The following article suggests a critical realistic framework, which aims at modeling sociotechnical change linked to end-users' IT appropriation: the "archetypal approach". The basic situations it includes (the "sociotechnical archetypes"), and the possible appropriative trajectories that...

Trust is a crucial factor in e-commerce. However, consumers are less likely to trust unknown Web sites. This study explores how less-familiar e-commerce Web sites can use branding alliances and Web site quality to increase the likelihood of initial consumer trust. We use the associative network...

Over 180 years old, the Mauboussin jeweler's shop looks like a rebellious child on the Place Vendôme (Paris, France) since Dominique Frémont took over almost ten years ago. Alain Nemarq, the President, explains the marketing strategy he has used since his arrival in 2002. He also details the...

This article analyzes the different phases the Information Systems--Sociology relationship has gone through and points out some specific features of sociologists and Information Systems scientists in their conceptualization of Information Technology (IT). It shows that both academic fields...

Improved consumer information about horizontal aspects of products of similar quality leads to better consumer matching but also to higher prices, so consumer surplus can go up or down, while profits rise. With enough quality asymmetry, though, the higher-quality (and hence larger) firm's price...

In operational terms (cost, implementation), a virtual 3D laboratory store offers an attractive alternative to a physical laboratory store for testing in store marketing initiatives (packaging, price or other). This study compares controlled sample shopper behaviours for a consumer good and...

The analyses of the tender offer premiums and of the means of payment should not be performed separately. In the empirical literature, these two variables are often considered independently, although they may have an endogenous relationship in a contractual setting. Using a sample of European...