The purpose of this article is to define the level of significance of the different indicators that influence the benefits expected by the customers when deciding on a bank card. The most important indicators that affect the expectations when using the bank card were considered: The level of the credit limit, the existence of rewards programs, the costs associated with the card, the existence of associated services of type e-banking/m-banking, the image and the social status, the possibility to perform ATM cash operations, customer service, ease of use and volume of information on the card. The research was carried out on a sample of 148 bank cardholders in Romania from the Millennials and Generation Z. The values of the indicators for different categories of users of bank cards and different age categories can be determined based on the obtained results and the tests performed. The determined values of the indicators represent the basic elements for building a regression model that will help bank managers to optimize their personalized offers in relation to customer expectations.

Nowadays, word-of-mouth is a very important component of e-commerce activity because consumers are very sensitive to other people’s opinions. Depending on the companies’ politics, these opinions can be incentivized or non-incentivized. One of the major dilemmas consists in establishing which kind of word-of-mouth has more influence on customers’ perceptions. The purpose of this study is to assess the relationships between perceived argument quality (PAQ) and perceived source expertise (PSE), on the one hand, and electronic word-of-mouth adoption intention on the other hand, for an incentivized message compared to a non-incentivized message. We processed answers from two different random groups by using adapted PAQ and PSE inventories of questions. The constructs, latent variables and items were analyzed in IBM Amos software, and our findings confirm the hypotheses regarding the relationship between the attributes of the message (argument quality and source expertise) and message credibility. Additionally, we found a significant positive relationship between message credibility and electronic word-of-mouth adoption intention. Our research also explores the moderating role of the message type (incentivized vs. non-incentivized) in the relationships above, and we discovered that the message type significantly moderates the relationship between perceived argument quality and credibility, but the type of message does not moderate the relationship between message credibility and eWOM adoption intention.

This paper investigates the effect of network centrality and network density on the propensity to engage in positive and negative eWOM, using social networks usage as a moderating variable. The research method was Structural Equation Modeling, and the data were collected through a survey conducted on 436 respondents from Romania. Findings showed that centrality and density only affect negative eWOM intent, the relationship being stronger at higher levels of network usage. In consequence, influential network members are more readily inclined to produce unfavorable eWOM. Subsequently, companies should make continuous efforts to spot and turn around bad publicity online.

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to highlight the relevance of the factors that influence the satisfaction of e-commerce consumers in Romania and Moldova. The study aims to clearly define the main influence factors, so that the marketing managers of the online stores can adopt scientific well-founded decisions.Design/methodology/approachThe paper opted for a study including a large sample of 399 respondents from two countries. For the analysis of the factors influencing the e-commerce satisfaction, multiple linear regression analysis was implemented, and their differentiation within the two countries was highlighted by multivariate analysis of variance.FindingsThe research conducted and the results obtained show that there is a differentiation of the factors that influence the level of satisfaction of e-commerce users in Romania and Moldova.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is still limited in terms of population studied to only two countries: Romania and Moldova. Although the study is intended to be exhaustive by analyzing no less than 11 factors influencing the satisfaction generated by e-commerce, it is still limited to this group of representative factors. Another limitation has to do with the limited number of demographic variables the authors have included.Practical implicationsBased on the results, the managerial implications for e-commerce companies that want to uniquely address consumers in Romania and Moldova are related to the decisions of marketing and sales managers who must allocate budgets and resources to improve the eight aspects highlighted in the paper. Also, the e-commerce companies should not allocate resources for the implementation of functionalities such as in-app after sales services, the possibility to cancel an order or the live consultant support feature, because these aspects do not influence the satisfaction of e-commerce consumers in Romania and Moldova.Originality/valueThis paper is the first in the scientific literature that implements a comparative study on the influence factors regarding the e-commerce satisfaction in Romania and Moldova. Also, it is important to mention that the present study is an exhaustive one because it includes many influence factors that were analyzed separately in the previous research papers from literature review.

The purpose of this research is to define the level of significance for various indicators that influence the degree of consumer satisfaction regarding the use of FinTech technologies and services. The most important factors that influence the level of satisfaction when using FinTech services were considered: comfort and ease of use, legal regulations, ease of account opening, mobile payments features, crowdfunding options, international money transfers features, reduced costs associated with transactions, peer-to-peer lending, insurances options, online brokerage, cryptocoins options and exchange options. The study was conducted on a sample of 162 respondents, persons belonging to the Millennials and Generation Z generations. The values of the indicators for different categories of users of FinTech services and different categories of generations can be determined based on the statistical tests performed and the results obtained from the regression analysis. The values of the indicators are the basic elements for determining the regression model that will help the FinTech service vendors to make personalized decisions for each category of users so that the level of customer satisfaction is maximized. The study carried out within the present article is the first of its kind for Romania, because up to this moment in the specialized literature there are no such studies for Eastern Europe. The research we conducted aims to fill the gap existing in the literature and responds to the expectations and needs of stakeholders in the FinTechs’ business area. The results of the article are relevant to both stakeholders and the scientific community that is concerned about the impact of FinTech technologies.