international journal of market research

International Journal of Market Research Vol. 52 Issue 1

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Whose design is it anyway?

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1%.older;.78%.lower. income;.18%.middle. income;.5%.upper. income .1.Their. prior. experience. in. purchasing. lamps. was:. 22%. purchased. no.lamps;. 45%. purchased. one. or. two;. 33%. had. purchased. three. or. more.lamps.previously ..The.number.of.designers.recalled.was:.32%.could.name.none;.16%.named.one;.24%.named.two;.27%.could.name.three.or.more.designers .

Questionnaire contentData.were.collected.from.each.individual.on.their.aesthetic.aptitude.(CVPA.scale:.Bloch.et al ..2003) ..The.questions.used.to.measure.the. individuals.sensitivity.to.design.were:.(1).I.enjoy.seeing.displays.of.products.that.have.superior. designs;. (2). A. products. design. is. a. source. of. pleasure. for. me;.(3).I.see.things.in.a.products.design.that.other.people.tend.to.pass.over;.(4).I.have.the.ability.to.imagine.how.a.product.will.fit.in.with.designs.of.other.things.I.already.own;.and.(5).When.I.see.a.product.that.has.a.really.great.design,.I.feel.a.strong.urge.to.buy.it ..Respondents.prior.experience.with. lamps. was. measured. by. the. number. of. lamps. they. had. previously.purchased ..Their.design.knowledge.was.measured.by.asking.them.to.recall.the.names.of.any.designers.of.household.objects.and.furnishings.they.may.be.aware.of .

Conjoint designConjoint.design. is.used extensively. in.evaluating.design. issues.because. it.allows.evaluation.of.preference.weights. for. the.price.cue.separate. to. the.gestalt. or. the. design. issues. (Bloch. 1995) .. Data. collection. was. done. by.showing.pairs.of.pictures.of.the.lamps.on.the.computer.screen.and.asking.respondents.to.slide.the.computer.cursor.towards.the.one.they.preferred ..There. was. a. training. screen. session. of. how. to. use. the. cursor. scale. by.sliding.the.cursor.one.way.or.another.depending.on.the.strength.of.ones.preference. for.a.choice .. If.one. lamp.was.only.preferred.a. little. then. the.cursor.was.moved.only.slightly.towards.that.lamp ..If.one.lamp.was.greatly.preferred,.then.the.cursor.was.moved.completely.to.the.right.or.left ..They.could. easily. see. the. actual. lamps.while. they. rated. them.pairwise. on. the.computer .

1. It.is.likely.that.these.data.suffer.from.social.bias.in.under-reporting.ones.income.to.strangers,.and.regressing.ones.age.to.the.average ..What.is.important.are.the.reported.experience.and.knowledge.levels,.which.are.well.distributed .


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The model

The.respondents.rated.their.preference.for.the.lamps.on.a.22.cm.line.on.the.computer.screen,.labelled.at.the.left.anchor.I.prefer.the.left.lamp.very.much. and.at. the. right. anchor. I.prefer. the. right. lamp.very.much ..Two.new.lamps.appeared.for.each.judgement ..The.distance.from.the.middle.of.the.scale.to.the.preference.was.registered.electronically .

The.corresponding.values.of.the.scores.of.subject.p,.with.lamp.i.to.the.left.and.lamp.j.to.the.right,.was.denoted.yijp ..It.is.assumed.that.the.numerical.score. increases. with. the. strength. of. the. preference. for. j. over. i,. and. the.equal.but.opposite.preferences.(.j.over.i,.and.i.over j).corresponds.to.equal.but.opposite.scores ..Thus.for.subject.p,.yijp. is. the.assessed.preferences.of.lamp.j.over.lamp.i,.and.yjip.is.the.assessed.preference.of.lamp.i.over.lamp.j ..If,.for.example,.yijp.is.positive,.j.is.preferred.over.i ..If.yijp.is.negative,.i.is.preferred.over.j .

The.underlying.assumptions.of.the.mathematical.model.are.that.the.yijps.are. independent. random. variables. and. normally. distributed. with. mean.value.E(yijp).=.j. .i,. i.. j. and. i,.j.=.1,.2,.3 ..As. the.only.difference.of.s.are.of. interest,.one.can.add.the.restriction. that. the.s. should.sum.to.zero ..When.price.is.added.to.the.evaluation.of.the.lamps,.another.variable.is.added ..The.score.of.subject.p.with.lamp.i,.with.price.k.to.the.left.and.lamp. j. with. price. l. to. the. right. was. denoted:. y(ik)(.jl)p .. Again. y(ik)(.jl)p.are.assumed.independent.random.variables.and.normally.distributed.with.mean.value.E(y(ik)(.jl)p).=.(j..i).+.(l..k),.i..j,.i,.j.=.1,.2,.3.(lamps) ..l..k;.l,.k.=.1,.2,.3.(prices),.where.1.+.2.+.3.=.0.and.1.+.2.+.3.=.0 ..This.is.the.model.for.the.conjoint.layout .

The.equation.for.no.preference.among.the.lamps.is:.1.=.2.=.3.(=.0)The.equation.for.no.preference.among.the.prices.is:.1.=.2.=.3.(=.0)

As.the.equations.are.general.linear.models,.they.are.tested.with.F.tests .

Results

Study 1: Evaluation of lamps without external cues

In.the.first.study,.47.individuals.(22.women.and.25.men).rated.the.lamps.labelled.with.the.letters.Q,.R.and.S ..Respondents.were.not.told.the.names.or.origins.of.the.lamps ..After.they.rated.the.three.pairs.of.lamps.naked,.the.respondents.were.asked.to.rate.them.again,.this. time.with.the.actual.prices.of.each. lamp.rotated.among.the.choices ..A.full. factorial.was.used.with.the.price.variable.yielding.nine.paired.comparisons .


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With. no. price. or. contextual. information,. lamp. R. ( R. =. 83 .33). was.preferred. strongly. to. lamp. Q. ( Q. =. 6 .33),. which. again. was. preferred.strongly.to.lamp.S.( S.=.89 .67);.F(2,139).=.19 .24,.p.


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lamp .. However,. when. asked. which. was. the. designer. lamp,. most. people.misidentified.the.lamp.that.was.least.preferred.as.the.designer.lamp ..There.were.no.differences.in.the.correct.identification.of.the.lamps.between.men.and.women.(2.=.0 .40,.df.=.1,.N .S .) .

The.data.on.previous.experience.in.lamp.purchases.were.classified.into.three.categories:.(1).those.that.had.never.purchased.a.lamp.before.(N.=.9);.(2).those.that.had.purchased.one.or.two.lamps.(N.=.22);.and.(3).those.that.had.purchased.three.or.more.lamps.(N.=.15) ..Again.a.chi-square.analysis.of.guess.as.to.which.was.the.designer.lamp.and.previous.lamp.purchasing.experience.was.not.significant.(2.=.3 .45,.df.=.2,.N .S .) ..Respondents.were.also. asked. to. recall. any. designers. they. were. aware. of,. and. we. classified.their.responses.into.four.groups:.(1).those.who.recalled.no.designers.(N.=.14);.(2).those.who.could.name.one.designer.(N.=.7);.(3).those.who.recalled.two.designers.(N.=.16);.and.(4).those.who.recalled.three.or.more.designers.(N. =. 10). (no. one. named. four. and. one. person. named. five. designers) ..None. of. the. respondents. named. the. designer,. Noguchi,. used. in. this. set.of. experiments .. There. was. no. relationship. between. recall. of. number. of.designers.and.ability.to.identify.the.correct.designer.lamp.(2=5 .26,.df.=.3,.N .S .) .

When.the.correlations.were.examined,.the.data.showed.that.there.was.no.correlation.between.number.of.lamps.previously.purchased.and.number.of. designers. recalled. (r. =. 0 .05. N .S .) .. There. was. also. no. relationship.between.number.of.designers.recalled.and.the.Centrality.of.Visual.Product.Aesthetics.Scale.(r.=.0 .16,.N .S .) .

Study 2: Branded evaluations

Fifty-two. new. respondents. (32. women. and. 20. men). participated. in. the.second.experiment ..In.this.study,.the.lamps.were.labelled.or.branded.as.the.Chinese.lamp,.the.Isamu.Noguchi.lamp.and.the.IKEA.lamp ..Therefore.the. lamps. were. identified. as. originating. with. distinct. manufacturers,. or.lamps.with.brand.names ..The.respondents.were.not.told.who.Noguchi.is,.or.that.he.is.a.famous.designer .

The. results. show. that. the. Noguchi. lamp. was. still. preferred. ( R. =.68). over. the. other. two. lamps. (F(2,154). =. 9 .03,. p.


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or. even. a. faulty. product .. The. name. IKEA. may. have. a. very. positive.effect.on. the. evaluation.due. to. the. familiarity.of. the.brand.name. in. the.marketplace ..For.IKEA,.this.may.be.an.example.of.Zajoncs.(1980).theory.that. familiarity. breeds. liking .. When. we. compare. scores. from. the. first.experiment,. we. see. the. weight. for. the. IKEA. lamp. shifted. from. 90. to.31,.while.the.Chinese-labelled.lamp.shifted.from.+6.to.37 ..Therefore.a.well-known.brand.name.benefits.the.perception.of.the.object ..The.Chinese.brand.name.may.have.a.past.general.negative.reputation.and.this.could.be.influencing.perceptions .

When.the.prices.were.added.to.the.evaluation,.the.scales.compressed,.showing.an.effect.similar.to.that.seen.in.the.first.experiment:.Chinese.lamp. Q.=.13 .33;.Noguchi.lamp. R.=.30 .67;.IKEA.lamp. S.=.17 .33 ..There.was.no. significant.difference. in. the. evaluation.between. the.Chinese. and.IKEA.lamps.with.the.prices.attached .

The.respondents.were.then.asked.whether.they.would.consider.buying.any.of.the.lamps ..Thirty-nine.per.cent.said.they.would.not.buy.any.(same.as.the.first.experiment);.8%.said.they.would.buy.the.Chinese.lamp;.39%.said.they.would.buy.the.Noguchi.lamp;.and.15%.said.they.would.buy.the.IKEA.lamp ..Therefore.with.the.brand.names.attached.to.the.lamps,.the.purchase.preference.rates.for.the.Chinese.lamp.and.the.IKEA.lamp.inversed ..Most.people. still.preferred. the.actual.designer. lamp ..Again. respondents. stated.their.purchase.intentions.without.knowing.which.price.belonged.to.which.lamp,.so.price.could.not.be.used.as.an.indicator.of.any.one.lamp .

These. data. were. analysed. by. gender. and. we. found. that. slightly. more.women. than. men. indicated. they. would. buy. none. of. the. lamps. or. the.Noguchi.lamp.(2.=.7 .2,.p.=.0 .07) ..We.then.looked.at.the.possible.relation.between.buying. intentions.and. their.previous.purchase.experience. (2.=.9 .5,.df.=.6,.N .S .).and.knowledge.of.designers.(2.=.4 .3,.df.=.9,.N .S .) ..No.significant. relationships. were. found. among. any. of. these. variables. with.choice.or.evaluation.of.the.lamps .

Study 3: Prime the designer

In.the.third.study,.36.new.respondents.(21.women.and.15.men).evaluated.the.three.rice.paper.lamps.again,.labelled.only.Q,.R.and.S ..This.group.was.informed.at.the.beginning.of.the.experiment.that.one.lamp,.but not which one,. was. designed. by. the. Japanese-American. sculptor. Isamu. Noguchi,.and. that.his. sculptures.can.be. seen.at. famous. local.and. international.art.museums ..That.is,.the.subjects.were.primed.for.designer.and.given.factual.information.about.the.designer.and.his.fame ..The.very.first.question.posed.


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to.the.respondents.was:.Which.one.is.the.Noguchi.lamp?.The.responses.were. as. follows:. 6%. thought. it. was. the. Chinese. lamp;. 36%. correctly.identified.the.Noguchi.lamp;.and.58%.wrongly.identified.the.IKEA.lamp.as.the.designer.Noguchi.lamp ..Again,.the.majority.of.respondents.selected.the.IKEA.lamp.as.the.designer.lamp,.just.as.they.did.in.the.first.experiment .

The.respondents.then.went.through.the.same.procedure.as.for.the.first.experiment,.rating.the.preference.of.the.lamps.labelled.Q,.R.and.S,.with.and. without. the. price. factorial .. Here. almost. opposite. results. to. those.from.the.first.experiment.were.found.for.the.preference.of.the.IKEA.and.the. Chinese. lamps .. The. preference. weights,. when. the. respondents. were.primed.that.one.was.a.designer.lamp,.were.as.follows:. Q.=.98 .67;. R.=.107 .33;. S.=.8 .67.(F(2,106).=.24 .63,.p.


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No. doubt. the. combination. of. good. design,. good. brand. and. good. price.would.be.unbeatable .

CVPA scale and preference evaluation over the three studies

The.computed.Cronbachs.alpha.reliability.for.these.five.items.on.CVPA,.over. three. different. samples,. was. 0 .67,. 0 .85. and. 0 .84 .. When. consumer.preferences. for. the. lamps. were. examined. by. the. mean. split. on. CVPA.scores,.the.data.showed.that.both.low.and.high.scorers.equally.preferred.the. Noguchi. lamp .. No. matter. what. other. information. was. provided,.the.Noguchi. lamp.was.positively.evaluated.and.preferred.over. the.other.choices .

Differences.were.found.in.experiments.two.and.three.with.regard.to.how.low. and. high. CVPA. scorers. evaluated. the. choices .. However,. there. does.not.seem.to.be.a.clear.answer.on.which.consumers.can.identify.a. good.design.using.the.CVPA.scale ..Those.scoring.high.on.the.CVPA.evaluated.the.IKEA.lamp.less.than.the.other.choices.only.when.it.was.without.any.brand. or. designer. prime .. In. fact,. those. scoring. high. on. the. CVPA. were.also.more.likely.to.think.the.designer.lamp.was.the.IKEA.one,.when.it.was.not,.and.evaluated.it.more.positively.than.those.in.the.first.experiment.(see.Table.2) ..Respondents.who.scored.relatively.lower.on.the.CVPA.scale.had.a.very.low.preference.for.the.IKEA.lamp.and.a.strong.negative.preference.for.the.Chinese.lamp ..The.label.Chinese.lamp.might.be.interpreted.as.a.sign.of.a.non-designer.lamp.and.this.might.be.interpreted.as.a.switch-off .of.the.design.context.framing .

Discussion and conclusions

Over.all.three.studies,.the.data.found.that.the.design.of.the.lamps.affects.individual.preference,.and.hence.the.lamps.as.objects.are.indeed.different ..In. general. the. lamp. that. was. well. crafted. by. an. established. artist. was.

Table 1 Guesses of which is the designer lamp and buying intentions for Study 3

Designerguess

Indicatedselection R(correctNoguchi) S(incorrectIKEA)

No purchase intention 38% 33%Lamp Q 0% 6%Lamp R 62% 33%Lamp S 0% 29%

Exact likelihood ratio (2-sided) 2 = 7.9; df = 3; p < 0.1.


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preferred,.and.hence.the.designs.themselves.clearly.contain.information ..In.the.first.experiment,.the.interesting.result.is.the.Noguchi.guess ..Very.few.people.rightly.guessed.that.R.was.the.real.designer.lamp,.despite.the.fact.that.it.was.preferred ..Most.people.wrongly.guessed.the.odd-shaped.lamp,.S,.was.the.designer.lamp,.but.it.was.least.preferred.by.the.respondents..that. is,.people.associated. the. designer. label.with. the.avant-garde. shape.they.did.not.really.prefer.when.it.was.unlabelled.or.when.they.were.not.primed .

There. is,. not. surprisingly,. no. correlation. between. the. guesses. as. to.which.is.the.designer.lamp.and.design.aptitude,.prior.experience.in.buying.lamps,. gender. or. knowledge. of. designers .. However,. most. people. chose.the.Noguchi.lamp.as.the.one.they.would.prefer.to.buy,.and.this.was.not.related. to. their. ability. to. identify. the. designer. lamp ..Lamp.S,.which. is.shaped.like.a.conch.and.lacking.a.tripod,.may.take.time.to.perceive.and.judge,.hence.perhaps.it.was.given.a.lower.preference.based.on.the.theory.of.cognitive.consistency..that. is,. the.design.of. the.conch.as.a. lamp.was.not.consistent.with.how.they.think.a.lamp.should.be.formed ..The.reader.is.also.reminded.that.the.respondents.never.knew.and.were.not.told.the.actual.prices.of.each.lamp.and.therefore.could.not.use.price.as.a.cue.for.designer .

The. results. of. the. second. experiment. found. rather. strong. effects. for.brand. name. and. are. perhaps. to. be. expected .. Here. the. Chinese. label.resulted. in.a.more.negative.evaluation. than.when. respondents.evaluated.

Table 2 Differences in preferences between low and high CVPA scores

LowerCVPA HigherCVPA

Experiment1:Nakedlamps N = 21 N = 26Q 13.97 0.41R 82.11 84.58S 96.08 84.11 F(2,137) = 0.11; N.S.

Experiment2:Branded N = 31 N = 21Chinese lamp 10.14 63.33Noguchi lamp 66.51 82.33IKEA lamp 56.37 19.00 F(2,152) = 2.67; p = 0.07

Experiment3:Primedbydesigner N = 24 N = 12Q 66.74 162.25R 101.60 118.11S 34.86 44.14 F(2,104) = 4.27; p < 0.05


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the. same. lamp. without. the. Chinese. label .. Made-in-China. products. are.frequently. associated. with. poor. quality. and. are. the. source. of. countless.deficient.product.recalls.(BBC News.2007) ..The.cue.may.be.negative,.and.hence.it.interferes.with.the.design.elements.of.the.lamp ..The.lamp.that.was.evaluated.the.most.negatively.(S).now.turned.positive.with.the.IKEA.brand.label .. IKEA. is. a. well-known. international. brand. representing. value. for.money.(especially.to.the.middle-class,.and.most.of.our.subjects.were.self-described. as. middle-class) .. This. positive. well-known. cue. overrode. what.was.perceived. as. a. less. desirable.design.when.unbranded ..Therefore. the.connotations.of. the.brand.go.far.beyond.the.visual.aspects.of. the.design.and. people. may. rely. on. deep-seated. or. previously. learned. beliefs. about.names.or.brands.for.evaluation.(Hoeffler.&.Keller.2003) .

Study. 3. showed. how. priming. respondents. about. a. designer. and.providing. concrete. information. about. the. fame. of. the. designer. shifted.preferences ..Furthermore,.the.initial.guess.of.which.was.the.designer.lamp.appeared.to.anchor.their.preferences ..The.design.knowledge.had.a.strong.influence.when.matched.with.a.real.superior.design ..So.the.answer.to.the.question. of. How. do. you. convert. price-sensitive. consumers. to. design-sensitive.consumers,.so.they.are.willing.to.pay.more.for.their.goods?.may.lie. in. giving. consumers. concrete. information. about. the. designer. at. the.point.of.purchase ..It.is.likely.that.the.more.prestigious.the.information.is.perceived.as.or.valued.by.the.consumer,.the.more.likely.the.shift.will.be.to.the.designer.brand.name .

In.this.study.respondents.were.primed,.in.the.narrative,.that.the.sculptor.Isamu.Noguchi.has.his. sculptures. located. in. famous.art.museums ..These.are. strong. institutions. that. may. have. an. equivalent. effect. as. a. strong.brand ..The.effect.of.a.designer.name,.known.only.to.a.few.people,.when.associated.with.a.strong.institution.may.increase.the.desire.to.own.objects.made. by. the. designer .. This. relationship. can. be. thought. of. in. terms. of.Heiders. Balance. Theory. (1958) .. The. individual. highly. regards. the. art.museum,.and.if.the.designers.goods.are.in.the.art.museum,.they.must.be.valuable.and.worth.the.individual.owning.at.a.higher.price ..Therefore.this.shift. to. the. designer. good. keeps. the. cognitive. aspects. of. the. individual.positively.in.balance .

Research implications

The.studies.are.valid. in. that. they.are.conducted. in. situations.where. real.consumers.are.conducting.their.business ..Replications.with.other.product.categories.and.actual.purchases.are.needed.to.show.the.robustness.of.the.


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findings ..The.links.between.design,.designer.and.brand.name.are.ripe.for.further. research .. The. name. of. a. designer. like. Alessandro. Mendini. may.add.to.the.brand,.like.Alessi,.and.add.recognition.and.image.to.a.product.(Keller.1993) ..Future.research.also.needs.to.look.at.the.differences.between.publicly. consumed. luxury. goods. versus. privately. consumed. necessities ..While. this. study. found. an. effect. for. designer. brand. using. a. relatively.privately.consumed.good,.the.effects.for.publicly.consumed.luxury.goods.may.be.even.more.pronounced .

A. direct. extension. of. this. study. might. be. to. establish. a. standard. for.evaluating. good. design .. It. seems. essential. to. have. an. expert. view. of.the.particular. designs .. For. instance,. a. panel. of. acclaimed.design. experts.who.have.academic.credentials.and/or.serve.as.competition. judges.might.establish.a. frame.of. reference.of.measurement. in. connection.with. good.design ..A.different.approach.might.be.to.reduce.the.emphasis.on.branding.and. to. establish. design. as. the. major. issue .. Doing. that. allows. one. to.measure.how.much.various.forms.of.framing.will.add.to.the.pure.designs .

The. design. effects. should. be. reinforced. when. supported. by. good.branding,. labelling. and/or. relevant. concrete. information. pertaining. to.the. design .. Market. researchers. can. assist. companies. by. testing. specific.information.in.their.communication.strategies.and.measuring.the.responses.to. the. brand,. gaining. a. deeper. understanding. of. consumers. evaluations.and.price.trade-offs.for.design.elements ..They.may.use.this.information.as.a.key.element.in.creating.demand.for.originals,.as.opposed.to.imitations,.knock-offs.or.retail.brand.copies .

There.are.no.doubt.individual.differences.in.the.ability.to.identify.good.design ..However,.we.cannot.confidently.say.that.our.measures.were.able.to.capture.those.differences ..It.could.be.that.cognitively.based.paper.and.pencil.measures.correlate.with.learned.inferences.and.not.with.automatic.reactions. to. the. stimulus .. Experiments. using. eye. tracking. and. response.times.might.add.to.the.knowledge.of. important.design.elements,.as. they.are.used.as.a.proxy.for.processing.fluency,.which. is.a.measure.for. liking.(Lee.&.Labroo.2004) ..Market. research. is.now.relying.on.more. invasive.measures,. such. as. fMRI,. to. establish. real. reactions. to. different. package.designs.(Reimann.et al ..2008) ..This.integration.of.brain.activity.to.market.research.may.soon.become.the.status.quo .


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About the authors

Gorm. Gabrielsen. holds. a. Masters. in. Mathematics. and. Mathematical.Statistics. from. the.University.of.Copenhagen. (1976) .. Since.1983.he.has.been.appointed.as.Associate.Professor.of.Statistics.at.Copenhagen.Business.School ..He.has.published.on.theoretical.matters.and.worked.as.a.statistical.consultant.for.both.companies.as.well.as.official.organizations ..His.special.areas. of. interest. are. general. social. science,. forensic. psychiatry,. design.management.and.food.research ..

Tore. Kristensen. is. Professor. of. Strategic. Design. at. the. Copenhagen.Business. School .. His. published. work. concerns. design. of. products. and.the. value. of. design. for. a. company .. His. research. includes. design. of.


110

environments. as. seen. in. a. consumer. perspective,. as. well. as. the. use. of.physical. space. to. increase. creativity .. His. most. recent. research. involves.sensorics.and.the.value.of.music .

Judith.Lynne.Zaichkowsky.is.Professor.of.Marketing.and.Communications.at.the.Copenhagen.Business.School ..She.received.her.PhD.from.UCLA.in.Marketing,. with. minors. in. Psychology. and. Statistics .. Dr. Zaichkowskys.1985. Journal of Consumer Research.paper.on. the. involvement.construct.has.been.recognised.as.one.of.the.top.cited.articles.in.consumer.behaviour.and.one.of. the.most. influential.articles. in. the. field.of.advertising ..She. is.also. the. author. of. The Psychology behind Trademark Infringement and Counterfeiting .

Address. correspondence. to:. Judith. Lynne. Zaichkowsky,. Professor. of.Marketing.and.Communications,.Department.of.Marketing,.Copenhagen.Business.School,.Solbjerg.Plads.3,.2000.Frederiksberg,.Denmark .

Email:.zaichkow@sfu .ca


111 2010 The Market Research SocietyDOI: 10.2501/S1470785310201089

Purchasing behaviour in an online supermarketThe applicability of E-S-QUAL

Frederic MarimonInternational University of CataloniaRichard VidgenUniversity of New South WalesStuart BarnesUniversity of East AngliaEduard CristbalUniversity of Lleida

The.purpose.of.this.paper.is.twofold:.first,.to.assess.the.applicability.of.the.four.dimensions.of.online.service.quality,.as.proposed.in.the.E-S-QUAL.scale,.to.the.setting.of.an.online.supermarket;.and,.second,.to.propose.and.test.a.model.that.links. these. e-quality. dimensions. with. loyalty. and. purchasing. behaviour. in. the.setting.of.an.online.supermarket .. An.online.questionnaire.was.used.to.survey.131.customers.of.an.online.Spanish.supermarket.using. the.E-S-QUAL.scale ..The.data.were.analysed.by.exploratory.factor. analysis. to. test. the. applicability. of. the. E-S-QUAL. scale. to. the. setting. of.an.online.supermarket.and.generate.an.extended.model.(including.constructs.for.perceived.value,.loyalty.and.actual.purchases) ..The.model.was.then.checked.by.structural.equation.modelling.(SEM) .. The.four.dimensions.proposed.by.the.E-S-QUAL.scale.were.confirmed.in.the.setting.of.an.online.Spanish.supermarket ..The.influence.of.these.various.quality.dimensions.on.perceived.value,.loyalty.and.actual.purchases.are.delineated.here .. The. study. reassures. online. vendors. that. E-S-QUAL. is. an. appropriate.instrument.by.which. to.measure.online.service.quality ..The.study.also.provides.empirical.evidence.that.high.levels.of.e-service.quality.have.a.positive. influence.on.purchasing.behaviour .. The.study.is.the.first.to.provide.definitive.empirical.evidence.of.the.commonly.presumed. linkage. between. the. quality. dimensions. proposed. in. the. E-S-QUAL.scale. and. the. constructs. of. loyalty. and. actual. . not. self-reported. . purchase.behaviour .

Received.(in.revised.form):.28.January.2009

Purchasing behaviour in an online supermarket

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Introduction

The.well-known.SERVQUAL.instrument.(Parasuraman.et al..1985,.1988;.Parasuraman.et al..1991).has.become.one.of.the.most.widely.used.generic.measures.of.service.quality ..More.recently,.Parasuraman.et al..(2005).have.developed.a.new.instrument,.known.as.E-S-QUAL,.to.assess.service.quality.in.the.context.of.electronic.commerce.(e-commerce) ..The.E-S-QUAL.scale.is. composed.of.22. items.arranged. in. four.dimensions. for.measuring. the.service.quality.delivered.by.online.retail.websites ..Although.this.scale.has.been.in.existence.for.only.a.few.years,.it.has.nevertheless.sparked.debate.in.the.literature.with.regard.to.its.efficacy.(Ingle.&.Connolly.2006;.Kim.et al..2006;.Boshoff.2007;.Connolly.2007) .

The.purpose.of.the.present.study.is.to.explore.and.clarify.some.aspects.of. this. debate .. In. general,. criticism. of. E-S-QUAL. has. focused. on. the.interrelated.issues.of.its.structure.and.its.applicability.to.various.settings ..Questions.have.been.raised.about.the.number.and.nature.of.the.dimensions.of.service.quality.proposed.in.the.instrument.(Collier.&.Bienstock.2006;.Boshoff.2007),.while.other.authors.have.noted.that.there.are.few.reports.of. practitioners. having. actually. applied. the. measure. (Ingle. &. Connolly.2006;.Kim.et al ..2006;.Boshoff.2007) .

In. addition,. the.present. authors.note. that,.whatever. the.merits. of. the.E-S-QUAL. scale,. it. is. of. interest. that. there. are. few. (if. any). studies. that.have.established.an.empirical.link.between.service.quality.and.actual.sales.in.the.online.environment ..Although.some.studies.have.proposed.models.linking.e-quality.with.loyalty.(Ribbink.et al..2004;.Enzmann.&.Schneider.2005;.Chiou.&.Shen.2006),.none.appears. to.have.established.a.definite.link.between.online.service.quality.and.actual.purchases .

The.objectives.of.the.present.study.are.therefore.twofold:

1 .. to.explore.the.suitability.of.E-S-QUAL.for.application.in.a.particular.e-commerce.setting.(an.online.Spanish.supermarket),.and

2 .. to. analyse. how. website. quality. impacts. upon. customer. loyalty. and.actual.e-sales .

The. structure. of. the. paper. is. as. follows .. In. the. next. section. we. discuss.the.literature.and.the.development.of.the.research.model.and.hypotheses.tested.in.the.study ..This.is.followed.by.a.section.outlining.the.methodology.used.in.the.research ..After.that.we.report.on.the.findings.of.our.analysis,.including. factor. analysis,. PLS,. and. tests. for. validity. and. reliability. of.the. structural.model ..The.penultimate. section.discusses. the. findings. and.provides. juxtaposition.with.the. literature ..Finally,. the. last.section.rounds.


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off. with. conclusions,. including. implications. for. future. research. and.practice.in.this.area .

Literature and research model

E-S-QUAL.(Parasuraman.et al..2005).was.not.the.first.attempt.to.establish.a.measurement.scale.of.various.aspects.of.e-commerce.service ..According.to. several. reviews. of. the. literature. in. this. area. (Barnes. 2006;. Cristbal.&.Marimon.2007;.Li.&.Suomi.2007),. the.pioneers. in.assessing.website.quality.have.been.Barnes. and.Vidgen. (2000,.2002),. and.Loiacono.et al..(2000,. 2007) .. Each. of. these. research. teams. developed. their. own. scale.separately,.and.both.called.it.WEBQUAL.(although.it.was.the.latter.who.formally.registered.the.term) ..However,.as.Kim.et al. (2006).have.pointed.out,.both.of.these.scales.focus.on.the.user.experience.and.technical.quality.of.websites,.rather.than.on.the.quality.of.the.entire.service.provided ..Other.significant.contributions.in.this.emerging.area.of.research.have.been.made.by. Yoo. and. Donthu. (2001),. who. developed. the. so-called. SITEQUAL.scale,.and.van.Riel.et al..(2001),.who.identified.three.dimensions.that.can.be. used. to. evaluate. overall. customer. satisfaction. and. intention. to. use. a.website.again.in.the.future .

This. stream. of. research. on. e-quality. has. evolved. in. parallel. with. a.marked.increase.in.online.sales,.which.has.triggered.a.growing.interest.in.the.measurement.of.the.quality.of.online.services ..Web.presence.and.low.prices.were.previously.believed.to.be.key.drivers.of.success.(Yang.&.Fang.2004);. however,. it. has. become. apparent. more. recently. that. this. is. not.enough.(Kim.et al ..2006) ..In.these.circumstances,.instruments.such.as.E-S-QUAL. might. have. been. expected. to. attract. interest. among. e-commerce.vendors.that.wish.to.make.an.accurate.assessment.of.the.quality.they.are.providing. to. their. customers .. However,. several. authors. have. noted. that.there.are.few.reports.of.practitioners.having.actually.applied.the.measure.(Ingle.&.Connolly.2006;.Kim.et al ..2006;.Boshoff.2007) .

The.E-S-QUAL.scale.(Parasuraman.et al..2005).is.composed.of.22.items.arranged.in.four.dimensions.for.measuring.the.service.quality.delivered.by.online.retail.websites ..The.four.dimensions.are.as.follows .

1 .. Efficiency:.ease.and.speed.of.accessing.the.site.(eight.items) .2 .. System availability:. reliable. technical. functioning. of. the. site. (four.

items) .3 .. Fulfilment: the.extent.to.which.the.sites.promises.about.order.delivery.

and.product.availability.are.fulfilled.(seven.items) .


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4 .. Privacy:. the. degree. to. which. the. site. is. safe. and. protects. customer.information.(three.items) .

Some. academics. have. expressed. concerns. about. the. scale .. In. particular,.Boshoff. (2007). has. contended. that. a. six-factor. configuration. provides. a.better. explanation. of. e-commerce. service. quality. than. the. original. four-factor. model. of. Parasuraman. et al .. (2005) .. Four. of. Boshoff s. (2007).factors.were.quite.close.to.the.original.model,.but.two.new.ones.have.also.been.postulated.by.splitting.the.original.fulfilment.factor.into.two.factors.(called. delivery. and. reliability) .. However,. despite. these. misgivings,.Boshoff. (2007).has.acknowledged. that.E-S-QUAL. is,. in.general,.a.useful.tool .

Other. authors,. such. as. Connolly. (2007),. have. concluded. that. the.E-S-QUAL.model.is.useful.in.a.variety.of.situations ..Collier.and.Bienstock.(2006).also.applauded.E-S-QUAL.as.an.important.step.in.conceptualising.e-service.quality,. although. they.proposed.a.wider.model.with. some.new.constructs;.their.main.objection.was.that.E-S-QUAL.uses.only.reflective.indicators,. whereas. they. contended. that. e-service. quality. is. made. up. of.formative.indicators .

Given. that. the. instrument. is. quite. recent,. debate. about. its. utility. is.to. be. expected,. both. within. the. academic. field. and. among. e-business.practitioners. as. well .. It. is. apparent. that. further. research. and. practical.testing.of.this.instrument.is.required .

Whatever. the. merits. of. the. E-S-QUAL. scale,. it. is. of. interest. that. few.(if. any). studies. have. linked. e-commerce. quality. with. e-commerce. sales ..There.are.some.studies.that.have.proposed.models.linking.e-quality.with.loyalty.(Ribbink.et al ..2004;.Enzmann.&.Schneider.2005;.Chiou.&.Shen.2006),. but. it. is. difficult. to. find. any. literature. that. attempts. to. explain.whether. (and. how). quality. impacts. on. actual. purchases .. For. example,.Huang.(2008).found.that.loyalty.to.a.web-based.travel.agency.resulted.in.an. increased. intention. to.purchase. from.that.agency,.but. the.author.had.nothing.to.say.about.actual.sales .

Research model

Drawing.on.E-S-QUAL.and.the.work.of.Boshoff.(2007),.who.hypothesised.relationships. between. the. previously. identified. dimensions. of. e-service.quality. (efficiency,. system. availability,. fulfilment. and. privacy). and.the. constructs. perceived. value. and. loyalty,. we. extend. the. model. to.include.actual.purchases.(Figure.1) .


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The.hypotheses.can.be.summarised.as.follows .

Hypothesis H1:. Higher. levels. of. efficiency. in. a. website. are.positively.related.to.higher.levels.of.perceived.value .

Hypothesis H2:.Higher.levels.of.system.availability.in.a.website.are.positively.related.to.higher.levels.of.perceived.value .

Hypothesis H3: Higher. levels. of. fulfilment. in. a. website. are.positively.related.to.higher.levels.of.perceived.value .

Hypothesis H4: Higher. levels. of. privacy. in. a. website. are.positively.related.to.higher.levels.of.perceived.value .

Hypothesis H5: Higher.levels.of.perceived.value.in.a.website.are.positively.related.to.higher. levels.of. loyalty.with.regard.to.that.website .

Hypothesis H6:.Higher.levels.of.loyalty.with.regard.to.a.website.are.positively.related.to.higher.levels.of.actual.purchases.on.that.website .

Figure 1 Hypothesised relationships between the dimensions of e-service quality and the constructs of perceived value, loyalty, and actual purchases

H6H5

H1

H4

H2

H3

ActualpurchasesLoyalty

Eciency

Systemavailability

Perceivedvalue

Privacy

Fullment


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The.first.five.hypotheses.are.similar.to.the.Boshoff.(2007).model ..For.the.sixth.hypothesis,.the.present.study.added.a.new.dependent.variable.(actual.purchases),.which.has.not.been.reported.on.previously.in.e-service.research .

Methodology

Data collection and sample

The. setting. for. the. research. is. a. Spanish. supermarket,. Plusfresc,. which.provides. an. online. ordering. system. to. its. customers .. Plusfresc. is. a.supermarket.chain.with.over.75.years.of.history,.which.currently.has.69.shops. and. more. than. 850. workers .. It. is. the. leader. in. sales. in. the. local.area. where. it. operates,. with. more. than. 150,000. customers. per. week.and. a. turnover. of. 113. million. in. 2007 .. The. supermarket. has. a. long.and.substantial.history.of. innovation.and.customer.orientation .. In.1996,.it. introduced. its. loyalty. card,. Plusi,. the. first. customer. marketing. card.in. Catalonia .. In. 1998,. Plusfresc. won. the. Global. Electronic. Marketing.Award.in.the.United.States.for.the.best.electronic.marketing.programme.presented. by. a. non-American. company .. Following. this. trajectory. of.technology.adoption,.in.2001.Plusfresc.developed.its.online.presence.and.by.2007.was.getting.more.than.16,600.visits,.resulting.in.4284.orders.with.an.average.expenditure.of.111 .5 ..Although.online.sales,.at.479,231,.are.a. relatively. small. part.of. total. turnover. they. are. recognised. as. a. growth.area.for.sales.and.a.strategic.capability.for.Plusfresc .

The.E-S-QUAL. instrument. (Parasuraman. et al.. 2005).was. adapted. for.application.in.the.case.studied.here ..Table.1.provides.a.list.of.the.quality.dimensions.(and.their.items).used.in.the.present.study ..As.in.the.original.E-S-QUAL.model,.responses.were.recorded.on.five-point.Likert-type.scales.with.anchors.of.1.=.strongly.disagree.and.5.=.strongly.agree ..Responses.to.the.items.constituting.perceived.value.and.loyalty.were.made.on.a.five-point.Likert-type.scale.with.anchors.of.1.=.poor.and.5.=.excellent .

Only. two. slight. modifications. to. items. (both. within. the. dimension.of. fulfilment). were. made. from. the. original. E-S-QUAL. scale .. The.supermarket. delivers. customer. orders. daily. on. a. fixed. delivery. schedule.with. a. failure. rate. close. to. zero .. To. reflect. this. operating. environment,.item.FUL3.was.removed.and.item.FUL7.was.reworded.to.assess.delivery.convenience.rather.than.delivery.forecast.accuracy .

Table. 2. shows. the. items. used. for. perceived. value. and. loyalty. (the.same. that. were. used. in. Parasuraman. et al .. 2005),. with. the. same. Likert.scale.from.1.=.strongly.disagree.to.5.=.strongly.agree .


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Table 1 Questionnaire factors and items for service quality (adapted from E-S-QUAL)*

EfficiencyEFF1 This site makes it easy to find what I need.EFF2 It makes it easy to get anywhere on the site.EFF3 It enables me to complete a transaction quickly.EFF4 Information at this site is well organised.EFF5 It loads its pages fast.EFF6 This site is simple to use.EFF7 This site enables me to get on to it quickly.EFF8 This site is well organised.

System availabilitySYA1 This site is always available for business. SYA2 This site launches and runs right away.SYA3 This site does not crash.SYA4 Pages at this site do not freeze after I enter my order information.

FulfilmentFUL1 It delivers orders when promised.FUL2 This site makes items available for delivery within a suitable time frame. FUL4 It sends out the items ordered.FUL5 It has in stock the items the company claims to have.FUL6 It is truthful about its offerings.FUL7 The delivery time offered to me is convenient.

PrivacyPRI1 It protects information about my web shopping behaviour.PRI2 It does not share my personal information with other sites.PRI3 This site protects information about my credit card.

*FUL3 in original E-S-QUAL is removed and FUL7 has been reworded to reflect the fixed delivery times of the supermarket operation.

Table 2 Items for constructs perceived value and loyalty

Perceived valuePEV1 The prices of the products and services available at this site (how economical the site is).PEV2 The overall convenience of using this site.PEV3 The extent to which the site gives you a feeling of being in control.PEV4 The overall value you get from this site for your money and effort.

LoyaltyLOY1 Say positive things about this site to other people?LOY2 Recommend this site to someone who seeks your advice?LOY3 Encourage friends and others to do business with this site?LOY4 Consider this site to be your first choice for future transactions?LOY5 Do more business with this site in the coming months?


118

Respondents. were. uniquely.identifiable.through.their.customer.ID ..This.allowed.each.respondent.to. be. linked. to. their. actual.purchases.at.Plusfresc ..Data.made.available. by. Plusfresc. included.the.number.of.orders. a. customer.made.and.the.total.amount.(value).of. those.purchases ..The.purchase.data. were. categorised. into. PUR1.(number.of.purchases). and.PUR2.(value.of.purchases),.as.in.Table.3 ..Each.item.was.grouped.as:.(i).five.possible. answers. for. number. of.purchases;.and.(ii).five.possible.answers.for.total.monetary.amount ..This.operationalisation.of.the.actual.purchases.construct.reflects.both.the.value.and.frequency.of.purchases.made .

The. questionnaire. was. distributed. to. all. 413. online. customers. of. the.supermarket.using.a.specific.web.page.designed.for.the.purpose ..Since.the.population.was.not.large,.all.respondents.were.encouraged.to.answer.the.questionnaire.by.the.provision.of.a.small.reward.to.each ..As.a.result,.131.valid.responses.were.received,.which.implies.an.acceptable.response.rate.of.31 .7% ..For.instance,.Boshoff.(2007),.in.his.study.devoted.to.assessment.of.the.E-S-QUAL.scale,.obtained.a.response.rate.of.20 .4% ..Manfreda.et al ..(2008).have.specifically.analysed.the.response.rates.in.web.surveys ..They.compared. 45. studies,. and. the. response. rates. were. between. 11 .3%. and.82 .1%,. with. an. average. of. 32 .6%. and. a. standard. deviation. of. 17 .3% ..Roster.et al ..(2004).also.obtained.a.similar.rate.in.their.study.comparing.response.rates.between.web.surveys.and.telephone.surveys:.32 .6%.for.web.surveys.and.40 .5%.for.telephone.surveys ..Thus,.overall,.our.response.rate.compares.favourably.with.similar.studies .

The. demographic. characteristics. of. the. sample. are. summarised. in.Table.4 ..A.gender.bias.(75 .6%.female).was.detected ..Almost.half.(48 .1%).of. the. respondents.were. aged.between.35.and.44.years ..This. represents.a.higher.percentage. than. in. the. total.population.of. the.online.buyers. in.Plusfresc,.and.consequently.older.buyers.were.under-represented ..This. is.also. detected. in. the. Boshoff. study .. The. educational. level. of. the. sample.was.high,.with.more.than.half.(57 .3%).of.the.sample.having.a.university.degree ..This.kind.of.bias.was.also.detected.in.the.Parasuraman.et al ..(2005).study.and.in.Boshoff.(2007) ..To.place.our.study.in.context,.consider.the.

Table 3 Items for construct actual purchases

Actualpurchases

PUR1 Number of online orders in 2007: 1 = one or two orders 2 = three or four orders 3 = between 5 and 9 orders 4 = between 10 and 19 orders 5 = 20 orders or more

PUR2 Total value of online orders in 2007: 1 = 1501


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following.population.data ..The.latest.study.of.B2C.e-commerce.published.by.the.Spanish.Ministry.of.Industry,.Tourism.and.Trade.(2008).shows.that.online. shoppers. in.Spain.were.40 .5%. female. in.1997,.with.40 .2%.aged.between.25.and.35.years.and.36 .5%.with.a.university.degree .

Findings

An. array. of. exploratory. factor. analysis. taking. the. items. of. Table. 1. was.conducted. to. identify. the. quality. dimensions. formed. from. our. data ..The. scale. was. analysed. in. accordance. with. John. and. Reves. (1982). and.Hair. et al .s. (1998). recommendations .. As. expected,. the. four. E-S-QUAL.dimensions.appeared,.although.with.some.discrepancies.from.the.original.composition .

1 .. Efficiency:.EFF1,.EFF4,.EFF8 .2 .. System.availability:.EFF5,.SYA2,.SYA3,.SYA4 .3 .. Fulfilment:.FUL1,.FUL2,.FUL4,.FUL5,.FUL7 .4 .. Privacy:.PRI1,.PRI2,.PRI3 .

Table 4 Demographic characteristics of the response sample and the population of online shoppers of Plusfresc

Sample Population

Number % Number %

Age category24 years 0 0 4 1.0Between 25 and 34 years 37 28.2 99 24.0Between 35 and 44 years 63 48.1 165 40.0Between 45 and 54 years 26 19.8 100 24.2Between 55 and 64 years 3 2.3 34 8.265 years 2 1.5 11 2.6Total 131 100.0 413 100.0

GenderMale 32 24.4 129 31.2Female 99 75.6 284 68.8Total 131 100.0 413 100.0

Education levelWithout studies 1 0.8 5 1.2Primary school 5 3.8 26 6.3Secondary school 46 35.1 112 27.1University degree 75 57.3 249 60.3Others 4 3.1 21 5.1Total 131 100.0 413 100.0


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The.first.factor.is.efficiency,.which.contains.EFF1,.EFF4.and.EFF8 ..Item.EFF5. loaded. on. system. availability .. However,. closer. inspection. of. the.wording.of. the. item.(It. loads. its.pages. fast).may.explain. this.migration.since.it.is.understandable.that.this.could.be.interpreted.as.being.closer.to.the. factor. of. system. availability. than. to. that. of. efficiency .. In. system.availability,.item.SYA1.(availability).loaded.almost.equally.on.two.factors.and.was.removed ..The.remaining.efficiency.factors.loaded.on.more.than.one. component. with. item. EFF6. loading. equally. on. three. factors .. For.fulfilment,. all. the. items. loaded. with. the. exception. of. FUL6 .. All. three.privacy.items.loaded.cleanly .

The.next.step.was.to.assess.the.reliability.of.each.of.these.four.quality.factors.(see.Table.4) ..Acceptable.levels.were.achieved.in.all.criteria.usually.used. for. this. purpose. (Hair. et al .. 1998) .. Cronbachs. . and. composite.reliability. in. every. case. exceeded. the. threshold. value.of. 0 .7. for. internal.consistency. (Nunnally. &. Bernstein. 1994) .. In. addition,. four. factorial.exploratory.analyses.were.performed,.one.for.each.factor,.and.all.extracted.only.one. factor ..These. findings. confirmed. the.unidimensionality.of. each.item.to.its.first-order.dimension .

A. first-order. confirmatory. factorial. analysis.was.performed.using.EQS.software ..In.view.of.the.size.of.the.sample,.a.robust.maximum-likelihood.estimation.method.was.chosen ..The.comparative.fit.index.(CFI).was.0 .945.and. the. root. mean-square. error. of. approximation. (RMSEA). was. 0 .051 ..The.fit.indices.shown.in.Table.6.are.acceptable.(Byrne.1994;.Hu.&.Bentler.1999) ..The.Satorra-Bentler.scaled.chi-square.was.112 .7.on.84.degrees.of.freedom.and.its.probability.value.for.the.chi-square.statistic.was.0 .02 ..The.loads.were.all.high.(at.a.significance.level.of.0 .05) ..The.model.is.therefore.an.acceptable.fit.for.the.data .

Content.validity.of. the. scale. can.be.assumed.on. the.basis.of. the.close.similarity.between.the.present.scale.and.the.original.E-S-QUAL.model.of.

Table 5 Reliability analysis of the E-S-QUAL adapted subscales

Rangefor Rangefor Cronbachs correlations alpha oftheitemsand Cronbachs removing thesumofSubscale Items alpha oneitem thesubscale

Efficiency EFF1, EFF4, EFF8 0.756 0.5610.811 0.4490.659System availability SYA2, SYA3, SYA4, EFF5 0.887 0.8390.869 0.7160.795Fulfilment FUL1, FUL2, FUL4, FUL5, FUL7 0.757 0.6820.733 0.4320.605Privacy PRI1, PRI2, PRI3 0.879 0.8180.835 0.7530.778


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Parasuraman.et al.. (2005) ..Convergent.validity.was. confirmed.when. the.factor. loadings.of. the. confirmatory.model.were. found. to. be. statistically.significant.(level.of.0 .05).and.greater.than.0 .5.points.(Sanzo.et al..2003);.only.one.parameter.was.below.this.threshold.(EFF1.=.0 .471) .

In. summary,. the. first. objective. of. this. study. has. been. realised. by.establishing. that.a. scale. that. is.very.close. to. the.generic.E-S-QUAL.scale.is.suitable.for.assessment.of.e-quality.in.an.online.supermarket ..The.same.dimensional. factors. have. been. retained,. although. some. unsuitable. items.have.been.removed.from.the.original.E-S-QUAL.list .

Relationship between e-quality and purchases

In.pursuit.of.the.second.objective.of.this.study.(an.analysis.of.the.extent.to. which. website. quality. impacts. upon. customer. loyalty. and. e-sales). a.new. construct. was. required:. actual. purchases .. This. item. was. created.specifically.for.this.study.because,.as.previously.noted,.there.is.apparently.no. study. in. the. extant. literature. that. has. attempted. to. correlate. actual.purchase. information. with. e-service. quality .. Two. additional. constructs.were. used:. perceived. value. and. loyalty,. based. on. Parasuraman. et al ..

Table 6 Loads on quality factors and goodness fit statistics for E-S-QUAL adapted scale

Loadings* r2 Loadings* r2

* These are standardised loading estimates from confirmatory factor analysis. All parameters significant at p < 0.05.

Goodnessoffitstatistics(robustmethod)2 112.698 (p-value = 0.02004)df 84CFI 0.945Bentler-Bonett non-normed fit index 0.931Bollens (IFI) fit index 0.947RMSEA 0.05190% confidence interval for RMSEA 0.21; 0.74

EfficiencyEFF1 0.471 0.222EFF4 0.773 0.597EFF8 0.902 0.814

System availability SYA2 0.869 0.755SYA3 0.811 0.658SYA4 0.768 0.590EFF5 0.810 0.656

Fulfillment FUL1 0.691 0.477FUL2 0.638 0.407FUL4 0.631 0.398FUL5 0.529 0.280FUL7 0.623 0.388

Privacy PRI1 0.828 0.685PRI2 0.844 0.712PRI3 0.854 0.729


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(2005),. and.modelled. following.Boshoff. (2007) ..The.analysis. conducted.on.the.four.E-S-QUAL.factors.was.also.conducted.on.these.three.factors.and,. as. a. result,. one. item. from. perceived. value,. PEV1. (economy),. was.dropped .. All. the. loyalty. items. were. retained,. as. were. items. for. actual.purchase ..Table.7.shows.the.reliability.analysis.for.these.constructs .

Table 7 Reliability analysis of the constructs Perceived value, Loyalty and Purchasing

Rangefor Rangefor Cronbachs correlations alpha oftheitemsand Cronbachs removing thesumofSubscale Items alpha oneitem thesubscale

Perceived value PEV2, PEV3, PEV4 0.826 0.7230.783 0.6590.718Loyalty LOY1, LOY2, LOY3, LOY4, LOY5 0.896 0.8490.898 0.6280.843Purchasing PUR1, PUR2 0.958 0.920

Structural. equation. modelling. (SEM). was. conducted. using. a. partial.least. squares. (PLS). procedure. run. in. the. Smart-PLS. software. package,.which. allows. path. modelling. with. latent. variables. (Ringle. et al.. 2005) ..The.PLS.procedure.is.able.to.model.latent.constructs.under.conditions.of.non-normality. and. small-to-medium. sample. size. (Compeau. &. Higgins.1995) .. Rather. than. assuming. equal. weights. for. all. indicators. of. a. scale,.PLS.allows.each.indicator.to.vary.with.regard.to.how.much.it.contributes.to. the. composite. score. of. the. latent. variable .. Indicators. with. weaker.relationships.to.related.indicators.and.the.latent.construct.are.thus.given.lower. weightings .. A. power. analysis. using. G*Power. 3 .0. (. =. 0 .05,. . =.0 .20). indicates. that. the. sample. size. is. adequate. for. explaining. medium.population.effects,.where.f2.>.0 .11.(Faul.et al ..2007) .

The. analysis. in. Table. 8. shows. that. four. hypotheses. in. our. original.research.model.are.accepted:.H2,.H3,.H5.and.H6 ..The.rejection.of.H1.and.H4.suggests.that.efficiency.and.privacy.have.no.influence.on.value.(at.least.in.the.context.of.an.online.supermarket) .

Discussion

The. present. analysis. found. no. relationship. between. efficiency. and.perceived. value. (thus. rejecting. H1) .. This. finding. represents. the. main.difference. between. the. present. study. and. previous. studies. (Parasuraman.et al ..2005;.Boshoff.2007) ..It.would.seem.that.the.difference.arises.from.the.specific.context ..Whereas.a.generic.online.buyer.is.concerned.about.


123

efficiency,. a. buyer. in. an. online. supermarket. apparently. attaches. less.importance. to. this. dimension. . perhaps. because. these. customers. expect.that.the.service.will.be.efficient.in.an.online.supermarket ..Another.possible.explanation.for.anomalies.in.the.efficiency.dimension.has.been.suggested.by. Kim. et al .. (2006) .. According. to. these. authors,. most. of. the. website.

Table 8 PLS summary

Loadings

EFF FUL PRI SYA VAL LOY PUR

EFF1 0.6744** EFF4 0.8884** EFF8 0.8846** FUL1 0.7264** FUL2 0.6620** FUL4 0.7917** FUL5 0.6081** FUL7 0.7339** PRI1 0.8756** PRI2 0.9241** PRI3 0.8872** EFF5 0.8514** SYA2 0.8850** SYA3 0.8374** SYA4 0.8449** PEV2 0.8657** PEV3 0.8374** PEV4 0.8799** LOY1 0.8791** LOY2 0.9060** LOY3 0.8840** LOY4 0.7695** LOY5 0.7648** PUR1 0.9818**

PUR2 0.9778**

AVE 0.6755 0.5002 0.8026 0.7469 0.7416 0.7014 0.9600Cronbachs 0.7557 0.7571 0.8792 0.8871 0.8259 0.8964 0.9584Composite reliability 0.8602 0.8323 0.9242 0.9219 0.8959 0.9243 0.9796R2 0.3645 0.4301 0.0792

PathparametersestimatesH1 : EFFVAL 0.0791H2 : SYAVAL 0.3404

*

H3 : FULVAL 0.3058**

H4 : PRIVAL 0.0249H5 : VALLOY 0.6558

**

H6 : LOYPUR 0.2814*

Note: Significance levels denoted by * (1%) and ** (0.1%).


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attributes. that. facilitate. efficient. online. shopping. and. purchasing. (such.as. advanced. search. functions,. comparison. shopping,. sitemaps,. browsing.instructions,. order. instructions,. express. checkouts. and. e-billing). have.usually.been.overlooked.in.previous.studies ..This.observation.suggests.that.the.construct.of.efficiency.should.(perhaps).be.constituted.by.other.items .

The. present. study. found. that. system. availability. had. a. significant.impact.on.value,.thus.confirming.H2 ..Parasuraman.et al ..(2005).also.found.that.this.dimension.was.a.critical.contributor.to.customers.perceptions.of.value ..This.finding.cannot.be.compared.with.Boshoff.(2007).because.this.dimension.was.not.included.in.his.model .

The.present.analyses.also.found.that.fulfilment.had.a.significant.impact.on.perceived.value,. thus.confirming.H3 ..Boshoff. (2007).concurred.with.this. conclusion. in. finding. that. fulfilment. was. the. strongest. predictor.of. value. perception. in. his. study .. Similarly,. Parasuraman. et al.. (2005).found.that.efficiency.and.fulfilment.were.the.most.critical.(and.equally.important).dimensions.of.website.service.quality ..The.present.study.concurs.with.respect.to.fulfilment;.however,.as.discussed.above,.the.present.study.failed.to.establish.a.relationship.between.efficiency.and.perceived.value .

The.present.study.rejected.H4.(that.higher.levels.of.privacy.in.a.website.are. positively. related. to. higher. levels. of. perceived. value) .. This. finding.differed.from.both.Boshoff.(2007).and.Parasuraman.et al. (2005),.both.of.which.confirmed.this.hypothesised.relationship.(albeit.with.a.lower.level.of.significance.than.that.found.in.the.other.three.quality.factors) ..However,.it.should.be.noted.that.Parasuraman.et al. (2005).observed.that.previous.research. had. suggested. that. privacy. might. not. be. a. critical. factor .. In.view.of.these.variable.findings,.it.is.apparent.that.the.influence.of.privacy.on.perceived.value.requires. further. investigation ..The.relationship.might.depend.on. the. sector.being. analysed;. for. example,. the. cases.of.Amazon.and.Walmart,. in.which.Parasuraman.et al..(2005).detected.a.relationship.between.privacy.and.perceived.value,.might.not.be.typical ..In.addition,.privacy. is. perhaps. more. of. a. concern. for. first-time. online. customers. of.the. supermarket. and. less. of. a. concern. for. returning. customers. (of. the.type. seen. in. our. study). who. have. already. built. up. trust. through. prior.transactions .. Finally,. other. reasons,. including. those. that. are. political. or.cultural. in.nature,. for. instance,.could.also.contribute. towards.explaining.why.privacy.is.not.linked.with.perceived.value .

The. present. study. found. that. the. strongest. relationship. of. the. model.was.that.between.value.and.loyalty ..This.finding.agrees.with.Boshoff s.(2007). model. in. concluding. that. this. relationship. is. very. strong. and.significant .


125

Finally,. this. study. has. detected. a. significant. influence. of. loyalty. on.actual.purchases ..This.finding.has.important.managerial. implications ..It.provides.empirical.confirmation.of.the.final.link.in.the.chain.between.the.dimensions.of.e-quality.and.financial.turnover,.which.had.not.previously.been. investigated. in. earlier. studies .. Although. the. R-squared. for. actual.purchases. was. quite. low,. which. suggests. that. other. factors. might. have.to.be.included.in.a.comprehensive.model,.the.existence.of.a.relationship.between.loyalty.and.actual.purchases.has.clearly.been.demonstrated .

Conclusions

This. study. of. the. applicability. of. the. E-S-QUAL. scale. (Parasuraman.et al.. 2005). to. an. online. supermarket. has. confirmed. that. (with. minor.modifications).the.four.dimensions.of.the.original.scale.are.applicable.to.assessments.of.quality.in.this.e-commerce.setting ..The.findings.of.the.study.are.thus.in.general.accordance.with.those.of.previous.authors.(Collier.&.Bienstock.2006;.Connolly.2007).who.have.endorsed.the.usefulness.of.this.measurement.instrument .

The. present. study. has. also. demonstrated. important. relationships.between.most.of.the.E-S-QUAL.dimensions.of.e-service.and.the.constructs.of. perceived. value,. loyalty. and. actual. purchases .. In. particular,. the.dimension. of. fulfilment. has. been. confirmed. as. having. an. important.impact.on.loyalty.and.purchasing.(although.the.effect.is.mediated.through.perceived.value) .. In. this. regard. it. is. interesting. to.note. that.established.models.of.service.quality.(such.as.SERVQUAL).have.allotted.a.main.role.to.reliability.(understood.as.the.ability.to.perform.the.promised.service.dependably. and. accurately). as. a. means. of. ensuring. high. standards. of.service. quality;. indeed,. Parasuraman. et al .. (1985,. 1988). contended. that.a. company. is. unable. to. compete. unless. it. is. reliable,. and. Berry. (1995).has. argued. that. service. companies. that. are.unable. to.provide. services. as.promised.will.lose.customers ..The.dimension.of.fulfilment.in.the.model.proposed.in.the.present.study.is.quite.close.to.the.notion.of. reliability;.moreover,. in. an. online. service. such. as. that. provided. by. a. supermarket,.fulfilment. (or. reliability). is. especially. important .. In. this. regard,. it. is.interesting.to.note.that.most.of.the.complaints.that.were.registered.in.the.present.study.(in.an.open.box.included.in.the.questionnaire).were.related.to. this. dimension,. which. demonstrates. that. the. issue. of. fulfilment. (or.reliability).is.significant.for.customers.of.an.online.supermarket .

The.present.study.also.found.that.privacy.had.no.effect.on.perceived.value.(although.it.might.be.important.in.other.respects,.such.as.the.ability.


126

to.compete) ..A. similar. finding.was.made.with. regard. to. the. relationship.between. efficiency. and. perceived. value .. It. is. acknowledged. that,. in.studies. of. other. sectors,. efficiency. has. been. shown. to. affect. perceived.value;. however,. in. the. setting. of. an. online. supermarket,. no. such.relationship.is.apparent .

Finally,. the. study.has.definitely. established. that. e-quality.has. an.effect.on.actual.purchase.behaviour ..However,.it.is.acknowledged.that.there.are.likely.to.be.other.factors.(not.included.in.the.present.model).that.also.have.an.influence.on.sales ..To.our.knowledge,.this. is. the.first. time.that.a. link.between. e-quality. and. actual. purchases. has. been. reported. using. actual.purchase.data.rather.than.self-reported.data .

Acknowledgment

This.article.was.written.as.part.of.a.research.project.entitled. Improving.customer. satisfaction. through. standardization. in. Spanish. companies.(ECO2009-12754-C02-01). financed. by. the. Ministry. of. Science. and.Technology.via.funding.programmed.for.research.and.development.(R+D).projects .

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its.implications.for.future.research ..Journal of Marketing,.49,.4,.pp ..4150 .Parasuraman,.A .,.Zeithaml,.V ..&.Berry,.L ..(1988).SERVQUAL:.a.multiple-item.scale.for.

measuring.consumer.perceptions.of.services.quality ..Journal of Retailing,.64,.1,.pp ..1240 .Parasuraman,.A .,.Berry,.L .L ..&.Zeithaml,.V .A ..(1991).Refinement.and.reassessment.of.the.

SERVQUAL.scale ..Journal of Retailing,.67,.4,.pp ..420450 .Parasuraman,.A .,.Zeithaml,.V .A ..&.Malhotra,.A ..(2005).E-S-Qual:.a.multiple-item.scale.for.

assessing.electronic.service.quality ..Journal of Service Research,.7,.3,.pp ..213233 .Ribbink,.D .,.van.Riel,.A ..&.Streukens,.S ..(2004).Comfort.your.online.customer:.quality,.trust.

and.loyalty.on.the.internet ..Managing Service Quality,.14,.6,.pp ..446456 .Ringle,.C .M .,.Wende,.S ..&.Will,.A ..(2005).SmartPLS 2.0 (beta) ..Retrieved.from.http://www .

smartpls .de .Roster,.C .A .,.Rogers,.R .D .,.Albaum,.G ..&.Klein,.D ..(2004).A.comparison.of.response.

characteristics.from.web.and.telephone.surveys ..International Journal of Market Research,.46,.3,.pp ..359373 .

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Spanish.Ministry.of.Industry,.Tourism.and.Trade.(2008).Comercio Electrnico B2C 2008 ..Madrid:.Red .es .

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About the authors

Frederic. Marimon,. PhD. in. Business. Administration,. is. Professor. at. the.International. University. of. Catalonia. (Spain). and. at. the. University. of.Girona. (Spain) .. He. studied. industrial. engineering. at. the. Polytechnic.University. of. Catalonia. in. Barcelona,. and. has. a. Master. of. Business. and.Administration. from. IESE. in.Barcelona ..His. interests. are.on. the. area.of.production,.mainly.in.quality.issues.and.production.in.service.companies ..He. has. published. several. articles. in. national. and. international. academic.journals .

Richard. Vidgens. research. focuses. on. how. technology. is. developed.and.used.within.organisations ..He. is. interested. in.how.software. systems.are. constructed,. e .g .. development. methods. and. agile. approaches .. He.also. studies. the. interplay.between.people.and. technology.using.complex.systems. theory,. particularly. co-evolutionary. theory. and. social. network.analysis ..He.has. further. interests. in.evaluating. the.quality.of.ecommerce.offerings.in.the.area.of.web.quality .

Stuart.J ..Barnes.is.Chair.and.Professor.of.Management.in.the.Norwich.Business. School. at. the. University. of. East. Anglia .. Previously. he. worked.at. Victoria. University. of. Wellington,. New. Zealand,. and. the. University.of. Bath .. Stuart. has. been. teaching. and. researching. in. the. information.systems.field.for.over.a.decade ..His.academic.background.includes.a.first-class.degree.in.economics.from.University.College.London.and.a.PhD.in.Business. Administration. from. Manchester. Business. School .. His. primary.research. interests.centre.on. the. successful.utilisation.of.new. information.and. communications. technologies. by. businesses,. governments. and.consumers ..He.has.published.five.books.(one.a.best-seller.for.Butterworth-Heinemann).and.more.than.a.hundred.articles.including.those.in.journals.such. as. Communications of the ACM,. the. International Journal of


129

Electronic Commerce,.European Journal of Marketing,.Communications of the AIS.and.Information & Management .

Eduard.Cristbal.holds.a.PhD.in.economics.and.is.Associate.Professor.of.Marketing.Management.at.the.University.of.Lleida,.Spain .

Address. correspondence. to:. Frederic. Marimon,. Associate. Professor. in.the.Economics.Faculty,.International.University.of.Catalonia,.Immaculada,.22,.08017.Barcelona,.Spain .

Email:.fmarimon@cir .uic .es


2010 The Market Research Society 131

Conference notesIJMR Research Methods Forum: Start listening, stop asking, The Royal Society, London, 4 November 2009

These.notes.describe.the.nature.of.listening.and.some.assumptions.that.lead.us.to.hear.what.we.want.to.hear.rather.than.the.intentions.of.the.speaker ..They.go.on.to.focus.on.the.idea.of.co-creation.and.stress.the.importance.of.the.creative.com-ponent.in.that.term ..It.is.this.element.that.transforms.co-creation.into.something.unique,. original. and. compelling .. The. notes. conclude. with. a. summary. of. some.basic.principles.in.designing.and.facilitating.co-creation.

Co-creating the future

Roy LangmaidDOI: 10.2501/S1470785310201090

The. circumstances.of. early. life. have. a.profound.impact.on.our.journey ..Hav-ing.been.adopted.just.after.the.war,.this.led.me.on.a.particularly.intense.search.for. identity,. character. and. belonging.over.my.years.of.being.with,.and.learn-ing.from,.others ..Here.are. two.endur-ing.characteristics.of.those.experiences.that.relate.to.listening:

1 ..it.is.of.immense.value.to.understand.other. people,. by. learning. to. listen.to. them,. and. face. the. risk. that. you.might.be.changed.by.that.listening

2 ..this.opened.channels. through.which.others. can. communicate. their. feel-ings,. perceptual. worlds,. hopes. and.fears .

I. would. summarise. what. I. do. dif-ferently. as. relational. depth. (Mearns.&. Cooper. 2005) . This. aims. to. create.a. connection. between. the. researcher.and. participants,. which. goes. beyond.

the. superficial. and,. in. a. perfectly. safe.fashion,. allows. a. glimpse. of. what. is.going.on.beneath.the.surface.as.people.work.with.us .

Establishing.relational.depth.requires:

.establishing.an.empathic.understand-ing.of.participants.internal.frames.of.reference...doing.our.best.to.walk.in.their.shoes.and.experience.the.world.in.the.way.that.they.do

.building. a. sense. of. unconditional.positive. regard. (Rogers. 1967). for.participants

.striving. to. be. dependably. real. or.authentic .

A.key.element.to.reducing.the.barri-ers.to.communication.is.the.role.played.by. listening . Listening. has. character,.just.as.speaking.does,.but.we.seem.not.to.know.it.so.well ..We.are.always.listen-ing. from.somewhere;.we.have.a. tone.of. listening. just. as.we.have. a. tone.of.voice .

Background commentary

People. say. they. have. an. open. mind ..Experience. of. my. own. mind. tells. me.

Conference notes

132

that. this. is. hardly. ever. true .. There. is.a. constant. background. commentary . a. little. voice. . playing. in. my. mind,.whether.I. like.it.or.not,.and.Im.often.listening.to.it ..It.is.difficult.to.decipher.whether. I. am.creating.what. this. voice.is.saying.or.not ..Some.facts.about.this.background.commentary.are:

.it.continues.whether.I.want.it.or.not.it.seems.to.be.me.speaking.to.myself.

.but.I.cant.tell.me.to.shut.up.in. times. of. danger. or. uncertainty. it.

becomes.louder,.more.insistent.I. cannot. stop. it.or. shut. it.off;. I. can.

only.choose.whether.to.pay.attention.to.it.or.not

.often. even. that. choice. is. difficult.because.I.dont.notice.its.there .

This. background. commentary.forms. the. soundtrack. of. my. life. .my. moment-by-moment. experience.of. consciousness,. made. up. of. memo-ries,. opinions,. preferences,. sensations,.assessments,.fantasies,.wishes.and.fears ..Everything.else.that.happens.occurs.on.top.of.that .

Its. a. tape. thats. always. on,. waiting.for.me.to.listen.in.(more.accurately,.to.fail. to. tune. it. out),. which. determines.my. perceptual. world .. In. other. words,.it has direct and lasting effects. on. my.emotions,.attitudes.and.behaviour .

Im.talking.about.it.here.today.using.another. tool.of. consciousness:. speech,.my.foreground.communication .

The. job. of. the. expert. practitioner.of. insightful.work. is. to.create.circum-stances. where. both foreground and background can be fully available. for.communication.. for.either.may.drive.behaviour .

Lets. explore. this. background. com-mentary.in.its.everyday-ness,.and.what.Im.listening.to .

. Listening about .what.I.think.about.others,.my.opinion.and.assessments.of. them,. rather. than. what. theyre.actually.saying ..It.is.absolutely.com-monplace. to. listen. this. way:. we.dont. really. hear. what. others. are.saying,.we.hear.our.interpretation.of.it!

. Listening for closure and confirma-tion . give. me. the. answer,. tell. me.what. to. do .. Give. me. some. options ..What. can. I. do. to. be. right,. get. the.right. answer?. Now. its. my. turn. to.speak .

. Listening for safety .minimise.risks,.look. normal,. avoid. embarrassment,.dont. make. a. fuss .. Joke. about. any-thing. uncomfortable .. Dont. upset.anyone ..Much.speaking.and.listening.in.focus.groups.appears.to.be.of.this.type .

These. norms. of. listening. were. driv-ing. the. agenda. in. groups. more. than.anything. else .. To. create. insights. and.innovation,.we.needed. a.new.way ..To.do.this,.we.needed.to.step.around.the.background.commentary.to.find.a.new.way. of. listening .. To. listen. differently.you. need. to. notice. the. way. in. which.the. past. is. always. intruding. into. our.sense.of.the.present.and.the.future ..We.need.to.put.the.past.behind.us.to.create.room.for.a.new.future .

This.has.become.a.key.element.of.co-creation.sessions.to.help.overcome.the.fact. that. most. possibilities. are. exten-sions. of. the. past .. Our. clients. arent.paying. us. to. add. another. feature. to.their.product ..They.can.already. figure.that.out.for.themselves .

So. opening. ourselves. up. to. a. new.distinction. in. listening. . listening. for.possibility .was.the.first.step.towards.co-creation ..This.being:


133

. a. collaborative,. inventive. style. of.work,. where. customers. and. staff. work.together. to. create. breakthroughs. in.products. and. services .. In. this. work. we.focus. on. the. creative. element. and. the.engagement.of.the.prospective mind .

Co-creation. is. not. about. problem.solving,.it.is.about.the.creation.of.pos-sibility. that. can. be. thought. of. as. a.future.beyond.reach .

The.next.problem.we.faced.in.evolv-ing.co-creation.was.the.persistence.and.penetration. of. culture . Culture. clings.to. us. like. a. veil,. and. shapes. every-thing ..Inside.culture,.words.and.actions.become. inseparable .. Thus. the. request.bring.me.some.water.is.very.likely.to.produce.cold.drinking.water.in.a.glass,.rather.than.radiator.water.from.the.car ..Culture.is.the.biggest.background.com-mentary.of.them.all.(Fox.2004) .

In. focus. groups,. people. found. it.difficult.to.put.the.past.behind.them..especially.if.the.invitation.they.accepted.and. the. setting. they. found. themselves.in.resembled.a.suburban.living.room.or.an.office,.places.dominated.by.cultural.expectations..the.living.room.for.small.talk,. and. the. office. by. management.time ..In.management.time.it.is.possible.to.have.a.meeting.lasting.one.hour.and.then. stop .. In. creative. time. you. cant.just. switch. on. and. off,. it. might. be. a.week.that.it.takes.for.new.ideas.to.take.shape,.or.a.second .

The. magic. in. co-creation. does. not.lie.in.getting.a.large.number.of.people.together. in. a. workshop,. or. in. putting.staff. and. customers. together. . except.insofar. as. these. things. interrupt. the.usual. way. of. doing. things. . it resides in interrupting the routine, the normal, creating a culture where the usual does not apply ..Here.we.get.to.do.ourselves.differently,.leading.to.new.possibilities .

The. following. six. steps. create. a.micro-culture. where. possibility. is. nur-tured.and.welcomed:

1 ..invitation2 ..creating.relationships3 ..creating.safety4 ..putting.the.past.behind.us5 ..creating.the.future6 ..completion. . creating. a. lead-in. to.

implementation .

The invitation

Here. is. an. example. of. a. powerful.invitation.:

Come and help us invent the future of flying. Over two days we will work together as a large group of airline staff and passengers to invent 21st-century fly-ing. How do you want it to be? What are your unmet needs? Join us for two days of creativity and invention at the Big Talk on 1 September 1997.

Creating relationships

If. you. want. to. create. relationships.that.are.full.of.possibility,.they.need.to.be. less. fettered. than. those. our. host.culture.determines ..Yet.they.must.also.be.safe,.in.the.sense.that.people.know.they. will. not. be. humiliated,. mocked.or. excluded. . especially. if. they. take.a.risk .

To.accomplish.this.we.ensure.that.we.create.personal.rather.than.professional.or. public. relationships. (Langmaid. &.Andrews.2003) .

The. important. work. is. to. create.relationships. in. a. manner. that. moves.us.from.the.professional/public.to.per-sonal/private. domains .. It. is. in. these.latter. two. that. the. big. discoveries. are.made .

Conference notes

134

Professional relationships. . charac-terised. by. their. transactional. nature.and. the. fact. that. messy. feelings. are.hidden .

Public relationships.are.on.show.here.now .. They. reflect. our. social. face ..Popularity,.belonging.and.acceptance.are.very.important.here .

Personal relationships..the.stuff.that.is. important. about. us,. personally ..Shared.emotions,.likes.and.dislikes .

Private..the.secrets.attached.to.big-ger.emotions,.love,.hate,.anger,.grief,.sadness ..Deemed.unsuitable.for.pub-lic.showing .

Creating safety

Establishing. rules. in. speaking. and. lis-tening.which.ensure.that.people.are.not.being.put.down.and.that.everyone.can.be.heard .

Putting the past behind us

People. telling. their. own. stories. and.then,. in. combining. these. tales. and.experiences,. we. take. a. look. at. the.future.that.is.waiting.to.happen..the.future.that.is.shaped.by.the.past .

Creating the future

With.the.space.we.have.opened.up,.we.create. a. new. future,. one. that. moves,.inspires. and. touches. people .. These.features.are.key;.to.start.people.believ-ing.in.a.possible.future,.it.must.inspire.them .

Completion

Moving. towards.validating.and. imple-menting.the.creative.output ..The.pres-ence.of.the.client.is.all-important .

Facilitating creativity

The.industry.hype.so.far.has.been.very.much. about. the. co. in. co-creation,. a.lot. of. fuss. about. changing. the. sample.and.the.setting.(process.factors),.just.as.you.might.expect.from.researchers ..No.one.hears.the.creation.in.co-creation ..Its.what.weve.learned.about.fostering.creativity. that. has. made. the. biggest.change.in.my.life.and.work .

Here. are. four. principles. that. facili-tate. creativity. with. groups. of. staff.and. customers. (Langmaid. &. Andrews.2003) .

1 ..All. people. are. creative:. everyone.makes. up. a. complete. human. per-sonality. every.day ..They. tell. stories,.fall.in.love,.run.away.from.monsters,.laugh. and. cry,. and. tell. lies .. Dont.look.for.special.creative.people ..Co-creation.is.about.going.beyond.your.present. boundaries. and. not. about.being. special .. We. do. not. doubt. the.existence. of. creative. specialists;. we.would.rather.rely.on.diversity.and.an.inspiring. process. to. generate. results.(Leadbetter.2008) .

2 ..To. increase. the. flow. of. creativity. it.is. more. productive. to. work. at. the.level. of. environments. and. activities.(fields).than.at.the.level.of.individu-als.(Csikszentmihalyi.1999) .

3 ..People. must. have. enough. surplus.energy. to. create .. If. they.are.bogged.down.in.struggles.for.survival.(includ-ing. the. survival. of. their. identity,. as.well. as. physical. survival),. they. will.not. create .. In. facilitation.we.engage.people.in.lots.of.activities.that.source.physical.energy.and. levels.of.excite-ment,. and. expand. their. working.identities.in.an.atmosphere.of.safety.and.acknowledgement .


135

4 ..The. final. principle. is. that. you. need.to. build. the. receiver. . Richard.Seymour. (see. http://www .channel4 ..com/programmes/better-by-design/.4od#2917621),. inventor. and. des-igner,.taught.me.that:

Creativity. is. essentially. meaningless.unless. the social value of the creation is picked up by society ..Thus.in.our.co-cre-ation. programmes,. creating. a. structure.for. implementing. the. creation. . includ-ing.enrolling.the.client.system..is.of.vital.importance .

To.summarise:

.to. invent. new. futures. you. must. put.the.past.behind.you

.this.past.is.a.mixture.of.personal.his-tory.and.cultural.norms

.there.are.no.open.minds

.co-creation.involves.a.diverse.group,.but. is. fundamentally. a. process. of.interrupting.routines,.norms.and.the.status.quo..creating.a.micro-culture

.everyone.needs.to.have.a.sense.of.the.primary. task. . the. possibility. were.working.on

.there.are.a.series.of.key.preparatory.steps. . invitation,. creating. relation-

ships,.creating.safety,.putting.the.past.behind.you

.these. are. followed. by. creative. exer-cises.facilitated.by.people.who.appre-ciate.the.boundaries.and.needs.of.an.environment.rich.in.possibility

.you.need.to.enrol.your.sponsor/client.before,.during.and.after.the.live.work!

With thanks to colleagues Nicky Forsythe and Mac Andrews.

References

Csikszentmihalyi,.M ..(1999).in.Sternberg,.R ..(ed .).Handbook of Creativity ..Cambridge:.Cambridge.University.Press .

Fox,.K ..(2004).Watching the English ..Hodder.&.Stoughton .

Langmaid,.R ..&.Andrews,.M ..(2003) Breakthrough Zone ..Wiley.&.Sons .

Leadbetter,.C ..(2008).We-Think ..London:.Profile.Books.(see.Professor.Pages.experiments,.p ..72) .

Mearns,.D ..&.Cooper,.M ..(2005).Working at Relational Depth in Counselling and Psychotherapy ..Sage.Publications .

Rogers,.C ..(1967).On Becoming a Person ..Constable .

Roy Langmaid is the principal of the Langmaid Practice.

Conference notes

136

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