In recent years, marketing managers have realized that online reviews are an essential element in customer decision-making. However, there has been little valid measure of online reviews and no systematic analysis of their effect on consumer purchase intention. Drawing on the uses and gratification (U&G) and consumer culture (CCT) theories, this study develops a valid measure of online reviews and analyzes their effect on purchase intention.

This paper aims to validate five determinants of service quality and to examine the service quality-customer satisfaction link in the port logistics service industry of a developing and transitional economy. First, the research reviews literature pertinent to service quality and customer satisfaction. Second, it uses both qualitative and quantitative methods through focus group discussion and direct interviews with 212 respondents who are the employees of firms that have been using port logistics service provided by Cat Lai Port, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

The purpose of this article is to determine the safety stock for an omni-channel environment. The “Square Root Law” (for centralization of storage facilities) was proposed to combine the safety stock for both online and offline channels. A simulation study was conducted using a spreadsheet program and three scenarios were created based on review time, lead time and safety factor. This was based on the mean demand and standard deviation of the product's demand distribution.

Following the causal complexity theory, fsQCA has emerged as an advanced methodology in examining hypotheses and creating new theories in social science. However, fsQCA falls short dealing with structural associations and with latent variables when multi-faceted scales are combined into a single indicator by mean. To extend the application of fsQCA, the study demonstrates an approach to investigate a multi-layered problem of eWOM, social influence, and product adoption intention.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to address a perennial question regarding the importance of soft total quality management (TQM) as part of the TQM implementation process – a topic that has been significantly understudied. Specifically, the authors address previous calls in the literature for stressing the soft aspects of TQM and for drawing a critical success factor (CSF) list that is formulated on the basis of empirical research instead of theory.