Automated text analyses of YouTube comments as field experiments for assessing consumer sentiment towards products and brands

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles S. Areni

Purpose The purpose of this study is to show how non-random groupings of YouTube videos can be combined with automated text analysis (ATA) of user comments to conduct quasi-experiments on consumer sentiment towards different types of brands in a naturalistic setting. Design/methodology/approach NCapture extracted thousands of comments on multiple videos representing different experimental treatments and Leximancer revealed differences in the lexical patterns of user comments for different types of brands. Findings User comments consistently revealed hypothesized relationships between brand types, based on existing theory regarding motivations for nostalgia and the relationship between consumer preferences, online product ratings and purchases. These results demonstrate the viability of conducting quasi-experimental research in naturalistic settings via non-random groupings of YT videos and ATA of user comments. Research limitations/implications This research adopts a single quasi-experimental design: the non-equivalent group, after-only design. However, the same basic approach can be used with other quasi-experimental designs to examine different kinds of research questions. Originality/value Overall, this research points to the potential for ATA of comments on different categories of YT videos as a relatively straightforward approach for conducting field experiments that establish the ecological validity of laboratory findings. The method is easy to use and does not require the participation and cooperation of private, third party social media research companies.

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 1054-1081 ◽  
Author(s):  
Imran Rahman ◽  
Jeongdoo Park ◽  
Christina Geng-qing Chi

Purpose – This quasi-experimental study aimed to investigate, drawing upon influential discounting behavior theory and cognition – affect – behavior (C-A-B) paradigm, consumers’ reactions to the phenomenon of “greenwashing” in the lodging industry. More specifically, this paper proposed and tested a theoretical model that examined whether recognizing the ulterior motive caused consumer skepticism about hotels’ environmental claims, which in turn influenced consumers’ intention to participate in linen reuse program and intention to revisit the hotel. Additionally, the moderating effects of ecological concern on the relationship between skepticism and intention to participate and between skepticism and intention to revisit were examined. Design/methodology/approach – A quasi-experimental design was used with two conditions (control vs ulterior motive) employing staff members of a US public university as study participants. In total, 638 useful responses were received. Findings – The results of this study revealed that an ulterior motive of hotels’ environmental claims evoked consumer skepticism, which, in turn, negatively influenced consumers’ intention to participate in the linen reuse program and intention to revisit the hotel. Skepticism was found to partially mediate the relationships between ulterior motive and intention to participate and between ulterior motive and intention to revisit. Consumers’ ecological concern was not found to moderate the relationship between skepticism and intention to participate in the linen reuse program and skepticism and intention to revisit the hotel. In addition, a significant positive direct effect between ecological concern and intention to participate and a non-significant effect between ecological concern and revisit intention were revealed. Research limitations/implications – Focus on consumers’ response to the ulterior motive of environmental claims advances an understanding of consumers’ attitudes and perceptions about hotels’ green practices. Practical implications – Findings suggest that hotels need to be watchful so that consumers do not become skeptical. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that managers do everything possible to give customers no room for doubt. Hoteliers need to spend more effort in installing comprehensive green programs and make true green claims by keeping the potential consequences of greenwashing in mind. Hoteliers also need to seek out third-party certifications that require the hotel to meet certain standards, which will help ensure credibility in the eyes of consumers. Originality/value – Hospitality literature has seldom explored this gray area of green marketing, and, in this regard, this study serves as a guide to hoteliers and researchers alike. The authors thereby anticipate that this study would encourage more research in this often overlooked but highly important area.


2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 964-992 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingyao Wan ◽  
Yang Yuan ◽  
Fujun Lai

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how external pressures, internal capability and transaction attributes of logistics outsourcing synergically influence the extent of asset-based and non-asset-based logistics outsourcing. Design/methodology/approach Based on the data surveyed from 250 manufacturing companies in China, this study employed fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to deduce multiple configurations for logistics outsourcing decisions. Findings The results suggest that asset-based logistics outsourcing is primarily driven by external imitation pressures or internal demands for logistics technologies, while non-asset-based logistics outsourcing is mainly driven by the demands for external management-based logistics services. Asset specificity plays a positive role in promoting both asset-based and non-asset-based logistics outsourcing. The requirement for third-party logistics (3PL) management capability depends on the outsourcing types and outsourcing causes. Practical implications This study provides guidance to practitioners for them to make outsourcing decisions. It suggests that asset-based logistics outsourcing is more appropriate when there are high external imitation pressures or more internal logistics demands, while non-asset-based logistics outsourcing should be used only when a firm needs management-based logistics services. Besides, 3PL users are suggested to outsource their logistics when their 3PL providers are required to make specific investments. In addition, managers should carefully evaluate firms’ capabilities in managing outsourcing relationships. Originality/value Previous studies largely ignored the interaction effects of a set of factors on logistics outsourcing decisions, and to date, little research empirically examined how outsourcing is driven in terms of different types of outsourcing. Drawing on the institutional theory, dynamic capability view, and transaction cost theory and overarching under the complexity theory, this study examines how institutional, organizational and transactional factors interplay with each other to influence different types of logistics outsourcing (i.e. asset based and non-asset based). Methodologically, the configural analysis (i.e. fsQCA) is applied to explore complex causal configurations that drive logistics outsourcing.


2019 ◽  
Vol 119 (9) ◽  
pp. 1947-1968 ◽  
Author(s):  
Efpraxia D. Zamani ◽  
Jyoti Choudrie ◽  
George Katechos ◽  
Yaping Yin

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine sharing economy online marketplaces with the aim of understanding how trust perceptions form and get communicated through sharing economy platforms. Design/methodology/approach The authors build on online user comments and reviews as aggregated by independent third-party websites, and apply a qualitative analysis. Findings The findings show that the quantity of information and communication are important drivers towards building trust perceptions, while an overall lack of interaction between users and the marketplace provider intensifies perceived risks. Originality/value The authors validated the importance of trust and the authors have illustrated that the critical conditions that hinder trust formation are information asymmetry as well as the lack of interaction. What is also an interesting implication is that the impact of both of these can be exacerbated when there is a perceived lack of support among users and between them and the marketplace operator.


2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Rekha Attri

Subject area Marketing management, consumer behaviour, digital marketing. Study level/applicability This case can be used for students studying marketing management courses and also for elective courses on consumer behaviour, digital marketing and strategic management in an MBA programme. Case overview This case is about Anju Pharmaceuticals which dealt in the manufacture and sale of ayurvedic/herbal products such as Panchsudha, Zalim Lotion, Ruz, Vama, Mekado etc. in Madhya Pradesh, India. Started in the year 1983, the company had still not been able to make a mark in the market. For quite some time now Mitesh, the third-generation proprietor of the company, was continuously reading articles which discussed how there has been a positive shift in the consumer preferences for products having herbal ingredients. Indian fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies such as Patanjali, Dabur, Marico were banking on herbal components in their various key products such as toothpaste, shampoo and hair oil to expand their market share and some of these Indian companies seemed to be growing faster than bigger multinationals including Hindustan Unilever and Procter & Gamble. With the changes in consumer perception towards herbal products, Mitesh was hopeful that if he could gear up his distribution it would result in improving the bottom-line of the company. He had also started receiving queries from interested clients for third-party manufacturing and packaging of the ayurvedic products under the desired brand name. Mitesh was very much aware that to improve his bottom-line, just relying on efficient distribution would not suffice and he would need to come up with strategic alliances and newer ways of doing the business rather than just following what had been the norm for the last few years. The idea of becoming a third-party manufacturer somehow did not excite Mitesh because he felt that by going in for third-party manufacturing he would never be able to establish the brand identity of Anju Pharmaceuticals. He wanted his company to ride the FMCG herbal wave but how and at what cost were the big questions facing him. Expected learning outcomes After the successful completion of this case, the readers would be able to accomplish the following: gain insights into the problems faced by small businesses when they want to scale up their business. Get insights into the challenges/difficulties of adopting e-commerce by a small organization. Be aware of the changing consumer preferences for herbal and ayurvedic products and how companies are gearing up to cash on to the changing market opportunities. Comprehend the problem situation. Suggest ways of taking advantage of the current scenario to expand and grow the business. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email [email protected] to request teaching notes. Subject code CSS 8: Marketing.


2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chiung-Lin Liu ◽  
Ming-Yu Lee

Purpose Supply chain resilience (SCR) is essential to the success of firms. However, very few studies have focused on the relationships between different types of integration, SCR and service performance from the perspective of third-party logistics providers (3PLs). The purpose of this paper is to develop and assesses a conceptual model for these relationships. Design/methodology/approach A total of 161 3PLs in Taiwan were surveyed and their responses were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM/PLS). Findings The responses of respondents demonstrated that, of the three types of integration (internal integration, customer integration and logistics collaborator integration) used by 3PLs, internal integration had the greatest effect on SCR. Customer integration was found to have three fully mediating effects on the relationships between internal integration and service performance, between logistics collaborator integration and SCR, and between logistics collaborator integration and service performance. Originality/value This study provides useful information on how different types of integration manifest in the SCR and service performance of 3PLs.


2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (10) ◽  
pp. 1928-1951 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grigoris Giannarakis ◽  
George Konteos ◽  
Nikolaos Sariannidis

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the vital determinants on the extent of corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure in a US context. The selected variables are CEO duality, the presence of women in the board, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, emission reduction initiatives, company's risk premium, financial leverage and industry's profile. Design/methodology/approach – The environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure score is used as a proxy for the extent of CSR disclosure calculated by Bloomberg. The influence of plausible variables on the ESG disclosure score and its sub-categories was examined by using the least squares dummy variable model (LSDV) incorporating 100 companies listed on Standard & Poor's 500 Index for the period 2009-2012. Findings – The results show that the emission reduction initiatives and GHG emissions influence positively the extent of ESG score. In addition, slight differences exist concerning the determinants of different types of disclosures. Furthermore, it is illustrated that a company's industrial profile seems to have differences among the extent of the different types of disclosure. Research limitations/implications – The sample of companies is based on the US companies incorporating only large-sized ones. Originality/value – The study extends previous studies with the inclusion of both traditional and innovative determinants of the CSR disclosure in USA taking into account four years of corporate data. A third party rating approach was adopted in order to calculate the extent of CSR disclosure. Finally, both the shareholders’ and the investors’ attitudes in relation to CSR disclosure are presented.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-247
Author(s):  
Fletcher Glancy ◽  
David P. Biros ◽  
Nan Liang ◽  
Andy Luse

Purpose The authors argue that the current studies about malicious insiders confuse the fact that malicious attacks belong to two different categories, namely, those that launch instrumental attacks and expressive attacks. The authors collect malicious insider data from publicly available sources and use text-mining techniques to analyze the association between malicious insiders’ characteristics and the different types of attack. Design/methodology/approach The authors investigated the relationship between personality characteristics and different types of malicious attacks. For the personality characteristics, the authors use the same method as Liang et al. (2016), which extracted these characteristics based on a keyword-characteristic dictionary. For different types of malicious attacks, two raters rated each case based on criteria modified from criminology research to determine the degree of expressiveness and instrumentality. Findings The results show that malicious insiders who are manipulative or seeking personal gain tend to carry out instrumental attacks. Malicious insiders who are arrogant tend to conduct expressive attacks. Research limitations/implications This study uses third party articles to identify the personality characteristics of known malicious insiders. As such, not all personality characteristics may have been reported. Data availability was an issue. Practical implications Understanding if different personality characteristics lead different types of attacks can help managers identify employees who exhibit them and mitigate an attack before it occurs. Social implications Malicious insider attacks can have devastating results on businesses and employees. Help to identify potential malicious insiders before they act, may prevent undue harm. Originality/value This study used 132 cases of none malicious insiders to examine their attack objectives. No other study that the authors know of used that many cases.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 378-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arian Razmi-Farooji ◽  
Hanna Kropsu-Vehkaperä ◽  
Janne Härkönen ◽  
Harri Haapasalo

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to understand data management challenges in e-maintenance systems from a holistically viewpoint through summarizing the earlier scattered research in the field, and second, to present a conceptual approach for addressing these challenges in practice. Design/methodology/approach The study is realized as a combination of a literature review and by the means of analyzing the practices on an industry leader in manufacturing and maintenance services. Findings This research provides a general understanding over data management challenges in e-maintenance and summarizes their associated proposed solutions. In addition, this paper lists and exemplifies different types and sources of data which can be collected in e-maintenance, across different organizational levels. Analyzing the data management practices of an e-maintenance industry leader provides a conceptual approach to address identified challenges in practice. Research limitations/implications Since this paper is based on studying the practices of a single company, it might be limited to generalize the results. Future research topics can focus on each of mentioned data management challenges and also validate the applicability of presented model in other companies and industries. Practical implications Understanding the e-maintenance-related challenges helps maintenance managers and other involved stakeholders in e-maintenance systems to better solve the challenges. Originality/value The so-far literature on e-maintenance has been studied with narrow focus to data and data management in e-maintenance appears as one of the less studied topics in the literature. This research paper contributes to e-maintenance by highlighting the deficiencies of the discussion surrounding the perspectives of data management in e-maintenance by studying all common data management challenges and listing different types of data which need to be acquired in e-maintenance systems.


Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 253
Author(s):  
Yuyan Wang ◽  
Zhaoqing Yu ◽  
Liang Shen ◽  
Runjie Fan ◽  
Rongyun Tang

Considering the peculiarities of logistics in the electronic commerce (e-commerce) supply chain (ESC) and e-commerce platform’s altruistic preferences, a model including an e-commerce platform, third-party logistics service provider, and manufacturer is constructed. Based on this, three decision models are proposed and equilibrium solutions are obtained by the Stackelberg game. Then, an “altruistic preference joint fixed-cost” contract is proposed to maximize system efficiency. Finally, numerical analysis is used to validate the findings of the paper. The article not only analyzes and compares the optimal decisions under different ESC models, but also explores the intrinsic factors affecting the decisions. This paper finds that the conclusions of dual-channel supply chains or traditional supply chains do not necessarily apply to ESC, and that the effect of altruistic behavior under ESC is influenced by consumer preferences. Moreover, there is a multiparty win–win state for ESC, and this state can be achieved through the “altruistic preference joint fixed-cost” contract. Therefore, the findings of this paper contribute to the development of an e-commerce market and the cooperation of ESC members.


2012 ◽  
Vol 78 (24) ◽  
pp. 8735-8742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yilin Fang ◽  
Michael J. Wilkins ◽  
Steven B. Yabusaki ◽  
Mary S. Lipton ◽  
Philip E. Long

ABSTRACTAccurately predicting the interactions between microbial metabolism and the physical subsurface environment is necessary to enhance subsurface energy development, soil and groundwater cleanup, and carbon management. This study was an initial attempt to confirm the metabolic functional roles within anin silicomodel using environmental proteomic data collected during field experiments. Shotgun global proteomics data collected during a subsurface biostimulation experiment were used to validate a genome-scale metabolic model ofGeobacter metallireducens—specifically, the ability of the metabolic model to predict metal reduction, biomass yield, and growth rate under dynamic field conditions. The constraint-basedin silicomodelof G. metallireducensrelates an annotated genome sequence to the physiological functions with 697 reactions controlled by 747 enzyme-coding genes. Proteomic analysis showed that 180 of the 637G. metallireducensproteins detected during the 2008 experiment were associated with specific metabolic reactions in thein silicomodel. When the field-calibrated Fe(III) terminal electron acceptor process reaction in a reactive transport model for the field experiments was replaced with the genome-scale model, the model predicted that the largest metabolic fluxes through thein silicomodel reactions generally correspond to the highest abundances of proteins that catalyze those reactions. Central metabolism predicted by the model agrees well with protein abundance profiles inferred from proteomic analysis. Model discrepancies with the proteomic data, such as the relatively low abundances of proteins associated with amino acid transport and metabolism, revealed pathways or flux constraints in thein silicomodel that could be updated to more accurately predict metabolic processes that occur in the subsurface environment.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document