Understanding customer experiences in online blog environments

Abstract Blogs have recently become an influential medium and have demonstrated enormous marketing power. Consumers can freely conduct ongoing information searches through this new channel. However, the credibility of blogs plays an important role in creating opportunities for positive customer experiences that can shape consumers’ product/service purchase intentions and decisions. In light of this observation, this study proposes a theoretical framework that delineates the relationship among information credibility, customer experiences, and purchase intention in the blog environment. Data collected from 468 subjects in specific corporate blogs provide support for the proposed model using partial least squares (PLS). The results indicate that information credibility is critical for facilitating customer experiences, which, in turn, is necessary to enhance purchase intention. Additionally, greater involvement with blog significantly increases the effect of customer experiences on purchase intention. The detailed theoretical and managerial implications are presented.

[1]  T. Poiesz,et al.  Do We Need Involvement to Understand Consumer Behavior , 1995 .

[2]  P. M. Podsakoff,et al.  Self-Reports in Organizational Research: Problems and Prospects , 1986 .

[3]  Sally J. McMillan,et al.  Effects Of Structural And Perceptual Factors On Attitudes Toward The Website , 2003 .

[4]  Wynne W. Chin.  Issues and Opinion on Structural Equation Modeling by , 2009 .

[5]  Bernd H. Schmitt.  Experiential marketing : how to get customers to sense, feel, think, act, and relate to your company and brands , 1999 .

[6]  E. Hirschman,et al.  The Experiential Aspects of Consumption: Consumer Fantasies, Feelings, and Fun , 1982 .

[7]  Dennis L. Hoffman,et al.  Marketing in Hypermedia Computer-Mediated Environments : Conceptual Foundations 1 ) , 1998 .

[8]  John B. Cullen,et al.  RESPONSE CATEGORIES AND POTENTIAL CULTURAL BIAS: EFFECTS OF AN EXPLICIT MIDDLE POINT IN CROSS‐CULTURAL SURVEYS , 1998 .

[9]  Fabio Paternò,et al.  End-User Development , 1998, Lecture Notes in Computer Science.

[10]  K. Law,et al.  Multidimensional constructs in structural equation analysis: An illustration using the job perception and job satisfaction constructs , 1999 .

[11]  Jean Talbot,et al.  B2C web site quality and emotions during online shopping episodes: An empirical study , 2006, Inf. Manag..

[12]  Thomas J. Johnson,et al.  Every Blog Has Its Day: Politically-interested Internet Users' Perceptions of Blog Credibility , 2007, J. Comput. Mediat. Commun..

[13]  Banwari Mittal.  A Theoretical Analysis of Two Recent Measures of Involvement , 1989 .

[14]  Hairong Li,et al.  Characteristics of virtual experience in electronic commerce: A protocol analysis , 2001 .

[15]  Alan J. Dubinsky,et al.  A conceptual model of perceived customer value in e-commerce: A preliminary investigation , 2003 .

[16]  K. Freeman,et al.  An Examination of Factors That Affect the Credibility of Online Health Information , 2004 .

[17]  Jacob Cohen.  Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences , 1969, The SAGE Encyclopedia of Research Design.

[18]  A. Gunther.  BIASED PRESS OR BIASED PUBLIC? ATTITUDES TOWARD MEDIA COVERAGE OF SOCIAL GROUPS , 1992 .

[19]  Lenita M. Davis,et al.  Empirical testing of a model of online store atmospherics and shopper responses , 2003 .

[20]  Miriam J. Metzger.  Making sense of credibility on the Web: Models for evaluating online information and recommendations for future research , 2007 .

[21]  S. West,et al.  Multiple Regression: Testing and Interpreting Interactions. , 1994 .

[22]  D. G. Morrison.  Purchase Intentions and Purchase Behavior , 1979 .

[23]  J. H. Gilmore,et al.  Welcome to the experience economy. , 1998, Harvard business review.

[24]  Paul A. Pavlou,et al.  From IT Leveraging Competence to Competitive Advantage in Turbulent Environments: The Case of New Product Development , 2006, Inf. Syst. Res..

[25]  H. Winklhofer,et al.  Index Construction with Formative Indicators: An Alternative to Scale Development , 2001 .

[26]  Toni M. Somers,et al.  The Role of Information Systems Resources in ERP Capability Building and Business Process Outcomes , 2007, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[27]  Charles r. Taylor,et al.  Voluntary self‐disclosure of information on the Internet: A multimethod study of the motivations and consequences of disclosing information on blogs , 2008 .

[28]  H. Raghav Rao,et al.  On risk, convenience, and Internet shopping behavior , 2000, CACM.

[29]  Daniel L. Sherrell,et al.  Consumer Search: An Extended Framework , 1986 .

[30]  Robert Loo,et al.  Cross-Cultural Response Styles on the Kirton Adaption-Innovation Inventory , 1999 .

[31]  Lenita M. Davis,et al.  Culture influences on emotional responses to on-line store atmospheric cues , 2008 .

[32]  Lenita M. Davis,et al.  Atmospheric qualities of online retailing: A conceptual model and implications , 2001 .

[33]  R. Stampfl.  PERCEIVED RISK AND CONSUMER DECISION MAKING , 1978 .

[34]  Amrit Tiwana,et al.  Systems Development Process Improvement: A Knowledge Integration Perspective , 2007, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

[35]  Richard L. Celsi,et al.  The Role of Involvement in Attention and Comprehension Processes , 1988 .

[36]  Kallol Kumar Bagchi,et al.  An assessment of customers' e-service quality perception, satisfaction and intention , 2010, Int. J. Inf. Manag..

[37]  Detmar W. Straub,et al.  Trust and TAM in Online Shopping: An Integrated Model , 2003, MIS Q..

[38]  M. Holbrook.  The Millennial Consumer in the Texts of Our Times: Experience and Entertainment , 2000 .

[39]  Susan Rose,et al.  Online Customer Experience: A Review of the Business-to-Consumer Online Purchase Context , 2011 .

[40]  Sangmi Chai,et al.  What makes bloggers share knowledge? An investigation on the role of trust , 2010, Int. J. Inf. Manag..

[41]  J. Baker,et al.  The effects of appropriateness of service contact personnel dress on customer expectations of service quality and purchase intention: The moderating influences of involvement and gender , 2004 .

[42]  Donna L. Hoffman,et al.  A New Marketing Paradigm for Electronic Commerce , 1997, Inf. Soc..

[43]  Christian Wagner,et al.  Weblog success: Exploring the role of technology , 2006, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[44]  Michel Tenenhaus,et al.  PLS path modeling , 2005, Comput. Stat. Data Anal..

[45]  Chin-Lung Hsu,et al.  Acceptance of blog usage: The roles of technology acceptance, social influence and knowledge sharing motivation , 2008, Inf. Manag..

[46]  Yu-shan Lin,et al.  Internet blogs as a tourism marketing medium: A case study , 2006, Journal of Business Research.

[47]  Izak Benbasat,et al.  Predicting Intention to Adopt Interorganizational Linkages: An Institutional Perspective , 2003, MIS Q..

[48]  Bernard C. Y. Tan,et al.  Effects of Interactivity on Website Involvement and Purchase Intention , 2010, J. Assoc. Inf. Syst..

[49]  J. Zaichkowsky.  Measuring the Involvement Construct , 1985 .

[50]  Sue Fowell,et al.  Expectations versus reality: a snapshot of consumer experiences with Internet retailing , 2000, Int. J. Inf. Manag..

[51]  B. Pan,et al.  A retrospective view of electronic word-of-mouth in hospitality and tourism management , 2017 .

[52]  J. Nunnally.  Psychometric Theory (2nd ed), New York: McGraw-Hill. , 1978 .

[53]  A. Greenwald,et al.  Audience Involvement in Advertising: Four Levels , 1984 .

[54]  Cheryl Burke Jarvis,et al.  A Critical Review of Construct Indicators and Measurement Model Misspecification in Marketing and Consumer Research , 2003 .

[55]  Ajit Kambil,et al.  Consumer Behavior in Web-Based Commerce: An Empirical Study , 2001, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[56]  J. C. Andrews,et al.  Suggestions For Manipulating and Measuring Involvement in Advertising Message Content , 1991 .

[57]  Ingoo Han,et al.  The Effect of On-Line Consumer Reviews on Consumer Purchasing Intention: The Moderating Role of Involvement , 2007, Int. J. Electron. Commer..

[58]  Ching-Yuan Huang,et al.  Involvement theory in constructing bloggers' intention to purchase travel products , 2010 .

[59]  Kenneth R. Lord,et al.  Picture-Based Persuasion Processes and the Moderating Role of Involvement , 1991 .

[60]  Paul A. Pavlou,et al.  Building Effective Online Marketplaces with Institution-Based Trust , 2004, Inf. Syst. Res..

[61]  Utpal M. Dholakia.  Involvement-Response Models of Joint Effects: an Empirical Test and Extension , 1998 .

[62]  Mark E. Slama,et al.  Selected Socioeconomic and Demographic Characteristics Associated with Purchasing Involvement , 1985 .

[63]  Paul A. Pavlou,et al.  Psychological Contract Violation in Online Marketplaces: Antecedents, Consequences, and Moderating Role , 2005, Inf. Syst. Res..

[64]  Jeremy Wright.  Blog marketing , 2005 .

[65]  G. Belch,et al.  Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective , 1997 .

[66]  Donald F. Cox,et al.  Perceived Risk and Consumer Decision-Making—The Case of Telephone Shopping , 1964 .

[67]  Scott B. MacKenzie,et al.  Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. , 2003, The Journal of applied psychology.

[68]  Traci Hong,et al.  The influence of structural and message features on Web site credibility , 2006 .

[69]  Gordon R. Foxall,et al.  An investigation of consumers' webstore shopping: A view of click-and-mortar company , 2011, Int. J. Inf. Manag..

[70]  Wynne W. Chin,et al.  A Partial Least Squares Latent Variable Modeling Approach for Measuring Interaction Effects: Results from a Monte Carlo Simulation Study and an Electronic - Mail Emotion/Adoption Study , 2003, Inf. Syst. Res..

[71]  Gaby Odekerken-Schröder,et al.  Using PLS path modeling for assessing hierarchial construct models: guidelines and impirical illustration , 2009 .

[72]  L. Berry,et al.  Managing the Total Customer Experience , 2002 .

[73]  C. Fornell,et al.  Evaluating structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error. , 1981 .

[74]  M. Gilly,et al.  Shopping Online for Freedom, Control, and Fun , 2001 .

[75]  Stuart Dillon,et al.  Perceived Risk, the Internet Shopping Experience and Online Purchasing Behavior: A New Zealand Perspective , 2005, J. Glob. Inf. Manag..

[76]  Felix B. Tan,et al.  Online Consumer Trust: A Multi-Dimensional Model , 2004, J. Electron. Commer. Organ..

[77]  Donna L. Hoffman,et al.  Measuring the Customer Experience in Online Environments: A Structural Modeling Approach , 2000 .