An Important Paper

In general, my signature assignments are the most important papers I prepared at NCU. But, there is one important paper that was not a signature assignment. That paper was on the design of an e-commerce website. It touched on usability and consumer decision-making. It was the final paper for a course just not called a signature assignment.

The paper was titled 'Method and Design for a Website Improvement Study.' The course was the Research Design course I completed in November 2016. I thought the course was very interesting. I learned a lot about different research designs. The professor was tough but I didn't mind. He helped me to improve my writing.

At first, I wanted to focus on online reviews and decision-making during the course. I decided on online consumer decision-making that involved website design and purchasing decisions. I did not have much time to decide on a topic. In week 1 (right out of the gate), I needed to select a topic to prepare a theoretical framework for a dissertation study. I think it turned out okay.

I enrolled in the Research Design course a short while after the Research Methods course so I had some knowledge of research. I used/applied that prior knowledge. I also applied knowledge from a paper on website design I prepared for another course. For that paper on website design, I briefly reviewed available journal articles on the topic. I discovered that there was a lot of research on website design. Some were very detailed. I reused some of the articles.

I worked really hard on the website improvement paper. I was expected to use the knowledge gained throughout the course in that final paper and I thought I did a good job. I designed a study that involved obtaining users' feedback on different website designs.

The Topic Pain

The topic in the recent call for papers by the Journal of Business Research (“No Pain No Gain”: Understanding and Applications of Pain in Marketing Scholarship & Practice) is very interesting! Some of the questions papers can address include: (1) How do different types of pain (e.g., physical, psychological, mental or emotional) affect consumption? (2) What is the meaning of pain in a digital world? (3) Are there different types of consumers that could be receptive, prone or averse to pain and what are their characteristics? (4) When and why does the creation painful psychological obstacles (e.g., long lines or waiting lists) or outright refusal to sell a coveted item enhances customers’ feelings of bitter satisfaction and consumer motivation to own the desired item? (5) How can pain affect, explain or facilitate other unconventional consumption practices?, and (6) Why are consumers attracted by the pain of others? I think it will be a very informative and interesting special issue.

(View the call for papers here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/journal/journal-of-business-research/about/call-for-papers).

I know people have different levels of pain tolerance - some people could handle more pain than others. I imagine a person's pain tolerance affects whether he/she is averse or receptive to pain. My guess is that a lot of consumers are averse to pain. I believe people do not want to feel pain especially when shopping or working or when on vacation. Pain is distracting. I am curious about how different types of pain affect decision-making and consumption.

I cannot wait for the special issue!