The effect of information overload and disorganisation on intention to purchase online

User avoidance behavior in pharmaceutical e-commerce intelligent customer service: a stressor-strain-outcome perspective

Introduction

This study explores the implementation of Intelligent Customer Service (ICS) in pharmaceutical e-commerce, aiming to enhance user acceptance and service efficiency while addressing the psychological factors influencing user behavior. It expands the boundaries of technology acceptance research by focusing on ICS use and avoidance in high-risk environments.

Method

A total of 418 valid questionnaires were collected from participants, ensuring data quality through rigorous screening. The study employed SPSS for data normality tests and SmartPLS for structural equation modeling to analyze the relationships between emotional stress, system overload, and user avoidance behavior.

Results

The findings indicate that system overload, information overload, and service overload significantly contribute to user emotional stress, which in turn drives avoidance behavior. The analysis revealed strong explanatory power (R 2 values ranging from 0.450 to 0.586) and confirmed the mediating role of emotional stress in the relationship between overload factors and user avoidance.

Discussion

This research highlights the critical role of emotional stress in user interactions with ICS, suggesting that pharmaceutical e-commerce companies must refine their ICS design to meet diverse user needs and reduce cognitive burdens. By leveraging big data and establishing robust feedback mechanisms, companies can enhance user experience and loyalty. The study also identifies limitations in demographic representation and suggests future research should incorporate qualitative methods for a deeper understanding of user behavior.

Offense and defense between streamers and customers in live commerce marketing: Protection motivation and information overload

While live commerce provides consumers with a new shopping experience, it also leads them to experience shopping failures and to develop a self-protection mechanism to prevent wrong purchases. To address this issue, merchants have attempted to explore new marketing methods for live commerce, giving rise to an offense and defense game between streamers and consumers. In this study, we sought to confirm the effectiveness of consumer protection mechanisms and the impact of streamers' information overload marketing strategy in live commerce. Accordingly, we constructed a hypothetical model based on protection motive theory and information overload theory. In addition, we analyzed the data from the simulated live streaming marketing on seven hundred people through partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results indicate that product utilitarian value uncertainty, consumers' experiential efficacy, and response costs, which are the main factors in the formation of consumer protection mechanisms, influence consumers' intention to stop their purchases. Streamers can circumvent consumer self-protection mechanisms through information overload marketing by reducing utilitarian value uncertainty and consumers' experiential efficacy and increasing consumers' response costs. However, consumers would be able to rebuild their self-protection mechanism through consumer resilience, which moderates the effects of information overload. This study's results provide important theoretical perspectives and new ideas for formulating marketing strategies for live commerce.

Examining the influence of information overload on consumers' purchase in live streaming: A heuristic-systematic model perspective

In recent years, the number of live streaming platforms and the number of viewers have exploded. For example, in China, there are already more than 100 live streaming platforms as well as more than 300 million consumers. In live commerce, streamers use 'information overload' to affect purchase decisions, by making it difficult for consumers to think systematically; however, the mechanism of impact in this way has not been confirmed. In order to clarify how information overload affects users' purchasing decisions in live commerce, this study introduces information overload from the perspective of "Heuristic-systematic model" to develop a research model. And 400 respondents were randomly recruited through various SNS platforms in Guangdong Province, China from July 1 to July 20, 2022 using a random survey method, and finally 297 valid sample data were obtained. To verify the validity of the model and to illustrate the impact of information overload marketing on consumer purchase decisions in live commerce this study conducted an empirical analysis using Smart PLS 3.0. The findings show that perceived product quality and fit, and streamer influence and expertise, positively affect consumers' purchase intentions. The information overload strategy can significantly reduce consumers' perceptions of merchandise fit and enhance their perceptions of streamer influence and expertise. The results of this study provide a theoretical basis for marketing strategies in live commerce, and enrich literature in the field of marketing.

The moderating role of narcissism in predicting the behavior intention of the Palestinian university students towards adopting the new Facebook currency

Purpose

This paper aims to identify the factors affecting university students’ behavioral intentions towards adopting the new Facebook currency while controlling for the direct and the moderating impacts of narcissism.

Design/methodology/approach

A self-administered questionnaire of 344 respondents from six major Palestinian universities was analyzed. The structural model is fitted for assessing the hypothesized relations.

Findings

Findings indicate that the effect of Facebook advertisement in predicting the behavioral intentions to adopt the new Facebook currency relies on: privacy, security, the expectations in the new Facebook currency and knowledge about the targeting options within the Facebook platform. Moreover, the moderating role of narcissism supported the relationships between perceived privacy, the expectations in the new Facebook currency and knowledge about the targeting options within the Facebook platform but did not support the moderating role of narcissism in the relationships between perceived security and the behavioral intentions.

Research limitations/implications

In this study, only the Facebook platform and the behavioral intention were investigated with data collected from Palestinian University students through self-reported cross-sectional survey.

Practical implications

This study adds insight on the moderating role of narcissism in predicting the behavior intentions towards adopting the new Facebook currency (Diem) which has a substantial potential to threaten all other crypto currencies and the other alternatives. Therefore, managers should consider altering or adapting their Facebook advertising tactics accordingly.

Originality/value

This study is the first to contribute through empirical evidence from a developing country to theory building the results of clarifying the propensity to adopt the new Facebook currency, outlining the consumers’ reaction to social media advertising and its influential factors and providing evidence proving relevance of narcissism for non-Western users.

Peer review

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-12-2021-0666

Job demands and technology overload influencing work stress in organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose

This study is based on the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) model to examine how job demands and technology overload affect work stress for workers using video conferencing apps (VCAs) in organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the moderating effect of technology self-efficacy was tested in the model on the relationship between technology overload and work stress.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey was conducted to investigate workers on PTT forums in Taiwan. A sample was obtained of 253 workers, and structural equation modeling was conducted using AMOS to test the hypotheses.

Findings

Job demands positively affect work stress through information overload, communication overload and system feature overload. Moreover, high technology self-efficacy may weaken the relationship between technology overload and work stress.

Research limitations/implications

The study may have sample bias because our sample was obtained from an online survey on social networking sites. Regarding the theoretical implications, this study demonstrated that technology overload, as an internal organism, is a critical mediator influencing the relationship between job demands (stimulus) and work stress (response). Thus, this study extended the applicability of the SOR model in the context of working with VCAs in organizations.

Practical implications

Company managers need to effectively control the information amount, communication interruptions and system features of social media at optimum levels for workers. Moreover, companies should recruit workers with high technology self-efficacy or provide technology training and technology-related consulting to those with low technology self-efficacy.

Originality/value

The extant work stress knowledge is extended to workers using VCAs in organizations.

The effect of mindfulness on online self-presentation, pressure, and addiction on social media

As social media has become more imperative in daily life, people pay more attention to self-presentation and impression management on social media, and some have even become psychologically dependent. There is a large group of socially addicted users who continuously strive to improve their online self-presentation. Due to stress and burnout arising from social media addiction, people change their social media behavior. The influence of mindfulness on social behavior cannot be ignored. This study aims to explore coping behaviors and the role of mindfulness for people under social media pressure and social media addiction in China's special political environment. We found significant differences in self-presentation, social media pressure, and social media addiction among different circles in the Chinese context. Experiments have shown that people's socially addictive behaviors and abilities to withstand social media pressure are affected by their mindfulness. In addition, the more social media pressure people perceive on social media, the more likely they are to stop using social media and shift to offline interpersonal interactions. However, when there are more offline interpersonal interactions, people's willingness to return to social media platforms increases.

Influencing factors of users' shift to buying expensive virtual gifts in live streaming: Empirical evidence from China

The market size of live streaming on the Internet, in which the streamer earns profit by prompting users to give virtual gifts through emotional labor, is getting bigger and bigger. However, most users will only buy cheap virtual gifts in live streaming, therefore exploring how to promote users to buy expensive virtual gifts is a valuable topic in live commerce research. Based on social presence theory and information overload theory, this study used the PLS-SEM method to investigate the factors influencing live streaming users to shift from buying cheap virtual gifts to buying expensive virtual gifts, and analyzed the moderating role of information overload in these relationships. The results show that immediate interaction anxiety, verbal intimacy, and virtual physical intimacy positively influence users' shift to purchasing expensive virtual gifts, and that perceived network size and perceived financial risk are negative factors in users' shift to purchasing expensive virtual gifts. Information overload has a moderating role in the relationship between immediate interaction anxiety and switch intention, and it also plays a moderating role in the relationship between perceived network size and perceived financial risk on users' switch intention.

Understanding social media discontinuance from social cognitive perspective: Evidence from Facebook users

Based on social cognitive theory, this study proposes a research framework to investigate two different social media discontinuance behaviours: reduced usage and abandoned usage. Specifically, perceived technology overload, information overload and social overload are the environmental factors that induce negative personal states, including dissatisfaction and social media fatigue, which lead to negative behavioural changes, such as reduced usage and abandoned usage of social media. The proposed research model was tested empirically with data collected among Facebook users. The research results indicate that impacts from perceived technology overload, information overload and social overload on social network fatigue and dissatisfaction vary. Dissatisfaction exerts greater impacts on abandoned-usage behaviour than social media fatigue, but similar impacts on reduced-usage behaviour as social media fatigue. In addition, reduced-usage behaviour was found to lead to abandoned-usage behaviour. Finally, we discuss the theoretical and practical contributions that can be gleaned from the proposed research model.

The perception of e-servicescape and its influence on perceived e-shopping value and customer loyalty

Purpose

The popularity of online shopping has grown in the recent years, enhancing the interest in identifying the factors that influence shoppers’ loyalty. The purpose of this paper is to investigate, through aesthetic appeal, layout and functionality, and financial security, the impact of customers’ perceptions of the e-servicescape in online shopping on perceived e-shopping value and customer loyalty defined as a two-component construct (attitudinal loyalty and behavioural loyalty), following the sequence of the S–O–R framework.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were gathered using an Internet survey in which 221 active online shoppers participated who had at least one online purchase in the past six months. The research model was analysed using the partial least squares approach to analyse structural equations (SEM).

Findings

Based upon empirical evidence of a web-based survey of online shoppers, this study shows that consumers’ interpretation of e-servicescape exerts a positive influence over perceived e-shopping value and loyalty. Specifically, the study finds that layout and functionality and financial security, as the salient attributes of the e-servicescape dimension, set the point of perceived e-shopping value which affects attitudinal loyalty.

Practical implications

The authors expose several practical implications how marketing management could use the dimensions of e-servicescape perceived e-shopping value. Managers are advised to incorporate the dimensions of the e-servicescape to build perceived e-shopping value and loyalty. Online shops need to invest in particular in layout and functionality and financial security, dimensions that had a stronger effect on perceived e-shopping value in order to achieve costumers’ loyalty in a fashion product context.

Originality/value

The transition from physical service locations to virtual service processes has increased the research interest of e-servicescape. This study analyses it through its aesthetic appeal, layout and functionality, and financial security connecting them with the constructs of perceived e-shopping value and customer loyalty in the application for fashion products. This work emphasises the connection between servicescape attributes in creating perceived value which affects attitudinal and behavioural loyalty. In this way, the e-servicescape is seen as stimuli, the perceived e-shopping value represents the organism and the loyalty the response of the sequence of the S–O–R framework. This research provides insight into the new effects of each dimension of e-servicescape on perceived e-shopping value and the two dimensions of loyalty, thus improving the existing knowledge in the field of servicescape and online shopping customer behaviour.

E-tailer website attributes and trust: understanding the role of online reviews

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report the results of an experimental study designed to better understand the role of online product reviews, both valence and volume, in the formation of initial online trust during a consumer’s exploratory stage with an e-tailer. This is done within the context of simultaneously varying e-tailer reputation and product type.

Design/methodology/approach

Participants take part in a conjoint task that involves viewing fictitious web pages and indicating their level of trust in using the site to purchase the product displayed. The web pages are developed by manipulating four attributes (e-tailer reputation, product type, summary product star rating and number of online reviews) according to a full factorial design. Conjoint models are estimated to determine the relative influence of each attribute on trust perceptions, the significance of selected two-way interactions among the four attributes, and potential moderating effects of varied prior online experiences, including previous usage frequency of online reviews.

Findings

Results reveal that e-tailer reputation has the greatest impact on initial trust perceptions, followed by the summary review star rating of the product. Significant two-way interactions show that a large number of reviews enhance the effect of a positive summary review on trust while shopping for high priced experience products diminishes the positive influence of e-tailer reputation. Prior online experiences moderate the relationship between these website attributes and perceived trust by interacting with the two strongest trust cues in the model. The effects of these attributes on trust perceptions are less for those with higher levels of prior online experiences.

Originality/value

The study uses conjoint analysis, which requires participants to implicitly “tradeoff” among website attributes in making overall judgments about e-tailer trustworthiness. Consequently, the relative influence of online reviews (both valence and volume) on initial trust perceptions is derived empirically in a realistic setting that involves online shopping contexts with different risk (by varying product type). Moreover, the authors are able to estimate interaction effects. A significant interaction between summary product star rating and number of reviews implies that online review volume may be more important to perceived e-tailer trustworthiness than earlier studies suggest.

Why should I pay for e-books?

Purpose

Because mobile phones offer a new, affordable and easy-to-use portal to reading material, mobile reading is emerging as the most ultra-modern reading approach. From the perspective of mobile reading service providers, knowledge of customer purchase, and consumption behaviour is critical for their survival and success. This paper aims to provide insights into the factors that influence the purchase e-books.

Design/methodology/approach

Following means-end chain theory, the prospect theory and elaboration likelihood model, a structural equation model is proposed to investigate and identify key factors that drive the purchase intention of experienced mobile readers. In the theoretical model, utilitarian value (UV) and hedonic value (HV) are supposed as formative second-order constructs formed by related payoff.

Findings

Both UV and HV are positively associated with readers’ purchase intention. However, there are no big differences between these two path coefficients. People seem to perceive relatively low payment risk although perceived risk could still negatively affect purchase intention. As a predictor of purchase intention, UV is less important when risk perception increases or when involvement (IV) decreases. Furthermore, this study illustrates that uniqueness and convenience (CV) are significant components of UV, whereas curiosity and flow are components of HV.

Practical implications

Mobile reading providers should highlight the professional and specificity of app such as beautiful cover, page setup that similar to real books and so on. Readers should be allowed to post real-time reviews and communicate with others to improve their sense of satisfaction, participation and belonging. The payment process should be concise and simple through which readers can save their purchase time and effort. Mobile reading service providers should provide trustworthy payment approaches, especially third-party platform and guarantee the CV and safety of payment activity.

Originality value

By focusing on the impacts of relationships among UV, HV, perceived risk and IV to purchase intention, this paper not only provides a theoretical understanding of mobile reading purchase behaviour but also offers practical insights to reading material manufactures and app developers for promoting such a process.

The role of trust management in reward-based crowdfunding

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of trust management on the fundraising performance in reward-based crowdfunding.

Design/methodology/approach

– A research model was constructed based on elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and literatures with five hypotheses developed. Data were collected from www.demohour.com - the first and one of the largest reward-based crowdfunding platforms in China. In total, 829 reward-based crowdfunding projects were analyzed to test hypotheses. To test the hypotheses, partial least squares was used to analyze data of entrepreneur/sponsor profiles, entrepreneur/sponsor behaviors, and crowdfunding projects.

Findings

– Results indicated trust management significantly promoted fundraising performance via central (entrepreneur’s creditworthiness) and peripheral (entrepreneur-sponsor interactions) routes. The peripheral route (entrepreneur-sponsor interaction) showed significantly higher effects than the central route (entrepreneur’s creditworthiness). The finding aligns with authors’ assumptions derived from unique characteristics of reward-based crowdfunding – community and collaboration because personal, dynamic message interactions were more effective than static, historical success records on the trust establishment. In addition to the main effects, the results also showed entrepreneur’s prior success crowdfunding records positively moderated the effect of entrepreneur-sponsor interaction on fundraising performance.

Originality/value

– This study is the first paper that reveals the value of trust management in reward-based fundraising, especially the effect of dynamic entrepreneur-sponsor message interactions. Entrepreneur-sponsor interactions not only promoted community benefits in crowdfunding, but also cultivated trust relationships between entrepreneurs and sponsors. Previous studies mainly focussed on the entrepreneur’s popularity level on third-party social media (such as Facebook) toward fundraising performance. This study examines the effect of direct entrepreneur-sponsor interactions on the crowdfunding platform. Additionally, this study found one moderating effect from the central route to the peripheral route. It is a rare case in studies based on ELM. Finally, this study demonstrates how to incorporate a theoretical framework guiding the analysis of structured and unstructured data for in-depth analysis, result interpretation, and corresponding intervention strategy development.