Browsing Research Output by Author "Weijters, Bert"
Now showing items 1-20 of 76
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Assessing the impact of offline url advertisingTo examine the impact of offline URL advertising, a quantitative study among internet users and non-users is carried out. For internet users, the results reveal a significant impact on each level of the hierarchy of effects. Respondents remembering an offline URL ad are more aware and have a higher knowledge of the site, show a more positive attitude towards the site, and indicate a higher intention to visit/revisit the site. Remarkably, offline URL advertising not only is able to attract internet users to the site the first time, but also to generate an impact over and above site experience by increasing the likelihood of revisiting the site. For internet non-users, offline URL advertising is significantly less effective.
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Brand typicality and distant novel extension acceptance: how risk-reduction counters low category fitTo increase consumer acceptance of novel products, firms often employ extension strategies, that is, launching new products under familiar brand names. Prototypical brands are among the most familiar in any product category, and, therefore, seem attractive candidates for extension efforts. But, by definition, prototypical brands and their product category show a strong association. Starting from a categorization theory perspective, prior research suggests that this association may hinder the extendibility of prototypical brands to products that belong to distant categories. Yet counter-intuitively, results from two studies focusing on novel extensions demonstrate that brand prototypicality increases rather than decreases consumer acceptance of novel extensions, in “close” as well as “distant” product categories. A mediation analysis provides evidence for the underlying mechanism by indicating that the risk-reducing advantage of prototypical brands outweighs their category-anchored rigidity.
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Customers' usage of self service technology in a retail settingThe last decade has seen an increased focus by retailers on using new technologies to deliver their services. The introduction of self-service technologies (SSTs) opens up for retailers the potential of improving productivity and service quality while cutting costs. However previous forays by retailers to get their customers to try these self-service technologies have not been proven to be quite successful. Previous empirical research on the usage of technology based self-services has mainly focused on antecedents of attitude towards and corresponding behavioral intentions to use. However, little empirical research has linked these variables to actual behavior in a real life setting. To address these issues, we collected a combination of survey and observational data using self-scanning lanes as objects of investigation. We identify ease of use, usefulness, fun, and reliability as drivers of attitude towards the SST, which in turn significantly predict actual usage of the SST. We also extend previous research by focusing on the moderating effects of age, education and gender as key demographic variables. Finally, we contribute to the literature by studying the consequences of SST use from the customers' point of view. Keywords: self-service technology, retailing, consumer attitudes and behavior
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Demographic and attitudinal antecedents of consumers' use and self-investment trajectories over time in an online TV content platformPurpose To investigate if online TV content platforms create value for consumers (and increase use) by offering its users the possibility to self-invest in the service (by giving personal content preferences). We link demographic and attitudinal antecedents to the relation between self-investment and use. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected together with a Belgian media company (N = 4,136). To test the effects a latent growth model was composed in a multigroup setting with gender as the grouping variable. The model is analyzed through structural equation modeling in Mplus 8.0. Findings In general, strong relations between self-investment and increased use were found, although the effect of self-investment on use was stronger for female consumers. Furthermore, we established strong hedonic effects on using and investing in the service. For men, easy to use platforms lead to less self-investment. Research limitations/implications Our findings are restricted to free services. Furthermore, attitudinal variables are antecedents of behaviors. However, a more complex interplay between behavioral and attitudinal variables is possible. Further research could use repeatedly measured attitudinal measures and link these to behaviors over time. Practical implications Service developers could offer different platform interactions to different segments to create consumer value. Women seem more receptive for extra functionalities, such as the possibility to indicate preferences. Men mainly focus on the content offered. Originality/value This study focuses on a new form of media distribution, online TV content platforms, where we investigate two related behaviors of users over time (self-investment and use) instead of a general approximation of use. Multi-source data were used.
