Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students.
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- Genre: Doctoral Dissertation
Description
Social media offers a powerful platform for the independent digital content producer community to develop, disperse, and maintain their brands. In terms of information systems research, the broad majority of the work has not examined hedonic consumption on Social Media Sites (SMS). The focus has mostly been on the organizational perspectives and utilitarian gains from these services. Unlike through traditional commerce channels, including e-commerce retailers, consumption enhancing hedonic utility is experienced differently in the context of a social media site; consequently, the dynamic of the decision-making process shifts when it is made in a social context. Previous research assumed a limited influence of a small, immediate group of peers. But the rules change when the network of peers expands exponentially. The assertion is that, while there are individual differences in the level of susceptibility to influence coming from others, these are not the most important pieces of the analysis--unlike research centered completely on influence. Rather, the context of the consumption can play an important role in the way social influence factors affect consumer behavior on Social Media Sites. Over the course of three studies, this dissertation will examine factors that influence consumer decision-making and the brand personalities created and interpreted in these SMS. Study one examines the role of different types of peer influence on consumer decision-making on Facebook. Study two observes the impact of different types of producer message posts with the different types of influence on decision-making on Twitter. Study three will conclude this work with an exploratory empirical investigation of actual twitter postings of a set of musicians. These studies contribute to the body of IS literature by evaluating the specific behavioral changes related to consumption in the context of digital social media: (a) the power of social influencers in contrast to personal preferences on SMS, (b) the effect on consumers of producer message types and content on SMS at both the profile level and the individual message level.
ContributorsSopha, Matthew (Author) / Santanam, Raghu T (Thesis advisor) / Goul, Kenneth M (Committee member) / Gu, Bin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Mobile applications (Apps) markets with App stores have introduced a new approach to define and sell software applications with access to a large body of heterogeneous consumer population. Several distinctive features of mobile App store markets including – (a) highly heterogeneous consumer preferences and values, (b) high consumer cognitive burden of searching a large selection of similar Apps, and (c) continuously updateable product features and price – present a unique opportunity for IS researchers to investigate theoretically motivated research questions in this area. The aim of this dissertation research is to investigate the key determinants of mobile Apps success in App store markets. The dissertation is organized into three distinct and related studies. First, using the key tenets of product portfolio management theory and theory of economies of scope, this study empirically investigates how sellers’ App portfolio strategies are associated with sales performance over time. Second, the sale performance impacts of App product cues, generated from App product descriptions and offered from market formats, are examined using the theories of market signaling and cue utilization. Third, the role of App updates in stimulating consumer demands in the presence of strong ranking effects is appraised. The findings of this dissertation work highlight the impacts of sellers’ App assortment, strategic product description formulation, and long-term App management with price/feature updates on success in App market. The dissertation studies make key contributions to the IS literature by highlighting three key managerially and theoretically important findings related to mobile Apps: (1) diversification across selling categories is a key driver of high survival probability in the top charts, (2) product cues strategically presented in the descriptions have complementary relationships with market cues in influencing App sales, and (3) continuous quality improvements have long-term effects on App success in the presence of strong ranking effects.
ContributorsLee, Gun Woong (Author) / Santanam, Raghu (Thesis advisor) / Gu, Bin (Committee member) / Park, Sungho (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description冷链物流主要是指食品在生产到消费者食用前始终处于适宜的温度环境，以保障食品品质、降低流通过程中的损耗。冷链物流相比于传统物流而言是一项更复杂的系统性工程，受到政策和市场需求的影响呈现迅猛发展态势。但是，冷链物流企业长期以来因规模小、固定资产少、服务范围窄、服务规范性弱而发展困难重重，核心问题是资金的问题。政府引导和鼓励打造冷链物流产业园，推动产业园投资和建设主体打造平台，实现对园区内冷链企业的聚集效应并通过金融服务解决企业发展的资金问题。通过产融结合助力冷链物流企业发展，成为目前冷链物流行业发展的主要方式和未来趋势。
本研究聚焦冷链物流产业园金融服务助力冷链物流企业发展问题，主要研究内容包括：第一，基于产融结合理论，梳理冷链物流企业与产业园之间关系，从供需两侧探索冷链物流企业和产业园的金融服务的范围、类型和特点。第二，基于平台理论，构建冷链物流企业采纳产业园金融服务的研究模型，探索金融服务影响冷链物流企业的经营因素，分析冷链物流企业采纳产业园金融服务的因素和途径。第三，基于信息不对称理论，关切信息技术支持和知识分享在冷链物流企业采纳产业园提供金融服务过程中的调节作用。同时，梳理产业园提供金融服务可能面临哪些风险，制订冷链物流企业入驻园区的标准，防范风险。
本文运用实证研究方法，通过对国内18家冷链物流相关的产业园、物流园、冷链物流、商贸流通、金融等企业实地考察和专家访谈基础上，拟定问卷并对268家企业进行调查收集数据，使用结构方程模型进行假设检验。研究发现：金融服务的有形性、可靠性、移情性、经济性对冷链物流企业采纳产业园金融服务影响显著，而响应性的影响不显著。同时
信息技术支持和知识共享的调节作用不显著。最后，针对产业园吸引冷链物流企业提供金融服务、冷链物流企业采纳产业园金融服务的风险，提出防范策略措施。
本研究聚焦冷链物流产业园金融服务助力冷链物流企业发展问题，主要研究内容包括：第一，基于产融结合理论，梳理冷链物流企业与产业园之间关系，从供需两侧探索冷链物流企业和产业园的金融服务的范围、类型和特点。第二，基于平台理论，构建冷链物流企业采纳产业园金融服务的研究模型，探索金融服务影响冷链物流企业的经营因素，分析冷链物流企业采纳产业园金融服务的因素和途径。第三，基于信息不对称理论，关切信息技术支持和知识分享在冷链物流企业采纳产业园提供金融服务过程中的调节作用。同时，梳理产业园提供金融服务可能面临哪些风险，制订冷链物流企业入驻园区的标准，防范风险。
本文运用实证研究方法，通过对国内18家冷链物流相关的产业园、物流园、冷链物流、商贸流通、金融等企业实地考察和专家访谈基础上，拟定问卷并对268家企业进行调查收集数据，使用结构方程模型进行假设检验。研究发现：金融服务的有形性、可靠性、移情性、经济性对冷链物流企业采纳产业园金融服务影响显著，而响应性的影响不显著。同时
信息技术支持和知识共享的调节作用不显著。最后，针对产业园吸引冷链物流企业提供金融服务、冷链物流企业采纳产业园金融服务的风险，提出防范策略措施。
ContributorsYang, Su (Author) / Shen, Wei (Thesis advisor) / Chen, Xinlei (Thesis advisor) / Gu, Bin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Health is among the most basic needs of the people and driving force of social and economic development. The health nutrition & wellness industry is gradually becoming a global sunrise industry . However, the industry is faced many problems and challenges including weaknesses in the industry structure, fragmentations of supply chain, low
efficiency in resources allocation, and lacking in quality on personnel training. To achieve core competitiveness and value creation, it is important that the health nutrition & wellness industry must meet the needs of Chinese market and its customers with a customer centric perspective to design a firm’s organization strucrture and management processes. This thesis is based on an analysis of the competitive landscape faced by the nutrition & wellness industry as exemplified by By-Health.Ltd. The investigation begins with an analysis and synthsis of the common industry practices on sales & distribution channels for their underlying similarities and differences in product strategies, branding strategies, and agency models on incentive design and profit sharing mechanisms. Through an empirical survey, this thesis also investigate customer’s demand for nutritious and healthy products. The results through factor analysis reveal that such demands are driven by individual factor, product factor, enterprise factor and environmental factor. The study concludes with a proposed framework to link customer value through three innovative designs in sales and distribution: community marketing model, sharing marketing model and Internet factory marketing model.
efficiency in resources allocation, and lacking in quality on personnel training. To achieve core competitiveness and value creation, it is important that the health nutrition & wellness industry must meet the needs of Chinese market and its customers with a customer centric perspective to design a firm’s organization strucrture and management processes. This thesis is based on an analysis of the competitive landscape faced by the nutrition & wellness industry as exemplified by By-Health.Ltd. The investigation begins with an analysis and synthsis of the common industry practices on sales & distribution channels for their underlying similarities and differences in product strategies, branding strategies, and agency models on incentive design and profit sharing mechanisms. Through an empirical survey, this thesis also investigate customer’s demand for nutritious and healthy products. The results through factor analysis reveal that such demands are driven by individual factor, product factor, enterprise factor and environmental factor. The study concludes with a proposed framework to link customer value through three innovative designs in sales and distribution: community marketing model, sharing marketing model and Internet factory marketing model.
ContributorsGong, Binghui (Author) / Pei, Ker-Wei (Thesis advisor) / Cui, Haitao (Thesis advisor) / Gu, Bin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Online product ratings offer consumers information about products. In this dissertation, I explore how the design of the rating system impacts consumers’ sharing behavior and how different players are affected by rating mechanisms. The first two chapters investigate how consumers choose to share their experiences of different attributes, how their preferences are reflected in numerical ratings and textual reviews, whether and how multi-dimensional rating systems affect consumer satisfaction through product ratings, and whether and how multi-dimensional rating systems affect the interplay between numerical ratings and textual reviews. The identification strategy of the observational study hinges on a natural experiment on TripAdvisor when the website reengineered its rating system from single-dimensional to multi-dimensional in January 2009. Rating data on the same set of restaurants from Yelp, were used to identify the causal effect using a difference-in-difference approach. Text mining skills were deployed to identify potential topics from textual reviews when consumers didn’t provide dimensional ratings in both SD and MD systems. Results show that ratings in a single-dimensional rating system have a downward trend and a higher dispersion, whereas ratings in a multi-dimensional rating system are significantly higher and convergent. Textual reviews in MDR are in greater width and depth than textual reviews in SDR. The third chapter tries to uncover how the introduction of monetary incentives would influence different players in the online e-commerce market in the short term and in the long run. These three studies together contribute to the understanding of rating system/mechanism designs and different players in the online market.
ContributorsLiu, Ying (Author) / Chen, Pei-Yu (Thesis advisor) / Hong, Yili (Thesis advisor) / Gu, Bin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description中医药是中华文明的瑰宝，中药材是中医药文化和产业的核心。随着近年来国家相关政策出台，中药材产业的发展备受瞩目。由于中药材产业链条长，层级多，各层级间信息不对称，因而中药材市场普遍具有“假”、“乱”、“杂”的问题。
A公司的中药材全产业链服务商模式，通过对上游各主要专营商的整合，形成一定的平台综合集采能力，并开始得到下游医药厂家、药店认可，在市场逐步形成品牌号召力。本文实证研究A公司商业模式的转型对中药材市场价格的影响，进而分析中药材全产业链服务商模式在中药材行业健康发展中所发挥的积极作用。研究结果表明，上下游产销结合的中药材全产业链服务商模式，只有在形成一定收购规模，对市场价格产生一定影响的时候，才能充分释放药材质量的信号，润滑药材交易市场，提高收购价格，增加市场波动率，发挥价格发现作用。由于中药材市场的信息不对称程度较高，如果产销结合模式仍处于初级开创阶段，产销结合模式释放的药材质量信号则不足以全面改善信息不对称的状况。
A公司的中药材全产业链服务商模式，通过对上游各主要专营商的整合，形成一定的平台综合集采能力，并开始得到下游医药厂家、药店认可，在市场逐步形成品牌号召力。本文实证研究A公司商业模式的转型对中药材市场价格的影响，进而分析中药材全产业链服务商模式在中药材行业健康发展中所发挥的积极作用。研究结果表明，上下游产销结合的中药材全产业链服务商模式，只有在形成一定收购规模，对市场价格产生一定影响的时候，才能充分释放药材质量的信号，润滑药材交易市场，提高收购价格，增加市场波动率，发挥价格发现作用。由于中药材市场的信息不对称程度较高，如果产销结合模式仍处于初级开创阶段，产销结合模式释放的药材质量信号则不足以全面改善信息不对称的状况。
ContributorsYin, Xiaowei (Author) / Shen, Wei (Thesis advisor) / Yan, Hong (Thesis advisor) / Gu, Bin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
In this study I investigate the factors that may influence consumer preference and choice in China’s home interior decoration industry. With the fast development of information technology such as the internet in China, it becomes increasingly important to have a more precise understanding of consumer preference and choice in home interior decoration decisions so that companies in this industry can provide better services to meet customer needs. Using survey data from a sample of potential customers and a sample of existing customers of a large home interior decoration company, I find that (1) internet has become the mostly used channel by consumers to gather information about home interior decoration, (2) design style is the most influential factor in consumers’ choice of home interior decoration company, and (3) consumers are more likely to choose home interior decoration companies to provide full services when they are between 35 to 45 years old or above 55 years old, when it is the first time for them to purchase a real estate property, and when they are located in the Eastern region of China. Findings of this study can help home interior decoration companies better understand customer needs and preferences, facilitate changes in their marketing and sales strategies, and consequently strengthen their competitive advantage．
ContributorsYang, Jin (Author) / Shen, Wei (Thesis advisor) / Zhang, Anmin (Committee member) / Gu, Bin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
In this thesis I examine the opportunities and challenges faced by the community banks in China. Rooted in the local communities, community banks generally focus on serving the local residents, farmers, and micro and small business enterprises (MSBE) through relationship building. Although community banks tend to be small relative to the other financial institutions, their unique market positions and business strategies have helped them to survive the competition and secure some market shares. Thus, it is important to understand the business strategies of community banks and to explore their future business opportunities and challenges.
I first provide a brief overview about the importance of local communities, community economy, and community banking, on the basis of an analysis about mismatch in the demand and supply of community financial services due to information asymmetry. Next, I review and analyze how commercial banks have utilized different types of information in their operations. I classify the information used by commercial banks into different categories and discuss their importance to the operations of commercial banks. After that, I conduct a case analysis to illustrate the role of non-financial information in the development of community banks’ business strategy. I conclude this thesis with a discussion of how community banks can better utilize data analysis to develop their core competencies in the era of “Big Data”.
I first provide a brief overview about the importance of local communities, community economy, and community banking, on the basis of an analysis about mismatch in the demand and supply of community financial services due to information asymmetry. Next, I review and analyze how commercial banks have utilized different types of information in their operations. I classify the information used by commercial banks into different categories and discuss their importance to the operations of commercial banks. After that, I conduct a case analysis to illustrate the role of non-financial information in the development of community banks’ business strategy. I conclude this thesis with a discussion of how community banks can better utilize data analysis to develop their core competencies in the era of “Big Data”.
ContributorsHou, Funing (Author) / Li, Feng (Thesis advisor) / Wang, Jiang (Thesis advisor) / Gu, Bin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
The recent changes in the software markets gave users an unprecedented number
of alternatives for any given task. In such a competitive environment, it is imperative
to understand what drives user behavior. To that end, the research presented in
this dissertation, tries to uncover the impact of business strategies often used in the
software markets.
The dissertation is organized into three distinct studies into user choice and post
choice use of software. First using social judgment theory as foundation, zero price
strategies effects on user choice is investigated, with respect to product features,
consumer characteristics, and context effects. Second, role of social features in
moderating network effects on user choice is studied. And finally, the role of social
features on the effectiveness of add-on content strategy on continued user engagement
is investigated.
The findings of this dissertation highlight the alignments between popular business
strategies and broad software context. The dissertation contributes to the litera-
ture by uncovering hitherto overlooked complementarities between business strategy
and product features: (1) zero price strategy enhances utilitarian features but not
non-utilitarian features in software choice, (2) social features only enhance network
externalities but not social influence in user choice, (3) social features enhance the
effect of add-on content strategy in extending software engagement.
of alternatives for any given task. In such a competitive environment, it is imperative
to understand what drives user behavior. To that end, the research presented in
this dissertation, tries to uncover the impact of business strategies often used in the
software markets.
The dissertation is organized into three distinct studies into user choice and post
choice use of software. First using social judgment theory as foundation, zero price
strategies effects on user choice is investigated, with respect to product features,
consumer characteristics, and context effects. Second, role of social features in
moderating network effects on user choice is studied. And finally, the role of social
features on the effectiveness of add-on content strategy on continued user engagement
is investigated.
The findings of this dissertation highlight the alignments between popular business
strategies and broad software context. The dissertation contributes to the litera-
ture by uncovering hitherto overlooked complementarities between business strategy
and product features: (1) zero price strategy enhances utilitarian features but not
non-utilitarian features in software choice, (2) social features only enhance network
externalities but not social influence in user choice, (3) social features enhance the
effect of add-on content strategy in extending software engagement.
ContributorsKanat, Irfan (Author) / Santanam, Raghu (Thesis advisor) / Vinze, Ajay (Thesis advisor) / Gu, Bin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description本文对中国制药企业并购溢价影响因素进行了研究，提出了对制药企业并购非常重要的两个新的影响因素：可生产药品批文和在研新药批文。本文以2011年1月—2019年12月间我国制药行业上市公司并购事件为样本，对在研新药和可生产药品批文的价值从四个维度度量：是否有在研新药和可生产药品批文；在研新药数量及可生产药品批文数量；根据创新药和仿制药两个类别进行细分；标的企业所拥有的在研新药和可生产药品批文的市场价值。论文发现药品批文对企业并购溢价的影响不是很显著。进一步的，本文探究了药品批文对主并企业的对被并购公司的估值的影响。实证结果表明，我国制药企业在并购估值时确实会考虑到在研新药和可生产药品批文的价值。本文还发现对于可生产药品来说，相对创新药，被并购公司持有的仿制药批文影响更显著。而对于在研新药来说，主并企业更看重在研的创新药，在研仿制药对并购估值的影响不大。最后，本文选取了两个代表性案例进一步分析和探讨药品批文对企业并购的影响。
ContributorsYe, Tao (Author) / Shen, Wei (Thesis advisor) / Chang, Chun (Thesis advisor) / Jiang, Zhan (Committee member) / Gu, Bin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022