Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to develop an extended Push-Pull-Mooring-Habit (PPMH) framework in order to better understand users’ intention of switching from offline to an online real-person English learning platform service. Design/methodology/approach: Based on 301 valid responses collected from an online survey questionnaire, structural equation modeling was employed to examine the research model. Findings: The causal model was validated using SmartPLS 3.0, and all study hypotheses were supported. The results show that push effects (learning convenience, service quality and perceived price), pull effects (e-learning motivation, perceived usefulness), mooring effects (learning engagement, switching cost and social presences) and habit effects (relationship inertia) all significantly influence users’ switching intentions from offline to an online real-person English learning platform. Practical implications: The findings should help online English learning service providers and marketers to understand the intention of offline English learning users to switch to an online real-person English learning platform, and develop related theories, services and regulations. Originality/value: The present study extends the prior research of an online real-person English learning platform by providing PPMH as the general framework and demonstrating its efficacy in explaining user switching intentions.

This study examined the dimensions of interactivity and vividness to propose three telepresence levels: content presence, social presence, and personal presence. Then, an experiment investigated the impact of different telepresence levels on Internet advertising. The effects of interactions between vividness of visual imagery (VVI) and product types in relation to telepresence levels and advertising effects were also analyzed. The study employed a factorial design: 4 (levels of telepresence) x 2 (product types) x 2 (VVI). Levels of telepresence and product types were both manipulated between subjects. VVI was measured within subjects. Experimental findings showed that high levels of telepresence of an Internet advertisement increased subject recall and recognition. The low VVI respondent group would have greater recognition than traditional advertisements when respondents were exposed above the level 2 (social presence) advertisement and the effect of recognition increased from level 1 (content presence) to level 3 (personal presence). Recognition increased from level 1 (content presence) to level 2 (social presence) for both search and experience product groups; however, only recognition of the experience product group increased in level 3 (personal presence).

Purpose: With the advancements of Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI) in recent years, smart objects (SOs) have been widely applied in the lives of consumers to fulfill a variety of functions. This research aims to explore the new interaction experience between consumers and a smart speaker that can create the effect of customer engagement by enhancing the gendered voice and product smartness.Design/methodology/approach: This study conducted a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subject experiment to validate the research model and the hypotheses.Findings: The results indicate that a high level of interaction experience between the users and smart speaker devices increases customer engagement. Smart speaker devices that present female voices have a high product smartness, whereas high levels of interaction experience are more effective in customer engagement. Furthermore, the results also show a moderate effect of gendered voice and product smartness between the interaction experience levels and customer engagement.Originality/value: This study contributes to the assemblage theory and the interaction experience levels between users and smart speaker devices in IoT. Based on the results, suggestions on enhancing the smartness ability and application services of new smart speaker devices are proposed. The findings of this study can promote a more continuous interaction between users and smart speakers.

The purpose of this study is to develop a brand authenticity scale by reviewing the relevant literature to identify the factors important for brand authenticity, then developing and testing the discriminant and convergent validity of measurement scales for dimensions of brand authenticity. The research method adopted includes in-depth interview and focus group interview. The procedure for scale development was: item generation, scale purification, and scale validation. This research uses qualitative and empirical methods to identify the six key dimensions of brand authenticity and develop a brand authenticity scale. As a result, a six-dimensional scale containing seventeen items was developed representing distinctive dimensions of brand authenticity: virtue, connection, realism, aesthetics, control, and originality. This research contributes to the branding literature by identifying the dimensions of brand authenticity through the development of a brand authenticity scale. Moreover, the six dimensions represent the most comprehensive understanding of brand authenticity. The brand authenticity scale can be used with confidence to examine relationships with other important constructs of interest in the future. To cite this document: Van-Dat Tran, Ching-Jui Keng, "The Brand Authenticity Scale: Development and Validation", Contemporary Management Research, Vol.14, No.4, pp. 277-291, 2018. Permanent link to this document: http://dx.doi.org/10.7903/cmr.18581