Attractiveness of Technology acceptance model

        Source attractiveness is another dimension of source credibility and is defined as the extent to which the recipients of information consider the source appealing (Teng et al., 2014; Kiecker & Cowles, 2001). Source attractiveness considers the source's perceived social value, including physical appearance, personality, social status, or similarity to the receiver (McCroskey & McCain, 1974). There are studies that examine the physical attractiveness of the source, such as in studies about celebrity endorsement (Ohanian, 1990; Maddux & Rogers, 1980; Chaiken, 1979), however not many works discuss attractiveness in terms of similarity to the receiver. McGuire (1985) distinguished the dimensions of source attractiveness as the perceived familiarity, likability, and similarity of the source to the message recipient. In similar vein, Kiecker & Cowles (2001, p.75) examined the interpersonal influence of source credibility by examining attractiveness as “perceived similarity between shoppers and recommenders”. The authors suggest that source attractiveness is engendered when consumers interacts while shopping online with their friends, family or fellow consumers who are similar, familiar and likeable (Kiecker & Cowles, 2001, p.75). Personal influence, for example in the form of communication between a receiver and a source, has a powerful impact on source credibility and on the user’s acceptance and use of the online review (Kiecker & Cowles, 2001, p. 75; Teng et al., 2014, p. 749). Thus, the information effectiveness (acceptance and use) is determined by three interrelated aspects of source attractiveness: similarity, familiarity and likability (McGuire, 1969; Ohanian, 1990; Kiecker & Cowles, 2001).

        Similarity refers to the resemblance between the information sender and the receiver (Kiecker & Cowles, 2001, p.76). Consumers tend to be attracted and gravitate towards things which they share a commonality. They form a bond between the individuals and individuals and organizations which can result in identification with the source, and in turn, influence the purchase intention (Lee & Yurchisin, 2011, p.275). Consumers perceive online reviews as credible sources if they and reviewers share similar opinions. Similarity describes the level of individuals sharing the same demographic background, lifestyle, interests, social status and attitudes (De Bruyn & Lilien, 2008, p.154). Similarity determines whether an information seeking individual, positively evaluate the source information and share it with others. It has been noticed that people who are alike, interact with each other more frequently due to "like me" principle (De Bruyn & Lilien, 2008, p.154).

        Familiarity is described as the degree of comfort between the information recipient and source information (Kiecker & Cowles, 2001, p.76). Familiarity implies that if consumers know and have a bond with a source, they are more likely to trust the source due to less perceived risk in making the decision (Lee & Yurchisin, 2011, p.276). Familiarity has a positive influence on online trust, which in the context of online buying, increases the likelihood of making an online purchase from the familiar retailer (Zhang & Ghorbani, 2004). In addition, consumers who know the information source can be more inclined to read online review and purchase an advocated product due to third party assurances (Bianchi & Andrews, 2012, p.267).

        Likability relates to the affection that a recipient may develop towards the physical appearance or personal traits of the source (Teng et al., 2014; Kiecker & Cowles, 2001) and includes elements concerning recipient’s feelings toward the source (Haley, 1996, p.31) This dimension is used to identify the interpersonal attraction between the source and the message receiver (Ohanian, 1990). It was found that source likability positively influences attitude change (Chaiken, 1980; DeBono & Harnish, 1988) and that greater likability of the source involves greater persuasiveness (Chaiken 1980; O’Hara et al., 1991). Thus, information sources that are high in likability increases the effectiveness of the message because such sources create greater attention and message recall (Jain & Posavac, 2001, p.179).

        In online environment consumers may consider a source attractive when they like online product reviews posted by other Internet users. Especially considering social media, people do not necessarily need to know each other physically to be friends. They interact with each other via hubs, such as following a public figure or belonging to the same Facebook group (Hu, 2015, p.49). For example, users click the "like" button on Facebook if they consider a post to be appealing (Kiecker & Cowles, 2001, p.76). Thus, interpersonal communications and personal influence are powerful influence mechanism online (Kiecker & Cowles, 2001). Furthermore, researchers argue that people perceive both online and offline organizations attractive, if these organizations provide consumers with a positive experience when shopping (Lee & Yurchisin, 2011, p.275). In consequence, we believe that source attractiveness is an important factor in determining source credibility. When information source is represented by a person, the measurement of attractiveness including human characteristic is applicable (Goldsmith et al., 2000, p.44). According to Lee & Yurchisin (2011), in the online environment, users tend to ascribe human characteristics to computers or website’s components. Therefore, the same measurement of attractiveness can be applied. In order to measure the source attractiveness, a scale measuring 3 items, namely, similarity, familiarity and likability was created. Because often studies measure just one aspect of source attractiveness (Reysen, 2005; Gefen, 2000; Haley, 1996) there was no one established scale that would consist of all dimensions applied in this study. Thus, the scale measuring familiarity was adapted from Gefen (2000) and likability as well as similarity were measured by using scale established by Reysen (2005).   Information sources in the online context In the decision-making process the information source is used by consumers to acquire the information needed to make a purchase decision (Park et al., 2011, p.22). Consumers search for product opinions to obtain the maximum of available information in order to reduce perceived risk associated with online purchase and product uncertainty, especially when it is impossible to evaluate a product or service on the basis of technical information (Tsao, 2014). Besides, consumers want to make an informed purchase decision, so that they collect information about product’s features, prices, availability and warranties (Saxena, 2011, p.102). The common source to obtain information when shopping online is a retailer’s website, which belongs to the group of marketer-controlled sources (Lee et al., 2008, p. 350). Websites contain massive amounts of information, enabling vendors to provide comprehensive product-related information to consumers (Grant et al., 2007, p.521). Comparing to traditional retail, websites give consumers opportunity to carry different activities at the same place, such as information search, attitude formation, purchase decisions, and service (Steckel, 2005, p.315). Therefore, retailer’s website serves as an important information source that may influence purchase intentions.

        Additionally, in the online context online product reviews are seen by consumers as a crucial information source that may influence purchase intentions (Dou et al., 2012, p.1555). There are different types of online product reviews. Customer-generated or simply customer online reviews received increased attention both from researchers and practitioners. Research shows that consumers prefer this information source over traditional media, such as TV commercials and newspaper ads (Plotkina & Munzel, 2016, p.1). Online customer reviews present a user generated opinion about the product based on the customer experience, preferences and usage situations (Chen & Xie, 2008). Hence, they can serve as a useful suggestion for readers in buying process (Park et al., 2007; Wei & Lu, 2013). As this source is commonly used by consumers to get opinions of others regarding products, it was also included to this study. Customer reviews is a form of electronic word of mouth (eWOM) and this source is described in the following section. Moreover, online reviews can be generated by commercially independent experts. Some researchers consider independent websites that provide expert recommendations as a neutral or third party source (Chen et al., 2016). This information source investigated to a lesser degree, however there are some studies comparing customer reviews and expert reviews (Chen et al., 2016; Plotkina & Munzel, 2016). It was found out that the effect of expert reviews and customer reviews on purchase intentions vary for different product categories (Plotkina & Munzel, 2016, p.8). As this source can be considered by consumers as useful when shopping online, it is included to conceptual model.

        Researchers discovered that customers use different information sources in decision- making process. However, literature presents contradictory findings about which online information source they prefer. There are studies suggesting that customers lean toward customer reviews since they see other customers' opinion as more reliable and objective (Chen et al., 2016, p.468). On the other hand, there are researchers saying that information provided from anonymous people is not perceived as trustworthy (Chen et al., 2016, p.468). In order to better examine online information sources and their influence on purchase intentions, we included three information sources to our study. Following classification of Chen et al. (2016), three online information sources have been included to conceptual model: eWom source, neutral source and retailer source.

        Retailer source While shopping online, consumers intend to get considerable amount of information about the product before purchasing it. In this study we focus on apparel, and thus we refer to a retailer as a mass-market company that sells clothes online via its own website. In search for information about apparel products, consumers visit a fashion website to peruse with the retailer’s offering. The fashion retailer website can provide a consumer with more detailed information about products such as product descriptions, prices, discounts, offers, ads, delivery information, after-purchase service and atmospherics cues (Chen et al., 2016, p.468). By visiting a retailer website, consumers expect to get first- hand, factual and objective information about the product or service as well as the information about the brand itself (Chen et al., 2016, p.468). Retailer’s website consists of broad and up to date product information that helps a customer to make a decision (Steckel et al., 2005). Additionally, retailer’s website offers various product alternatives that can be filtered in order to find the best matching product option (Chevalier & Mayzlin, 2006). Detailed product descriptions and product usage suggestions help consumers to make purchase decisions (Hye Park & Stoel, 2002, p.162). Thus, the provided information could facilitate making informed purchasing decision. The information on the website will also serve as a cue for customers to assess the credibility of the retailer and determine customer's’ attitude towards the company (Chen et al., 2016, p.468).

        Srinivasan et al. (2002) discovered that extensive retailer-related information from a retailer’s source facilitates the customer’s decision making process, as well as increases loyalty of a consumer who is interested in the retailer's offering. Nevertheless, research about retailer sources on consumer’s attitude towards the source and purchase intention provided inconclusive findings. Some researchers argue that too vast information presented on a retailer’s website confuses and overwhelms consumers making them postpone or resign from purchasing (Sismeiro & Bucklin, 2004; Steckel et al., 2005). On the contrary, other researchers state that even though information provided by a retailer might to a certain extent overwhelm potential customers, they are able to simplify broad information while using the website. Furthermore, retailer can enrich its website by providing personalized tools such as filtering or like comparison matrices (Häubl & Trifts, 2000). Thus, it is expected that the information provided by the retailer’s website, particularly product description, will affect consumer’s attitude and their purchase intention. This prediction is in line with Chen et al. (2016), who reported that the influence of retailer source on consumer’s attitude was significantly positive.

        eWOM source Interpersonal communication is believed to influence individuals’ choices. One of the interpersonal influence is word-of-mouth (WOM). Traditional WOM is defined as “oral, person-to-person communication between a receiver and a communicator whom the receiver perceives as non-commercial, concerning a brand, product, or a service.” (Arndt, 1967, p.291). WOM became a powerful tool of social influence in consumer behaviour as consumers exchange their opinions and experiences about purchased products, making further product recommendations for potential buyers (Lis & Neßler, 2014, p.63). Their recommendations significantly influence the acceptation or rejection products, brands, and services (Hawkins et al., 2004). Due to the advent of the Internet, WOM evolved into electronic word-of-mouth, referred as eWOM. (Cheung & Thadani, 2010, p.330). Hennig- Thurau et al. (2004, p.39), described eWOM communication as “any positive or negative statement made by potential, actual, or former customers about a product or company, which is made available to a multitude of people and institutions via the Internet”. Digital WOM take place on various online platforms, such as blogs, discussion forums, review websites or social media networks, where consumers can post their opinions, comments and reviews of products (Cheung & Thadani, 2010, p.330). These new media support the information dissemination as it is almost certain for online users to encounter eWOM online review and share it further (Rabjohn, 2008, p.2). In contrast to WOM, eWOM communication has a high speed and reach of diffusion due to multi- way exchanges of information on the Internet (Cheung & Thadani, 2010, p. 331). eWOM messages are more accessible and persistent as often they are archived, making them available for unlimited period of time (Hennig-Thurau et. al., 2004). For the purpose of our study, bloggers were selected as being a good representative of eWOM. Our choice is based on the belief that in term of apparel, fashion bloggers serve as an important source of knowledge and became an influential opinion leaders and trendsetters.

        Blogs have become a popular eWOM communication medium, where blog authors, henceforth referred as bloggers, express their own opinions and experiences (Zhu & Tan, 2007, p.2). Blogs have a form of an online journals that contain a broad scope of information (Saxena, 2011, p.102). Blogs also serve as a self-representation of its authors because they often include information about the real identity of the author (Gilly & Schau, 2003). The author’s background information serves as credentials showing the credibility of the blogger and the information he provides. (Zhu & Tan, 2007, p.2). The information read by consumers could be then perceived by the scope of the source, thus assigning suitable level of credibility. Published information can take a form of recommendation of a product or service what the blogger wants to share (Zhu & Tan, 2007, p.2). Thus, consumers who search for a product evaluation, could adopt his/ her opinion purchases (Hsu et al., 2013, p.71).

        Consumers often rely on blogs as an information source, since blogs contain complete information about company’s product (Saxena, 2011, p.102). They help them obtain reliable information to better understand the product as well as support and evaluate their purchase decision (Hsu et al., 2013, p.70). Around 81% of customers admits checking the product review on social site before making a purchase, and 74% claims that the review influenced their product purchase (Wegert, 2010). Furthermore, Hsu et al. (2013, p.70) found that consumers believe blogs are more useful and trustful than traditional media and online communities. Nevertheless, the credibility and quality of the information provided by a blogger are factors that affect their purchase decision (Saxena, 2011, p.102). Moreover, blogging is seen as an act of sharing knowledge and a form of socialization, where consumers can interact with the source (Hsu & Lin, 2008, p. 66). Similarly, Bouhlel et al. (2010) found that the consumer's’ positive attitude towards a blog influences purchase intention. Hsu et al. (2013) states that the perceived usefulness of blogger online review has an influence on both customer attitude and purchase intention. Consequently, bloggers’ online reviews play an important role in influencing customer purchasing process (Hsu et al., 2013, p.70).

        Neutral source Another information source that is considered in this study is a neutral source. Neutral source is often called an expert or an independent source that provide online product recommendations from independent websites (Chen et al., 2016, p.468). Researchers claim that product reviews from independent sources are more persuasive than those from dependent sources, such as manufacturers and retailers, because they are perceived to be free from commercial influences (Alba et al., 1997). According to Chen et al. (2016, p. 468) consumers use information from neutral sources to reduce the uncertainty they feel toward information from retailers. Neutral sources assert that they provide objective information, but some researchers argue that consumers will discredit a recommendation if they suspect that the source is driven by personal interest, such as incentives, and hence, that the recommendation is not based on a valid evaluation of a product’s characteristics (Willemsen et al., 2012, p. 425).

        In this master thesis we use one type of neutral source, online expert reviews. In previous studies expert reviews have been compared with consumer reviews. Huang & Chen (2006) proved that trustworthiness and expertise vary between consumer and expert information source. Consumer recommendations considered as more trustworthy, but based on less expertise than expert recommendations (Huang & Chen, 2006). Furthermore, it was found that expert reviews are more effective for the promotion of new products when it is difficult to evaluate qualities before the purchase (Plotkina & Munzel, 2016, p.2). Expert refers to an independent established professional with expert status that could be identified through an affiliation to an independent entity or could be attributed by the consumers themselves (Plotkina & Munzel, 2016, p.2). However, we distinguish between self-proclaimed experts and professionals, who have special knowledge acquired through education or training. In this study we use online product reviews from professional experts. As the sphere of our interest is fashion industry, we use professional stylists as experts who can provide online product reviews regarding apparel. Stylists, also called appearance consultants, have a significant influence on the fashion industry, creating new looks and sellable fashions (Saiki, 2015, p. 214). Therefore, fashion stylists can be persuasive information source influencing purchase decision of clothes, which determine our motivation to include them to this study. In fashion industry stylists work for various media, such as magazines and television, for designers presenting work at fashion shows, for fashion publicity agents, for retail establishments, and for individual consumers and celebrities (Saiki, 2015, p. 214). In the online context, advices from professional stylists can be found in the form of online reviews, when they recommend particular products.