Budget constrained sponsored search advertisers must decide how to allocate their advertisement budget across ad campaigns and individual keywords. In this paper, a simulation model that integrates... Show More

Budget constrained sponsored search advertisers must decide how to allocate their advertisement budget across ad campaigns and individual keywords. In this paper, a simulation model that integrates the complex issues involved in keyword segmentation and campaign organization is used to evaluate performance of various budget allocation strategies. Using the buying funnel model as the basis for keyword segmentation and campaign organization, we analyze Volume-based, Cost-based, and Clicks-based budget allocation strategies and evaluate their performance implications for different firms. The simulation model is empirically evaluated using four Fortune 500 companies and their keyword data obtained from a leading provider of keyword research technology. The results and statistical analyses show significant improvements in budget utilization using the proposed allocation strategies over a Baseline commonly used in practice. The study offers useful insights into the budget allocation problem by leveraging a theoretical framework for keyword segmentation and campaign management.

There is inconclusive evidence on the effectiveness of information and communication technologies (ICT) at the industry level. Using the influence-impact model as a theoretical framework, the... Show More

There is inconclusive evidence on the effectiveness of information and communication technologies (ICT) at the industry level. Using the influence-impact model as a theoretical framework, the authors apply data mining techniques to identify ICT, financial, and geographical predictors of industry performance. The authors find that ICT are necessary but insufficient, and a mix of technical advancement, financial factors, and geography affect industry performance at different stages of development. These findings are used to discuss ICT for development (ICT4D) research, and abduct hypotheses for theory development with implications for future research.

Electronic commerce firms adopt advanced technologies to provide personalization of marketing-mix with data for personalization co-created by consumers. This study explores customer's perception of... Show More

Electronic commerce firms adopt advanced technologies to provide personalization of marketing-mix with data for personalization co-created by consumers. This study explores customer's perception of value co-creation and how it impacts intention to co-create value. Customer perception of value co-creation for personalization in an e-commerce context was operationalized as second order construct comprising of fulfilment, service recovery, price perception, algorithmic fairness, personalization benefits, security, and privacy. Survey results of 638 respondents analyzed using AMOS showed that process quality and relationship quality mediate the relationship between customer's perception of value co-creation and intention to co-create value with relationship quality showing stronger effect. Thus, this study contributes to marketing value co-creation literature and provides implications for practicing managers.

This study aims to detect the impact of three personality traits on agents' sales performance. The moderating role of the unit manager's leadership style is highlighted too. MLQ-5X and Mini-IPIP... Show More

This study aims to detect the impact of three personality traits on agents' sales performance. The moderating role of the unit manager's leadership style is highlighted too. MLQ-5X and Mini-IPIP questionnaires were distributed to 200 insurance sales agents in Lebanon. Using SEM, extraversion is found to be positively and significantly affecting sales performance whereas the neuroticism's impact is found to be negatively significant. Moreover, the transformational and the laissez-faire leadership styles are found to strengthen the positive relationship between extraversion and sales performance. Transactional leadership seemed to boost the negative relationship between neuroticism and sales performance. This study fills a gap in the literature and enriches it, specifically when it comes to the insurance industry in a Lebanese context.

The study examines the crucial role of value co-creation impacts on customer loyalty (attitudinal and behavioural loyalty) in the Chinese self-service food industry, especially in “Hot Pot,” also... Show More

The study examines the crucial role of value co-creation impacts on customer loyalty (attitudinal and behavioural loyalty) in the Chinese self-service food industry, especially in “Hot Pot,” also known as “Huo Guo,” taking into account the mediating impact on customer trust and satisfaction. The authors collected 377 valid Chinese customers' questionnaires to assess the conceptual model with a purposive sampling method, and data were analyzed using SmartPLS3 software. The findings show that value co-creation positively impacts customer satisfaction, whereas satisfaction fully mediates the association between value co-creation and trust. The findings further portray that consumer satisfaction partially mediates the association among value co-creation and attitudinal and behavioural loyalty. Based on the results, another key finding is that consumer satisfaction has an insignificant impact on behavioural loyalty. Notably, the findings provide a menu of potential managerial implications to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty.

The banking business relates with their customers during the weekly business days, but only a few pay close attention to the importance of demography variables especially in the area of technology... Show More

The banking business relates with their customers during the weekly business days, but only a few pay close attention to the importance of demography variables especially in the area of technology use. This study intends to classify the relationship between age and mobile banking app usage, income and the types of device used for mobile banking app, income and the choice for the device brand used for a mobile banking app. It also employed social stratification theory and quantitative methods with Chi-square test and discriminant analysis through SPSS V25. The results show the significant association of age with mobile banking app use and income with the type of mobile devices used for the mobile banking app while the income had an insignificant association with the device brand. The banking sectors need to put inequality income distribution into consideration, and the age differences as these variables impact the use of mobile technology for banking transactions. The study discussed the theoretical contribution, managerial insights, limitations, and made proposals for future study.

The main purpose of this study is to reveal the impact of consumer satisfaction on continuance intention to use wearable fitness devices. Building upon the IS Continuance Intention Model, the... Show More

The main purpose of this study is to reveal the impact of consumer satisfaction on continuance intention to use wearable fitness devices. Building upon the IS Continuance Intention Model, the authors explored the effects of confirmation of ease of use, confirmation of perceived usefulness, positive and negative feelings, and perceived control on consumer satisfaction. The effects of health motivation and social influence on continuance intention were examined alongside satisfaction. Our model consists of twelve constructs and eleven hypotheses. An online survey was conducted among 216 Amazon M-Turk workers to collect data. The measurement model was first tested and validated. Next, structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses in the research model. Nine out of eleven hypotheses were supported. The model explains 50.1% of variances in continuance intention, and 63.9% of variance in consumer satisfaction is explained by the aforementioned factors. Both theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed in the context of wearable technology.

This work intends to examine the determinants of employees' continuous intention to utilize electronic human resource management (e-HRM) based on the technology continuous theory. Furthermore, it... Show More

This work intends to examine the determinants of employees' continuous intention to utilize electronic human resource management (e-HRM) based on the technology continuous theory. Furthermore, it scrutinizes the direct and moderating effect of computer self-efficacy for the continuous intention to utilize e-HRM and how it moulds the direct relationship between perceived usefulness, attitude, and satisfaction. In this study, structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to examine the data obtained from a survey of 159 employees. The findings revealed that perceived usefulness, satisfaction, computer self-efficacy, and attitude had a direct and positive impact on continuous intention to use e-HRM. In addition, computer self-efficacy played a moderating role in the relationship between satisfaction, perceived usefulness, attitude, and the continuous intention to use e-HRM. The findings can be utilized by e-HRM service providers to devise strategies that can strengthen the employee's continuous intention and by scholars to increase, improve, and assess the research concerning e-HRM.

This paper is an attempt to investigate and empirically validate e-marketing mix framework creating online brand equity suitable for adaptation in the Indian context. Exploratory and confirmatory... Show More

This paper is an attempt to investigate and empirically validate e-marketing mix framework creating online brand equity suitable for adaptation in the Indian context. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis are used to identify and validate the e-marketing mix variables to create online brand equity. Primary product and service offerings, website content, customer care and relationship, website interactivity, website's security and reliability, and website speed are the six e-marketing mix elements identified. Also, a conceptual categorization is used to propose and develop a typology that classifies these six variables into primary and secondary activities. The identified e-marketing mix variables will be an insightful aid to planning various marketing activities and controlling other outcome variables like online satisfaction, e-loyalty, online brand equity, etc. This is one of the first attempts to propose and verify e-marketing mix variables for a developing economy like India and classify them under a generic parsimonious dimensional framework for e-commerce.

The current study combines the institutional theory and the TOE framework to examine the effects of environmental factors along with the mediating role of top managements support on the decision to... Show More

The current study combines the institutional theory and the TOE framework to examine the effects of environmental factors along with the mediating role of top managements support on the decision to adopt big data analytics (BDA) in supply chain management (SCM) in Saudi firms as context of a developing economy in transition. The statistical analyses of the PLSPM performed with Smartpls showed that the environment factors could affect directly and indirectly the intention to adopt BDA in SCM. From a theoretical perspective, combining TOE framework with an institutional theory perspective provided us with a research model that highlight the importance of TMS as a mediating factor that can help to assimilate the effects of environment factors when dealing with BDA adoption. From a managerial perspective, this research should be useful for practitioners involved in the SCM and interested by the use of BDA by showing them the critical roles that can be played by environment factors in the decision to adopt BDA in SCM.

This study, based on value theory, aims to shed light on our understanding of changing consumer perspectives on loyalty programs (LPs) within the digitally transformed retail environment by... Show More

This study, based on value theory, aims to shed light on our understanding of changing consumer perspectives on loyalty programs (LPs) within the digitally transformed retail environment by assessing the significance of value perceptions (i.e., monetary, hedonic, symbolic, knowledge) provided by LP benefits on member satisfaction. The value theory was expanded with the addition of personalization and information disclosure comfort constructs in accordance with the literature on mobile application adoption. The results of an online survey study on two leading coalition LPs in Turkey indicate that the monetary, hedonic, and symbolic values established by LP benefits are positively related to satisfaction. Furthermore, personalization was found to be a major factor that indirectly influences satisfaction through different perceptions of value. Privacy concerns, on the other hand, were found to have a significant but weak influence on satisfaction. Finally, the well-established effect of satisfaction on attitudinal loyalty was also confirmed.

Due to the exponential growth of the internet, smartphones, and communication technologies during the last two decades, the digital banking sector has enormously advanced in terms of user-friendly... Show More

Due to the exponential growth of the internet, smartphones, and communication technologies during the last two decades, the digital banking sector has enormously advanced in terms of user-friendly, efficient, and fast financial transactions. Digital banking also plays a significant role as an enabler of cashless transactions in the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The study investigates the challenges, technology, and future research agenda of digital banking. The paper follows the manifestation of Kitchenham's SLR protocol. Six databases were used to determine articles that match the criteria. The study considers recent articles, which have been published from 2015 to 2021. Sixty-seven papers have been selected, extracted, and analyzed. The result highlights issues related to technology, organization, people, process, environment, customers, security, and risk, which become challenges in digital banking innovation. This research presents suggestions for future research directions, which will be beneficial to practitioners and scholars around the globe.

The authors investigate how peer influence affects customers' product adoption behaviors in emerging video game platforms. Understanding peer influence is critical to motivating users' willingness... Show More

The authors investigate how peer influence affects customers' product adoption behaviors in emerging video game platforms. Understanding peer influence is critical to motivating users' willingness to purchase and improving game publishers' marketing performance. While similarities between socially linked users can be viewed as a consequence of social influence, homophily may also contribute to such phenomenon, causing identification difficulties in observational studies. Using data from the world's largest digital distribution platform for video games, the authors leverage state-of-the-art recommender system algorithms and propose an innovative framework to identify social influence in the adoption of video games when a confounding homophily effect is present. The results show that peer influence has a positive impact on platform users' adoption behaviors (i.e., a user tends to adopt a video game that has been purchased by his peers). This study also finds that peer influence would have been overestimated if homophily was not properly controlled.

This study reviewed EC studies in China. A total of 1,982 journal articles published between 2001 and 2020 were collected from the Web of Science database. In addition, it referred to the Five-Year... Show More

This study reviewed EC studies in China. A total of 1,982 journal articles published between 2001 and 2020 were collected from the Web of Science database. In addition, it referred to the Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China and divided the research period into five-year stages. The BibExcel, UCINET, and SPSS software programs were used to conduct co-word analysis. The results indicated that (1) Stages I–IV comprised 4, 3, 4, and 4 clusters, respectively. (2) Consumer's personalized demands were considered in EC development activities ranging from the initial EC infrastructure construction to the integration of artificial-intelligence-related technology. (3) Topics regarding consumer behaviors were centered on Stages II and III, which indicated that the research on these topics was mature. (4) Stage IV explored the new research topic of integrating smart technology into the EC and indicated the characteristics of the e-market.

The purpose of the study is to examine the influence of hedonic and utilitarian motivation on Indian consumer's online purchase intention. Second, this study tried to explore if social media... Show More

The purpose of the study is to examine the influence of hedonic and utilitarian motivation on Indian consumer's online purchase intention. Second, this study tried to explore if social media mediates the influence of hedonic and utilitarian motivation on online purchase intention. A sample of 282 valid online buyers were collected who intentionally involved in online shopping for the last one year. Structural equation modelling is used to analyse data and to examine the research hypotheses. Results of the study revealed that utilitarian and hedonic motivation positively influenced online purchase intention (β= +0.26, p=.03 & β= +0.03, p=.643). This study also indicated that hedonic and utilitarian motivation has significant positive relationship with social media (β= +0.28, p=***), (β= +0.45, p=***). The current research model will give fresh insights of understanding of consumer's motivation and role of social media in online purchase intention. Research implications, limitations, and scope of research are discussed.

Development in information technology helps companies to build customer databases, perform database marketing, and do relationship management. The study discusses the various aspects of customer... Show More

Development in information technology helps companies to build customer databases, perform database marketing, and do relationship management. The study discusses the various aspects of customer databases and database marketing and their roles in relationship management. It discusses the ways in which a customer database can be used to achieve best results. The study discusses the various issues of database marketing, ways of overcoming the issues, internal changes in an organization which should be made for implementing database marketing, and emphasizes that database marketing is not the solution to every issue. Organizations should analyze all these issues during CRM implementation. It also provides a direction for achieving the goals in relationship management. Organizations should be aware of and should consider all these aspects of customer databases and database marketing to develop customer relationships, to do CRM implementation, to achieve business excellence, and to succeed in the long run.

Technology has brought unprecedented changes in the financial realm, and its benefits were evident during the times of COVID-19. Nonetheless, digital divide has kept fintech out of the reach of... Show More

Technology has brought unprecedented changes in the financial realm, and its benefits were evident during the times of COVID-19. Nonetheless, digital divide has kept fintech out of the reach of many. Digital financial exclusion needs practical solutions to bring positive attitudes and confidence to use fintech among these segments. This is an original work that suggests reverse fintech socialisation as a tool to create such confidence within the digitally excluded. Employing a cross-sectional design, a sample of 349 middle-aged mothers was drawn from Kerala, India to examine the relationships between attitude, reverse socialisation, and confidence to deal in fintech. Findings supported the hypothesised relations between these variables and revealed that attitude predicts reverse fintech socialisation, which has a very high influence on confidence. Age, income, and income earner in the family too were found significant for confidence. Findings imply that policymakers can formulate interventions that make use of the youth to create confidence within the digital immigrants to use fintech.

This paper examines India's level of digital access to financial services as compared to other Asian countries. The study also intends to analyse whether COVID-19 has influenced the usage trend of... Show More

This paper examines India's level of digital access to financial services as compared to other Asian countries. The study also intends to analyse whether COVID-19 has influenced the usage trend of the selected digital payment indicators in India. Data has been collected from the World Bank Global Findex Database and RBI bulletins. Cross country descriptive analysis was used for studying India's digital financial access against the other Asian countries. Event study methodology followed by trend analysis was employed to examine whether COVID-19 has impacted the digital payment indicators' usage in India. The findings of the study indicated that India's position in digital financial access needs to be improved. It was further identified that COVID-19 has increased the usage of digital modes for financial transactions in India. There has been a significant increase in the usage volume of mobile banking after the declaration of the pandemic. Govt. can frame its action plans to make use of the opportunity created through the pandemic to improve digital financial access in India.

The paper examines the present fintech ecosystem in India in general and assesses the efficiency of fintech firms operating in lending and payment verticals. Twelve companies were randomly selected... Show More

The paper examines the present fintech ecosystem in India in general and assesses the efficiency of fintech firms operating in lending and payment verticals. Twelve companies were randomly selected from the top-rated fintech companies in India having an operational track record of four years and more. Financial data of these firms for three years (from 2017-2020) was used for evaluating the efficiency by applying the DEA model. The results indicate that 42 percent of the companies were unable to achieve profitability. The interest obligation (36%) on short-term borrowings which constitute 68 percent of current liabilities is the major contributor to the operating cost of lending firms. Companies from payment verticals are less homogeneous in their component-wise distribution of operating cost. The current ratio of two DMUs is excessively higher while it is below the benchmark for the other six DMUs. To make the fintech a revenue generating model by scaling up their operation, this study suggests the business areas where fintech firms could collaborate with traditional financial institutions.

This study examined the impact of E-CRM on customer loyalty with the mediating effect of customer satisfaction in the banking industry. Customer satisfaction is important for loyalty because when... Show More

This study examined the impact of E-CRM on customer loyalty with the mediating effect of customer satisfaction in the banking industry. Customer satisfaction is important for loyalty because when the customers are satisfied with the services offered by their service providers, the relationship gets stronger which further leads to positive word-of-mouth. The data was collected using purposive sampling from 836 banks’ customers who were using E-CRM services and the data was analyzed using structural equation model (SEM) through AMOS. The results revealed that E-CRM and customer satisfaction had a significant positive impact on customer loyalty and also customer satisfaction partially mediated the relationship between E-CRM and customer loyalty. This study would offer useful acumen to both academicians and marketers and would help the bank managers to improve the quality of the services provided to their customers.

Social commerce (SC) became a major channel for conducting business as a result of the ban adopted by many countries because of Covid-19 era. The simplicity of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and... Show More

Social commerce (SC) became a major channel for conducting business as a result of the ban adopted by many countries because of Covid-19 era. The simplicity of the Unified Theory of Acceptance and use of Technology (UTAUT) and its extended version (UTAUT2) invites researchers to explore other options that can yield better explanation of the adoption of SC. This study extended the UTAUT2 with perceived value, trust and a SC related construct. In addition, the study re-structured the UTAUT2 to fit with SC environment. The study utilized 463 surveys distributed in Qatar, and analyzed the data using SEM. Results fully supported the proposed model, where trust, perceived value, facilitating conditions, and hedonic motivation significantly predicted behavioral intentions with an R2 value equal to 72%. The model supported the role of performance expectancy and SC constructs in predicting perceived value, and the role of effort expectancy and habit in predicting hedonic motivation.

This paper demonstrates the application of business intelligence in decision-making in digital advertising through a case study. Data used for analysis was collected during a test phase of an... Show More

This paper demonstrates the application of business intelligence in decision-making in digital advertising through a case study. Data used for analysis was collected during a test phase of an advertising platform. The study analyzes multiple types of traffic, related to countries, browsers, household incomes, and days of a week. Beside tabular reports, the paper presents how to visualize those results using Python libraries to make them more visually appealing. Furthermore, logistic regression was used to build models to detect relationships between the number of impressions and clicks. Finally, the authors propose multiple combinations of data that could be used to create different reports that lead to smarter decision-making and cost-effectiveness.

In this cashless economy era, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) plays a vital role in making payments using various payment modes. The mobile wallet app is an innovative technology for... Show More

In this cashless economy era, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) plays a vital role in making payments using various payment modes. The mobile wallet app is an innovative technology for avoiding the usage of physical cash. The mobile wallet records all kinds of transactions with a clear payment reference and makes it accountable for tax payments. There are countless reasons for using mobile wallets which makes service providers confused and leads them to offer unattractive features in the wallet apps making the offer as a failure. This paper attempts to collect the data from the mobile wallet users and provide a clear understanding of the reasons for using mobile wallets. Secondly, the customer preferences towards Google Pay and PayTm are analyzed in detail with primary data collected from mobile wallet users to suggest a model for improving the business. This research was conducted to understand the customer's inclination towards the use of mobile wallets.

This study aims at exploring the effects of customer’s personal factors and characteristics of brand community on customers’ behaviors in virtual brand community. The data were collected from... Show More

This study aims at exploring the effects of customer’s personal factors and characteristics of brand community on customers’ behaviors in virtual brand community. The data were collected from customers of virtual brand communities in Vietnamese context via a survey. The data show that among the customer’s personal factors, customer ability has the largest impact on customer active behaviors in virtual brand community while customer motivation and opportunity have smaller significant influences on customer behaviors. Regarding the characteristics of virtual brand community, information quality posted in virtual community has the most dramatic effect on customer involvement in active behaviors. System quality is also relevant to customer behaviors, yet virtual interactivity and rewards are unrelated to customer activity involvement. With the findings, research shows useful suggestions for businesses in Vietnam in their efforts to understand the impact of customer behavior in the virtual community.

The advancement of the Internet has enabled firms including micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Brunei Darussalam (Brunei) to adopt e-commerce. E-commerce has helped firms to easily... Show More

The advancement of the Internet has enabled firms including micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Brunei Darussalam (Brunei) to adopt e-commerce. E-commerce has helped firms to easily buy and sell their products or services online. The advancement of the Internet and e-commerce has brought many benefits to the firms especially the MSMEs as it could help to reduce cost, enhance the firm's relationship with their customers and/or suppliers and increase business opportunities. To stay competitive, MSMEs must be aware of the potential benefits that e-commerce could bring. Moreover, before the firms have decided to adopt e-commerce, there are several factors that they should consider. This study aims to find out the factors that could affect the MSMEs' decision to adopt e-commerce by applying the technology-organizational-environmental (TOE) framework.

Globalisation and changing lifestyle of the people has escalated the demand for the more product customisation, taste preferences and awareness about the usage of quality food commodities. Recent... Show More

Globalisation and changing lifestyle of the people has escalated the demand for the more product customisation, taste preferences and awareness about the usage of quality food commodities. Recent developments in the field of information technology and its integration with the business practices has emerged as a new term named ‘e-business’ (EB). Increasing consumer base of the food supply chains (FSC), has escalated the demand of technological and operation advancements by mediating ‘EB’ activities. Such, practices become extensively crucial when the world is suffering from the pandemic of COVID-19, leading to distressing of FSC linkages causing frequent market closures. To tackle the same presented work, explores the various endorsers (EDR) of the ‘EB’ in FSC, which are contemplated by hybrid combination of multi-criteria decision making techniques. Outcomes of the present work aids managers to formulate the decision policies and develop a robust framework in the direction to cling the ‘EB’ practices with FSC.

The purpose of the study is to elucidate linkage of Omnichannel retail business model with innovation and technological advancements. The study is exploratory and qualitative in nature, based on... Show More

The purpose of the study is to elucidate linkage of Omnichannel retail business model with innovation and technological advancements. The study is exploratory and qualitative in nature, based on primary and secondary data sources collected from varied retail sectors such as fashion, furniture, eyecare and electronics . The study has used Business Model Canvass (BMC) as a tool for strategic analysis. The study presents findings about business model and strategies in Omnichannel context from Indian retailers. The findings of the study posits four main dimensions resultant of digitalization and technological advancements in Omnichannel retail, namely Omnichannel Intensity, Organizational Structure Integration, Operations and Supply Chain Management Innovation, Data Analytics and Intelligence. Cross-channel Integration and Data Analytics & Intelligence have been found to be contributing enormously towards the strategic growth of Omnichannel retailers, thus emerging as the prominent managerial implications of the study.

Blockchain has evolved as one of the disruptive technologies in the landscape of business. The study aims to investigate drivers of consumer adoption of blockchain for product origin and track to... Show More

Blockchain has evolved as one of the disruptive technologies in the landscape of business. The study aims to investigate drivers of consumer adoption of blockchain for product origin and track to trace history before making a purchase. An extended technology adoption model (TAM) has been proposed to examine the consumer perspective for blockchain adoption in the food supply chain. Based on the survey of 208 retail consumers the proposed model was validated using variance-based structure equation modeling. Findings of the study emphasize the significant role of perceived security and privacy in developing trust, ease of use, and usefulness of blockchain-enabled systems. The relationship between perceived ease of use and attitude is mediated through perceived usefulness. The strong influence of attitude on adoption intention represents the consumer interest for blockchain to understand the product provenance. Study provides vital insights for successful blockchain implementation to enhance supply chain effectiveness.

Artificial Intelligence tools and processes have hugely impacted the ecommerce industry and the satisfaction of online customers. With technology largely pervading all facets of our lives, people... Show More

Artificial Intelligence tools and processes have hugely impacted the ecommerce industry and the satisfaction of online customers. With technology largely pervading all facets of our lives, people want meaningful experiences. Artificial intelligence has the ability to deliver positive experiences for customers that helps build brand trust and customer satisfaction. Whether you are using your smartphone, laptop or voice assistants such as Alexa or Siri, service on the internet is gaining new ground. This paper does a literature review of the various technological advances that optimize the customer experience to evoke e-satisfaction, i.e. satisfaction while shopping online. E-satisfaction as a construct will be reviewed and its impact on customer purchase intention. This review will provide businesses and other researchers a frame of reference to conduct empirical studies in the area of AI and technology enabled retail.

Though empirically some research suggests the linkage of better communication effect with active users' presence, no existing clues are found on the user activeness at the micro level to contribute... Show More

Though empirically some research suggests the linkage of better communication effect with active users' presence, no existing clues are found on the user activeness at the micro level to contribute to the virtual community's aggregate-level health and vitality. This paper models the interpersonal communication process via a multi-agent, self-reasoning model. It considers each agent’s information value and conformity value, two key constructs adopted in this paper. This paper adopts simulated experiments to identify active users based on individuals’ behavioural characteristics, screen out typical users of different activeness levels, and reveal causalities among the outcomes. The findings show that users' activeness determines the information vitality and influence of information dissemination and substantially impacts the dynamics of user-groups. The author concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and methodological contributions and pinpoints these findings for marketers to improve online customer relationship management.