在網路拍賣情境中語言來源國對消費者購買意願之影響－以產品種類、涉入與零售商商譽線索為干擾變數

Abstract

隨著網路拍賣成為熱門電子商務模式，不僅愈來愈多零售商選擇以其為銷售平台，國內外學者亦紛紛投入相關研究；例如探討eBay或YAHOO!拍賣的競標機制、交易安全、競標意願等面向。然而，對消費者而言，突破時空障礙的網路購物固然使交易迅速便利，但卻無法實際鑑賞商品，連帶提高購物風險，進而影響購買意願。因此，本研究欲探討網路零售商該採何種行銷策略，方能促成交易。 過去研究已知，一般消費者會運用外部線索，例如產品來源國，基於對其國家形象的態度來推斷產品品質並做成購物決策，即所謂來源國效應。而本研究根據對臺灣YAHOO!拍賣網站的觀察，更提出語言來源國會是網路拍賣中有效的外部線索，當網拍賣場名稱以外國形象命名或商品圖文以外語標示，能間接使消費者聯想該國形象，從而影響購買意願，產生語言來源國效應。值得一提的是，因實體通路上可輕易看出產品語言來源國標示與品質不符（如標榜日語但無日貨質感），從網路則無法鑑別，反更凸顯語言來源國效應，故針對網路拍賣進行研究。 本研究先對受測者進行質性訪談，初步了解其心理，再採取多因子實驗設計法，操控之自變項是語言來源國(日本／韓國／中國) ，依變項是購買意願，並探討產品種類（高科技／高觸動／一般性)、涉入程度（高／低）和商譽線索（高／低）是否會對語言來源國效應產生影響。 以下是綜合研究結果和提供網路零售商參考的幾點實務建議：(1)在網路拍賣中，語言來源國文字會和該國國家形象連結，從而因來源國形象影響購買意願。語言來源國形象和購買意願成正向關係，依序為日本、韓國、中國。建議零售商以國家形象為正面的語言命名賣場名稱和敘述商品，強化消費者購買意願；(2)產品涉入程度會影響語言來源國效應，低涉入產品之語言來源國效應大於高涉入產品。故賣方需視產品涉入程度調整商品訊息設計；(3)產品種類（高科技、高觸動及一般性產品）對語言來源國效應無顯著干擾；(4)對於高觸動產品（如上衣），商譽線索會影響語言來源國效應，即消費者對商譽線索多但語言來源國形象較差者之購買意願會高於語言來源國形象好但商譽線索低者。對於高科技產品（如隨身碟）和一般產品（如蛋糕），商譽線索較無影響。故零售商販售高觸動產品時，勿過度依賴語言來源國，而可多運用商譽線索提高消費者的購買意願。 總結上述結果與建議，本研究除證實網路拍賣上具有語言來源國效應，來源國理論將可置於虛擬通路下應用，充實網路拍賣與來源國研究的文獻之外，也期望藉此協助網路拍賣業者擬定最佳行銷策略，提升整體經營績效。Nowadays, online auction has become the new popular aspect of e-commerce. A growing number of retailers have sold products or services through online auction markets, and online auction has been widely discussed by scholars. Subjects of research include the bidding system of eBay and YAHOO!Auction, transaction security, and consumer purchase intention, etc. While from a consumer’s point of view, online auction indeed breaks the physical geographic barrier and makes shopping more convenient, the lack of opportunity to actually see and touch products in advance, however, evokes higher perceived risk andreduces their intention of purchase. Therefore, this study is trying to find the best marketing strategy(s) for online retailers to promote business. Previous studies show that consumers tend to use external cues such as country-of-origin to infer the quality of products and make shopping decisions. In other words, consumers’ purchase intention is affected by their valuation of the origins of the products. This is called country-of-origin effect (COO). In this article, based on first hand observation of YAHOO!Auction and experiment results, we further concluded that a new external factor, country-of-language from country-of-origin, will affects consumers' online purchase intention as well. We call it the “country-of-language effect”, which occurs when online retailers use foreign languages to name their stores or describe goods. Languages act as a trigger for consumers to associate country image with products and then affect purchase intentions. The better country-of-language image, the higher purchase intention. And it is worth pointing out that if the country-of-language label and product quality does not match (such as Japanese label on products of poor quality), it can be easily discovered in brick and mortar retail store, but not in online shops. Since the impact of country-of-language from country-of-origin effect is more apparent in virtual channel, this study is focused on online auction. In this study, we first interviewed consumers to learn about their thoughts in general and then designed experiments to explore the country-of-language effect in the context of online auction. Language is the independent variable serving as the country-of-origin cue. The dependent variable is purchase intention. The involvement (low vs. high), product categories (high touch, general, and high tech) and retailer reputation cues (low vs. high) are also discussed as possible moderating effects. The research findings and suggestions to the online auction retailers are: (i) Country-of-language effect and country-of-origin effect do affect consumers’ online purchase intention. Consumers tend to associate a language with its origin, and country image indeed affects purchase intention. Our study discovers positive correlation between country-of-language effect and purchase intention, and Japan has the highest country-of-language effect, followed by Korea and China respectively. For online retailers, using languages of good country image to name shops or describe goods can enhance purchase intention. (ii) Product involvement affects the country-of-language images from COO effect. The higher product involvement, the lower country-of-language images from COO effect. Thus, retailers should take product involvement into consideration when designing messages for their products. (iii) Product category (high touch, general, and high tech) shows little/no effects on country-of-language images from COO effect. (iv) For high touch products such as clothing, retailer reputation cues can offset the country-of-language images from COO effect. In other words, customers show higher purchase intention for goods with more retailer reputation cues yet poor COO images than for goods with less retailer reputation cues yet good COO images. However, retailer reputation cues show insignificant effects in high tech products, such as USB drives, and general products, such as cakes. Hence, when marketing high touch products, retailers should not rely too heavily on country-of-language effect. Instead, more retailer reputation cues can be used to increase consumer’s purchase intention. In conclusion, our research proves that “country-of-language effect” does exist in online auction; COO theory can apply to the context of virtual channels. We wish our findings and suggestion can add to the study of online auction and country-of-origin effect, as well as helping online marketers making best strategies to improve overall business performance.