Hedonic digital artifacts have become prevalent in today's society. Their users typically pay for them, and in exchange are generally provided with benefits involving enjoyment. Today's research on technology adoption and use, though, has focused mostly on organizational or personal aids that provide efficiency and effectiveness and are free of charge for users. To bridge this gap, we identified several value drivers of hedonic digital artifacts and measured them in the context of mobile phone ringtones using the theory of consumption values. Hypothesis testing was performed using PLS on data collected from 422 ringtone users. Results confirmed that the overall value of hedonic digital artifacts is a third-order composite assessment, which successfully predicted behavioral usage and positive word-of-mouth intentions. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

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User acceptance of hedonic digital artifacts: A theory of consumption values

perspective

Ofir Turel

a,

*, Alexander Serenko

b,1

, Nick Bontis

c,2

a

College of Business and Economics, California State University Fullerton, P.O. Box 6848, Fullerton, CA 92834-6848, USA

b

Faculty of Business Administration, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B 5E1, Canada

c

DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M4, Canada

1. Introduction

Most business studies that focus on technology adoption have

concentrated on organizational, productivity-oriented technolo-

gies. However, the development of innovative, non-productive,

intrinsically motivated artifacts for personal use has changed the

boundaries of technology management research: its extended

scope includes artifacts that not only directly facilitate organiza-

tional processes but also provide enjoyment and other intrinsic

stimuli. Such systems have become prevalent in the marketplace;

many contemporary elements are employed primarily for hedonic,

lifestyle-augmentation, such as entertainment and non-instru-

mental purposes. For example, users do not expect substantial

gains, if any, when downloading an MP3 song, watching video-on-

demand over the Internet, or playing an online game. ITs that

exclusively offer such enjoyment-oriented environments are

termed hedonic digital artifacts.

Their market has been booming. For instance, in 2005, there

were over two million songs available online, yielding over $1B in

sales for record companies. In 2006, the online sales of music

doubled, and 11% of recorded music sales were digital downloads

or subscriptions. By 2010, the US consumers are expected to spend

$7.8B on digital music, TV, and movie downloads. Another example

is the online gaming sector, which is expected to produce $11B in

revenues by 2009. These numbers demonstrate that people have

shifted to digital media in consuming some hedonic products that

were previously offered as hard-media. Because this represents a

lucrative business opportunity, user adoption of hedonic digital

artifacts and its drivers deserve the attention of researchers.

The drivers of technology use have been a major theme in MIS

research. Out of the many models developed for these purposes,

TAM is probably the best known [13] . Technology may be

considered as either instrumental (useful) or non-instrumental

(enjoyable) to determine adoption behavior. Hedonic technologies

(such as online video games) provide little, if any, instrumental

gains. Thus, instrumental drivers such as perceived usefulness may

be less relevant in such contexts or lose their productivity-oriented

meaning. In fact, even for multi-purpose technologies, not only

hedonic in nature, the effect of perceived usefulness is marginal

compared to that of intrinsic factors [10] . Thus, a new method of

analysis may be required for studying the adoption of hedonic

digital artifacts.

Our study used the theory of consumption values [21] , which is

a means of explaining user decisions to employ a hedonic digital

artifact: according to this theory, consumers make informed

purchase decisions after considering multiple value dimensions,

such as enjoyment, quality, social, value-for-money, and their

Information & Management 47 (2010) 53–59

ARTICLE INFO

Article history:

Received 24 June 2008

Received in revised form 11 September 2009

Accepted 2 October 2009

Available online 14 October 2009

Keywords:

Technology adoption

Perceived value

Hedonic technologies

Digital products

Mobile commerce

Ringtones

ABSTRACT

Hedonic digital artifacts have become prevalent in today' s society. Their users typically pay for them, and

in exchange are generally provided with benefits involving enjoyment. Today's research on technology

adoption and use, though, has focused mostly on organizational or personal aids that provide efficiency

and effectiveness and are free of charge for users. To bridge this gap, we identified several value drivers of

hedonic digital artifacts and measured them in the context of mobile phone ringtones using the theory of

consumption values. Hypothesis testing was performed using PLS on data collected from 422 ringtone

users. Results confirmed that the overall value of hedonic digital artifacts is a third-order composite

assessment, which successfully predicted behavioral usage and positive word-of-mouth intentions.

Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.

ß2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 657 278 5613; fax: +1 347 823 1945.

E-mail addresses: oturel@fullerton.edu (O. Turel), aserenko@lakeheadu.ca

(A. Serenko), nbontis@mcmaster.ca (N. Bontis).

1

Tel.: +1 807 343 8698; fax: +1 807 343 8443.

2

Tel.: +1 905 525 9140x23918; fax: +1 905 521 8995.

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Information & Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/im

0378-7206/$ – see front matter ß 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

doi:10.1016/j.im.2009.10.002

tradeoffs. Thus, the potential users of pay-per-use hedonic digital

artifacts follow cognitive decision processes and reflect on

multiple value dimensions before they make a decision to purchase

and use a hedonic digital artifact.

While several studies in the context of IT have employed this

perspective [e.g., 23] , they did not consider a large array of non-

instrumental predictors concurrently. Accordingly, we conceptua-

lized the decision to use a hedonic digital artifact as a cognitive

process based on a broad view of value that focuses on various non-

instrumental motivators, including tradeoffs among several

components, such as value-for-money, musical or visual appeal,

escapism, intrinsic enjoyment, playfulness, and social value. This

allowed us to consider a range of hedonic-relevant intrinsic

motivators.

Rather than focusing solely on behavioral intentions to use a

hedonic digital artifact, our study also examined the willingness of

users to provide positive word-of-mouth about the artifact. This is

a powerful combination of constructs that may better explain the

diffusion of digital products than behavioral usage intentions alone

since value perceptions beyond efficiency and effectiveness are

involved.

2. Theoretical foundations

2.1. Prior research on hedonic digital artifacts

Research has suggested that consumers always distinguish

between hedonic and utilitarian values, and that their perceptions,

attitudes and intentions depend on the product's nature. More-

over, deciding whether the product is hedonic or utilitarian may

drive the consumers' decision whether to purchase or use the item

[4,7].

Two lines of inquiry have been proposed in MIS research. The

first is to extend TAM by adding constructs that specifically

incorporate the hedonic aspects of the IT artifact [1] , with

perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and behavioral

intention left intact, and with the hedonic part represented by a

single construct, such as perceived enjoyment. Examples include

online learning [14] , computer games [9] , software agents [20] , and

television commerce [27] . Usually, the IT artifact analyzed in such

projects includes both a utilitarian and hedonic component [3].

In the second line of research, new models were developed or

adapted from other disciplines, mostly psychology, management

and marketing [5,24] . For instance, the theory of reasoned action

and the theory of planned behavior (precursors to TAM) were

employed to develop a model of user acceptance of online video

games [16] . Flow theories were used to explain Web navigation

processes in which enjoyment plays an important part [11] , and a

new instrument was designed to measure the extent of enjoyment

experienced by Internet users [15].

2.2. The theory of consumption values

There are information technology artifacts, such as music

downloads for mobile phones that offer intrinsic utilities to their

users. Thus a broader view of relevant utilities may be needed for

explaining individual decisions to use these technologies.

Furthermore, as opposed to organizational systems and some

hedonic applications that are free of charge, many hedonic digital

artifacts cost money (a onetime fee, or pay-per-use) and require

users to consider a range of utility tradeoffs. Therefore, even

though a digital product may provide positive extrinsic and

intrinsic utilities (it is useful, enjoyable, etc.), users may reject it if

its cost is too high compared to its benefits.

The use of hedonic products triggers multisensory images,

emotional arousal and fantasies. Hedonic products tend to be

symbolic or non-tangible in nature. The consumption process of

hedonic products requires emotional involvement and mental

efforts. Therefore, traditional utilitarian-focused approaches fall

short with respect to hedonic artifacts.

We therefore use the theory of consumption values to explain

the adoption of hedonic digital artifacts. The question why we buy

what we buy is a fundamental issue in consumer behavior,

marketing and economics literature. The theory integrates

components from various consumer behavior models and assumes

that consumer choice is a function of multiple consumption values.

Consumption value perceptions capture consumer utilities along

several dimensions, such as emotional value, value-for-money, and

quality. These value components are used as the basis upon which

consumers develop their choice behavior.

Customer value is derived from a person's experience and

interaction with a product or service; it has become a key issue in

marketing research, because it is linked to overall business

performance. Many scholars agree that there are two motives

for acquiring products and services: functional needs, and non-

functional wants, associated with social, emotional, and epistemic

values; these concepts may also be applied in the domain of IT.

Many studies have developed and used additional value dimen-

sions [2,17] . The importance of the theory of consumption values

lies in positing that consumers balance value assessments for

making informed, intrinsically and extrinsically motivated con-

sumption decisions [12].

Two additional ideas are axiomatic to the theory of consump-

tion values. First , while there may be many value dimensions

capturing the utility derived from various sources, their relative

importance can vary from one context to another. For instance, in

the context of organizational applications, the functional value is

likely to be more important than the emotional value in

determining usage behavior. The levels of importance may be

reversed in the context of hedonic technologies. Second , most of the

consumption values are independent; changes in one dimension

may not necessarily result in changes in others. This implies that

the value dimensions may be somewhat, but not fully, correlated,

and the effects of the value dimensions on behavioral outcomes are

partially additive. For example, an improvement in a technology's

usefulness, say, by making it easier to use, may not result in an

identical improvement in its emotional utility. Thus, the effect of

multiple value dimensions should be taken into account concur-

rently as predictors of behavior.

2.3. Perceived value and its effect in the context of hedonic

digital artifacts

Perceived value is based on the aggregation of perceptions of

various product benefits and associated tradeoffs. It is a

consumer's overall assessment of the utility of a product or

service based on his or her perceptions of what is received versus

what is given [28] . This captures a comparison of the 'give'

(sacrifice) and 'take' (gain) components of using any artifact,

including ITs.

Based on the theory of consumption values, the comparison of

value components is used as the basis on which individuals

develop purchase decisions. Indeed, the use of value components

as predictors of behavioral outcomes has been common [18].

Nevertheless, it has recently been argued that this is conceptually

inadequate. Recall that the definition of perceived value is an

overall assessment. The component level value perceptions are

expected to provide the basis on which individuals form an overall

value assessment. This assessment, in turn, and not its compo-

nents, would affect the outcome variables. Accordingly, the

concept of perceived value as a second-order composite with

first-order formative components is better than other value

O. Turel et al. / Information & Management 47 (2010) 53–59

54

configurations. The overall perceived value concept is a molar

factor that has formative indictors (the value components) because

it satisfies the statistical and conceptual condition for a formative

construct. Conceptually, the overall value assessment is formed by

several independent components after one considers their trade-

offs. Statistically, value components do not necessarily co-vary,

and thus, do not satisfy the conditions for reflective factor

modeling [8] . For example, a decrease in quality may not imply

a change in enjoyment. Overall, the use of a second-order value

conceptualization is justified and has already received support in

the business literature. Thus, we adopted the higher-order

conceptualization of perceived value.

The original theory of consumption values presented a narrow

view in which the value components affected only consumption

choice decisions. However, perceived value as a cognitive concept

may influence many other behavioral outcomes, such as customer

satisfaction, behavioral usage intentions, and brand loyalty [26].

Therefore, the theory may be extended to include behavioral

outcome variables that go beyond mere purchase decisions.

Out of the many behavioral outcomes that can be influenced by

value perceptions, behavioral intentions to use the hedonic digital

artifact and behavioral intentions to provide positive word-of-

mouth may be of interest to technology adoption and diffusion

researchers. First , behavioral usage intentions are the key out-

comes of technology adoption serving as a proxy for actual usage

behavior. Second , positive word-of-mouth represents a loyal

behavior. It is an intention that does not require individuals to

commit to future use or purchase, but rather focuses on willingness

to recommend the artifact to others and encourage them to use it.

People who may not wish to use a technology may still say positive

things about it, and affect its general acceptance. Overall, these

concepts may positively affect the diffusion of technology.

Given a positive value assessment of a hedonic digital artifact or

an expectation of a positive value, it is reasonable to hypothesize

that individuals will be motivated to use the hedonic digital

artifact and will develop stronger behavioral usage intentions.

Similarly, a positive value assessment may create an atmosphere

for affective commitment [19] . Similar effects of value assessments

on usage and recommendation behaviors received support in

studies which were conducted in various contexts. As such, the

following hypotheses were formulated:

H1a.

The overall perceived value of a hedonic digital artifact is

positively related to user behavioral intentions to use it.

H1b.

The overall perceived value of a hedonic digital artifact is

positively related to user behavioral intentions to positive word-

of-mouth.

2.4. The dimensionality of perceived value in the context of

hedonic digital artifacts

Some studies have conceptualized perceived value as a

unidimensional construct that includes all the give (e.g., reason-

able price) and take (e.g., quality) aspects together; this, however,

may be too simplistic, because it does not break down value into its

many components. Accordingly, a broad and varying set of

dimensions has been utilized in different contexts. We focused

mostly on intrinsic, non-instrumental value dimensions that may

be of high importance in our context. As such, our ''overall value''

had only non-instrumental values. The non-instrumental value

components of overall value assessment are visual/musical appeal,

playfulness, and social value:

visual/musical appeal—an aesthetic response that can be a

salient element of any hedonic digital artifact;

social value—social gains attributed to the use of an artifact, for

instance, video-on-demand via mobile phones may position

individuals as trendy and sophisticated; and

playfulness—engagement in activities that are absorbing and

allow individuals to escape from the demands of the day-to-day

world. Thus, playfulness gains stem from the use of technologies

for non-instrumental purposes generating value for hedonic

technology users.

Our study also considered value-for-money as the 'give'

component in contrast with the non-instrumental gains of making

informed decisions. Users who feel that the hedonic digital artifact

is inexpensive compared to its benefits are likely to adopt it. Thus,

the following hypotheses were posed:

H2a.

The visual/musical appeal value of a hedonic digital artifact is

positively related to its overall perceived value.

H2b.

The social value of a hedonic digital artifact is positively

related to its overall perceived value.

H2c.

The playfulness value of a hedonic digital artifact is positively

related to its overall perceived value.

H2d.

The value-for-money of a hedonic digital artifact is positively

related to its overall perceived value.

Playfulness depends on two factors: escapism (intrinsic gain

from forgetting the daily tasks and engaging in playful behaviors)

and enjoyment (emotional gain that reflects pleasure). Even

though previous studies showed a direct effect of enjoyment on

attitudes and behavioral outcomes [6] , the relationship between

enjoyment and behaviors may be more complicated (i.e., mediated

through value assessments). Thus, the following hypotheses were

made (see the research model depicted in Fig. 1):

H3a.

The escapism value of a hedonic digital artifact is positively

related to its playfulness value.

H3b.

The enjoyment value of a hedonic digital artifact is positively

related to its playfulness value.

3. Methodology and results

3.1. Instrument development and data collection

We conducted an empirical investigation on mobile phone

users who had utilized ringtones. These are customizable sounds

that replace the traditional rings for incoming calls on mobile

phones. They may be downloaded from mobile and wired websites

and have various qualities, ranging from mono, to polyphonic and

tunes. We selected them for our investigation for two reasons: they

are hedonic digital artifacts with a monetary cost (individuals who

download personalized sounds pay for them) and they are one of

the most popular wireless services. Almost one quarter of the US

population (23%) downloaded ringtones in 2005; and this

proportion is much higher (around 50%) in the young–adult

segment (18–24). Accordingly, we focused on ringtones as the

hedonic digital artifact.

The first part of our survey instrument solicited demographic

information, such as age, sex, and past ringtone usage. The second

part included items intended to supply data for our research

model. Items and their sources are outlined in Table 1.

The sample for our study consisted of university students

because they represent the target population of ringtone users.

Data was collected in two rounds. First, a paper-based survey was

administered to 360 fourth-year undergraduate students at a

O. Turel et al. / Information & Management 47 (2010) 53–59

55

North American university. From this group, 186 (about 50%) had

downloaded ringtones and completed the survey. In the second

round, a link to an online survey, identical to the paper-based

version, along with a call for participation in our study was posted

on a university website. Those who participated in the first data

collection phase were instructed not to complete the online survey

to avoid duplicate entries. This data collection round resulted in

236 additional responses, collected over a period of 1 month. Based

Fig. 1. Research model.

Table 1

Constructs and items.

Construct Abbreviation Measure source Number of items Items

Escapism ESC Mathwick et al. [18] 3 Listening to ringtones ''gets me away from it all.''

Listening to ringtones makes me feel like I am in another world.

I get so involved when I am hearing ringtones that I forget everything else.

Enjoyment ENJ Sweeney and

Soutar [22]

5 I enjoy using ringtones.

Ringtones make me want to use them.

I feel relaxed about using ringtones.

The use of ringtones makes me feel good.

The use of ringtones gives me pleasure.

Playfulness value PlayV Second-order factor

Musical appeal MSCA Mathwick et al. [18] 3 The way ringtones sound is attractive.

Ringtones are musically appealing.

I like the way ringtones sound.

Social value SOCV Sweeney and

Soutar [22]

4 The use of ringtones helps me feel acceptable.

The use of ringtones improves the way I am perceived.

The fact I use ringtones makes a good impression on other people.

The use of ringtones gives me social approval.

Value-for-money VFM Sweeney and

Soutar [22]

3 Ringtones have a good economic value.

Overall, I am happy with ringtone prices.

The prices of ringtones are too high given their benefits.

Overall value OV Third-order factor

Behavioral intentions BUI Venkatesh and

Davis [25]

2 Assuming I have access to ringtone download services, I intend to

use them in future.

Given that I have access to ringtone download services, I predict

that I would use them in future.

Positive word-of-mouth PWOM Lin et al. [17] 3 I would say positive things about ringtones to other people who

wish to personalize their cell phones.

I would recommend ringtones to someone who wishes to personalize

his or her cell phone, and seeks your advice.

I would encourage friends and relatives, who wish to personalize

their cell phones, to download ringtones.

O. Turel et al. / Information & Management 47 (2010) 53–59

56

on the web-logs, 43% of viewers had clicked-through and

completed the survey. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed

no differences between the two datasets (Wilks' Lambda = 0.94,

p>0.41). Thus, all analyses employed the combined dataset of 422

records.

Respondents' ages ranged from 18 to 59 years old (aver-

age = 22), but the vast majority of respondents (91%) belonged to

the young–adult segment (between 18 and 25 years old). The

sample was slightly female dominant with 52% women. This is

consistent with the findings of the Interactive Media Industry

Association that states that women tend to download more

ringtones than men. The respondents' experience with ringtone

downloads ranged from once to 100 times with an average of seven

downloads per person. For each ringtone, individuals paid up to

US$ 7, with an average price of about US$ 1.9 per download. All

participants had some experience with their current cell phones

(1–56 months, mean = 13 months) and service provider (1–120

months, mean = 31 months).

3.2. The measurement model

The structural and measurement models were estimated using

PLS–Graph. PLS was chosen because it places less restriction on

variable distribution, and enables modeling higher-order molar

constructs. The second- and third-order factors in the model were

computed by using the repeated-indicators approach (i.e., the

hierarchical component model), which is suitable for modeling

higher-order factors in PLS.

The initial model included age, gender, experience with

ringtones (self-reported number of downloads), and their inter-

actions as control variables, all of which had no significant effect (t-

values ranged from 0.02 to 1.0). Furthermore, removing them had

marginal, if any, effect on the variance explained in the outcome

variables. Thus, the control variables were excluded from further

analysis, and we re-estimated the uncontrolled model of Fig. 1.

Our analysis (Table 2 ) demonstrated that all items had

acceptable measurement properties. All factor loadings exceeded

the threshold value of 0.7. Thus, variation in the indicators was

mostly explained by the underlying latent variables. The item-to-

total correlation estimates for all items met the recommended cut-

off value of 0.5 with relatively small residual variances.

All latent variables exhibited good psychometric properties. An

assessment of construct reliabilities for all low-order factors was

conducted, with all Cronbach's alpha values above 0.8. The

measures of internal consistency and convergent validity were

greater than the recommended 0.7 and 0.5 thresholds respectively.

The convergent and discriminant validities of the low-order

constructs were further supported by the matrix of loadings and

cross-loadings. See Table 3 , where items had substantially stronger

loadings on the factors they reflect than on other factors. The inter-

construct correlation matrix (Table 4 ) demonstrated that the

Table 2

Descriptive statistics for the scales.

Item Mean Standard deviation Residual variance Item–total correlation Cronbach's alpha Internal consistency Convergent validity (AVE)

ESC1 2.26 1.56 0.18 0.74 0.88 0.93 0.81

ESC2 1.98 1.41 0.11 0.85

ESC3 1.78 1.37 0.28 0.72

ENJ1 5.22 1.61 0.26 0.78 0.91 0.93 0.74

ENJ2 4.67 1.75 0.22 0.81

ENJ3 4.83 1.63 0.38 0.68

ENJ4 4.41 1.77 0.18 0.84

ENJ5 4.19 1.83 0.26 0.76

MSCA1 4.66 1.71 0.21 0.76 0.91 0.94 0.85

MSCA2 5.15 1.64 0.10 0.87

MSCA3 5.14 1.61 0.15 0.81

SOCV1 3.14 1.80 0.20 0.81 0.94 0.95 0.85

SOCV2 3.00 1.80 0.12 0.88

SOCV3 3.00 1.78 0.15 0.85

SOCV4 2.87 1.80 0.14 0.86

VFM1 2.83 1.65 0.25 0.62 0.83 0.90 0.75

VFM2 2.93 1.64 0.18 0.77

VFM3 2.99 1.62 0.33 0.68

BUI1 4.25 1.76 0.14 0.74 0.85 0.93 0.87

BUI2 4.45 1.70 0.11 0.74

PWOM1 4.62 1.57 0.17 0.79 0.89 0.93 0.82

PWOM2 4.54 1.72 0.15 0.82

PWOM3 4.43 1.77 0.21 0.75

Table 3

Matrix of loadings and cross-loadings.

ESC ENJ MSCA SOCV VFM BUI PWOM

ESC1 0.90 0.26 0.20 0.50 0.39 0.16 0.23

ESC2 0.94 0.23 0.13 0.50 0.39 0.16 0.20

ESC3 0.85 0.12 0.02 0.46 0.34 0.09 0.10

ENJ1 0.11 0.86 0.61 0.33 0.13 0.53 0.58

ENJ2 0.22 0.88 0.57 0.40 0.15 0.55 0.60

ENJ3 0.11 0.78 0.52 0.31 0.16 0.46 0.53

ENJ4 0.28 0.90 0.55 0.53 0.18 0.50 0.55

ENJ 5 0.29 0.86 0.57 0.55 0.20 0.49 0.54

MSCA1 0.18 0.57 0.89 0.42 0.21 0.46 0.56

MSCA2 0.10 0.63 0.95 0.30 0.15 0.54 0.64

MSCA3 0.10 0.60 0.92 0.26 0.19 0.52 0.62

SOCV1 0.45 0.51 0.33 0.89 0.24 0.31 0.35

SOCV2 0.47 0.45 0.33 0.93 0.29 0.26 0.34

SOCV3 0.53 0.44 0.33 0.92 0.32 0.29 0.36

SOCV4 0.54 0.42 0.31 0.92 0.27 0.26 0.34

VFM1 0.44 0.23 0.25 0.34 0.87 0.29 0.34

VFM2 0.35 0.16 0.14 0.26 0.90 0.30 0.30

VFM3 0.26 0.06 0.10 0.14 0.81 0.19 0.19

BUI1 0.12 0.51 0.48 0.24 0.28 0.92 0.69

BUI2 0.17 0.59 0.55 0.32 0.30 0.94 0.74

PWOM1 0.17 0.61 0.61 0.36 0.29 0.70 0.91

PWOM2 0.21 0.59 0.59 0.38 0.29 0.65 0.92

PWOM3 0.18 0.58 0.60 0.29 0.32 0.74 0.89

O. Turel et al. / Information & Management 47 (2010) 53–59

57

square root of the average variance extracted (AVE) for each

construct (on the diagonal) was higher than the corresponding

inter-construct correlations. Overall, we concluded that the

measures were valid.

3.3. Hypotheses testing

The PLS analysis yielded path coefficients for the structural

model. The levels of significance were estimated using t-statistics

derived from a bootstrapping procedure with 200 re-samples (see

Fig. 2).

The structural model showed that seven hypotheses were

supported and one (H2b ) was rejected. Thus escapism and

enjoyment were used as the basis upon which individuals

assessed the playfulness value of hedonic digital artifacts. This

together with musical appeal and the value-for-money compo-

nents, were used in developing an overall value assessment.

Apparently, ringtone users do not consider social gains when

developing their overall value assessment. Overall, the model

explained major portions of the variation in adoption behaviors—

about 44% of the variance in usage intentions and 56% in positive

word-of-mouth intentions.

4. Discussion, limitations and conclusions

Our study introduced the theory of consumption values as a way

of explainingand predicting the adoptionof hedonic digital artifacts:

it was shown that users assess some non-instrumental utilities and

monetary cost of the hedonic digital artifacts when they consider

their use and then develop an overall value assessment on which

they form behavioral usage and positive word-of-mouth intentions.

The third-order factor model reasonably, accurately and parsimo-

niously described the acceptance of the artifacts. It exhibited

adequate predictive and psychometric properties.

Social value did not have an impact on the overall artifact value

in the context of ringtones. The playfulness value, which is based

mainly on enjoyment and moderately on escapism, is a strong

predictor of the overall ringtone value. Accordingly, this finding

further confirms the validity of the model. Interestingly, this study

revealed that the effect of enjoyment on behavioral usage

intentions was mediated through two concepts: perceived

playfulness value and overall value assessment.

In the context of ringtones, escapism is not as important as

enjoyment in the assessment of playfulness value. One explanation

for this may be the fact that ringtones are short (only a few seconds

long) and not interactive. The musical appeal value component

emerged as a strong predictor of the overall value of ringtones.

Users considered this when they assessed its overall value.

Apparently users of hedonic digital artifacts assess their overall

value by considering multiple value dimensions and their trade-

offs. This is then used as the basis for making adoption decisions

and recommending the systems to others.

Despite the prevalence of hedonic digital artifacts, there is still a

lack of prescriptive guidelines as to how value perceptions may be

employed for augmenting their adoption. Our findings about the

value structure behind the adoption of ringtones generated some

implications.

Fig. 2. The structural model.

Table 4

Inter-construct correlations and square roots of AVE of low-order constructs.

ESC ENJ MSCA SOCV VFM BUI PWOM

ESC 0.90

ENJ 0.24 0.86

MSCA 0.14 0.65 0.92

SOCV 0.54 0.50 0.38 0.92

VFM 0.42 0.19 0.20 0.31 0.86

BUI 0.16 0.59 0.55 0.30 0.31 0.93

PWOM 0.20 0.65 0.66 0.38 0.33 0.76 0.91

O. Turel et al. / Information & Management 47 (2010) 53–59

58

Because musical appeal and playfulness are the most important

value dimensions behind the use and recommendation of ring-

tones, providers should augment and emphasize them in market-

ing campaigns. One way is to increase musical appeal by the use of

higher-quality sounds. Alternatively, service providers could offer

a wider range of ringtones for download, so that they appeal to a

broader range of users with different musical tastes. They may also

emphasize the fun aspect when promoting ringtones.

The medium effect of value-for-money indicates that the

current level of pricing seems reasonable to many users. That is,

the utility gains outweigh the cost. Nevertheless, an increase in the

level of pricing may have unexpected results. Price reduction also

may not be the best option to improve value-for-money

perception. Our study also showed that social value is not

important in the context of ringtone adoption. Therefore, ringtone

providers should not emphasize the social value of ringtones in

advertising campaigns since social gains are important only when

employing a totally innovative and visible hedonic technology.

Despite its potential contribution, our study has some limita-

tions. First, this study used a sample of North Americans from the

young–adult segment. This may have introduced a bias. Second,

other factors may act as moderators or predictors of adoption

behaviors of hedonic digital artifacts, e.g., cultural differences and

personality traits. Third, testing the model with only ringtones

does not demonstrate its nomological validity.

Overall, the industry of hedonic digital artifacts is a relatively

new and growing field. Many successful artifacts have been widely

adopted by the users and enormous markets are at stake. Our study

used the theory of consumption values to explain the adoption of

these artifacts and offered recommendations for their providers.

Various non-instrumental value assessments which are encapsu-

lated in a third-order factor structure drive the adoption of the

artifacts.

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and beliefs about information technology usage, MIS Quarterly 24 (4), 2000, pp.

665–694.

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Dr. Ofir Turel is an associate professor of information

systems and decision sciences at the Mihaylo College of

Business and Economics, California State University,

Fullerton. He holds a BSc in industrial engineering, an

MBA in technology management, and a PhD in

management information systems. Before joining the

academia, he has held senior positions in the informa-

tion technology and telecommunications industries.

His research interests include behavioral and manage-

rial issues in the domains of online collaboration,

electronic commerce and mobile commerce. His

award-winning works have been published in several

peer-reviewed journals, such as the Journal of MIS,

Communications of the ACM, Information and Management, Telecommunications

policy, and Group Decision and Negotiation, and presented at various international

conferences.

Dr. Alexander Serenko is an associate professor of

management information systems in the Faculty of

BusinessAdministration at LakeheadUniversity, Canada.

Dr. Serenkoholds a M.Sc. in computer science,an MBA in

electronic business, and a PhD in management informa-

tion systems from McMaster University. His research

interests pertain to scientometrics, knowledge manage-

ment, and innovation. Alexander has published over 40

articles in refereed journals, and he has received awards

at several Canadian, American and international con-

ferences. In 2007, Dr. Serenko received the Lakehead

Contributionto Research Award which recognizeshim as

one of the university's leading researchers.

Dr. Nick Bontis is an associate professor of strategy at

the DeGrooteSchool of Business at McMaster University.

He received his PhDfrom the Ivey Business School at the

University of Western Ontario. His doctoral dissertation

is recognized as the first thesis to integrate the fields of

intellectual capital, organizational learning and knowl-

edge managementand is the number one sellingthesis in

Canada.He was recently recognized as the firstMcMaster

professor to win outstanding teacher of the year and

faculty researcher of the year simultaneously. He is a 3M

National Teaching Fellow, an exclusive honour only

bestowed upon the top university professors in Canada.

Dr. Bontis is recognized the world over as a leading

professional speaker and consultant in the field of knowledge management and

intellectual capital.

O. Turel et al. / Information & Management 47 (2010) 53–59

59

... However, we will examine its relationship with Facebook addiction. Generally, numerous theories and findings have established the relationship between behavioural intention and actual behaviour [54][55][56]. Consequently, if the continuance intention of Facebook use is present, the user will continue to do so, thereby increasing the chances of addiction to the website. Furthermore, previous studies found that when a certain behaviour is exhibited and the person is willing to do it again, future behaviour becomes an automatic, aligned response [57]. ...

... Furthermore, previous studies found that when a certain behaviour is exhibited and the person is willing to do it again, future behaviour becomes an automatic, aligned response [57]. Therefore, the more a person uses social media to communicate with others, the more likely it is to become a habit and lead to addiction [55]. ...

... Hypothesis H5 proposed that continuance intention positively affects Facebook addiction, and the results of this study supported the same. This finding was also supported by previous research looking at the link between continuance intention and behaviour [47,55]. This suggests that the greater a user's intention to use Facebook, the more likely it is that they will become addicted to it. ...

Social media addiction has undergone a remarkable transformation among regular users, but limited research has been conducted on exploring the antecedents of addiction. The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between continuance intention and addiction. Moreover, it investigates the moderating role of satisfaction and trust on the relationship between continuance intention and addiction. The developed conceptual model suggests that continuance intention is the antecedent of addiction, while satisfaction and trust act as moderators between continuance intention and addiction. The antecedents of continuance intention are emotional, informational, social, and hedonic values. A survey was conducted to collect data from 572 voluntary participants, and the analysis was performed using SPSS and AMOS. The statistical result showed the effects of emotional , informational, and hedonic values on Facebook use continuance intention, but the effect of social value was not supported. Results also confirmed a significant effect of continuance intention on Facebook addiction. Additionally, it confirmed the moderating role of satisfaction on the impact of continuance intention on Facebook addiction, but the moderating role of trust was not supported. The results of this study provide insight for Facebook users, managers, and policymakers regarding treatment and intervention for Facebook addiction. It discusses several theoretical and practical implications. In this research, we proposed a new model based on extending the associations between perceived value and continuance behaviours theory.

... Theory of reasoned action (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1975) and theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991) have both been widely used in explaining environmental behaviours based on attitudes and subjective norms, mediated by behavioural intentions, with perceived behavioural control included in the theoretical frame for the theory of planned behaviour. Food consumption (Vermeir and Verbeke, 2008), home recycling (Kaiser and Gutscher, 2003), overall pro-environmental behaviour, and other aspects of environmental behaviour have all been predicted using the theory of planned behaviour (Turel et al., 2010). Other theories used to explain environmental behaviours and citizenship includes the norm-activation-model (NAM) and value-belief-norm (VBN) (Stern et al., 1999). ...

... Other theories used to explain environmental behaviours and citizenship includes the norm-activation-model (NAM) and value-belief-norm (VBN) (Stern et al., 1999). The social practices approach, a paradigm in which social practices relate to an area of daily living, has been used to promote everyday life sustainability (Shove and Walker, 2010;Turel et al., 2010). ...

... In order to measure consumer views of the value of branded durable goods, the three value aspects of value for money, social, and emotional worth were used to construct a perceived value scale (Sweeney and Soutar, 2001). Turel et al. (2010) used this idea to explain why people utilize hedonic digital artefacts. Lin and Huang (2012) applied this theory to investigate the elements impacting customer preference for green products. ...

Human concern for the environment has grown in tandem with recent economic development, particularly in emerging nations. This paradigm change has led Malaysians to pay more attention to synthetic plastics challenges, particularly in Malaysia. This study aims to determine the attitudes of young Malaysian consumers on the usage of biodegradable plastics to minimize the use of synthetic plastic in the country. Generally, two motivations—hedonic and environmental motivations toward switching intention from synthetic to biodegradable plastic among the young consumers were examined in the study. Environmental motivations (environmental concern, environmental knowledge), as well as hedonic motivations (adventurous spirit, novelty-seeking), are used in this study to broaden the theory of consumption value (TCV) into four additional factors that may positively impact the young consumer's attitude and increase switching intention towards biodegradable plastics. The data was collected utilizing an online survey approach and a standardized questionnaire. The data of 386 young Malaysian customers were analyzed using structural equation modelling (SEM) using SmartPLS 3. The study's significant findings indicated that hedonic motivations, environmental motivations, and attitudes all impact switching intentions toward biodegradable plastics. This study also found that attitude is a mediator between hedonic and environmental motivations regarding switching intentions. These findings might aid the government in developing a new policy that encourages residents to adopt biodegradable plastics while also lowering pollution.

... "Attractiveness" relates to a set of consumers' emotional attributes that are highly correlated. Positive word of mouth delivers effective value perceptions from the perspective of a theory of consumption values [7]. e "Digital 2020 report" published by We Are Social and Hootsuite showed that 4.54 billion people now use the Internet, with nearly 60% of the world's population already online. ...

... Social word of mouth (sWOM) as a subset of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) affects consumer behaviors deeply [9]. In particular, the "Digital 2020 report" also showed that the number of social media users passed the 3.8 billion mark in January 2020 [7]. is means that "your online reputation is your reputation" [10][11][12]. ...

  • Yufeng Wang
  • Xu Yang
  • Yanyou Chai
  • Qi Tian

This study analyzes the process of corporate reputation (CR) propagation. We consider that different positions play different roles via social word of mouth (sWOM). In essence, our interest lies in the following question: how does sWOM affect the process of CR propagation? As a benchmark, we develop a dynamic model to reflect the factors and laws influencing corporate reputation propagation. We find that the stability of the system is not what corporations want to see in the propagation of positive CR after analyzing two basic reproduction numbers and conducting a numerical simulation. Another important finding is that stability is what corporations expect in the propagation of negative CR. This study makes the logical analysis of the relationship between CR and consumer loyalty more complete and helps us to clearly understand the overall process of CR propagation. The study provides a new way to analyze the law of CR propagation and can provide a reference for decision-making for corporations.

... As mentioned by Zeithaml (1988), consumers are value oriented and their decision behaviors are dependent on the general evaluation of value perceptions. In terms of the adoption of an innovation, studies in the literature suggest that perceived value forms a basis for consumers' decision to adopt an innovation and influences intentions of consumers towards adopting the channel of mobile shopping Kleijnen et al., 2007;Kim et al., 2007;Turel et al., 2010;Al-Meshal & Almotairi, 2013;Assaurt & Eiamkanchanalai, 2015;Chung & Koo, 2015;Yang et al., 2016). In parallel with the studies on mobile technologies, the following hypotheses were suggested by the study. ...

... The present study includes: four items measuring Perceived Usefulness Ahn et al., 2004;Wu & Wang, 2005); five items measuring Perceived Ease of Use (Davis, Bagozzi, & Warshaw, 1989;Nysveen, et al., 2005); four items measuring Perceived Value (Sirdeshmukh et al., 2002;Kim et al., 2007); four items measuring Perceived Risk (Bauer et al., 2005;Wu & Wang, 2005); four items measuring Perceived Enjoyment (Nysveen, el al., 2005); five items measuring Perceived Innovativeness (Goldsmith & Hofacker, 1991;Parasuraman, 2000); three items measuring Existing Knowledge (Flynn & Goldsmith, 1999;Bauer et al., 2005); four items measuring Word-of-Mouth Communication Turel et al., 2010); three items measuring Perceived Mobility (Hong et al., 2008); three items measuring Personalization (Mittal & Walfried, 1996;Chellappa & Sin, 2005;Xu, 2006); three items measuring Perceived Informativeness (Bauer et al., 2005); two items measuring Subjective Norm (Bhattacherjee, 2000;Nysveen et al., 2005); two items measuring Image (Moore & Benbasat, 1991); three items measuring Compatibility (Rogers, 1983;Moore and Benbasat, 1991); three items measuring Perceived Behavioral Control (Ajzen, 1991;Taylor and Todd, 1995); five items measuring Facilitating Conditions (Thompson et al., 1999;Battacherjee, 2000;Lu et al., 2008). Moreover, Attitude and Behavioral Intention constructs ...

  • Oğuz Yildiz Oğuz Yildiz

With a broader set of factors than previous research, this study examines basic theories and various studies related to the mobile field about ones that affect consumer adoption of shopping via mobile applications within the literature. As a result, the study proposes a model based on technology acceptance model, which includes 16 possible constructs and 31 relationships. The ultimate aim of this study is to analyse the factors that have effects on the adoption behaviour of consumers who shop via mobile applications with partial least squares (PLS) approach. The measurement models and the structural model proposed by the study were analysed with SmartPLS 3. Considering PLS structural equation modelling (SEM) bias seen in reflectively measured models, as a novel approach, consistent PLS is used in this study. The study established that perceived enjoyment and risk do not have any meaningful effect on the adoption of shopping via mobile applications, and also revealed that word-of-mouth communication, perceived value, informativeness, and personalisation are significant factors in the adoption of mobile shopping.

... The partial least squares (PLS) technique has been extensively used in IS research (e.g., Goodhue et al. 2012) to analyze path models with variables that are measured through latent variables (e.g., Hair et al. 2011). It is able to handle highly complex predictive models (Au et al. 2008), with fewer restrictions compared to covariance-based structural equation modeling (Petter 2018) and enables the modeling of higher-order constructs (Turel et al. 2010). The second-order construct in our model was computed by using the repeated-indicators approach (Gaskin et al. 2018), which is suitable for modeling higher-order constructs in PLS, especially in the case when all first-order constructs have the same number of items . ...

Widespread digitalization across societies is rendering digital connectedness relevant for more and more individuals. Being connected is not merely seen as something individuals do – it has become part of their personality. Furthermore, individuals have built personal digital ecosystems in recent years, i.e., assemblages of heterogeneous digital technologies, products, and services that they heavily draw upon when interacting with others and performing everyday activities. As these digital ecosystems progressively fuse with personal lives, identities, and personalities, connectedness to them is becoming increasingly valuable and significant for individuals' decisions of technology adoption and use. Therefore, in this study, we conceptualized and operationalized the construct of digital connectedness expectancy (DCE) using an established and rigorous construct development approach and validated our scales drawing on a sample of 470 U.S. consumers. The results indicate a significant influence of DCE on behavioral intention and provide important implications for IS research and managerial practice.

... More precisely, according to the theory, the five consumption values of a product/service predict consumers' purchase choice decisions (e.g., the intention to purchase that particular product/service). However, when a consumer faces various alternatives, the consumer's choice is not informed by the value perceptions of only one of the alternatives (Lang & Conroy, 2021;Turel et al., 2010). In other words, when a consumer is confronted with a choice between products A and B, the high values perceived in product A do not necessarily mean that the consumer will choose product A over B, because the choice will only be made when both product A and product B are considered. ...

  • Hongfei Liu Hongfei Liu
  • Yue Meng-Lewis
  • Fahad Ibrahim
  • Xia Zhu

'Superfoods' have become a popular diet style across the globe but are also criticized as a marketing gimmick. Despite the controversy, the essential drivers of superfood consumption and advocacy remain underexplored. Drawing upon the theory of consumption values and prospect theory, this study explores how consumers' value perceptions of superfoods influence their behavioral responses (i.e., repurchase and positive word-of-mouth intentions) by introducing the concept of relative advantage in food consumption. Based on a survey sample of 447 superfood consumers and structural equation modeling, our findings identify relative advantage as an important mediator in the cognitive process that converts consumers' value perceptions into behavioral responses. We also find buffering effects of perceived costs in the relationship between relative advantage and repurchase behavior. This research advances the understanding of consumers' modern food consumption habits and lifestyles and has important implications for academics, marketing practitioners and policy makers.

  • Pi-Jung Hsieh

With patient decision aids (PDAs) to evaluate all available care options and weigh patients' preferences against evidence-based medicine, medical personnel and patients can make health-related decisions together. However, little research has been conducted on the critical determinants of medical personnel's intentions to share knowledge with one another within their organization to develop PDAs. This study has developed a socio-technical integrated model to explain medical personnel's intentions to share knowledge for the development of PDAs. This study employed a field survey in Taiwan to collect data. 421 valid questionnaires were completed for the statistical analysis. The results indicate that social network, social trust, perceived usefulness, compatibility, result demonstrability, and image have positive effects on knowledge-sharing intentions. Social network has a positive influence on shared goals, and ease of use has a positive impact on perceived usefulness. These findings provide valuable insights for medical informatics practices in promoting shared medical decision making.

  • Jiabao Lin
  • Ting Li
  • Jinyuan Guo

E-commerce has brought new opportunities to expand sales channels for fresh products. However, China's fresh food e-commerce platforms currently have a low repurchase rate among consumers and face operating losses or bankruptcy. Therefore, from the perspective of perceived value, this research took organic foods as the research object and included gender differences, thereby establishing a theoretical model to explain the factors affecting consumers' continuous purchase intention on fresh food e-commerce platforms. We surveyed consumers who bought organic foods online and collected 454 valid samples. First, the findings have shown that product characteristics (nutritional content, natural content, and ecological wealth) and platform characteristics (information quality, system quality, and service quality) significantly impact the perceived utilitarian value and perceived hedonic value of consumers. Second, perceived value plays a critical mediating role in influencing product characteristics and platform characteristics on consumers' continuous purchase intention. Finally, the results suggest that enterprises should focus on product characteristics and platform characteristics to enhance consumers' perceived value, thus increasing their continuous purchase intention.

  • Aaron Tham
  • Robert Ogulin

This research provides empirical insights to reveal how value convergence occurs within Uber's sharing economy. Uber's business model is built on a digital platform that links private vehicle owners and their under-utilized assets to be economic revenue generating units for on-demand transport requests from potential clients. By analyzing adoption values for drivers and users of Uber, we identify antecedent operational and behavioral values for Uber adoption. We add to extant Industry 4.0 research and show value convergence emanating from economic and convenience motives. On the basis of our findings, we develop propositions for value convergence leveraging on cyber-physical systems embedded in Industry 4.0, and its application for theory and practice within the broader domains of the sharing economy.

  • Jie Lou
  • Lingzhao Deng
  • Dong Wang

Users rely heavily on mobile phones as multi-purpose devices to support all kinds of tasks. This study conceptualises mobile phone deep structure use and aims at unveiling such behaviour. Towards this end, this study goes beyond the traditional technology usage theories based on rationality and instrumentality. It is replaced by a relationship-based theory, the attachment theory, to investigate how users' attachment to mobile phones is formed and how such attachment influences mobile phone deep structure use. A survey approach was adopted to test the research model empirically. The results showed that mobile functional dependence and mobile identity constituted the two dimensions of mobile attachment, which significantly affected mobile phone deep structure use. Mobile functional dependence was formed based on the two enabling factors (perceived functional flexibility and perceived mobility). Mobile identity was formed based on the two enriching factors (self-expressive symbolism and categorical symbolism). Both mobile functional dependence and mobile identity were influenced by the gratifying factor, design aesthetics. This study has made contribution to the literature of mobile phone usage by clarifying the special characteristics of mobile phone usage context, proposing a new theoretical perspective and constructing a nomological network of the mobile attachment construct.

In this article, the authors examine how consumer choice between hedonic and utilitarian goods is influenced by the nature of the decision task. Building on research on elaboration, the authors propose that the relative salience of hedonic dimensions is greater when consumers decide which of several items to give up (forfeiture choices) than when they decide which item to acquire (acquisition choices). The resulting hypothesis that a hedonic item is relatively preferred over the same utilitarian item in forfeiture choices than in acquisition choices was supported in two choice experiments. In a subsequent experiment, these findings were extended to hypothetical choices in which the acquisition and forfeiture conditions were created by manipulating initial attribute-level reference states instead of ownership. Finally, consistent with the experimental findings, a field survey showed that, relative to market prices, owners of relatively hedonic cars value their vehicles more than do owners of relatively utilitarian cars. The authors discuss theoretical implications of these reference-dependent preference asymmetries and explore consequences for marketing managers and other decision makers.

  • D McKee
  • Christina Simmers Christina Simmers
  • J Licata

The customers' role is significant in the delivery and consumption of many types of services. This study examines customers' beliefs about their ability to participate in a service (service use self-efficacy) and its effect on response to service. A theoretical model is proposed that explains how self-efficacy affects customers' perceptions of service value and complaint intentions ("voice"). These factors, in turn, predict exit intentions and positive word of mouth. The model is tested on a sample of 444 members of a group insurance plan. The results of a structural equation model confirm the hypothesized relationships. The findings suggest that service managers should take steps to increase customer service use self-efficacy, such as providing training with feedback, vicarious experiences (e.g., print or video portrayals of successful service experiences), verbal persuasion (e.g., "You can do this"-type coaching), and a low-stress environment. It is also important to develop varied opportunities for customer comments.

  • Valarie A. Zeithaml Valarie A. Zeithaml

Evidence from past research and insights from an exploratory investigation are combined in a conceptual model that defines and relates price, perceived quality, and perceived value. Propositions about the concepts and their relationships are presented, then supported with evidence from the literature. Discussion centers on directions for research and implications for managing price, quality, and value.

Purpose - To propose an alternative model specification for better conceptualizing the definition of a customer perceived value construct, and to discuss the theoretical justification of the model. Design/methodology/approach - The proposed model was elaborated based on theoretical contexts. Three models of different conceptualization specifications were estimated and compared with eTail service value survey data. Findings - Based on theory, perceived value should be conceived as a formative construct. The empirical results demonstrated different parameter estimates and thus conclusions are drawn from different conceptualization methods. Research limitations/implications - Future research is suggested to apply the proposed formative value model in other marketing settings, and to explore the role of consumer satisfaction in post-purchase behavior. Practical implications - Marketing resources allocation and communication programs may be influenced due to different conceptualization methods of value construct applied by practitioners. Originality/value - This paper provides a theoretical rationale for conceptualizing perceived value with formative specification. It stresses that the theoretical justification is a major concern for determining conceptualization models.

  • Daryl McKee

The customers' role is significant in the delivery and consumption of many types of services. This study examines customers' beliefs about their ability to participate in a service (service use self-efficacy) and its effect on response to service. A theoretical model is proposed that explains how self-efficacy affects customers' perceptions of service value and complaint intentions ("voice"). These factors, in turn, predict exit intentions and positive word of mouth. The model is tested on a sample of 444 members of a group insurance plan. The results of a structural equation model confirm the hypothesized relationships. The findings suggest that service managers should take steps to increase customer service use self-efficacy, such as providing training with feedback, vicarious experiences (e.g., print or video portrayals of successful service experiences), verbal persuasion (e.g., "You can do this"-type coaching), and a low-stress environment. It is also important to develop varied opportunities for customer comments.

  • Aleck C. H. Lin
  • Shirley Gregor Shirley Gregor
  • Michael T. Ewing

We investigate the nature and extent of enjoyment experienced by users of the Web by developing an instrument for the measurement of this new construct. We establish the reliability and validity of the instrument through a range of psychometric tests. We show that the instrument may have both managerial and theory-building applications in predicting and explaining Web users'attitudes, experiences, and behaviors.

An experiential value scale (EVS) reflecting the benefits derived from perceptions of playfulness, aesthetics, customer "return on investment" and service excellence is developed and tested in the Internet and catalog shopping context. This study evaluates the psychometric properties of the EVS in both samples and tests the hypothesized hierarchical structure. Predictive modeling points to the value of the EVS as a measurement tool, useful in describing the perceived make-up of a retail value package and predicting differences in shopping preferences and patronage intent in multichannel retail systems. Study limitations and directions for future research are identified.

It is a marketplace reality that marketing managers sometimes inflict switching costs on their customers, to inhibit them from defecting to new suppliers. In a competitive setting, such as the Internet market, where competition may be only one click away, has the potential of switching costs as an exit barrier and a binding ingredient of customer loyalty become altered? To address that issue, this article examines the moderating effects of switching costs on customer loyalty through both satisfaction and perceived-value measures. The results, evoked from a Web-based survey of online service users, indicate that companies that strive for customer loy-alty should focus primarily on satisfaction and perceived value. The moderating effects of switching costs on the association of customer loyalty and customer satisfaction and perceived value are significant only when the level of customer satisfaction or perceived value is above average. In light of the major findings, the article sets forth strategic implications for customer loyalty in the setting of elec-tronic commerce. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. In the consumer marketing community, customer loyalty has long been regarded as an important goal (Reichheld & Schefter, 2000). Both mar-keting academics and professionals have attempted to uncover the most prominent antecedents of customer loyalty. Numerous studies have

  • Ming-Hui Huang

Flow, a construct borrowed from reference disciplines, has been proposed as the central process in Web navigation. However, when flow is applied directly to the context of marketing, it suffers from conceptual ambiguity and overlap with the popular marketing construct, involvement. The present study aims to provide a clear framework within which to delineate the relationship between flow and involvement, and thus develop a better theoretical basis that incorporates the flow construct into Internet marketing. This study first distinguishes explicitly between flow, enduring involvement, and situational involvement. It then operationalizes these constructs with the use of customary measures to disclose their unique and common characteristics. Finally, a second-order confirmatory factor analysis allowing measurement errors is used to identify explicitly the tripartite relationship between the three constructs. The conceptual and operational implications are discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  • Jeffrey Edwards Jeffrey Edwards

Multidimensional constructs are widely used to represent several distinct dimensions as a single theoretical concept. The utility of multidimensional constructs relative to their dimensions has generated considerable debate, and this debate creates a dilemma for researchers who want the breadth and comprehensiveness of multidimensional constructs and the precision and clarity of their dimensions. To address this dilemma, this article presents an integrative analytical framework that incorporates multidimensional constructs and their dimensions, using structural equation modeling with latent variables. This framework permits the study of broad questions regarding multidimensional constructs along with specific questions concerning the dimensions of these constructs. The framework also provides tests of issues underlying the multidimensional construct debate, thereby allowing researchers to address these issues on a study-by-study basis. The framework is illustrated using data from studies of the effects of personality on responses to conflict and the effects of work attitudes on employee adaptation.