Consumers' worse-than-expected disconfirmation in ecommerce settings leads to several negative consequences, such as product returns and sales reductions. In contrast to common remedy strategies, a novel, proactive strategy, consumer inoculation, was employed in our study to alleviate consumers' disconfirmation responses. A two-phase (prepurchase and postsale) longitudinal experiment was conducted to examine the effects of prepurchase inoculation and booster inoculation on consumers' disconfirmation responses. A chi-square test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to analyze the data. The research findings showed that consumers who received the booster inoculation exhibited significantly weaker disconfirmation responses (less dissatisfaction, fewer return intentions, and weaker negative word-of-mouth intentions). Our research can provide meaningful implications for inoculation research and practical value for ecommerce companies to reduce postsale costs.

The Mobile Internet Information Technology (MIIT) has been widely accepted as one of the most promising technologies in the next decades, having various applications and different value positions. However, few published studies explore and examine the effects of MIIT on community management. Based on the Dramaturgical Theory, this article uses a case study method to get an insightful understanding of MIIT. This article found that the MIIT was used by grid organizations to realize technological innovation and change organizational routines and structures, but eventually it was shaped by them, so this new technology was only able to embed itself into the public service model as a secondary or complementary role.