Author: Sanchit Pawar

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On the relative impact of male and female sellers’ profile image and its facial expressions upon peer users’ behavior on Airbnb

This study, published in Procedia Computer Science, examines how profile image and facial expressions of male and female sellers’ influence rental decisions in peer-to-peer accommodation platforms like Airbnb. In a simulated scenario, participants rated their likelihood of renting an apartment on Airbnb. The results from the conjoint analysis reveal that, compared to factors like price and customer reviews, a seller’s profile image and facial expressions significantly impact the likelihood of booking. More specifically, male seller images has the strongest influence both positively and negatively. Additionally, profiles with no image showed a strong negative impact on rental likelihood. Sellers on Airbnb should note that their profile image can affect potential renters’ choices.

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Young People’s Views of Municipality Websites: Use, Attitudes, and Perception of Quality

This research investigated public sector websites in Norway by focusing on municipalities. Norway consists of 422 municipalities each of which has its own website. As investments in eGovernment continue to grow, this study highlights young people’s perceptions of these municipality websites. Young adults are a key user group for future digital services, and an online survey with Norwegian undergraduate students reveals important insights. Findings show that young adults rarely use municipality websites, mainly visiting them to find specific information or access digital services. They prefer digital communication methods, especially email and chat, over face-to-face or paper-based interactions. Participants rated the quality of municipality websites as moderate to good, though not exceptionally high. This study is published at International Conference on Electronic Government and the Information Systems Perspective.

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The relationship between young consumers’ decision-making styles and propensity to shop clothing online with a smartphone

Consumer behavior in retail is changing due to the adoption of technologies such as the internet and the smartphone. This study, published in Procedia Computer Science, focuses on studying the relationship between young consumers’ decision-making styles and their propensity to shop clothing online with a smartphone. Using the Consumer Styles Inventory (CSI) as a foundation, a survey of young adults identified four key factors; brand consciousness, fashion consciousness, impulsiveness, and recreational shopping behavior, that strongly correlate with the frequency of browsing and purchasing clothing online through smartphone. These findings are important for retailers aiming to increase revenue through mobile shopping solutions.

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What’s the “Thing” in Internet of Things (IoT) in Grocery Shopping? A Customer Approach

The Internet of Things (IoT) technology presents an opportunity for retail groceries to develop an infrastructure that makes physical things such as mobile phone, shopping basket, store shelves, digital display, and, even the product itself smart, allowing real-time interaction with customers both in the physical store and in the virtual store. This study explores how IoT can enhance value in retail grocery choice situations. To analyze IoT’s impact on consumer decisions, we conducted a conjoint experiment where participants purchased fresh salmon in a grocery store. The results demonstrated that compared to static information on price, expiry date, quality, and general offers, real-time information was the most influential factor. Moreover, quality ratings from other customers had the strongest effect, followed by personalized offers based on cart items, real-time expiry dates, and real-time pricing. The full study can be found in Procedia Computer Science.

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Situational Factors Influencing Customers’ Credit Use Online: A Behavioral Economic Approach

This study, published in the Proceedings of the 51st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, looks at how consumers use credit online, especially when choosing between practical (utilitarian) and enjoyable (hedonic) products. In a simulated shopping experiment with Norwegian university students, participants could either save money to buy a product later or buy it on credit for immediate access. Participants were split into two groups: one saw personalized credit information, and the other did not. Results show that as the wait time increased, people were more likely to buy on credit instead of saving. This behavior matched a pattern called hyperbolic discounting. Also, participants were more willing to use credit for enjoyable products than practical ones. Personalized credit details had a small effect, but findings suggest this could matter more with enjoyable products. This study highlights factors that influence online credit use and points to areas for further research.