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Over the last year, there has been a significant shift in online shopping caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. This change manifests itself primarily in the fact that already 73% of Polish citizens shop online. E-commerce customers are generally optimistic about this type of shopping, and this opinion has even improved over the past year. Online shopping is primarily perceived as convenient and uncomplicated and offers more choice than buying in traditional stores. In this measurement, the perception of comfort was remarkably improved. As the period of online shopping lengthens, the level of experience acquired by e-commerce customers increases, which, on the one hand, not only improves the online shopping process but, on the other hand, may affect the perception of websites in terms of other criteria. Thus, the purpose of the article is to examine the relationships between the time of online shopping (understood as the acquisition of experience of e-commerce customers) by respondents and the assessment of individual variables. Research conducted among the e-commerce customers allowed us to make the following conclusion - the perception itself and perception of specific criteria influencing the functioning of the Internet platform changes during the time while experience in online shopping is being acquired. However, this does not mean that these ratings are constantly improving. In the case of the level of satisfaction and the assessment of meeting e-commerce customers' needs above expectations, with the higher experience in online shopping, both the level of satisfaction and ratings regarding meeting the needs above expectations become lower. The obtained research results can be advice for online platforms in purchasing process management and customer service. © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of the scientific committee of KES International.

The integration of shipping into multimodal supply chains represents a major challenge for the transport industry due to the reduced external effects of waterborne transport compared to land-based modes of transport. Roll on-Roll off (RoRo) shipping represents a maritime segment that could easily form part of an intermodal transport system, due to the fast cargo handling and the high frequency of departures. RoRo segment is quite developed in Sweden, representing 22% of the maritime segments, while forestry industry is one of the main shippers of RoRo services in the intra-European trade. This paper analyses the purchasing chain of forestry RoRo shipping services and identifies the determinants that have impact on its competitiveness. 8 semi-structured interviews with RoRo shipping operators, forestry companies and freight forwarders in Sweden were conducted, providing valuable input to this study. A taxonomy of determinant factors in the purchasing process of forestry RoRo shipping services is developed highlighting the interactions between them and drawing attention to the barriers that prevent the further employment of this transport mode. The results suggest that a different management ‘culture’ on carriers-shippers’ relationships and efficient port operations are key determinants for the establishment of successful intermodal RoRo services.

Buy buttons are not only links allowing social platform users to complete a purchase directly by clicking on them, but they are also key to social platform monetization. Shedding light on the use of these buttons is, thus, particularly interesting for their practical value. We have conducted two between-subject experiments to analyze two basic issues: first, how buy buttons can affect social platform users' shopping-related attitudinal and behavioral responses; and, how providing users with a safe shopping environment can affect their shopping-related responses. The results from two samples (Spanish and Chinese) showed that displaying a buy button on social platform posts is related to better user shopping attitude and willingness to purchase; also, when users are on a platform that offers safeguards and guarantees, their shopping responses improve, with users' perceived risk towards shopping on such a platform ameliorated by its positioning as trustworthy mediator in the purchasing process.

Despite high marketing expenses by large breweries, the traditional German beer market has been declining for many years. The development may be related to reasons such as demographic change or increased health awareness. In a changing market, it is especially important to gain a precise knowledge of these variables. The aim of this study is to identify the attributes of beer that are crucial to the purchasing process and to segment the German market for beer. For this purpose, a conjoint analysis was carried out with a subsequent latent class analysis. As a result of the latent class analysis, three consumer segments were identified. In addition to achieving results from the conjoint analysis, the segments were characterized by sociodemographic status, beer-related questions, and results from a food-related lifestyle approach. The study sample was representative in terms of gender and age for the market of German beer drinkers (N = 484). The attributes of beer type, price, and origin were of importance for the selection of beer across all segments. Differences between the segments represented, in particular, the preferred type of beer as well as preferences for organic, calorie-reduced, and imported beer. The latter three characteristic specifications were relevant in only one of the three segments. This study provides evidence for a slowly changing German beer market.

Online consumer reviews (OCRs) are valuable to consumers and sellers. Online price promotion is commonly used by local merchants to increase sales. However, knowledge of the differences in OCRs between consumers who received a discount and regular consumers is limited. This study investigates the effects of price discounts on restaurant OCRs by comparing the review rating and open-ended contents of OCRs from consumers who received a discount and regular consumers. The results show that the review rating is higher from consumers who received a discount, whereas the word count, image count, and diversity of review contents are higher from regular consumers. Regular consumers are more likely to mention product quality, environmental quality, service quality, geographic location, purchasing process, recommendation expression, and loyalty expression in OCRs, and there is no significant difference in the dimensions of price, cognitive attitude, and emotional attitude between the two groups.

The purchasing process consists of multiple, non-isolated phases that describe the interactions between consumers and products. One of these phases is the evaluation of alternatives, in which the consumer compares the benefits that will be obtained from each product or service depending on a set of criteria. Recently, the rise of online ecosystems has fueled the development of new purchasing-decision prediction models (PDPM) based on the shared opinions, concerns, and expectations of customers. Commonly, these PDPMs are constructed as multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) methods, where experts ascertain the consumer's purchasing criteria, as well as the importance of them, by means of surveys and their own experience. Although relying on experts may be appropriate for identifying criteria, this approach is not suitable for assessing the importance of said criteria due to the large volume of information available on the Web. Furthermore, the preferences of consumers in online ecosystems evolve constantly. In this regard, we consider that the information about purchase-criteria importance should be derived exclusively from the opinions of consumers. However, the attitude and thought-process leading to purchases contain inherent relationships that consumers are not able to express explicitly; consequently, we explore the possibility to make use of the synergies between criteria along user preferences. This paper proposes a new PDPM that estimates the importance of the criteria and values the alternatives by only considering the opinions expressed by consumers in digital ecosystems, while using an expert-defined set of criteria. The proposed approach extracts the weights of both criteria and alternatives and determines the implicit synergies within them without the need of additional input. Lastly, it uses the Choquet integral for weight and valuation aggregation and determines a purchase ranking. This model has been tested in real examples, obtaining satisfactory results.

According to the Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics, annual vehicle growth reaches 6.49%, and from the data taken, for 2018 alone, total motorized vehicles reached 146,858,759. This figure has a very large effect on the percentage of fuel consumption. Large fuel consumption certainly has an impact on the purchasing process which can result in long queues at each gas station and an accumulation of buyers in one gas station, especially in Java and Sumatra, which account for 77% of the total motorized vehicles in Indonesia. One of the systems that has been implemented at gas stations is the self-service method. This method is still considered inefficient because buyers still have to queue at the standing console to do the transaction using the cash payment method. In the gas station search process, motorists still spend time looking for the nearest gas station. Therefore, a system was built in form of an application that could locate the nearest gas station using the haversine method, along with existing facilities at those particular gas stations and QR codes as a result of online fuel purchase transactions which resulted in more efficient fuel purchases. The test results show that the accuracy of the closest gas station distance is 86%, and the prediction of ordering the closest 5 gas stations compared to the actual order is 100%. These results indicate that the haversine method is quite accurate in determining the nearest gas station.

This paper evaluates, on the one hand, the influence that routes to persuasion has on the webrooming and showrooming. On the other hand, for the specific case of products purchased online, we analyze whether developing showrooming versus pure online behaviors have a positive effect on the price paid by the customer. The empirical research is based on the database compiled by GfK which contains detailed information about the buying process of 4067 consumers who have purchased products from different retail sectors. We find that webroomers emerge as individuals who engage in a prolonged purchasing process over time and they focus more on the attributes directly associated with the product. Meanwhile, the showrooming customer, at least in terms of hedonic products, is more likely to purchase products of a higher value and price, though they then search for a retailer charging a lower price for the same level of value.

The paper presents a study that aims to compare the contribution of social and environmental practices along the purchasing process to economic performance, competitiveness, and risk mitigation of the buying firm. The number of studies dealing with the topic has significantly increased in the last few years. The majority of the extant research is focused on the environmental dimension, whereas fewer studies have explored the social dimension or the combination of both factors. The results are mixed, with some scholars supporting the existence of a positive relationship between socially and environmentally oriented purchasing management and financial performance, competitiveness and risk mitigation and others being more cautious. Relying on suggestions from earlier literature, the study presents an analysis of a database made up of 189 international buying companies operating in Italy, and the results have provoked two main observations. Data were collected through a closed-question questionnaire to purchasing managers, which was defined from items and variables identified in the previous literature. On the one hand, the results corroborated the hypotheses of the study, confirming that both dimensions contribute to firm performance. On the other hand, the findings showed that differences do exist and that the positive relationship between social and environmental dimensions and firm performance depends upon the stage into which those criteria are integrated. The integration of social criteria has proven to impact only risk mitigation throughout the purchasing process, whereas the environmental dimension contributes to risk mitigation and competitiveness when included in the supplier selection phase and to economic performance when considered in supplier relationship management.

Social networks have become indispensable in our daily lives, and have significant implications for the development of electronic commerce. In centralized e-marketplaces, buyers face two main problems in purchasing decisions. Firstly, for some products, sellers do not provide product information. Secondly, buyers can be deceived by fake reviews or ratings manipulated by malicious providers. In this research, after analyzing users’ social activities, we propose an appraisal mechanism for the social marketplace, which customers can use to find products and to obtain credible referrals. The proposed mechanism can effectively discover suitable and trustworthy sellers to expedite the online purchasing process and enable social commerce to flourish.

This paper analyses the preferences and emotional connotations of Italian consumers towards different chocolate types and assesses which label information consumers take into consideration during the purchasing process. A survey was conducted to collect data from 390 respondents from two different Italian chocolate production regions (Sicily and Piedmont). The results show that overall, consumers prefer dark, extra-dark and milk chocolate. However, a significantly higher percentage of women and men from Piedmont prefer “Gianduia” (hazelnut-based chocolate), when compared to Sicilians, whereas the type of chocolate formats preferred by consumers differs by gender (P

Augmented reality (AR) is regarded as a visually transformative technology that enables consumers to gain immersive and enjoyable information about experience products/services during the purchasing process. Based on the stimulus-organism-response (S–O-R) paradigm, this study investigates how experiential AR applications (apps) influence customers' experiential value, in turn enhancing continued usage intention. Furthermore, perceived customer support plays an even more important role in enhancing customers’ continued usage intention. This study obtained data through an online survey of 437 customers of the YouCam Makeup app in Taiwan. We used SmartPLS software to analyze the data and test the hypotheses. The findings suggest that the features of an experiential AR app have a greater positive impact on hedonic value than utilitarian value; in turn, only hedonic value has a positive impact on continued usage intention. The results further demonstrate that the effect of hedonic value on continued usage intention is positively moderated by perceived customer support.

Technological innovation in healthcare yields better health outcomes but also drives healthcare expenditure, and governments are struggling to maintain an appropriate balance between patient access to modern care and the economic sustainability of healthcare systems. Health Technology Assessment (HTA) and centralized procurement are increasingly used to govern the introduction and diffusion of new technologies in an effort to make access to innovation financially sustainable. However, little empirical evidence is available to determine how they affect the selection of new technologies and unit prices. This paper focuses on medical devices (MDs) and investigates the combined effect of various HTA governance models and procurement practices on the two steps of the MD purchasing process (i.e., selecting the product and setting the unit price). Our analyses are based on primary data collected through a national survey of Italian public hospitals. The Italian National Health Service is an ideal case study because it is highly decentralized and because regions have adopted different HTA governance models (i.e., regional, hospital-based, double-level or no HTA), often in combination with centralized regional procurement programs. Hence, the Italian case allows us to test the impact of different combinations of HTA models and procurement programs in the various regions. The results show that regional HTA increases the probability of purchasing the costliest devices, whereas hospital-based HTA functions more like a cost-containment unit. Centralized regional procurement does not significantly affect MD selection and is associated with a reduction in the MD unit price: on average, hospitals located in regions with centralized procurement pay 10.1% less for the same product. Hospitals located in regions with active regional HTA programs pay higher prices for the same device (+23.2% for inexpensive products), whereas hospitals that have developed internal HTA programs pay 8.3% on average more for the same product.

The present paper tries to study the impact of online services level in contexts where transactions have not been done yet, through the adoption of a formative approach. In this scene, the present research considers two main dimensions of online services (pre-purchase services and transaction-related services) in a context of clothing purchasing process. Before defining the research and determining the sector to be analyzed, 7 focus groups were conducted. From the obtained conclusions, this study was carried on in the textile sector. A survey with 370 effective respondents was carried out. To measure the different concepts in the model, several scales were used based on literature proposals. Our model was estimated through partial least squares with SmartPLS (Ringle, Wende, & Will, 2005). Empirical findings provide that both transactions related services and pre-purchase services are determinants of the navigation experience. At the same time, navigation experiences affect attitude to the web, which affects purchase intention. All of this in the SME clothing e-retailing industry.

Luxury brands claim to offer consumers pleasure and prestige and deliver high profits to retailers. While the global demand for luxury goods is increasing, consumers expect that the purchasing process these goods will accommodate their preferences on how, where, and when they want to purchase them. The changing nature of luxury markets and customers' purchasing behavior makes it necessary to understand why customers would choose an online channel to purchase luxury offerings. What are the features that make so appealing, attracting consumers towards them? Our study explores customers' motivations, the benefits and the experiences they are expecting and perceiving from the Online Luxury Experience (OLX). We examine the OLX and establish three corresponding luxury customer segments using online channels to purchase their luxury goods and services: the purists, opportunists, and e-lux. We highlight the differences between the segment's customer journeys and the implications for theory and luxury customer experience management.

New online shopping trends have emerged recently due to the adoption of multiscreening. Consumers are using various devices in sequence or conjunction to accomplish their online shopping tasks. Despite the increasing penetration of the cross-device channel in the young consumer purchasing process, our understanding of this phenomenon is insufficient. Multiscreening is coined as the use of two or more devices sequentially for related tasks or simultaneously for related or unrelated tasks. The present research aims to explain the espousal of multiscreening for online shopping through the perspective of self-regulation by developing a dual system model of self-regulation. The study implemented structural equation modelling (SEM) technique through AMOS statistical package for the analysis. The results show that both conscious and nonconscious self-regulatory factors are active in the adoption of multiscreening for online shopping which further implies that both reflective and impulsive processes are involved in consumer choice decisions in this context. Moreover, the impact of conscious and nonconscious self-regulation on multiscreening in the context of online shopping has been reported similar for both male and female users.

This paper explores shippers’ (i.e. logistics buyers) and logistics service providers’ (LSPs) perceptions of green concerns under diverse contractual settings during the key phases of the logistics purchasing process: request for proposal, negotiations, contracting and execution. Accordingly, it derives recommendations that could increase the actors’ inter- and- intra-organisational alignment on green targets throughout these phases. Empirical data are obtained from eight individual cases of three shippers and five LSPs, representing the buyer/seller roles within logistics arrangements. Contrary to previous literature holding the view that setting more green demands by shippers would guarantee green outcomes, the findings show that shippers’ green demands may hinder green logistics applications due to impediments to LSPs’ asset-sharing strategies. Also, a deadlock situation is revealed in the negotiations phase, where both actors await each other to introduce additional demands/offers—calling for further regulatory intervention to release this deadlock. Moreover, this paper shows how a mismatch of interests in contractual periods between shippers and LSPs can obstruct green investments—signalling that the green criterion is not the decisive factor in shaping shippers’ outsourcing strategies. The findings also stress a lack of follow-up efforts by shippers on green measures that were specified pre-contract, attributing this to contrasting intra-organisational objectives within shippers’ firms. This paper contributes to the green logistics purchasing literature by revealing how different contractual settings play an important role in shaping shippers’/LSPs’ perceptions of green concerns during the logistics purchasing process. Further, it is one of the first studies to provide phase-specific recommendations to increase the actors’ alignment on green targets.

The essence of some items is continuously growing and gaining weight over time. These are known as growing items, which their weights and values increase over time. This paper provides a new generation of inventory models, entitled Economic Growing Quantity (EGQ), which is designed by focusing on growing items of agricultural industries such as fisheries, poultry, and livestock. Our EGQ inventory model considers the probability density functions of survival and mortality for a growing item. It also considers the growth functions of live and dead grown items. Accordingly, the total cost for EGQ model consists of the costs of purchasing process, the disposal cost of dead items, the holding cost, the feeding cost, and the setup costs for both the live and the dead items. Our goal is to determine the optimal economic growth/slaughter cycle and the economic growing quantity in order to minimize the total costs. Subsequently, we optimize the weight of slaughtering, the Utility of Growth Functions (UGF), and other important performance metrics of the system. The applicability and validity of our model is demonstrated based on numerical examples of the poultry industry. The results of sensitivity analyses recommend some strategic implications and insights for the managers of growing items.

Purpose Consumer purchasing behaviour has changed substantially in the light of recent developments in E-Commerce. So-called ‘multichannel customers’ tend to switch retail channels during the purchasing process. In order to address changing consumer behaviours, multichannel fashion retailing companies must continue to learn how to provide excellent service to such customers. Drawing on expectation confirmation theory, this paper investigates drivers for service quality from the perspective of multichannel fashion customers. Design /methodology: This paper approaches the topic of multichannel service quality by adopting a social constructionist research paradigm, utilising an abductive approach and an embedded case study research strategy. It aims to explore the lived experiences and perspectives of individuals in the context of an evolving complex and multidimensional phenomenon. The paper seeks information-rich cases and therefore views service quality through the eyes of experienced German multichannel customers. A customer perspective helps to explain the phenomenon of multichannel service quality and helps to disclose the meaning that these customers give to it. The sample size for this research consisted of 18 in-depth interviews and two focus groups including ten focus group participants. As such, a process of methodological triangulation was followed. Findings Integration quality is identified as the essence of competitive advantage for multichannel retailers. The paper conceptualises integration quality as a catalyst, which plays a supporting role in reinforcing the reactions of the physical and electronic service quality in order to provide an optimised service quality experience. Originality/value This paper looks at retailer/customer interactions in the context of purchases of a fashion product at a retailer using different retail channels. It highlights the distinctive requirements of multiple-channel systems within which the focus should not only be to enhance and improve physical and/or electronic service quality, but must also be about the integration of the service offers of each channel. The paper contributes to the interpretation of multichannel service quality with a new concept that explains the phenomenon from the perspective of customers.

Buy buttons are a strategic enabler of social shopping and social platform monetization, but their use is still far from satisfactory. This paper aims to find effective actions to optimize buy button performance. A two-factor (safe shopping vs. unsafe shopping; an integrated path to purchase vs. a separated path to purchase), between-subject experiment was conducted on China’s online crowdsourcing platform, Wjx.cn. A two-way, full factorial ANOVA was used to test hypotheses. The study showed that shopping safeguards and guarantees that a social platform aligns with buy button use can positively influence users’ shopping-related attitudinal and behavioral responses, such as shopping attitude and impulse buying intent. In addition, an integrated purchase path, where the user can complete the entire purchasing process on the platform where the item is offered, can result in users adopting a favorable attitude towards using the social platform to make purchases. However, no interaction was found between these two factors, only additive effects. Although major social platforms do not currently offer security and privacy measures for direct purchases, this paper reasonably explains why as well as what measures a social platform can take to optimize buy button performance. This study also indicates that channel integration of a focal social platform and external commercial websites can provide users with an integrated, seamless path to purchase, and can enable social platforms to enhance their value position in today’s business ecosystem.

One-to-one marketing emphasises personalised client fulfilment, explicitly as per personal interests. It is client-centred. The integration of quantitative and qualitative criteria can assess marketing value. Calculations relevant to marketing employ quantitative (objective, structured) and qualitative (subjective, unstructured) data. Regardless, globally, assessment of marketing value rarely includes criteria of the emotional and physiological states of potential buyers along with their valence and arousal and their affective attitudes. Upon evaluating these parameters, the implementation of the one-to-one marketing process would be more accurate and more effective. The purpose of this research was to determine the hedonic value by applying the Neutrosophic PROMETHEE Method used in one-to-one marketing including the data gathered during the VINERS Project on the emotional and physiological states, valence and arousal and affective attitudes of potential buyers. The hypothesis posed in this research is that the sales site rental price; customer satisfaction; indicators of economy, aesthetics and attractiveness; social and psychological data on customers and indicators of the purchasing process and emotional factors all interrelate with hedonic value. The hypothesis proposed during the time of research proved correct with the application of the neutrosophic PROMETHEE method. The results gained by this research permit asserting that seeking to increase the effectiveness of one-to-one marketing, it is necessary to analyse the emotional and physiological states, valence and arousal and the affective attitudes of potential buyers. The purpose of a case study was to determine the hedonic value of Sales Site a 1 on Pilies St. 1 and Sales Site a 2 on Lukiskių Square during the Kaziuko Fair in Vilnius.

This research paper investigates the level of product quality based on the dimensions of quality. Customers' priorities when purchasing a two wheeler have been analysed for different manufacturers using a structured questionnaire. This study uses both an empirical and a fuzzy logic approach to accomplish the research objectives. Among the different brands that are available in the Indian two wheeler market, customers have given priority to high trade-in value, power to climb hilly areas, ease of modification, availability of many accessories, and high pick up during overtaking. This research highlights the effect of high trade value on performance, an effective braking system effect on reliability, and engine life on durability; among two wheeler customers, a two wheeler's conformance to specifications has a positive relationship with lower maintenance during the purchasing process. This study has proposed a framework for product quality and purchasing strategies for customers when buying two wheelers that takes into account the factors affecting the purchase of two wheelers in the Indian market.

Research on professional service purchasing generally takes a culturally universalistic approach, implicitly assuming the generalizability of research findings and normative models to different cultural contexts. However, research in related disciplines points to the influence of national culture on managers' decisions, thereby questioning the culturally universalistic approach. The purpose of this paper is to explore differences in professional service purchasing in different cultural contexts. Based on a survey of large organizations, we analyze how the purchasing process for a specific type of professional services - management consulting services - is organized in two cultural contexts (i.e. Germany and Sweden). The results indicate that organizations in Germany and Sweden differ in the way they approach key aspects of the purchasing process. These differences are discussed in relation to two central cultural dimensions - uncertainty avoidance and masculinity-femininity - in which Germany and Sweden take very different positions. It is proposed that uncertainty avoidance mainly influences the first steps in the purchasing process (specify, select and contract) whereas masculinity-femininity mainly influences the remaining steps (order, expedite and evaluate). The paper contributes to the purchasing and supply management literature by empirically illustrating differences in purchasing practices in different cultural contexts and developing theory-driven propositions for the influence of national culture on the professional service purchasing process.

This paper deals with the impact of suppliers' flexibility in the industrial markets and presents empirical results from the market research sector including outcome variables (market-uncertainty, relationship-specific investments, mutuality, opportunism, long-term orientation, planning, conflict management). We examined the antecedents of supplier flexibility. Buyers need to know whether supplier will modify existing agreements in cases where environmental factors change. Insufficient flexibility can lead to problems, such as having to accept services which no longer meet the buyer's needs. Accordingly, identifying indicators of supplier flexibility is an important objective for managers involved in the purchasing process of services. Empirical results suggest that supplier flexibility is an important determinant of buyer satisfaction, relationship quality, trust, and commitment. We also discussed the managerial implications and limitations of the results of the study.

Information technology (IT) purchasing is covering an increasing part of companies’ expenditure. Scholars mainly investigated IT purchasing in terms of make or buy drivers from an IT perspective. Similarly, companies have been focusing on make or buy decisions and specifications definition in relation to technological characteristics. This often resulted in failures related to the goods/services purchased due to e.g. lack of negotiation skills, contracting, and suppliers’ relationship management. Accordingly, IT purchasing might require new structures and processes management. The purpose of the paper is to investigate what are the possible configurations for IT purchasing, and how these configurations are characterized in terms of purchasing process (i.e., strategic purchasing, sourcing and supply) and organization (i.e., roles involved, level of centralization, and span of control). Furthermore, the paper asks how IT relevance and purchasing maturity might affect these configurations. Through 12 case studies of leading international companies, four main configurations of the organization and the purchasing process for IT purchasing were identified, namely neutral (no specific approach is in place), IT oriented (the IT department takes the lead over the purchasing department), purchasing oriented (the purchasing department manages the whole IT sourcing process) and IT strategic (IT and purchasing departments jointly manage the IT purchasing process). The choice of the configuration is driven by IT strategic importance (low for neutral and purchasing oriented) and purchasing maturity of the company (low for neutral and IT oriented).

Statoil is a completely integrated oil and gas Norwegian company which established in 1972. The company is one of the most technology-intensive world’s leading energy producers and covers more than 35 countries across the globe. This study proposes how Statoil coordinate with environmentally friendly, cost efficient and effective sea transport supplier. The study used the theories of supply chain management such as model of industrial purchasing process, model of strategic triangle and Kraljic purchasing portfolio model. The result of the study identified that the emission of environmentally harmful gases from sea transport are dependent on the size and the speed of the ships, and the type of fuel they consume. The best solution for Statoil to get environmentally friendly sea transport service is using suppliers that are certified by the preferred standard of ITTC 7.5-04-01-01.2 or ISO 15016:2002. The requirement of environmentally friendly sea transport supplier by Statoil maximizes the suppliers’ risk. Therefore, making partnership with the supplier is the effective and giving the contract with a cost reimbursable agreement of fuel price adjustment (escalation clause) is the cost efficient coordination of Statoil.

A multi-channel strategy for the purposes of marketing and ticketing has been widely employed in various fields, including the transportation industry, yet few transportation studies have investigated ticket channel-related issues. This study thus adopts Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) as a case study to identify passengers’ perceptions regarding key factors that affect the channel preference through which they receive their services, particularly across a four-stage ticket purchasing process, including information enquiry, booking, payment, and ticket pick-up. To investigate these key factors, we base the framework of our research model upon customers’ perceived value perspective, adopting a multinomial logit model to examine the influence of channel attributes on HSR passengers’ preferences. The relationship among the decisions made by these passengers at each ticket purchasing stage is also examined. The findings of our study demonstrate that perceived risk, perceived benefit, and perceived ease of use are critical factors influencing passengers’ channel preference throughout the ticket-purchasing process. Perceptual differences are proven to exist due to various demographic factors and trip characteristics. The conclusions of this study have implications for THSR management to design appropriate ticketing channel services for certain types of passengers and can also be generally applied to multiple distribution channels in conventional railway system and intercity bus services.

Professional services represent an increasing share of expenditures in contemporary organizations. While these services are often of strategic importance, they are also perceived as being difficult to purchase and use, which creates challenges for the purchasing process. In order to address these challenges, organizations are increasingly engaging in systematic efforts to improve their ability to purchase professional services. These efforts focus on formalizing the purchasing process by introducing policies, guidelines, and other measures for the hiring of service suppliers. Based on a transaction cost economic framework, the current paper investigates the nature, antecedents and consequences of formalization initiatives in the purchasing of professional services. The results from a cross-sectional study of 76 large Swedish organizations show that the formalization of purchasing professional services takes two different forms: the formulation of policies and the establishment of preferred supplier agreements. The former is driven by company size, whereas the latter is driven by the frequency of purchase transactions. Only the establishment of policies, however, is found to be positively related to organizations' perceived ability to purchase professional services.

This paper sets out to provide an evaluation of population characteristics and historical trends for immigrant Turks within the mainstream German population with a view to informing target marketing strategies aimed at this growing and important segment. The intent of this project is to explore whether there is a difference between German consumers and consumers with Turkish ethnic background in Germany in the use of brand loyalty and word-of- mouth in the mobile phone purchasing process. Additionally, the article aimed to reveal if there is any difference among Turkish consumers in Germany due to acculturation levels in terms of brand loyalty and word-of-mouth behavior during the mobile phone purchasing phase.The study shows that ethnicity plays a significant role in the mobile phone purchasing decision regarding brand loyalty and word-of-mouth behaviors. The acculturation level is an important indicator of those behaviors. The findings showed that there is a difference between Turkish and German consumers in Germany in the use of brand loyalty. In addition, low acculturated Turkish consumers tend to use word-of-mouth more compared to high acculturated Turkish consumers.

This study uses an integrated model utilizing a small-world network and choice-based conjoint adoption model to examine the dynamics of consumer choice and diffusion in the hybrid electric vehicles market. It specifically compares the effectiveness of hybrid diffusion through the traditional word of mouth and via social media. The results show that without the advantage of increased gasoline prices, the growth of the hybrid vehicles market is insignificant, and that the Internet has a significant influence on the word of mouth effect in the purchasing process. Hybrid electric vehicles market shares decrease dramatically as a result of negative word of mouth communication via social media. The use of a higher fuel taxes is more effective than providing a subsidy for disposing of old vehicles and purchasing a hybrid.

This research paper investigates the level of product quality based on the dimensions of quality. Customers' priorities when purchasing a two wheeler have been analyzed for different manufacturers using a structured questionnaire. This study uses both an empirical and a fuzzy logic approach to accomplish the research objectives. Among the different brands that are available in the Indian two wheeler market, customers have given priority to high trade-in value, power to climb hilly areas, ease of modification, availability of many accessories, and high pick up during overtaking. This research highlights the effect of high trade value on performance, an effective braking system effect on reliability, and engine life on durability; among two wheeler customers, a two wheeler's conformance to specifications has a positive relationship with lower maintenance during the purchasing process. This study has proposed a framework for product quality and purchasing strategies for customers when buying two wheelers that takes into account the factors affecting the purchase of two wheelers in the Indian market.

This study applies a triadic perspective to business triads of an industrial buyer, its service supplier and intermediary partners. The focus is on the structural, relational and cognitive features of interpersonal interaction. The study also takes into account strategic level interactions and interactions related to daily operations, thus providing insight into long and short-term interactive processes. Dedicated contacts and the social bonds between them provide important channels for both tacit and explicit information within and between the organizations, specifically at the operational level. The study contributes to service purchasing and supply literature by analysing complicated supply networks at the micro-level, and by providing concepts and models for the study of interactions in triadic contexts. Managerial implications relate to the importance of creating trusting relationships within and between the organizations. The longitudinal approach adds to our understanding of ongoing service purchasing processes and the dynamism of business relationships.

The appearance of a product is a medium to interact with consumer not only in the selection and purchasing process, but also during utilization of product. The product personality as a part of interaction role of the product's appearance has influence on consumer preference. It is defined as the set of human personality characteristics used to describe a specific product and can be applied to a product appearance intentionally.The aim of this paper is introducing pedagogical design process to equip industrial design students for eliciting personality and providing aesthetic patterns for product personality design.

There appears consensus among academics that purchasing centralization provides several synergy benefits, especially in terms of lower prices and economies of processes, but empirical evidence of the specific cost effects is scarce in literature. This paper presents empirical evidence of these cost effects from a purchasing centralization project using centralized framework agreements in the Finnish government. The empirical study is twofold: the cost effects of centralization are estimated by comparing the costs of centralized and decentralized tendering processes and potential price savings. The estimation of process costs is done by surveying the time spent on the tendering both for the decentralized operating model and the centralized operating model in the government and estimating the cost of those times. Potential price savings are estimated by comparing the central framework agreement prices to market prices in two selected product categories. The results on the price savings provide empirical evidence of the academic consensus that significant volume discounts are available from pooling. Additionally, the size of savings potential in process costs shows that the number of units centralizing their purchasing process does not need to be very high before economies of process already become evident.

This paper offers insights about the dynamics of business service exchanges. We draw on the interaction approach, contracting theory and the notion of qualification from economic sociology to develop an analysis frame for such dynamics. We then apply this frame to a single, longitudinal case study. Contrary to the extant service supply literature assuming that service definitions remain (or should remain) fixed throughout the purchasing process, our findings suggest that, under high uncertainty conditions, the service exchange object is (re)shaped through iterative cycles of stabilisation and destabilisation. This study also reveals a connection between service definition and relationship governance dynamics—uncertainty and opportunism risks related to service destabilisation can be managed through dynamic deployment of relational, contractual and economic mechanisms. This paper also contributes to our understanding of the contract as basis for interaction and openness and offers an extension of qualification theory to complex business-to-business (B2B) service settings.

B2C e-commerce is becoming more widespread as more people come to recognize its convenience and its ability to rapidly respond to requests and as more products and services become available. However, many electronic marketplaces, especially in the business-to-consumer, are in essence some kind of search engine where buyers look for the best product in a database of products offered by sellers. Usually, such e-marketplaces do not use agent technology at all although agents could significantly improve the services provided both for the buyers and the sellers. Further, negotiation capabilities are essential for B2C e-commerce systems. In an automated negotiation, intelligent agents engage in broadly similar processes to achieve the same end. In more detail, the agents prepare bids for and evaluate offers on behalf of the parties they represent with the aim of obtaining the maximum benefit for their users. Nevertheless, in the current situation, price is the only criterion by which agents are created. This factor is easy to measure and automate. However, the criteria for advanced transactions need to be elaborated, for example, details of giveback and dividend. In this paper, we present a multiple-attributes negotiation model for B2C e-commerce, which deploys intelligent agents to facilitate autonomous and automatic on-line buying and selling by intelligent agents while quickly responding to consumers. These include a 4-phase model, information collection, search, negotiation, and evaluation. We also apply fuzzy theory and analytical hierarchy process to develop the system interface to facilitate the user inputs. Finally, an example of the notebook purchasing process is illustrated.

Using electronic-reverse auction (e-reverse auction) offers many advantages to companies such as price reduction, decrease in cycle time, standardization, and transparency in purchasing process. Despite its great advantages, some users do not want to use e-reverse auction technology for the procurement of products or services. This study aims to understand factors affecting e-reverse auction usage in companies by integrating three important theories. Key constructs of technology acceptance model (TAM), theory of planned behavior (TPB), and innovation diffusion theory (IDT) are integrated to explain behavioral intention to use and actual use of e-reverse auction. Using LISREL 8.54, data collected from 156 employees working in the procurement department of companies in 40 different countries were used to test the proposed research model. Results indicated that, 76% of employees' intention to use e-reverse auction is explained by subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and perceived usefulness. Among them, subjective norms have the strongest effect. Besides, actual use of e-reverse auction is directly predicted by behavioral intention to use. We conclude with managerial implications and recommendations for possible future research.

The degree of performance excellence that an enterprise can achieve greatly depends on the business process flow that the enterprise adopts, where the more efficient and effective the business process flow, the greater the degree of performance excellence the enterprise can achieve. Most conventional business process analyses focus on qualitative methodologies, but these lack solid measurement for supporting the business process improvement. Therefore, a quantitative methodology using an activity model that is described in this paper is proposed. This model involves the use of an adjacent matrix to empirically identify inefficient and ineffective activity looping, after which the business process flow can then be improved. With the proposed quantitative methodology, a time series intervention ARIMA model is used to measure the intervention effects and the asymptotic change in the simulation results of the business process reengineering that is based on the activity model analysis. The approach is illustrated by a case study of a purchasing process of a household appliance manufacturing enterprise that involves 20 purchasing activities. The results indicate that the changes can be explicitly quantified and the effects of BPR can be measured.

Many companies nowadays buy services that they pass on to their customers. A specific example is a housing association that buys maintenance services to be delivered to their tenants. These services are referred to as component services and have a large impact on end customers, and this should be taken into account when developing the specifications for the service. The main objectives of this article are to (1) find out what end customers perceive as important for their customer satisfaction for component services; and (2) investigate whether the buying company gives sufficient attention to these characteristics in their service specifications. We investigate these issues in the context of maintenance services bought by Dutch housing associations and conduct a survey among tenants to determine the relative importance of different characteristics of the maintenance they receive on their dwellings. Subsequently, we investigate service specification documents to verify whether they sufficiently reflect the characteristics that are important for tenants. The survey results show that determinants of maintenance service quality that add to perceived tenant control are more important in case of reactive maintenance than in case of planned maintenance. Based on our analyses, we conclude that the selected housing associations only to a limited degree take these aspects into account in the specifications of maintenance services. Although replication in other settings is required, the results of this study suggest that buying companies are not always aware of the specific characteristics of component services, and how this affects the purchasing process.

The implementation of e-procurement by companies implies a diverse degree of Internet use during different purchasing processes. The purpose of this research is to analyze how the intensity of Internet use in the procurement process impacts firms from a different point of view: organizational and economical. The organizational consequences refer to the structure of the buying center in terms of size, participation, number of hierarchical levels and functional areas. Economical consequences materialize in concrete purchase results in terms of efficacy and efficiency. In this research, the intensity of Internet use in the procurement process is determined by two factors: the stage of purchasing process and the number of Internet tools involved in each stage. The survey was performed by splitting the sample of 103 industrial Spanish companies into two groups: those showing a low intensity of Internet use in the procurement process and a second group with a high intensity. Results show that intensity of e-procurement causes an increase in buying center size and in the number of functional areas involved in the purchase. We also notice that efficacy and efficiency increase, either by reducing costs in the search for information or by allowing the purchase of higher quality products at lower prices. To sum up, our research provides empirical evidence for Internet added-value in terms of its ability to transform the information stream within firms, and the consequences derived from this fact on industrial purchasing processes. All these factors allow better purchasing decisions to be made. It can be a powerful instrument to reach competitive advantage and can establish itself as a key factor for business success.

Purchasing managers are expected to balance costs, innovation, supplier management, and corporate social responsibility while coordinating expanding areas of the corporation. The increased responsibilities and pressures to innovate brings purchasing managers into potentially increasingly difficult ethical dilemmas. In this study, we examine the relationships between organizational culture, learning, entrepreneurial innovation, and purchasing outcomes in different ethical climates. To address external business conditions that may influence innovation in purchasing, we also examine the moderating effects of technological and market turbulence. Data from 200 purchasing managers in multinational corporations were used to test the relationships through structural equation modeling. We find that entrepreneurial innovation positively affects the quality of the relationships among sourcing participants when operating in a climate valuing ethics. The study results are particularly relevant for managers concerned that establishing an ethical climate may restrict innovation in the purchasing process.

With globalization and the emergence of the extended enterprise of interdependent organizations, there has been a steady increase in the outsourcing of parts and services. This has led firms to give more importance to the purchasing function and its associated decisions. One of those decisions which impacts all firms' areas is the supplier selection. Since the 1950s, several works have addressed this decision by treating different aspects and instances. In this paper, we extend previous survey papers by presenting a literature review that covers the entire purchasing process, considers both parts and services outsourcing activities, and covers internet-based procurement environments such as electronic marketplaces auctions. In view of its complexity, we will focus especially on the final selection stage that consists of determining the best mixture of vendors and allocating orders among them so as to satisfy different purchasing requirements. In addition, we will concentrate mainly on works that employ operations research and computational models. Thereby, we will analyze and expose the main decision's features, and propose different classifications of the published models.

Notwithstanding the negative effects arising from global economic recession, E-commerce transactions in China has increased steadily. Meanwhile, the legal system still lacks specific regulations concerning consumer protection of distance contracts. Nevertheless, the distance consumer market in China is well self-regulated, due to its reliance on a version of the Lex Mercatoria. This article will discuss the detail of the modern Lex Mercatoria that has developed in China, and draw conclusions on its future. The first aspect is “right of withdrawal” which has been adapted from the European Union’s legal system. Another aspect is “escrow” which Chinese is known as “third-party payment method”. This has been borrowed from the common legal system. The former is a self redress mechanism whereby the consumer can protect whereby the consumer can protect himself during the purchasing process; the latter is a mechanism for security of payment. These two legal concepts do not operate in isolate. On the contrary, they cooperatively break through the difficulty that can occur in practice, when the trader fails to reimburse the consumer. Even though the EU Directives require the trader to return all payments when the right of withdrawal id exercised by the consumer, repayment is frequently withheld or delayed. This approach enrolls escrow to solve the problem, by returning the payment via an escrow holder, which is a credit-neutral third party. The combination of these two concepts makes up the hybrid approach of modern Lex Mercatoria in China. The paper will concludes that increased protection for distance consumer protection in China will be advanced by the use of this Lex Mercatoria and led to further development of relevant legislation.

While an area of importance and concern to managers, international purchasing remains an under researched phenomenon, especially in the context of small and medium-sized firms. Therefore, this article presents a study of the international purchasing market entry processes of 10 industrial SMEs. The findings indicate that managers of SMEs are often reluctant to source abroad. Purchasing markets entries are generally more reactive than proactive, occurring as a consequence of needs for certain products that cannot be found domestically, high domestic costs, unsolicited opportunities and pressures from owners and customers. Nearby purchasing markets typically dominate throughout the process unless cost savings motivate firms to explore more remote markets.

This article examines the cross-functional nature of the purchasing process in industrial markets. The authors take the view that on many occasions conflicts of preference will emerge between the purchasing department and its internal clients and affect the ability of the organisation to obtain value for money. This view is explored with reference to the problem of the fragmentation of spend—that is, where an organisation spreads its demand for a product across many suppliers. In the article, a conceptual model for interpreting the internal client relationship is presented. This is illustrated by a case study drawn from the UK's National Health Service.

During the last few years, a large number of new procurement business models has been developed, mostly concerning companies operating in the private sector. Their main objective is the introduction of new technologies such as e-business for the fulfilment of the procurement process of indirect goods. Lately, such models are also developed for organisations operating in the public sector all over Europe. This paper presents a case study concerning the analysis of the Greek governmental purchasing process carried out from the General Secretariat of Commerce, part of the Ministry of Development and the functions’ definition of the new e-procurement system. The methodological approach as well as the tools used are analysed and the achieved results are presented. The objective of the analysis is the identification of potential problematic areas and the design of new processes in order to maximise the possibilities of a successful implementation of a new e-procurement system. The outcome of the new process design enabled the definition of the analytical functional specifications of the appropriate solution.

This study examines the effects of organizational learning (team-, systems-, learning-, and memory orientations) on subjective and objective cycle time performance in the purchasing process of a Fortune 500 multinational services corporation. The focus is on the activities and relationships between the domestic and international strategic business units (SBUs) on the one hand, and the corporate buying center on the other (i.e., defined as the organization's strategic purchasing units). Based on a sample of 346 worldwide SBUs, the results suggest that organizational learning in the strategic purchasing units positively influences the cycle time performance in the purchasing process.

The purpose of the article is to describe and compare the purchasing process for advanced versus basic logistics services. Further some specific observations are presented from the procurement of advanced third-party logistics services, with respect to service definitions, providers evaluations and contracts. The purchasing process of logistics services will in the future need to be more differentiated due to current business trends. Hence companies must analyse how these new procurement situations will impact on their purchasing processes in order to understand what new resources, routines and competence they need to have in order to purchase logistics services in an effective way.

The sequential steps that compose the process of purchasing decisions in the Social E-Commerce bring new challenges and benefits to the online shopping experience. Calling for the analysis of consumer buying behavior in the context of social networks, our work has focused on prioritizing the importance of each step to analyze and understand the opportunities to prioritize and classify them according to order of importance. A quantitative study was conducted among a sample of 405 volunteers used the web, virtual communities and the Social E-Commerce. We were able to the importance of each step towards the consumers.

In this paper we examine the different characteristics that have been associated with store loyalty in the grocery sector and how these characteristics have changed over time. We also analyse whether the characteristics associated with the loyal consumer in Anglo-Saxon countries are relevant for the study of a buyer with a Latin character, such as the Spanish. Finally, we determine the extent to which the process of identification of the loyal buyer is improved if we discriminate between consumers in function of their involvement with the purchasing process and of their available time. The results indicate that customer involvement has a limited discriminatory power in the study of repetitive purchasing in the same store in the acquisition of the grocery products being analysed. However, the buyers’ available time is shown to be an aspect that should be taken into account when studying this phenomenon.