The impact of product variety on LSQ in e-marketplaces

Author(s):  
Metehan Feridun Sorkun

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to reveal the impact of the e-tailers’ product variety decisions on their logistics service quality (LSQ) in B2C e-marketplaces. Furthermore, it investigates the mediation of transaction intensity and the moderation of the perceived technical quality in this relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected from one of Turkey’s biggest e-marketplace firms, N11.com. Consumer evaluations and the e-tailers’ product offers were used to operationalize research variables. Structural equation modeling was used to test the research hypotheses.FindingsProduct variety increases the sales of e-tailers but negatively affects their LSQ. This negative effect does not stem from the operational complexity resulting from increased sales; on the contrary, transaction intensity actually suppresses the negative effect of product variety on LSQ. This study additionally reveals that the perceived technical quality weakens the negative impact of product variety on LSQ.Originality/valueThe intense competition in e-marketplaces makes LSQ a key competitive factor, highlighting the importance of revealing its determinants. Although the negative effect of product variety on operational performance has been revealed in manufacturing and physical retailing environments, it has been under-investigated in online retailing. Drawing on a knowledge-based view, this study reveals how product variety decreases LSQ in the online context despite its unique features (i.e. temporal and spatial separation). Moreover, by demonstrating that the delivered product’s instrumental performance affects the perceived LSQ, it reveals that technical quality and functional quality are not disjoint components in online purchases.

2018 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 816-836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nizar Souiden ◽  
Riadh Ladhari ◽  
Liu Chang

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine ethnocentrism and animosity in a special context of two societies that share cultural, historical, ethnic and geographical characteristics. In particular, it first investigates the relationships between Chinese ethnocentrism and animosity toward Taiwan, and then it examines the impact of these two factors on the Chinese perception of Taiwanese brand quality and their purchase intent. Design/methodology/approach Based on a sample of 605 respondents from China, data were analyzed by structural equation modeling. Findings The results show that although Chinese animosity toward Taiwan is moderate, it is significantly driven by ethnocentrism, which has a significant and negative effect on willingness to buy, but not on the perception of Taiwanese brand quality. The Chinese animosity toward Taiwan, however, has negative and significant effects on their perception of Taiwanese brand quality and their intention of purchasing Taiwanese brands. Research limitations/implications The immense size of the country has impeded the representativeness of the authors’ sample and the generalizability of the results. Also, the study covers only one type of product. Practical implications Forming partnerships with local Chinese businesses and developing strong ties with local communities could be considered as a solution to minimize or circumvent the effect of animosity and might help foreign companies appear more “local.” Originality/value In contrast to past studies that investigated ethnocentrism and animosity in the context of countries presenting several differences (e.g. China vs USA), this study investigates the effect of ethnocentrism and animosity in the context of two countries (China and Taiwan) that share cultural, historical, ethnic and geographic characteristics. Despite the strong ties between the two countries, the Chinese have a certain animosity, though moderate, toward Taiwan and consequently are less inclined to buy Taiwanese brands. This implies that Chinese animosity toward a country may be toned down or pronounced, depending on whether they have strong or weak ties with that country.


2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (9) ◽  
pp. 1142-1163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Wiengarten ◽  
Muhammad Usman Ahmed ◽  
Annachiara Longoni ◽  
Mark Pagell ◽  
Brian Fynes

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the impact of complexity on the triple bottom line by applying information-processing theory. Specifically, the paper assesses the impact of internal manufacturing complexity on environmental, social, and financial performance. Furthermore, the paper assesses the moderating role of connectivity and shared schema in reducing the potential negative impact of complexity on performance. Design/methodology/approach Multi-country survey data collected through the Global Manufacturing Research Group were utilized to test the hypotheses. The authors used structural equation modeling to test the measurement and initial structural model. Furthermore, to test the proposed moderating hypotheses, the authors applied the latent moderated structural equations approach. Findings The results indicate that while complexity has a negative impact on environmental and social performance, it does not significantly affect financial performance. Furthermore, this negative impact can be reduced, to some extent, through connectivity; however, shared schema does not significantly impact on the complexity-performance relationship. Originality/value This study presents a comprehensive analysis of the impact of complexity on sustainability. Furthermore, it provides managerial applications as it proposes specific tools to deal with the potential negative influences of complexity.


2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 499-519 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Maderer ◽  
Dirk Holtbruegge ◽  
Rachel Woodland

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of brand associations on brand loyalty of fans toward professional football clubs in developed and emerging football markets (EFM). In particular, the following research questions are answered: how important are different determinants of brand associations for fans from developed football markets (DFM) and EFM? Are there any major differences in the importance of different brand associations and their influence on brand loyalty between fans from DFM and EFM? Design/methodology/approach Based on the customer-based brand equity framework the impact of brand associations on brand loyalty is tested with a sample of 3,587 fans from DFM – Germany, England, Spain, Italy, and France (2,032) – as well as fans from EFM – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and the USA (1,555). Findings Structural equation modeling is applied and shows a negative impact of brand attributes on attitudinal loyalty, whereas brand benefits positively impact attitudinal loyalty. Furthermore, significant differences between fans from developed and EFM are revealed. Implications for the management of football teams and for research on brand management are derived. Originality/value This study extends the work of Gladden and Funk (2001) by expanding the model used to assess brand loyalty and analyzes it empirically in different football markets. When looking to foster attitudinal loyalty, marketers should concentrate on benefit associations instead of attribute associations. Most importantly, marketers should be aware that when focusing on developing brand loyalty amongst EFM fans, they should not simply apply the same strategies that proved to be effective in DFM and vice versa.


2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (5) ◽  
pp. 509-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samaan Al‐Msallam

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of tourists' emotional responses toward a particular destination on tourists' satisfaction and destination loyalty. Perceived quality adds as a moderator variable.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopted a quantitative data collection method, with distributing the questionnaire to 346 tourists of 43 nationalities in four main tourist attractions in Switzerland. The structural equation modeling approach and bootstrapping technique were used to empirically test the study hypotheses.FindingsThe results confirm the negative impact of negative emotions. The mediating role of the tourists' satisfaction was documented. As expected, perceived quality dampened the negative effect of negative emotions on tourists' satisfaction. However, surprisingly, it does not serve as a moderator in the relationship between positive emotions and tourists' satisfaction.Practical implicationsThis study resulted in a set of practical marketing recommendations. Tourism marketers are encouraged to keep positive emotions high among tourists, aimed to increase their satisfaction toward the destination and revisit it again in the future and also, pay more attention to the quality of the destination as an essential tool to reduce the impact of negative emotions.Originality/valueMany studies in tourism literature studied associations between positive emotions and tourists' behavior. The present study is drawing more attention to negative emotions. In addition, this study tries to address the gap in the tourism literature regarding the modified impact of perceived quality on the relationship between emotions and tourists' satisfaction.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabian Onyekachi Ugwu ◽  
Ernest Ike Onyishi ◽  
Okechukwu O. Anozie ◽  
Lawrence Ejike Ugwu

PurposeIn this paper, the impact of customer incivility on work engagement was investigated. The authors also explored whether supervisor positive gossip and workplace friendship prevalence moderated the impact of customer incivility on work engagement in the Nigerian context.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used a time-lagged design to collect data from 258 frontline casual dining restaurant employees across city centers in South-eastern Nigeria who completed Time 1 and Time 2 paper surveys after a one-month interval.FindingsStructural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that while customer incivility was negatively lx`inked to work engagement, supervisor positive gossip and workplace friendship prevalence were positively linked to work engagement. It was also found that both supervisor positive gossip and workplace friendship prevalence moderated the negative connection between customer incivility and work engagement.Practical implicationsOne proactive way to forestall the negative impact of customer incivility on work engagement is for managers to devise approaches to decrease the impact of uncivil customer behaviors, such as developing an atmosphere that engenders friendship and speaking positively to subordinates about other employees' work behaviors.Originality/valueAlthough increased scholarly attention has been paid to workplace incivility, customer incivility has not been sufficiently addressed. Earlier research on workplace gossip is influenced by the widely-held belief that gossip is often negative, with far less attention given to the sunny side of gossip. This study is one of the earliest efforts to examine the moderating roles of supervisor positive gossip and workplace friendship prevalence in the negative link between customer incivility and work engagement in the hospitality industry.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Torben Hansen ◽  
Thyra Uth Thomsen

Purpose This study aims to investigate relationships among body mass index (BMI), socioeconomic variables, dietary self-efficacy and consumer dietary stress in healthy food buying and explore whether different levels of personal values influence these relationships. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on an online representative cross-sectional study with 380 food consumers. Structural equation modeling served to estimate direct, mediating and moderating effects between the studied constructs and variables. Findings Examples of moderating and moderated mediating effects include a negative impact of BMI on dietary stress for consumers with low levels of enjoyment value but no significant effect for consumers with high levels of enjoyment. BMI also had a greater negative impact on dietary self-efficacy when the level of respect/achievement was high (vs low), and respect/achievement positively moderated the mediating effect of BMI on dietary stress through dietary self-efficacy. Research limitations/implications This study focuses on analyzing healthy food buying in a particular cultural setting and may suffer from a lack of generalizability to other cultures. The results suggest that research should take into account personal values when investigating stress. Practical implications Food managers and health authorities can improve their ability to reduce dietary stress when addressing consumers by understanding the role of personal values in healthy food choice and the impact on mental well-being. Originality/value This study offers a novel, more fine-grained conceptual model of how consumers develop dietary stress when buying healthy food.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-279 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Laid Ouakouak ◽  
Michel Georges Zaitouni ◽  
Bindu Arya

PurposeMotivation constitutes a central topic for business management, because of its critical impact on job performance. Therefore, understanding whether and how the style of leadership adopted by leaders in organizations promotes and maintains employee motivation is of great interest to both scholars and practitioners. Drawing on self-determination theory, this study investigates how ethical and emotional styles of leadership influence employee motivation and thus job performance.Design/methodology/approachAn empirical study was conducted in the public sector in Kuwait. About 607 employees participated in this study. Structural equation modeling techniques were used for testing the causal relationships between constructs.FindingsResults of our study indicate that both ethical and emotional leaderships enhance employee motivation. Furthermore, employee motivation has a positive impact on job performance. The results also show that job performance exerts a negative effect on quitting intentions. Finally, interest in the private sector moderates the job performance–quitting intentions relationship.Practical implicationsThese findings provide theoretical contributions to the extant literature, as well as important practical implications for managers.Originality/valueThis study demonstrates the role of both ethical and emotional leaderships in shaping employee behaviors. To the best of our knowledge, this research is among the few that provides initial evidence regarding quitting intentions as an outcome of the impact of ethical and emotional leaderships on employee motivation and individual performance in Kuwait.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahin Ansari ◽  
Syed Hameedur Rahman Zaini ◽  
Monizah Parwez ◽  
Asif Akhtar

Purpose The outbreak of the new coronavirus has caused tremendous concerns to public health, which are impacting human lives both physically and psychologically. The rise in coronavirus cases has led to the propagation of control measures for its prevention. This study aims to investigate the factors enhancing the coronavirus preventive behavior among the respondents. Design/methodology/approach To understand the coronavirus preventive behavior, the study is based on the value–belief–norm (VBN) theory. Data for the study has been collected through a survey of 319 respondents in New Delhi, India. The study uses structural equation modeling (SEM) to understand the factors impacting preventive behavior. For analysis, the study uses SEM to examine direct and indirect relationships and Hayes’ PROCESS macro SPSS module for moderating effects. Findings The results show that egoistic values have a negative impact on belief while altruistic values have a positive impact on the belief about the coronavirus outbreak. Belief is recorded to have a positive and significant impact on preventive behavior. Also, personal norms positively mediate the relationship between belief and preventive behavior. Additionally, the impact of awareness of preventive behavior is positively moderated by the symptomatic profile. Furthermore, the interaction effect is found to be conditioned positively with age and level of education. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other work in the existing literature was found to apply the VBN theory to determine coronavirus preventive behavior. Further, the extensive moderation analysis done in this study is expected to be a significant contribution to the literature.


2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 245-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy W. Nix ◽  
Zach G. Zacharia

Purpose – Supply chains are embedded in a larger network of enterprises where firms exchange offerings, often compete for the same customers, and constantly innovate to improve their performance. In these dynamic environments, firms are increasingly dependent on the knowledge and expertise in external organizations to innovate, problem-solve, and improve performance. Firms are increasingly collaborating to exchange and pool skills and knowledge and deploy resources and capabilities not found in their own firm. This research using both structured interviews and survey data seeks to determine what are the direct benefits and the ancillary benefits of collaboration. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed methodology approach was utilized, using qualitative structured interviews leading to developing a research model and then an empirical survey of 473 participants who are involved in their respective organization's collaboration projects. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling to examine relationships between collaborative engagement, knowledge gained, operational outcomes and relational outcomes. Findings – The results of the study indicate that collaborative engagement has a direct effect on knowledge gained, operational outcomes and relational outcomes in collaboration. The ancillary benefit of collaboration is the learning that takes place leads to improved operational outcomes and relational outcomes. Research limitations/implications – In this research study all the constructs are only examined from a single perspective. This can be a limitation as it would be of greater value to collect data from all the members involved in the collaboration. Originality/value – Collaboration has been well studied in many fields but this research suggests an important ancillary benefit that needs to be considered when deciding to collaborate is the knowledge and learning that happens during a collaboration.


Author(s):  
Nada Hammad ◽  
Syed Zamberi Ahmad ◽  
Avraam Papastathopoulos

Purpose This paper aims to investigate residents’ perceptions of tourism’s impact on their support for tourism development in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using self-administered questionnaires from Abu Dhabi residents (n = 407), who represented 30 nationalities residing in the emirate. Based on social exchange theory, structural equation modeling was used to test hypotheses. Findings Results suggest that Abu Dhabi residents perceive the impacts of tourism positively and are more sensitive to the environmental and economic influences of tourism than the social and cultural influences. Research limitations/implications This study was limited to Abu Dhabi residents; findings cannot be generalized to other emirates in the UAE, or other countries. Originality/value This study adds value to extant tourism literature by investigating residents’ perceptions of the influence of tourism in one of the richest cities worldwide, which aspires to be one of the fastest growing tourism destinations in the Middle East.


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