PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide a quantitative analysis, in which learning orientation, market orientation, entrepreneurial orientation, and innovativeness function as key success factors in technology‐intensive firms. The authors formulate a structural equation model to examine the relationship among these constructs.Design/methodology/approachA structural equation model was designed to examine the relationship. To test the model, the authors conducted covariance structural analyses of data collected from 333 venture companies, including innovation companies, in Taiwan.FindingsThe central finding is that learning orientation plays a full mediating role in the relationship between market orientation and innovativeness. The results indicate that organizational structure (formalization and decentralization) does not play a moderating role in the relationship between innovativeness and business performance; however, the extent of formalization of an organizational structure negatively correlates with business performance.Practical implicationsMarket orientation can strengthen innovativeness via organizational learning. In the high‐tech industry, the market information obtained from customers and competitors helps firms to keep an eye on the market. For better competitive advantages and business performance, firms must have learning capabilities and employees' identity with corporate mission.Originality/valueThe research empirically examines the mediating role of learning orientation and the moderating role of organizational structure in the model. The findings indicate that firms should strengthen their learning orientation and innovativeness, and avoid interfering in the organizational structure to improve business performance.

Persuasion has been extensively researched for decades. Much of this research has focused on different message tactics and their effects on persuasion (e.g., Chang & Chou, 2008; Lafferty, 1999). This research aims to assess whether the persuasion of a specific type of message is influenced by need for cognition (NFC) and time pressure. The 336 undergraduates participated in a 2 (message sidedness: one-sided/two-sided) × 3 (time pressure: low/moderate/high) between-subjects design. Results indicate that two-sided messages tend to elicit more favorable ad attitudes than one-sided messages. As compared with low-NFC individuals, high-NFC individuals are likely to express more favorable ad attitudes, brand attitudes and purchase intention. Moderate time pressure tends to lead to more favorable ad attitudes than low time pressure and high time pressure. In addition, moderate time pressure is likely to elicit more favorable brand attitudes and purchase intentions than high time pressure, but does not elicit more favorable brand attitudes and purchase intentions than low time pressure. Furthermore, when high-NFC individuals are under low or moderate time pressure, two-sided messages are more persuasive than one-sided messages; however, message sidedness does not differentially affect the persuasion when high-NFC individuals are pressed for time. In contrast, one-sided messages are more persuasive than two-sided messages when low-NFC individuals are under low or high time pressure, and two-sided messages are more persuasive than one-sided messages when low-NFC individuals are under moderate time pressure.

This research attempts to explore the moderating roles of underdog brand biography and brand status in the impact of consumers' underdog disposition on brand preferences. A total of 218 on-the-job graduate students were randomly assigned to a 2 (explicitness of underdog brand biography: implicit vs. explicit) × 2 (brand status: emerging brands vs. established brands) factorial design. Results show that consumers with strong underdog disposition are likely to generate stronger brand preferences for established brands accompanied with explicit underdog brand biographies than emerging brands accompanied with explicit underdog brand biographies; in contrast, consumers with strong underdog disposition are likely to engender no differential brand preferences for emerging brands accompanied with implicit underdog brand biographies over established brands accompanied with implicit underdog brand biographies. Moreover, consumers with a weak underdog disposition are likely to engender stronger brand preferences for established brands than emerging brands, regardless of the explicitness of underdog brand biography.

Purpose While envy has been widely explored in psychology literature, theoretical understanding of the effects of envy on consumers’ emotional responses to brands is promising but under explored. Therefore, this study aims to apply cases of envy and psychological distance to consumers to examine whether the style of brand storytelling can moderate brand preference. Design/methodology/approach Three experimental studies were conducted to test the hypotheses. Experiment 1 investigated the effect of envy on consumer evaluations of an advocated brand, through viewing a series of advertisements that varied in brand storytelling styles. A total of 104 working students were randomly assigned to a 2 (brand storytelling: underdog vs top dog) single factorial design. Experiment 2 investigates the effect of envy on consumer evaluations of the advocated brand through viewing advertisements that varied in psychological distance. A total of 108 working students were randomly assigned to a 2 (psychological distance: proximal vs distant) single factorial design. Experiment 3 investigated the effect of envy on evaluations of the brand through viewing advertisements that varied in brand storytelling style and psychological distance. A total of 208 working students were randomly assigned to a 2 (underdog vs top dog) × 2 (proximal vs distant psychological distance) between-subject factorial design. Findings Results demonstrate that for consumers experiencing benign and malicious envy, advertisements characterized by brand storytelling (underdog vs top dog) and psychological distance (proximal vs distant) will elicit differential brand preferences. Originality/value This research takes up the call to address the limited attention given to envy in the context of brand advertising. Specifically, this research aims to explore how consumer envy influences brand preference and the role of moderating effects such as brand storytelling and psychological distance in this context.

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This research explores the interaction effects of message sidedness and argument quality of ads on how either promotion-focused or prevention-focused individuals engender their ad attitudes. Two hundred and forty undergraduates were randomly assigned to a 2 (regulatory focus: prevention-focus/promotion-focus) × 2 (message sidedness: one-sided messages/two-sided messages) × 2 (argument quality (AQ): weak/strong) between-subjects design. Results indicate that promotion-focused individuals tend to engender more favourable attitudes to weak AQ ads than strong AQ ads, whereas prevention-focused individuals tend to engender more favourable attitudes to strong AQ ads than weak AQ ads. In addition, results indicate more favourable attitudes for one-sided messages over two-sided messages for promotion-focused individuals, as well as more favourable attitudes for two-sided messages over one-sided messages for prevention-focused individuals. Furthermore, one-sided messages result in more favourable ad attitudes when linked with weak AQ for promotion-focused individuals; in contrast, two-sided messages elicit more favourable ad attitudes when linked with strong AQ for prevention-focused individuals. Results suggest that message sidedness and argument quality are closely related to regulatory focus, which has a direct impact on ad attitudes. Practical implications, theoretical contributions, limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

Mobile commerce (M-commerce) has been acknowledged as one of the most representative transaction types driving e-commerce worldwide; however, the potential security threats that keep consumers from M-commerce still confound the M-commerce industry. This research attempts to explore two questions: What are the dimensions of transaction trust that may significantly affect consumers' intentions to adopt M-commerce, and what are the cultural dimensions that may significantly moderate the impact of transaction trust on consumers' intentions to adopt M-commerce? A research framework based on the BATE model and Hofstede's cultural dimensions was established to identify how transaction trust and cultural value affect consumers' intentions to adopt M-commerce. Results revealed that transaction trust significantly affects consumers' intentions to adopt M-commerce. However, while uncertainty avoidance moderates the impacts of business trust and security on consumers' intentions of M-commerce adoption, both individualism/collectivism and long-term/short-term orientation moderate the relationship between security trust and consumers' intentions of M-commerce adoption.

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