Papers by James E Richard
Journal of Travel Research
This study decodes the functions and meanings conveyed through sojourner user-generated images (U... more This study decodes the functions and meanings conveyed through sojourner user-generated images (UGI) and furthers the application of the theory of visual rhetoric to tourism by examining the online visual communications of sojourners—an understudied yet critical group of consumers and producers of tourism. A two-step qualitative mixed-method approach, involving expert interviews and visual rhetorical analysis of 453 sojourner UGI was adopted. Key findings resulted in the conceptualization of a theoretical framework that explains the construction of sojourner UGI. The framework identifies contemporary online visual culture, and the different frames sojourners move between (tourist, resident, home, and away) as factors that shape, and differentiate sojourner UGI from those of tourists. Collectively, the findings provide an initial understanding of sojourners as key visual influencers/online organic agents that offer destinations, specifically conurbations, the reach, relevance, and re...
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services
Widespread acceptance of intranet portals has become a stumbling block for institutions and busin... more Widespread acceptance of intranet portals has become a stumbling block for institutions and businesses leading to potential failure of core communication functions. Significant attention is afforded to the design and development of intranet portals, yet far less is understood about the critical marketing communication success factors of intranet portal implementation from a user perspective. The present study investigates an extended technology acceptance model (TAM) that finds the antecedents of prior experience and internet self-efficacy to be significant influences of intranet portal acceptance. Through the use of structural equation modelling (SEM) a set of relational hypotheses are tested and analysed to provide future research insight and practical implications for marketing managers.
Asian Journal of Business Research, 2017
This research explores the different effects of country of brand (COB) image on symbolic value of... more This research explores the different effects of country of brand (COB) image on symbolic value of luxury brands. Based on two empirical studies of symbolic value of sunglasses and sunscreen cream, we find that COB image has significant positive impacts on prestige value, social self-expressive value and inner self-expressive value while COB cues influence uniqueness value negatively. This research demonstrates that the effect of COB image on social self-expressive value and inner self-expressive value of luxury brands will be greater when subjects are promotion-primed rather than prevention-primed. In addition, COB image affects symbolic value prominently when the brand is closely related to COB.
The aim of the study is to investigate why information about products, brands or organizations is... more The aim of the study is to investigate why information about products, brands or organizations is generated among consumers online and what influences the initiation of online word-of-mouth (WOM) from the sender‟s perspective. An exploratory study was conducted involving eighteen semi-structured interviews with Chinese consumers face-to-face and online. The findings presented factors that influence consumers‟ engagement of online WOM and revealed the impact of personal cultural orientation on their WOM communication. Further research is required to produce more generalisable results.
The Internet provides consumers with various venues to share their experiences and views. The pow... more The Internet provides consumers with various venues to share their experiences and views. The power and process of personal influence has been reinforced by various phenomena, such as buzz (Carl, 2006) and tipping points (Gladwell, 2000). Marketers are particularly interested in better understanding online word-of-mouth (WOM) because traditional forms of communication appear to be losing effectiveness (Nail, 2005). As online WOM communication becomes increasingly important and prevalent in today’s consumers’ interpersonal communication, it attracts considerable attention across disciplines including sociology, communication and information management. Given the increasing and persuasive power attributed to word-of-mouth communication, an understanding of what affects consumers’ online WOM behaviour is vital for marketers in order to increase their chances of tapping this online WOM communication.
The aim of the study is to investigate why information about products, brands or organisations is... more The aim of the study is to investigate why information about products, brands or organisations is generated among consumers online and what influences the initiation of online word-of-mouth from the sender's perspective. An exploratory study was conducted involving 18 semi-structured interviews with Chinese consumers either face-to-face or online. The findings presented factors that influence consumers' engagement of online word-of-mouth communication and revealed the impact of personal cultural orientation on this communication.
This research explores the extent business ethics and etiquette influence relationship performanc... more This research explores the extent business ethics and etiquette influence relationship performance across the business relationship lifecycle. Based on a survey from 583 business people from several major Chinese business hubs, this research finds that business ethics and etiquette significantly influence relationship performance success. Dimensions of business ethics such as relationship fairness and relationship stability are found to be significantly associated with relationship performance at the growth and maintenance stages, respectively. Commitment/loyalty business etiquette protocols are found to be important at all stages of the business relationship lifecycle. Additionally, the study found that goal-oriented males and females are more likely to use business ethics and etiquette in comparison to apathy-driven males and females to build successful relationship performance.
Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship, 2015
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the entrepreneurial marketing (EM) and sm... more Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the entrepreneurial marketing (EM) and small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) brand management knowledge. It explores the brand management practices of four entrepreneurially driven market innovators. The authors add theoretical and practical insight by distinguishing the brand management approaches of small- and medium-sized firms. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use purposive sampling to select 15 producers of high or medium value-add from the food and beverage industry. Data include secondary sources and two rounds of in-depth interviews, first, between the project leader and CEO/founder of each company and, second, between members of the project team and functional managers of the organisations. Data were coded, analysed and agreement reached between the co-authors. Findings – Four firms were characterised as having integrated brand orientation (Wong and Merrilees, 2005) and as using market innovation as an EM p...
Asian Journal of Business Research, 2012
The ranking of academic journals continues to be a contentious issue in the tertiary education en... more The ranking of academic journals continues to be a contentious issue in the tertiary education environment. Academics dependency on journal ranking for tenure and promotion, based on perceived quality and prestige of journals, ensures debate over what constitutes a 'good' journal publication. This study utilises the vox populi MAG score established in previous research in order to continue the assessment of journal ranking and impact in the field of marketing. The current findings are consistent with the previous 2009 study; the top six journals remain the same, there is little variation within the top 30 journal rankings, although regional differences are apparent. The ranking results from a broad range of academics continue to provide a comprehensive measure of journal impact from the perspective of academics.
Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research
People travel for all sort of reasons. Some travel for work. Some travel for holiday. Some travel... more People travel for all sort of reasons. Some travel for work. Some travel for holiday. Some travel for meeting their best friends. Irrespective of the reasons for traveling, there are at least two elements involved in the transaction-travelers and destination hosts. Similarly, in a chopsticks dinner environment, there are the eaters and the dishes. To effectively bring the food to the mouth, correct use of chopsticks is highly recommended. Chopsticks are a pair of eating utensils omnipresent in China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam. Held between the thumb and fingers, chopsticks are used either for picking up food from common plates or for scooping rice into the mouth (Fam et al., 2009). No matter how wellcrafted and aesthetically pleasing, a chopstick by itself is a meaningless and functionless stick; however, when joined to form a "relationship,' chopsticks become a well-refined instrument that can show a symbol of love, interaction, and success. Like the two pieces of sticks coming together, tourism marketers must first understand the values and beliefs embraced by tourists, and then design a suitable localized strategy to address their needs and wants. Chopsticks marketing is an international localized strategy (Fam, 2020). It involves not only understanding the local customs, traditions, and values but also ways of working with different stakeholders and networks such as government officials, religious bodies, suppliers, distributors, and consumers. The chopsticks analogy calls for the narrowing of the gap between the two sticks. The narrower the gap, the more likely that the user can pick the last grain of rice or peanut from the bowl. In addition to understanding the cultural values of the target market, tourism marketers are advised to better understand why and how certain values influence consumer behaviors before building any marketing campaign. For 1035174J HTXXX10.
The aim of this research is to investigate why information about products, brands or organisation... more The aim of this research is to investigate why information about products, brands or organisations is initiated by customer online from the sender’s perspective. This study simultaneously investigated the relationships between consumers’ online word-of-mouth (OWOM) and its key post-purchase antecedents in a quantitative manner. Data were collected from 574 respondents in China through an online survey. The findings presented five factors that influence consumers’ engagement OWOM communication. Customer perceived social value is highlighted in the paper for its impact on OWOM, and implications of the culture context of the research on OWOM communication are discussed.
Although there has been an increasing number of research around online word-of-mouth (WOM), a var... more Although there has been an increasing number of research around online word-of-mouth (WOM), a variety of definitions have been adopted without indicating explicitly as to what specific aspects the concept contains or adequately specifying the conceptual meaning of online WOM. The aim of this research is to review the existing definition of online WOM concept and its dimensions, and empirically test the dimensionality of OWOM in a different context from which it was initially developed. Survey data were collected from 574 respondents through an online survey administered in China. The findings revealed unidimensionality of online WOM, but containing three different aspects. The possible factors contributing to this finding are discussed and future research directions are presented.
Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics
PurposeThis paper explores how consumer psychographics impact responses to sales promotions (SPs)... more PurposeThis paper explores how consumer psychographics impact responses to sales promotions (SPs), and specifically whether equity sensitivity (ES) moderates attitudes towards sales promotion in the retail purchase experience (PE).Design/methodology/approachThe study examines data from a survey of 284 Hong Kong consumers, using a shopping mall-intercept method. Every third person walking past the researchers was asked to participate in the survey. After obtaining their permission, those agreeing to take part in the study were surveyed either inside or outside of the shopping complex. The face-to-face intercept surveying method also increases confidence in sample and response reliability.FindingsThe study finds that ES has a significant positive relationship with evaluations of the retail PE. Consumers identified as “Benevolents” were significantly more positive towards SPs and reported significantly higher satisfaction with the PE. In contrast, consumers identified as “Entitled” wer...
Journal of Services Marketing
Purpose Despite the growing number of studies surrounding user-generated content (UGC), understan... more Purpose Despite the growing number of studies surrounding user-generated content (UGC), understanding of the implications, potential and pertinence of user-generated images (UGI), the visual form of UGC, on brand image in services is limited. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept and a comprehensive framework of image word of mouth (IWOM), which identifies UGI as visual articulations of service experiences that result in consumer judgment of service brand image. The framework takes a consumer-focussed approach and covers key branding issues relevant to services marketers such as identifying and linking valued services dimensions, made evident through IWOM, to ideas and thoughts inferred by consumers (viewers) of the brand image and consequent consumer intentions. Design/methodology/approach The paper reviews and synthesises current services, marketing and branding literature surrounding electronic word of mouth (WOM) and UGC, where it highlights the need to consider ...
Journal of Service Theory and Practice
Purpose The paper contributes to the debate on a general theory of markets. The purpose of this p... more Purpose The paper contributes to the debate on a general theory of markets. The purpose of this paper is to develop a market practice model based on social practice theories, and explore new ways of describing market boundaries. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual analysis of contemporary marketing directions and market theorizations provides a basis for defining markets and market boundaries in terms of social practices and their performances by market actors. Findings Based on the market performances held in place by institutional practices that define, contextualize and stabilize a market, this paper defines market boundaries by nine specific categories of practices, described here as parameters. Research limitations/implications This is a conceptual paper. Future research using empirical evidence derived from situated investigations should endeavor to refine the model and practices that define market boundaries. Originality/value The paper provides a new conceptualization o...
Journal of Interactive Marketing, 2017
The purpose of this study is to better understand B2B paper-based catalogue and online buying cha... more The purpose of this study is to better understand B2B paper-based catalogue and online buying channel determinants in the education supplies sector by identifying factors that are critical in determining buyer channel preferences. A conceptual model was developed and empirically tested using self-report survey data from 316 B2B New Zealand educational institutions and analyzed with Hayes PROCESS macro (SPSS). The findings indicate that catalogue is the preferred channel for B2B educational buyers. The most important determinant of channel preference is channel experience. The catalogue and online channels appear to be less substitutable in B2B markets then proposed by B2C market studies. Structural assurance (trust, security, safeguards, and robustness) is a significant predictor of general channel satisfaction, and online channel preference, but not catalogue channel preference. The study results benefit practitioners in the development and implementation of channel strategies by providing a better understanding of the factors that determine online and catalogue channel preference in B2B markets. This study is the first to empirically demonstrate the influence and importance of structural assurance in catalogue channels, while channel experience supported by structural assurance significantly influences online channel choice. These findings indicate that determinants of channel preference found in B2C studies cannot be uncritically transferred to the B2B domain. The research also suggests that existing B2B channel adoption and preference drivers are different from B2C, and B2C research is not necessarily applicable in the B2B context.
Uploads
Papers by James E Richard