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Numerous companies are considering implementing virtual reality (VR) technology in both online and offline stores to attract more customers, as they realized in recent years that the shopping contexts built with VR help provide consumers with feeling of presence experience. To explore various factors affecting users' shopping intention toward using VR, a research model based on the theory of reasoned action and the ABC (affective- behavioral- cognitive) model of attitude was developed. The model, which also encompassed spatial presence, media richness, flow, and VR context empathy, was tested in VR and conventional online shopping contexts. This study involved an online questionnaire used for empirical research, along with the collection and analysis of data of 240 samples by structural equation modeling approach. The findings indicated that attitude is the most important factor affecting the intention of using online shopping while empathy is the most critical factor affecting offline shopping intention. In addition, flow has strong influence on both attitude and empathy. This study also uncovered that spatial presence and media richness have positive influence on users' flow experience. The implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trust is central to our social lives in both epistemic and practical ways. Often, it is rational only given evidence for trustworthiness, and with that evidence is made available by communication. New technologies are changing our practices of communication, enabling increasing rich and diverse ways of 'being there', but at a distance. This paper asks: how does telepresent communication support evidence-constrained trust? In answering it, I reply to the leading pessimists about the possibility of the digital mediation of trust, Philip Pettit and Hubert Dreyfus. I also rebut Media Richness Theory, which proposes a linear relationship between the volume of mediated information and the quality of communication. Positively, I develop a speech-act theory of digitally mediated communication, drawing on Austen's identification of the illocutionary act. The choice of a particular technology of communication constitutes part of what is communicated, including a setting of the social 'frame', and thus the possibilities for trust to be sustained or eroded. How something is said is part of what it is that is said. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigates the impact of interpersonal trust and leadership style on workplace isolation. It examines the moderating role of self-efficacy on the relationship of interpersonal trust, leadership style and workplace isolation. The study used media richness theory to explain the usefulness of communication media in virtual workplace. Purposive sampling technique is used to select respondents and collect data from five pharmaceutical companies operating in Pakistan. Total two hundred and twenty seven useable questionnaires were coded for final analysis after ignoring incomplete questionnaires. The repose rate is 87 % and hierarchical moderated regression is used to analyze the moderating impact of self-efficacy on hypothesize relations. Result shows that interpersonal trust and transformational leadership style have significant impact to reduce isolation perceptions of sales personnel. Results also provide evidence that interpersonal trust and leadership styles have stronger negative impact on workplace isolation when self-efficacy of salespersons is high. The study proposes development of interpersonal trust on organizational employees and use of transformational leadership in order to reduce work isolation behavior among employees particularly in the virtual work environment. The managerial implications and future directions are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaborative product commerce (CPC) solutions span software and services which permit individuals to share product data to improve the design, development, and management of products throughout the product development lifecycle. Drawing upon prior developments in adaptive structuration theory (AST) and media richness theory, I develop a theoretical framework to better understand the role of CPC in enabling collaboration in a product development environment. I study the impact of CPC on product design and development processes using a cross-sectional survey of 36 firms. The study reveals that CPC usage varies across different phases of the product development lifecycle. Preliminary results indicate that CPC has enabled firms to collaborate effectively with external stakeholders, which has resulted in tangible business benefits. I conclude by developing several research propositions which provide a roadmap for conducting future empirical research to measure the impact of CPC on product development, and highlight potential research topics that can be explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research was designed to examine the task-media fit hypothesis, an extension to media richness theory that predicts the objective performance of various media for a number of task types. To examine this model, dyads communicating through face-to-face, videophone, telephone (i.e., audio-only communication), or synchronous computer-mediated communication worked in a laboratory experiment to address an intellective or negotiation task. The intellective task required that each dyad member effectively share factual information that each individual independently held. The negotiation task required that each dyad member effectively share preferences based on personal values and reach an agreement. The results of the study provide mixed support for the task-media fit hypothesis. In general, the results for the negotiation task largely supported the theory while the results for the intellective task did not support the theory. These results help to clarify limitations and provide extensions to the theory by demonstrating how variations in task processes and communication media act to mediate task performance. The implications of these results for future research and practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]