Shopping Agent Web Sites

This chapter introduces the shopping agent technology as a new Internet marketing trend. The recent development of shopping agent Web sites has offered online shoppers an excellent comparative shopping environment. Shopping agent Web sites, also called shopping agents or shopping bots, are software programs that search the Internet stores on the Web and find products that meet a buyer’s specifications. Not only do these agent Web sites bring comparative product and price information from individual merchants’ Web sites, but also provide the online merchant ratings to customers. In summary, these agent Web sites take a query, search the Web sites of individual merchants that may have the product sought, bring back the results, and present them in a consolidated and compact format that allows comparison shopping at a glance.

Personalization Systems and Their Deployment as Web Site Interface Design

This chapter reviews the different types of personalization systems commonly employed by Web sites and argues that their deployment as Web site interface design decisions may have as big an impact as the personalization systems themselves. To accomplish this, this chapter makes a case for treating Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) issues seriously. It also argues that Web site interface design decisions made by organizations, such as the type and level of personalization employed by a Web site, have a direct impact on the communication capability of that Web site. This chapter also explores the impact of the deployment of personalization systems on users’ loyalty towards the Web site, thus underscoring the practical relevance of these design decisions.

Consumer Complaint Behavior in the Online Environment

The emergence of the Internet and its communication capabilities have changed the way consumers communicate their negative experiences with products and services. This chapter offers a comprehensive assessment of the Internet as a viable complaint communication channel and details its related threats and opportunities. An integrated conceptual model of consumer complaint behavior is proposed. It is suggested that an in-depth understanding of the psychological mechanisms that underlie consumer complaint behavior and the characteristics of online communication as well as the characteristics of the business may be essential in taking advantage of the Internet as a complaint communication channel. Managerial implications and recommendations for practical implementation are also suggested.

Information Search on the Internet

Information search is an integral part of the consumer decision making process. There is no doubt that the Internet contributes to, and will continue to affect, this function. However, a comprehensive understanding of what causes, motivates, and mediates information search behavior on the Internet is relatively lacking. Based on an in-depth review and critical critique of past research on information search behavior and, in particular, online information search, this chapter offers a causal model of online information search with 16 specific research propositions outlined. It argues that information search on the Internet should be investigated by considering Internet specific factors (i.e., skills, prior online purchase experience, attitude toward the Internet) as well as various antecedents including situational, product-related, and individual factors. Contribution and implications of the model for further understanding of information search behavior in the context of the Internet are also discussed.

e-Search

The continued success of online shopping will be determined by the degree to which consumers utilize the Internet during their decision making process, mainly the acquisition of product information. This chapter addresses consumers’ goal-directed information search in the online marketplace. To understand consumer search behavior in this unique environment, relevant theoretical perspectives are drawn to provide a conceptual framework that provides an explanation of consumers’ online search behavior. In an environment characterized by human-computer interaction, the framework includes consumers’ choice to search information online and two sets of variables – domain and system (personal) and interruptions and information load (system), affecting information search between and within Web sites. Several implications of this conceptual framework are also discussed.

User Satisfaction with Web Portals

A Web portal is a site that aggregates information from multiple sources on the World Wide Web and organizes this material in an easy user-friendly manner. Portals usually consist of a search engine, e-mail, news, and interactive chat facilities. The two main types of portals are horizontal and vertical portals. A horizontal portal is a Web site that provides consumers access to a number of different sites in terms of content and functionality. A vertical portal focuses on a specific community of users who share a common interest. In this chapter we investigate the impact of user characteristics such as gender, age, experience, and Web use on user satisfaction with Web portals. In our study we are unable to detect any differences in satisfaction based on gender. We find that the users with seven to 10 years of work experience are most satisfied with Web portals, while users with more than 10 years work experience report least satisfaction with Web portals. We also find that users that use Web portals the least (30 to 60 minutes per week) are least satisfied with them. Users of vertical (or customer community) portals are always more satisfied than users of horizontal (or mega) portals.

Converting Browsers to Buyers

In this chapter we explore the key elements in designing business-to-consumer Web sites. We synthesize the results of two independent research studies to delve upon the important considerations in developing and designing effective online retail sites. We examine Web site design from two perspectives. First, we examine how consumers view online Web sites and what factors they look for in effective retail sites. Second, we explore the top retail Web sites and identify the elements making up the top retailing Web sites. Then, we identify the gaps in current Web site practices and the online consumer expectations. Finally, we reflect upon this analysis to propose some important considerations in designing an effective online business-to-consumer Web site.

How Consumers Think About 'Interactive' Aspects of Web Advertising

Interactivity is a key feature of Web advertising that makes this new format of advertising attractive. In spite of increasing research work dealing with this topic, the body of literature rarely shows how consumers think about interactivity and interact with Web advertising. It is important to explore this phenomenon from the consumer’s perspective because consumers are more active on the Web than they are with other traditional media. This chapter presents an overview of previous research about Web advertising and then reports on an empirical study that sought consumer-based understanding of Web advertising. The study explores various meanings of the interactivity of Web advertising drawn from consumers’ everyday lives.

Affording Cultural and Social Presence in E-Marketing

This chapter discusses the relationships among several concepts important to Web design, marketing communications and consumer behavior. Originally from psychology literature, the concept of affordances, the result of interaction between a human and an object, has emerged in product design literature. This chapter extends the concept to design of mediated environments, stressing detailed social and cultural contextual elements and potential behaviors. Vividness and interactivity in mediated environments are requisite qualities for inducing a sense of presence, consumers’ perception on some level that a mediated environment is non-mediated. Well-designed mediated environments afford consumers online opportunities to modify relationships with their environments.

Objective and Perceived Complexity and Their Impacts on Internet Communication

In this chapter, a general framework has been proposed to address the relationship between objective complexity and perceived complexity and their impacts on Internet communication effectiveness. Previous literature on objective complexity, perceived complexity, optimal complexity and cognitive complexity was reviewed. Based on the literature review, feasible measures of objective complexity, perceived complexity and optimal complexity are proposed. Finally, seven propositions are generated to chart the relationship within different types of complexity and between different types of complexity and communication effectiveness. The author hopes that by capturing the objective complexity using a system-centered approach while capturing the perceived complexity using a user-centered approach, a more holistic understanding of the complexity phenomenon will be assured.