Although several studies have looked at the effects of online product presentations on consumer decision making, no study thus far has considered a potential key factor in online product evaluations: tangibility. The present study aims at filling this gap by developing and testing a model that relates different online product presentation formats to the three-dimensional concept of product tangibility. We test how the three tangibility dimensions influence perceived diagnosticity and, eventually, online purchase intentions.
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This paper proposes and tests a model to explain how consumers’ perceptions of product presentation technologies may affect online impulse buying. Data from a laboratory experiment (N = 212), which were analyzed using a structural equation modeling approach, showed that vividness and interactivity of online product presentations increased the participants’ perceptions of local presence, which refers to the sense of a product being present with a consumer in his or her own environment. Local presence, in turn, influenced the urge to buy impulsively by generating both cognitive (perceived risk) and affective (product affect) product responses. The implications of these results are discussed.
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For this exploratory study we aim to provide knowledge and insights concerning the processes of setting up, implementing and managing online communities as a part of the product/services offer of media companies. The goal is to increase their reach amongst target groups, to strengthen involvement with their audiences and to entice their audiences to participate. This information should help us to understand the many different aspects important for developing and managing online communities. The research question for this phase is: Which critical success factors play a role in the process of setting up and managing online communities using social media in order to activate and/or engage target audiences? In this exploratory first phase we looked into literature relating to general guidelines and critical success factors in setting up and managing online communities. These aspects include, communication and interaction options, functionalities for sharing information, the content structure given, the importance of socialization within the community, the policies used and the usability of the platform (Ning Shen & Khalifa, 2008).
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In this project, a consortium of Fraunhofer Innovation Platform (FIP-AM@UT), Connec2 and Walraven will investigate the possibility of two-way communication between production machines and an XR (eXtended Reality) platform. This communication can benefit the installation, commissioning and maintenance of specialty machines by connecting remote experts to local technicians and the machine in a virtual environment. This can reduce the necessity for travelling of remote experts (machine builders, programmers, process engineers), which leads to faster respond times and improves the well-being of these experts. Through the XR platform of Connec2, which is already used in the market for online meetings, presentations and collaboration, we can enable monitoring as well as (managed) control of a machine. For this we need to extend the production machine control with an interface that allows for remote connections. Special attention will be given to the safety and security aspects of the system. At all times, the machine should be safe for its direct users and surrounding. Things like loss of connectivity or network latency may not lead to dangerous situations. Another thread to the safety of the machine might be unauthorized access to the system. A secure system design will have to prevent this. The project not only aims to design such a system, but also to create a demonstrator of the development. Cooperation between local and remote users of a machine can be tested and validated at the shopfloor of the Advanced Manufacturing Center, a fieldlab for innovating digital production techniques.
