IPTV as a services distribution channel. The importance of interactivity and personalization in the purchasing of news‐on‐demand packages
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/02635571111182755 |
| Published date | 27 September 2011 |
| Date | 27 September 2011 |
| Pages | 1381-1398 |
| Author | Lorena Blasco‐Arcas,José‐Ignacio Aznar‐Baranda,Blanca Hernández‐Ortega,José Ruiz‐Mas |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
IPTV as a services distribution
channel
The importance of interactivity and
personalization in the purchasing
of news-on-demand packages
Lorena Blasco-Arcas
Department of Marketing, Universidad Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
Jose
´-Ignacio Aznar-Baranda
Communication Technologies Group (GTC), Department IEC,
Aragon Institute of Engineering Research, Universidad Zaragoza,
Zaragoza, Spain
Blanca Herna
´ndez-Ortega
Department of Marketing, Universidad Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain, and
Jose
´Ruiz-Mas
Communication Technologies Group (GTC), Department IEC,
Aragon Institute of Engineering Research, Universidad Zaragoza,
Zaragoza, Spain
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the adoption of IP Television (IPTV) as a
distribution channel. The authors test the effects of its features, such as personalization and
interactivity, on users’ perceived control and satisfaction with their purchase experience. The authors
also analyze the purchase process of news-on-demand packages, in which users can personalize the
contents and amount of news and interact with other users.
Design/methodology/ approach – A testbed platform was designed which integrates the
interactivity and content personalization of IPTV and a 2 £2 between-subjects factorial design was
developed, resulting in four experimental scenarios of the platform. Multivariate analysis of variance
analyses have been applied.
Findings – Data from 119 university students corroborate the importance of content personalization
and interactivity in the users’ purchase experience configuration, as these variables increase both
users’ control and satisfaction. The authors also confirm that the users preferred the IPTV platform
which combines interactivity and personalization rather than the other designs that only had one of
these features.
Originality/value – In spite of the advantageous features of IPTV, its adoption has been slower than
initially expected. The causes of this slow pace of adoption are still unclear. This paper contributes to
the understanding of IPTV as a new distribution channel, which is an underdeveloped perspective in
the field. Moreover, it demonstrates the importance of fostering the collaboration of users in designing
services through interactivity and personalization.
Keywords User satisfaction,User interfaces, Information media,IP Television, IPTV, Interactivity,
Personalization,Perceived control
Paper type Research paper
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0263-5577.htm
Purchasing
news-on-demand
packages
1381
Received 5 March 2011
Revised 24 May 2011
Accepted 10 July 2011
Industrial Management & Data
Systems
Vol. 111 No. 9, 2011
pp. 1381-1398
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0263-5577
DOI 10.1108/02635571111182755
1. Introduction
During recent years, the business context has been characterized by an increase in
interest in and the adoption of new distribution channels (internet, mobile terminals, etc.),
which enable firms to attract new customers and strengthen their existing commercial
relationships. These channels constitute the starting point for the development of
new interactive services based on internet protocols, which are called IP interactive
services. IP interactive services facilitate a bidirectional exchange of information among
users and between users and hosts. They are grouped into three main categories:
conversational, messaging and retrieval services. The employment of these services
provides users with more value added, optimizes their experiences and leads them to
participate more actively (Umberger et al., 2009). Users can adopt new roles, share
multimedia contents and create groups in social networks, becoming listeners and
speakers, consumers and producers at the same time (Christensen, 2002). Likewise, these
services offer a range of possibilities that can be easily exploited in trade interactions,
because they facilitate access to a larger demand, promote long-term relationships
with customers and increase firms’ revenues (J iang and Rosenbloom, 2005; Ang and
Buttle, 2006).
We should highlight the digital convergence between differen t information
technologies (ITs) to create new interactive services. Examples of this in the traditional
television industry are a viewer sending an SMS to participate in the programme
that he/she is watching, or a web reference to search for additional information. Digital
convergence, together with current technological development, has led to a new
interactive service called IP Television (IPTV) (Beck et al., 2007; Papagiannidis et al.,
2006; She et al., 2007). IPTV distributes TV and video contents based on broadband
access through the IP protocol(Shin, 2009; Umberger et al., 2009) and it is often integrated
with the internet access service. Thisintegration allows new uses such as searching web
pages, e-commerce and accessing social networks, while the user is viewing any TV or
multimedia content(Song et al., 2009). In this way, the traditional differences between TV
as an entertainmentmedium and the internet as an information source disappear because
the television screen becomes the primaryportal for browsing and shopping (Fitzgerald,
2001). The main advantage of IPTV over computers is that users have a greater
knowledge of using television so they have lessfear about buying the product that they
are watching (Hogan, 2000). While the use of computers requires a previous learning
process, the television offers familiarityand presents facilities that make it accessible to
population segments which usually watch television but are still reluctant to use the
traditional internet (Tsaih et al., 2005). Overall, the characteristics of IPTV make it an
attractive distribution channel that is more accessible and understandable to a wider
audience than computer-based e-commerce (Kim and Sawhney, 2002).
The causes of the slower than expected pace of IPTV adoption are still unclear.
Researchers have usually focused on the study of interactive services using a partial
perspective. On the one hand, studies carried out in the socio-economical arena consider
that a rigorous analysis of consumer behavior may increase the benefits of the firm,
without taking the technological features of these services into account. On the other
hand, the technical arena does not include users’ expectations and perceptions when
studying the global acceptance of the interactive services. Thus, firms are still unaware
of how the technological features of the new interactive services, in general, and of IPTV,
in particular, affect the user’s perceptions and behavior.
IMDS
111,9
1382
To continue reading
Request your trial