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Purpose While the idea that consumer ethnocentrism influences the willingness to buy domestic products is a well-known assumption for marketers, the purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating effect of consumer ethnocentrism on the willingness to buy domestic products in developing countries. Design/methodology/approach Hierarchical moderator regression analysis and simple slope analysis are used to test the postulated hypotheses, and 385 consumers in Taiwan are studied. Findings The findings revealed that consumer ethnocentrism, perceived quality, perceived price and perceived brand image are significantly associated with the willingness to buy domestic products. Moreover, consumer ethnocentrism significantly moderates the relationships of the model. Research limitations/implications Consumer ethnocentrism increases the positive effects of perceived quality and perceived brand image on the willingness to buy domestic products in developing countries, whereas it may increase the negative effect of perceived price on the willingness to buy domestic products. Practical implications The results of this study suggest that practitioners should not only improve the quality and brand image of domestic products but also avoid putting a high price on domestic products to increase the willingness to buy domestic products for consumers in developing countries. Originality/value This study advances the consumer ethnocentrism theory by adding the moderating effect of consumer ethnocentrism to the model.

Users who downloaded this article also downloaded:Norizan Kassim, Nor Asiah Abdullah, (2010),"The effect of perceived service quality dimensions on customer satisfaction, trust, and loyalty in e-commerce settings: A cross cultural analysis", Asia PacificIf you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to verify the relationship between switching costs and customer loyalty in e-commerce. Design/methodology/approach -The study conducted an empirical research. A total of 425 online shopping customers were invited from northeastern USA as samples.Findings -The findings show that switching costs positively influence customer loyalty. In addition, perceived risks will affect the relationship of switching costs and customer loyalty. For customers with low perceived risks, switching costs are also positively associated with customer loyalty. However, for customers with high perceived risks, the relationship of switching costs and customer loyalty is weak or negative. Research limitations/implications -One limitation is that mostly students were selected in the sample. The insights of this study can further validate the previous studies about the relationship of switching costs and customer loyalty, and suggest that perceived risks can be a moderating factor affecting this relationship. Practical implications -The study suggests that the practitioners should further understand the relationship among switching costs, perceived risks and customer loyalty for their customers. Originality/value -The paper contributes to the knowledge of perceived risks and how switching costs affect customer loyalty, particularly in e-commerce.

PurposeThis study aims to explore the impact of social capital on job performance when workers interact with coworkers through social media in organizations.Design/methodology/approachStructural equation modeling was conducted, and a sample of 230 workers in Taiwan was investigated.FindingsThis study found that bonding social capital has a greater impact on job performance than bridging social capital for interactions among coworkers through social media in organizations. Moreover, bridging social capital affects job performance more strongly for male workers than for female workers, but bonding social capital affects job performance more strongly for female workers than for male workers.Research limitations/implicationsThis study extended social capital theory by adding the mediating effects of job satisfaction and relational satisfaction and the moderating effect of gender into the model.Practical implicationsThis study suggests that company managers need to train workers how to use social media to appropriate their affordances and consider the work team relationship to position adequate strategies for male and female workers.Originality/valueThis study advances the previous knowledge of social capital theory for workers interacting with coworkers through social media in organizations.

Purpose -This paper aims to explore how perceived risk affects customer loyalty in e-commerce and how switching costs mediate in the relationship between perceived risk and customer loyalty. Design/methodology/approach -In this paper, structural equation modeling was conducted, and data on Internet shopping habits of 382 consumers in Taiwan were examined. Findings -The findings of this study revealed that lowering perceived risks can increase switching costs, which leads to customer loyalty with the service provider in e-commerce. Research limitations/implications -A sample bias may exist because the sampling was conducted through an online survey in a specific Web site. This study affirmed the theoretical framework regarding the mediation effect of switching costs on perceived risk and customer-loyalty relationships. Practical implications -To avoid the single effect of reducing perceived risk on customer loyalty, practitioners should be difficult for competitors to imitate. This can increase the barriers to competition, further lock in the customer and can prevent the switch to other service providers. Originality/value -The findings provide a new feasible approach to customer retention: a business can reduce customers' perceived risk to increase switching costs against the competition for customer retention in e-commerce.