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Online retail is a growing opportunity for retailers and consumers. Cross-buying provides companies with an opportunity to increase their revenue contributions from existing consumers. In many fields, especially in the service sector, cross-selling is an easier strategy to use relative to increasing revenue rather than acquiring new consumers. Website personalization has been a powerful indispensable tool for web-based companies and end users. Using the Mehrabian and Russell’s Stimulus-Organism-Response framework, we experimentally examined how an online retailing merchant’s environmental stimuli (S) arouses internal affective and cognitive states (O), that affect consumers’ approach-avoidance behavior (R) in cross-buying and shopping cart abandonment in online transactions.

In order to investigate the impact of social media monitoring on a firm’s market understanding and performance, and how to manage online rumors, two complementary studies are conducted on visitors’...

PurposeToday, online malicious comments are serious issues. They can cause psychological distress and suicide of victims. Although prior studies have focused on the role of anonymity as a major factor in making these comments, results of these studies have been inconsistent. On the other hand, the need for attention from others can provide an alternative explanation for such malicious comments. However, this perspective has been rarely studied. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate effects of anonymity and need for attention on posting malicious comments online and compare these two factors, resolving dark sides of online interaction.Design/methodology/approachThis study obtained 327 questionnaires of Facebook users through a survey and analyzed the research model using partial least squares (PLS) regression.FindingsResults of this study revealed that the need for attention affected malicious comments through partial mediation of neutralization. On the other hand, anonymity did not significantly affect malicious comments.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has the following academic implications. First, we empirically examined the critical influence of need for attention on making malicious comments online based on the impression management theory. Second, this study revealed that the influence of need for attention on making malicious comments was partially mediated by neutralization. Third, this study may offer an explanation for contradicting findings on the role of anonymity in the phenomenon of posting malicious comments online.Practical implicationsPractical implications of this study are as follows. First, SNS platforms can limit activities of persons who post malicious comments frequently. Second, this study suggests that a notice is needed to inform the seriousness and harmful consequences of malicious comments. Third, Facebook practitioners should be aware that low anonymity may not reduce malicious comments.Originality/valueThis study quantitatively examined the effect of need for attention on malicious comments based on the impression management theory. It provides a fact that individuals who want to attract attention from others would write malicious comments through neutralization.

With the proliferation of social media, it has become easier for people to spread rumors online, which can aggravate the issues arising from online rumors. There are many individuals and organizations that are adversely affected by malicious online rumors. Despite their importance, there has been little research into why and how people spread rumors online, thus inhibiting the understanding of factors that affect the spreading of online rumors. With attention seeking to address this gap, this paper draws upon the dual process theory and the de-individuation theory to develop a theoretical model of factors affecting the spreading of an online rumor, and then empirically tests it using survey data from 211 individuals about a specific rumor. The results indicate that the perceived credibility of the rumor affects the individuals’ attitudes toward spreading it, which consequently affects the rumor spreading behavior. Vividness, confirmation of prior beliefs, argument strength, and source credibility positively influence the perceived credibility of online rumors. Finally, anonymity moderates the relationship between attitude toward spreading online rumors and the spreading behavior.

Although many studies have reported that social power is a critical factor in facilitating or constraining social interactions among individuals, few studies have fully explored how social power in...