Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri, Columbia, 1997. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

This dissertation investigates multi-period salesforce incentive contracting. The first chapter is an overview of the problems as well as the main findings. The second chapter continues with a review of the related literatures. The third and fourth chapters address a central question in salesforce contracting: how frequently should a firm compensate its sales agents over a long-term horizon? Agents can game the long-term contract by varying their effort levels dynamically over time, as discussed in Chapter 3, or by altering between a “bold" action and a “safe" action dynamically over time, as discussed in Chapter 4. Chapter 3 studies multi-period salesforce incentive provisions when agents are able to vary their demand-enhancing effort levels dynamically. I establish a stylized agency-theory model to analyze this central question. I consider salespeople's dynamic responses in exerting effort (often known as “gaming"). I find that long time horizon contracts weakly dominate short time horizon contracts, even though they enable gaming by the agent, because they allow compensation to be contingent on more extreme outcomes; this not only motivates the salesperson more, but also leads to lower expected payment to the salesperson. A counterintuitive observation that my analysis provides is that under the optimal long time horizon contract, the firm may find it optimal to induce the agent to not exert high effort in every period. This provides a rationale for effort exertion patterns that are often interpreted as suboptimal for the firm (e.g., exerting effort only in early periods, often called “giving up"; exerting effort only in later periods, often called “postponing effort"). I also discuss the implication of sales pull-in and push-out, and dependence of periods (through limited inventory) upon the structure of the optimal contracting. Chapter 4 examines multi-period salesforce incentive contracting, where sales agents can dynamically choose between a bold action with higher sales potential but also higher variance, and a safe action with limited sales potential but lower variance. I find that the contract format is determined by how much the firm wants later actions to depend on earlier outcomes. Making later actions independent of earlier demand outcomes reduces agents' gaming, but it also reduces an agent's incentive to take bold actions. When the two periods are independent, an extreme two-period contract with a hard-to-achieve quota, or a polarized two-period contract allowing agents to make up sales, can strictly dominate a period-by-period contract, because they induce more bold actions in earlier periods by making later actions dependent on earlier outcomes. However, when the two periods are dependent through a limited inventory to be sold across two periods, the period-by-period contract can strictly dominate the two-period contract, by allowing the principal more flexibility in adjusting the contract.

Online music has become an important commercial possibility in the music industry. However, according to the marketing research of Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute on 2009, there¡¦re only 17.6% of those web users willing to pay for online music. Hurley and Estelami (1998) mentioned that the service quality will affect the customer satisfaction. Superior service quality will have a positive effect on customer satisfaction, and proceed to affect the customer¡¦s repurchase intentions and behavior. In this research, we tried to find the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction for online music. The main aspects of online service quality are informativeness, selection, portability, convenience, perceived enjoyment, and Idolization. In this research, we collected data of online music in Taiwan by conducting a survey on the Internet. It¡¦s found that selection, convenience, perceived enjoyment, and Idolization have a positive influence on customer satisfaction based on statistical analysis. Above all, the aspect of convenience is highly relative to customer satisfaction. As a result, the author suggests that online music should add more functions according to the four aspects mentioned above.

Thesis (M.A.)--Queen's University (Canada), 2007. / Includes bibliographical references.

Esta dissertação trata de uma pesquisa empírica que tem como principais objetivos identificar na literatura os determinantes de satisfação de usuários de Governo Eletrônico e aplicar o modelo proposto aos usuários do portal de Cabo Verde. O estudo dos modelos de satisfação dos usuários de Governo Eletrônico foi realizado através de pesquisa bibliográfica. Enquanto que para avaliar a satisfação do usuário do portal do governo de Cabo Verde foi adotada a pesquisa quantitativa. Foi selecionado para esse estudo os modelos de avaliação de satisfação do usuário do Governo Eletrônico dos autores Alawneh, Al-Refai e Batiha (2013), no Artigo: Measuring user satisfaction from e-Government services: Lessons from Jordan, e Damian (2012), na sua tese de doutorado: Um modelo para análise de sites de governos eletrônicos. O modelo adaptado é composto por cinco dimensões: segurança e privacidade, confiabilidade, acessibilidade, divulgação dos serviços disponíveis no portal de e-gov e agilidade dos serviços públicos. Os dados da pesquisa foram coletados através de aplicação de questionários enviados por meio eletrônico aos usuários cadastrados no portal. Os métodos propostos para a análise de dados foram a análise descritiva, a análise fatorial e a análise fatorial confirmatória para analisar a satisfação dos usuários como um todo. A pesquisa obteve 250 respostas completas, sendo que 29 respondentes afirmaram que nunca utilizaram o portal e 221 afirmaram que usavam o portal. Como resultado principal observou-se que todas as medidas utilizadas no estudo estão dentro dos valores aceitáveis na literatura, o que demonstra que a escala em estudo é confiável e válida para medir a satisfação do usuário do Governo Eletrônico. Contudo, esses resultados foram relevantes para fornecer as principais contribuições teóricas e práticas em relação a satisfação dos usuários do Governo Eletrônico. / This dissertation is an empirical research that has as main objective identify in the literature the determinants of e-government users satisfaction and implement the proposed model to the Cape Verde portal users. The study of models of e-government user satisfaction was achieved through literature. While to evaluate user satisfaction of the Cape Verde government portal was adopted quantitative research. For this study it was selected the assessment models of user satisfaction of e-government of the authors Alawneh , Al - Refai and Batiha (2013 ) , in the Article : Measuring user satisfaction from e-government services: Lessons from Jordan , and Damian (2012 ) in his doctoral thesis : a model for analysis of electronic government websites . The adapted model consists of five dimensions : security and privacy , reliability , accessibility , publicizing the services available on the portal of e- gov and agility of public services . The research data were collected through questionnaires sent electronically to the registered users on the portal. The proposed methods for data analysis were descriptive analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis to analyze user satisfaction factor analysis as a whole. The search obtained 250 complete responses, while 29 respondents said they never used the portal and 221 said they used the portal. As main result it was observed that all measures used in the study are within acceptable values in the literature, which shows that the scale in study is reliable and valid to measure e-government user satisfaction. However, these results were relevant to provide the major theoretical and practical contributions towards user satisfaction of e-government.

Esta dissertação trata de uma pesquisa empírica que tem como principais objetivos identificar na literatura os determinantes de satisfação de usuários de Governo Eletrônico e aplicar o modelo proposto aos usuários do portal de Cabo Verde. O estudo dos modelos de satisfação dos usuários de Governo Eletrônico foi realizado através de pesquisa bibliográfica. Enquanto que para avaliar a satisfação do usuário do portal do governo de Cabo Verde foi adotada a pesquisa quantitativa. Foi selecionado para esse estudo os modelos de avaliação de satisfação do usuário do Governo Eletrônico dos autores Alawneh, Al-Refai e Batiha (2013), no Artigo: Measuring user satisfaction from e-Government services: Lessons from Jordan, e Damian (2012), na sua tese de doutorado: Um modelo para análise de sites de governos eletrônicos. O modelo adaptado é composto por cinco dimensões: segurança e privacidade, confiabilidade, acessibilidade, divulgação dos serviços disponíveis no portal de e-gov e agilidade dos serviços públicos. Os dados da pesquisa foram coletados através de aplicação de questionários enviados por meio eletrônico aos usuários cadastrados no portal. Os métodos propostos para a análise de dados foram a análise descritiva, a análise fatorial e a análise fatorial confirmatória para analisar a satisfação dos usuários como um todo. A pesquisa obteve 250 respostas completas, sendo que 29 respondentes afirmaram que nunca utilizaram o portal e 221 afirmaram que usavam o portal. Como resultado principal observou-se que todas as medidas utilizadas no estudo estão dentro dos valores aceitáveis na literatura, o que demonstra que a escala em estudo é confiável e válida para medir a satisfação do usuário do Governo Eletrônico. Contudo, esses resultados foram relevantes para fornecer as principais contribuições teóricas e práticas em relação a satisfação dos usuários do Governo Eletrônico. / This dissertation is an empirical research that has as main objective identify in the literature the determinants of e-government users satisfaction and implement the proposed model to the Cape Verde portal users. The study of models of e-government user satisfaction was achieved through literature. While to evaluate user satisfaction of the Cape Verde government portal was adopted quantitative research. For this study it was selected the assessment models of user satisfaction of e-government of the authors Alawneh , Al - Refai and Batiha (2013 ) , in the Article : Measuring user satisfaction from e-government services: Lessons from Jordan , and Damian (2012 ) in his doctoral thesis : a model for analysis of electronic government websites . The adapted model consists of five dimensions : security and privacy , reliability , accessibility , publicizing the services available on the portal of e- gov and agility of public services . The research data were collected through questionnaires sent electronically to the registered users on the portal. The proposed methods for data analysis were descriptive analysis, and confirmatory factor analysis to analyze user satisfaction factor analysis as a whole. The search obtained 250 complete responses, while 29 respondents said they never used the portal and 221 said they used the portal. As main result it was observed that all measures used in the study are within acceptable values in the literature, which shows that the scale in study is reliable and valid to measure e-government user satisfaction. However, these results were relevant to provide the major theoretical and practical contributions towards user satisfaction of e-government.

In March 2020, the Sherrod Library at East Tennessee State University found itself in the same position as most academic libraries across the country: making a rapid shift from a face-to-face model of service to an online model. All classes moved online and all employees worked remotely. Join Sherrod instruction librarians as we discuss how we maneuvered through this shift and came out the other end with a more robust model of service and a new perspective. Participants will come away with tips for establishing an online service model from the ground up as well as tools for assessment and collaboration.

Researchers in consumer complaint behaviour agree that consumers’ complaint intentions are influenced by online service failures. These online service failures include delivery problems, payment security problems, web-page navigational problems, product information problems, and customer service problems. Online service failures cause customer dissatisfaction that could trigger consumer complaint behaviour. Most consumer complaint behaviour researchers concur that the purchasing environment primarily influences consumers’ complaint behavioural intentions. Relevant literature on Millennial consumers and theory on service failures and consumer complaint behaviour was integrated to provide this study's theoretical grounding. This study aimed to determine the Millennial consumers' complaint behavioural intentions following a service failure in the online clothing retail context. This study also determined differences in Emerging, Young and Older Millennials complaint behavioural intentions. A survey research design was implemented, using a structured, self-administered online questionnaire to measure Millennial consumers’ (n = 193) complaint behavioural intentions following a service failure in the online clothing retail context. The self-administered questionnaire made use of existing scales and self-developed questions. Millennial consumers indicated that delivery problems would cause them the most dissatisfaction, followed by payment security problems, customer service problems, product information problems, and webpage navigational problems. The exploratory factor analysis revealed four complaint intention factors. The four factors were labelled as electronic communication, switching behaviour, complaints to the retailer, and negative word-of-mouth. Negative word-of-mouth as private complaint action was the most relatively pertinent complaint intention, followed by switching intention and complaining to the retailer. Electronic WOM was the least pertinent complaint intention. More specifically, an ANOVA test was performed to determine the differences in emerging, young and older Millennials’ complaint behavioural intentions following a service failure in the online clothing retail context. The descriptive results indicated that the majority of the Millennial cohort would instead take action than no action. ANOVA’s were performed to determine the differences across Emerging, Young and Older Millennials’ complaint intentions following a service failure in the online clothing retail context. The ANOVA’s indicated that the three complaint intentions of electronic communication, switching, and complaining to retailers did not vary across the Millennials cohorts. This implies that the respective Millennial groups equally intended to take these individual complaint actions. Also, only word-of-mouth intention differed significantly across the Millennial groups. Older Millennials were less likely to contact family and/or friends in person or by text messaging on WhatsApp than Emerging and Young Millennials. The study makes a valuable contribution towards the consumer complaint behaviour literature and for consideration by online retailers, multi or omni-channel retailers, and marketers of clothing products. / Dissertation (MConsumer Science)--University of Pretoria, 2021. / Consumer Science / MConsumer Science (Clothing Management) / Unrestricted

Managers have begun to respond to customers' online reviews of services on online review websites. However, it is not known how viewers evaluate company-initiated service recovery in the form of manager responses to online reviews. This research has three objectives: (1) to explore how managers are currently responding to electronic word of mouth; (2) to investigate whether a manager's response to electronic negative word of mouth (eNWOM) positively influences viewers' behavioral intentions; (3) to examine which elements in a manager's responses increases viewers' evaluations of trust and behavioral intentions towards the company. Three studies were conducted, one for each objective. Study "1 examined 21,211 online reviews and manager responses from Tripadvisor.com from 184 hotels in five cities. Study "2 was a single-factor between-subject experimental design by manipulating a manager's response to eNWOM (response message vs. no response message) through scenarios. Study "3 was a 2 (procedural justice: high vs. low) x 2 (interactional justice: high vs. low) x 2 (social presence: high vs. low) between-subject experimental design that manipulated manager's responses through scenarios. Findings from Study "1 revealed that managers were more likely to respond to eNWOM compared to neutral word of mouth. A content analysis of 432 company responses to eNWOM determined that managers used nine online review management strategies: appreciation, apology, future patronage encouragement, explanation, follow up, flexibility, correction, compensation, and social presence. Results from Study "2 indicated that viewers were more likely to visit a restaurant when a manager responded to eNWOM compared to no response to eNWOM. Results from Study "3 revealed a three-way interaction of procedural justice, interactional justice, and social presence on trust. There were also main effects of procedural justice and interactional justice on trust. Additionally, results provided partial support for the mediating role of trust in the relationship between the three-way interaction and behavioral intentions. This study contributes to the online service recovery literature and online trust formation literature by enhancing the understanding of how viewers evaluate manager responses to eNWOM and how social presence can be used with procedural justice and interactional justice to enhance trust in the online review management context. Service organizations should create a comprehensive online review system to respond to eNWOM and identify ways to enhance procedural justice, interactional justice, and social presence into their responses. Online review websites should encourage companies to provide managerial response to online complaints and allow for social presence and enhanced creative options in manager responses.

Yes / This study seeks to investigate how the development of e-government services impacts on cybersecurity. The study uses the methods of correlation and multiple regression to analyse two sets of global data, the e-government development index of the 2015 United Nations e-government survey and the 2015 Inter-national Telecommunication Union global cybersecurity develop-ment index (GCI 2015). After analysing the various contextual factors affecting e-government development , the study found that, various composite measures of e-government development are significantly correlated with cybersecurity development. The therefore study contributes to the understanding of the relation-ship between e-government and cybersecurity development. The authors developed a model to highlight this relationship and have validated the model using empirical data. This is expected to provide guidance on specific dimensions of e-government services that will stimulate the development of cybersecurity. The study provided the basis for understanding the patterns in cybersecurity development and has implication for policy makers in developing trust and confidence for the adoption e-government services. / National Information Technology Development Agency, Nigeria.