation is considered in more generic terms (customers’ perceived influence on supplier innovation in general). Originality/value This paper starts from the premise that perceptual customer metrics can matter for supplier performance, as the customer relationship and customer value management research has shown. However, there is limited empirical evidence from globalized manufacturing sectors incorporating perceptual constructs in behavioral outcomes, and limited evidence assessing customer-perceived value in such sectors through alternate approaches to main-effects focused analyzes. We employ qualitative comparative analysis using fuzzy sets (Russo et al., 2019) to address these gaps, focusing on two key behavioral outcomes, namely, customer account profitability and SOW.


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