Could you give us an overview of your research?

Miao : I specialize in international marketing related to online businesses like e-commerce. Currently, I am interested in two main themes. The first is consumer purchasing behavior in mobile shopping. As the online shopping market expands, the convenience of shopping anytime and anywhere has led to a global increase in mobile shopping usage. In this context, I focus on the relationship between mobile shopping and consumer loyalty. The other interest lies in the relationship between marketing activities and financial performance. I aim to elucidate whether the marketing activities conducted by companies actually contribute to creating brand equity (brand asset value) and improving financial performance.

Recently, I have incorporated a new analytical method called fsQCA into my research. Unlike binary correlation analysis, fsQCA allows for analyzing the relationship between complex combinations of conditions and outcomes, offering an intriguing way to find causality in complex contexts that quantitative analysis alone cannot capture.

Could you tell us about your research on mobile shopping?

Miao : I conducted a cross-cultural survey of 469 Chinese and 425 Vietnamese users for the same shopping app. Considering that consumer mobile shopping behavior is influenced by the features of the shopping apps used, this study focused on the users’ usage habits of two new features: window shopping function and chat function via social media. By employing fsQCA, I analyzed whether complex conditions (such as user gender, cultural values, and shopping preferences) affect the satisfaction level and the intention to continue using the app, or in other words, loyalty.

The analysis revealed four models for generating high loyalty among Chinese consumers and two for Vietnamese consumers. For Vietnamese shoppers, the habit of using the app’s window shopping function significantly influenced loyalty creation. Particularly, women who make expensive purchases and possess certain cultural values (collectivism and uncertainty avoidance) were found to achieve high loyalty. Conversely, among Chinese shoppers, low usage of the window shopping function, especially when combined with frequent use of the chat function and extensive mobile shopping experience, led to high loyalty creation.

These findings indicate that shopping app users’ continuous use intention (i.e. loyalty) is influenced by complex conditions rather than a single factor. One of the challenges in online business concerns acquiring and maintaining customer loyalty due to the ease of switching stores (websites) with just a click. This study demonstrates the potential for sustainably acquiring customer loyalty by targeting specific conditions.

Could you also share with us the research related to your second theme?

Miao : I investigated and analyzed the impact of brand equity on financial performance in the Japanese fashion market. Previous studies have shown that even if brand value is increased, it does not necessarily contribute to improving financial performance in a declining fashion market. Is this really the case? I re-examined this using fsQCA.

Four models that generate high Return on Assets (ROA) were identified through analysis. Interestingly enough, employed women with high brand awareness, brand image, and brand association scores could achieve high ROA even with low brand equity. On the other hand, providing loyalty programs (premium customer benefits) to unemployed individuals with low brand awareness, brand image, and brand association scores negatively impacted financial performance. This reveals that brand value is not always irrelevant to financial performance improvement; depending on the conditions, it can have either a positive or negative effect.

Could you tell us about your current and future research?

Miao : As a new study, I have examined whether brand awareness and loyalty programs affect the loyalty improvement of young shoppers in the Japanese fashion market using fsQCA.

Following this, I am currently expanding the scope of my research to include foreign nationals living in Japan (i.e. Koreans, Chinese, and Vietnamese) to develop my research further. The starting point for this research was whether the brand equity of Japanese fashion brands is supported, in fact, not by Japanese consumers but by foreign nationals living in Japan. I plan to analyze and verify this hypothesis using fsQCA.