More and more businesses are selling products and providing services through multiple channels. 3D virtual worlds are emerging to be one of the channels for companies to communicate with their customers. Being able to simulate similar experiences as customers have in real stores, virtual worlds are able to enhance product knowledge, attitude and purchase intention of customers. However, not all product attributes are able to be experienced virtually because not all kinds of senses (e.g. taste) can be digitzed and presented through a virtual reality interface. Applying theory of cognitive fit and media richness theory, we propose the products attributes that can be experienced virtually with the current technologies. These product attributes and their moderating effects on the relationships between virtual reality and product knowledge, attitude and purchase intention should be studied further so that companies can make decides on the investment in their presence in virtual worlds and the marketing strategies most appropriate for their products.
Despite polarizing arguments on the strategic potential of information technology (IT), academic research has yet to demonstrate clearly that information systems initiatives can lead to sustained competitive performance (CP). We investigate this question using data from 165 hotels affiliated with two brands of an international lodging chain. We study the effect of successful use and unreliability of an incremental IT-enabled self-service channel on overall CP. We find that the effect of the incremental service channel depends on the firm's organizational resources. We also show that different organizations experience significantly different use and unreliability rates. Further, we find that the positive association between the use of an IT-enabled self-service channel and CP endures over a 2-year period, despite competitors' widespread adoption of the technology enabling the incremental service channel (self-service kiosks). Our findings corroborate research on the strategic role of IT resources when appropriately coupled with complementary resources. They lead us to question the notion that IT is a strategic commodity. Indeed, the findings suggest that IT-dependent strategic initiatives have the potential to generate sustained CP, even when the technology that enables them appears 'simple'. These findings suggest the need for a theoretical explanation of the complementarities and interaction among the elements of IT-dependent strategic initiatives.
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