Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the elements of user manual quality and its influences on perceived product quality and customer satisfaction in an integrated model structure. Design/methodology/approach: Survey method was used to evaluate user manual quality and its influences on perceived product quality and customer satisfaction. Electrical appliances consumers were chosen in our sample. Factor analysis and structural equation modeling were performed to introduce, test and validate the user manual quality dimensions and also test the hypotheses. Findings: The findings show a positive significant relation between user manual quality and perceived product quality, and this result demonstrates that consumers perceive user manual quality as a part of their quality evaluation related to the product. The results point out that user manual quality is essential for both low- and high-value products regarding customer satisfaction. The findings also reveal that perceived product quality mediates the influence of user manual quality on customer satisfaction. Practical implications: This study reveals that providing a high-quality user manual should be an essential element of product management and development strategies. The findings also highlight the need for companies that particularly sell complex products with long product life cycles must invest in providing high-quality user manuals. This will enhance perceived product quality and in turn customer satisfaction. Originality/value: Although some prior studies address user manuals in the relevant literature, these studies did not examine the elements of user manual quality and their impact on consumers’ perceptions of the product quality and their satisfaction evaluations in a research model. This paper attempts to fill this gap in the literature. In addition, the authors found two major dimensions of user manual quality as content-related elements and representational/format-related elements of the user manual.

This study examines the mediating role of customer cooperation in green supply chain relationships. Employing 181 manufacturer–customer relationships, we test the mediating effect of customer cooperation on the process and managerial innovations. As proposed, customer cooperation positively mediates the relationship between top management commitment and process innovation. However, customer cooperation fails to mediate the relationship between top management commitment and managerial innovation. The findings suggest that the magnitude of customer cooperation increases the adoption of green innovations between supply chain partners to mitigate the negative impact on the environment. Furthermore, customer cooperation enforces a sense of mutuality between supply chain partners to diminish the impact of carbon footprint.

This study reviews the role of top management commitment in realizing sustainability goals in interfirm and supply chain relationships. Next, the study employs the resource-based view of the firm to implicate top management commitment as a moderator of influences of green innovation practices on customer cooperation. Using survey design methodology, we collected data from different 181 ISO 14001 certified Turkish manufacturing firms. We tested the proposed hypotheses by using the hierarchical multivariate regression approach. The direct effect of top management commitment on green process innovation is significant, while its effect on green managerial innovation is insignificant. However, the results show that manufacturer-customer relationships support top management commitment as a positive moderator of the relationship between green innovation practices and customer cooperation. Our results underscore the vital role played by top management in the firm’s efforts to accomplish sustainability objectives and enhance interfirm cooperation. Further, the study contributes to the literature by revising the available literature on the different roles of top management commitment in green supply chains and business relationships.

The study aims to reveal factors that affect customers’ extension from the offline to the online channel and investigate how these factors influence consumers’ behavior toward online channel adoption. We examine how offline corporate image, trust, and perceived value affect consumers’ online shopping intentions. This study focuses on electrical appliances, both brown and white goods. A convenience sampling method was followed for the data collection process using both an online and offline survey method. Data were collected from 219 consumers who had purchased an electric appliance (brown or white goods, e.g., dishwasher, refrigerator, oven) within the last three months. Data were analyzed with structural equation modeling, and mediation effects of offline perceived value and trust were tested with SPSS process macro. Our empirical results suggest that consumers’ offline-based trust and value perceptions significantly drive their online shopping intentions for durable products. The findings also reveal that offline trust and perceived value mediate the relationship between corporate image and online shopping intention.