What drives smartwatch purchase intention? Perspectives from hardware,software, design,and value

Although wearable devices are popular in recent years, the market share of smartwatches is relatively low. The main goal of this research is to investigate the antecedents of the intention to purchase a smartwatch. This research develops a conceptual model and hypotheses based on the theory of reasoned action and perceived values from the perspectives of software, hardware, and aesthetic design. An online questionnaire was developed and distributed on popular websites to collect data, and 260 usable responses are collected from the potential users of the Apple Watch in Taiwan. The thirteen hypotheses were validated by using partial least squares (PLS) techniques. Among the antecedents of purchase intention in the model, the attitude towards using smartwatches was found to have the strongest direct effect. Among the factors of the attitude, design aesthetics have the most significant effect. The results also show that all of the factors about smartwatch attributes directly affected the related perceived values. However, social value and performance/quality value did not affect the intention. The model demonstrated relatively good explanatory power for purchase intention in the context of smartwatches. The proposed model can provide insights to smartwatch vendors to develop their new products and marketing strategies.     

What drives live-stream usage intention? The perspectives of flow,entertainment, social interaction,and endorsement

Live-stream is the real-time audio and video transmission of an event over the Internet. Since a live-stream can also be interactive, it has some of the characteristics of a small community. People often become addicted to television, movies, or video blogs for the sake of entertainment. They can also become blind and obsessive about worshiping popular idols. Moreover, their willingness to use media is affected by their own perception of the media or their expectation of the benefits. This study therefore proposes four key factors: flow, entertainment, social interaction, and endorsement. We use path analysis to test their relationships with attitude, perceived value and watching intention to understand the influential factors and channels that induce audiences to watch live-streaming events.Analysis of 313 valid responses to a survey questionnaire indicate that approximately 65% of Taiwanese people watch live-streams via social network sites. In general, they watched live-streams simply because they liked to do so. The main reason behind their favorable impression of live-streaming was that live-streams made people happy and relieved stress. Secondly, people were attracted by the charm of the streamers, but the attraction differs slightly by gender. Females developed a more favorable impression of a live-stream when they admired the streamer. Males, on the other hand, developed a more favorable impression of a live-stream when they interacted with the streamer or other audience members. Young people tended to like live-streaming because it gave them a sense of flow, while older people were not affected by flow. This study contributes to the development of live-stream services and future studies on live-streaming.     

Segmenting consumers based on social media advertising perceptions: How does purchase intention differ across segments?

Digitalization, personalization and globalization shape how companies contact and communicate with their consumers who have different needs and wants. In these highly competitive heterogeneous markets, it becomes crucial to reach consumers in an easy, low-cost and more targeted manner. Social media advertising is one of the effective ways of attracting potential customers, retaining attention of current customers and influencing them through persuasive content. Despite its plentiful and obvious advantages, the variation among consumers’ responses to social media advertising remains as a major challenge. Hence, this study aims to identify different consumer segments based on the social media advertising features, discover differences in their individual traits, and examine variation among those segments in terms of the factors that predict their purchase intentions. By utilizing cluster analysis, consumers are segmented according to their perceptions regarding social media advertising features: perceived relevance, performance expectancy, hedonic motivation, informativeness, and interactiveness. It is revealed that consumers are grouped under three segments, namely: “susceptible”, “dispassionate”, and “impervious”. It is found that there are statistically significant differences among these segments in terms of being easily persuaded, impulse buying tendency, self-confidence, and social network proneness in which consumers in “susceptible” segment are more easily persuaded, have high level of self-confidence, have more impulse buying tendency, and are more prone to social networks when compared to other groups. It is also discovered that there are differences among these segments in terms of the factors that determine their purchase intentions for the products presented in social media advertising. The purchase intention of consumers in “susceptible” segment for products exhibited in social media advertising, is determined by perceived relevance, ease of being persuaded, self-confidence and social network proneness. On the other hand, the purchase intention of consumers in the “dispassionate” segment is shaped by informativeness, ease of being persuaded, and social network proneness. Finally, the purchase intention of consumers in “impervious” segment is influenced by hedonic motivation, perceived relevance, impulse buying tendency, and ease of being persuaded. Nevertheless, when the whole sample is considered, it is observed that consumers’ purchase intentions for the products and services presented in social media advertising are influenced by the following factors: perceived relevance, performance expectancy, informativeness, impulse buying tendency, ease of being persuaded, and social network proneness. Understanding differences across segments can help companies design, manage and convey their social media advertising campaigns to their target audience in a convincing, timely, effective, and efficient way, which in turn, let them gain competitive advantage in highly volatile and dynamic markets.     

Do social media matter? The effects of information seeking on COVID-19 psychological and behavioral processes

With the evolution of media technologies, social media have developed as a means to purposive and incidental use and subsequent benefits and detriments. This study investigates how individuals’ use of information via social media helps them achieve psychological and behavioral advances in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. This study’s novelty lies in its positioning of social media information seeking (SMIS) as a precursor to the staged behavioral processes of the Theory of Planned Behavior. This novel extension entails the testing of a conceptual model of the influence of SMIS on three psychological factors (i.e., attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control), which, in turn, predict behavioral intention. It implements cross-sectional data from a survey of adults in New York City in 2020 (N = 1,021). The structural equation models were well-fitting and generally validated by the data, including the posited two steps from SMIS to psychological factors to behavioral intention. Structural equation modeling underscores the role of SMIS as a core driver of wearing a facemask, with positive effects on attitudes and perceived behavioral control and subsequent mediated positive effects on behavioral intention. In terms of sheltering in place, there was evidence of positive effects of SMIS on perceived behavioral control and, in turn, from the three psychological factors to behavioral intention, but the mediation role of the psychological factors was weaker in this model. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

What is the impact of service quality on customers’ satisfaction during COVID-19 outbreak? New findings from online reviews analysis

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major global changes both in the areas of healthcare and economics. This pandemic has led, mainly due to conditions related to confinement, to major changes in consumer habits and behaviors. Although there have been several studies on the analysis of customers’ satisfaction through survey-based and online customers’ reviews, the impact of COVID-19 on customers' satisfaction has not been investigated so far. It is important to investigate dimensions of satisfaction from the online customers’ reviews to reveal their preferences on the hotels' services during the COVID-19 outbreak. This study aims to reveal the travelers’ satisfaction in Malaysian hotels during the COVID-19 outbreak through online customers’ reviews. In addition, this study investigates whether service quality during COVID-19 has an impact on hotel performance criteria and consequently customers' satisfaction. Accordingly, we develop a new method through machine learning approaches. The method is developed using text mining, clustering, and prediction learning techniques. We use Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) for big data analysis to identify the voice-of-the-customer, Expectation-Maximization (EM) for clustering, and ANFIS for satisfaction level prediction. In addition, we use Higher-Order Singular Value Decomposition (HOSVD) for missing value imputation. The data was collected from TripAdvisor regarding the travelers’ concerns in the form of online reviews on the COVID-19 outbreak and numerical ratings on hotel services from different perspectives. The results from the analysis of online customers’ reviews revealed that service quality during COVID-19 has an impact on hotel performance criteria and consequently customers' satisfaction. In addition, the results showed that although the customers are always seeking hotels with better performance, they are also concerned with the quality of related services in the COVID-19 outbreak.     

What drives stickiness in location-based AR games? An examination of flow and satisfaction

Although location-based augmented reality (AR) games are popular in recent years, the motivates of the game’s stickiness still need further investigation. The main goal of this research is to investigate the antecedents of the game’s stickiness. This research develops a conceptual model and hypotheses based on the theory of flow and satisfaction to investigate the antecedents. An online questionnaire was developed and distributed on popular websites to collect data, and 1028 usable responses are collected from the players of Pokémon Go in Taiwan. The eleven hypotheses and control variables were validated by using structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques. Among the antecedents of the game’s stickiness in the model, the flow and satisfaction were found to have strong direct effects. The effects of control variables (age, gender, platform, game experience, and in-app expense) on the stickiness were significant as well. Moreover, telepresence, challenge, perceived control, curiosity, and concentration all have direct influences on the flow. Only perceived currency and responsiveness were found to have a direct impact on players’ satisfaction. The model demonstrated good explanatory power for flow and stickiness in the context of location-based AR game. The proposed model can provide insights to location-based AR game developers to design their games and marketing strategies.     

Do information and service quality affect perceived privacy protection,satisfaction, and loyalty? Evidence from a Chinese O2O-based mobile shopping application

As the mobile application market rapidly expands, the mobile shopping market is also expected to follow suit. Further, a new form of online-to-offline (O2O) services available in mobile shopping applications, which helps users instantly search for what they want online, try them in the offline stores nearby, and pay online, is becoming increasingly popular. Thus, our study investigates the effects of O2O-based mobile shopping application (MSA)’s information and service quality on the user’s perceived privacy protection, satisfaction, and loyalty. In this study, we collected 1063 questionnaire responses, out of which 969 were used to estimate the structural paths using PLS-SEM (partial least-square structural equation model) for the hypothesis test. Our empirical findings are drawn from Chinese respondents who use Chinese leading MSAs, such as Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent. We confirm that qualified information and services of O2O MSAs positively affect both perceived privacy protection and customer satisfaction, which finally lead to customer loyalty through the lens of the information systems success model. Further, we present effective practical implications for business strategy and application characteristics suitable for users in the O2O-based mobile shopping industry.     

Does social media use really make people politically polarized? Direct and indirect effects of social media use on political polarization in South Korea

To help inform the debate over whether social media is related to political polarization, we investigated the effects of social media use on changes in political view using panel data collected in South Korea (N?=?6411) between 2012 and 2016. We found that, although there were no direct effects of social media use, social media indirectly contributed to polarization through increased political engagement. Those who actively used social network sites were more likely to engage in political processes, which led them to develop more extreme political attitudes over time than those who did not use social network sites. In particular, we observed a clear trend toward a more liberal direction among both politically neutral users and moderately liberal users. In this study, we highlight the role of social media in activating political participation, which eventually pushes the users toward the ideological poles. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Can AI be a content generator? Effects of content generators and information delivery methods on the psychology of content consumers

Considering the rapidly improving technologies in artificial intelligence (AI), researchers in mass communication and journalism have paid attention to the use of AI technologies. However, there are still notable concerns about the particular use of AI technologies in this field. Put simply, can AI technologies reduce human tasks? In order to address this question, this study investigates the effects of content generators (human vs. AI) and information delivery methods (text vs. audio vs. video) on users’ perceptions of content. The results indicate that the generators and methods play a notable role in eliciting greater quality, satisfaction, and readability of the content. Based on the findings, the implications are addressed.     

Elucidating determinants of customer satisfaction with live-stream shopping: An extension of the information systems success model

Live-stream shopping has witnessed a leap in development since the coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak. However, research exploring the determinants of live-stream customer satisfaction remains limited. The current study integrated the information systems success model, argument quality, media richness theory, and the source credibility model to investigate the indicators of customer satisfaction with live-stream shopping. Structural equation modeling and AMOS24 were employed to analyze data collected from 237 Chinese consumers. The results indicate that consumers’ satisfaction with live-stream shopping was determined by the quality of information, services, and arguments. Both source expertise and media richness were significant antecedents of information, service, and argument quality. In addition, social presence mediated the relationships of media richness with information, service, and argument quality. Finally, the mediating roles of trustworthiness in the relationships of source expertise with information, service, and argument quality were confirmed.     

Elucidating the determinants of purchase intention toward social shopping sites: A comparative study of Taiwan and Japan

As the market potential of social shopping is increased by social networking sites (SNSs), the social shopping research can be interesting and valuable for social shopping firms to clearly understand the determinants affecting consumers’ purchase intention toward social shopping sites (SSSs). The objectives of this study are to examine consumers’ purchase intention toward a target SSS in different countries and to understand these differences from a cross-cultural perspective. In order to explore the cross-cultural differences in consumers’ purchase intention toward a target SSS, we propose an analytic framework that consists of website quality (i.e. system, information, and service quality) and relationship quality (i.e. satisfaction, commitment, and trust) that the SSS provides. To identify the determinants of purchase intention of SSS, large-scale online surveys were conducted in Taiwan and Japan simultaneously with the same questionnaire. Results show that perceptions of the two types of quality for a target SSS are significantly different between Taiwan and Japan, and effects of the quality types on the degree of purchase intention derived from the SSS also vary across the two countries. This paper ends with a discussion and limitations of the study results, as well as future research directions.     

Green attributes converged within multifunctional technology products

This article analyzes the way in which the convergence of green attributes in multifunctional technological products influences consumers’ purchase intentions. Due to the recent growth in convergent products, technology users and consumers must choose among numerous different applications that can be perceived as either utilitarian or hedonic. This article suggests that new products launched on the market include attributes that are connected to sustainability and provide added value to consumers in their process of decision making. The primary question addressed in this article concerns whether an increase or decrease in consumer intention is based on the perception of the product’s utility, and the consumer’s prior experience and attitude toward green products. A 2 × 2 × 2 experiment was conducted to evaluate utilitarian or hedonic convergence, green attribute integration, and predisposition for (involvement with) green products. We propose that consumer value increases for those consumers with a high perception of green integration connected to a high predisposition for green devices, which increases the utilitarian value of the product or justifies the hedonic purchase of technological equipment.     

CIMS环境下的采购管理系统的设计与实现

主要研究了CIMS环境下采购管理系统的设计方案、体系结构及功能模型。并将其应用于某企业CIMS工程，给出了CIMS环境下的实施采购管理系统的具体解决方案及其实现的关键技术。     

Smartphones and psychological well-being in China: Examining direct and indirect relationships through social support and relationship satisfaction

Drawing insights from media richness theory and the Internet-enhanced self-disclosure hypothesis, this study examined the direct and indirect relationships between multiple uses of the smartphone and psychological well-being. A national online survey of smartphone users in China (N = 908) was conducted. Findings based on structural equation modelling showed that face-to-face and mobile voice communication directly predicted well-being whereas the relationship was indirect for mobile email, Weibo and WeChat through social support and relationship satisfaction. The results demonstrated the importance of examining smartphone use more holistically and using theory-based perspectives to explain the contingent mechanisms linking smartphone use and well-being.     

The Social News Gap: How News Reading and News Sharing Diverge

This article seeks to explain variation in news sharing patterns on social media. It finds that news editors have considerable power to shape the social media agenda through the use of “story importance cues” but also shows that there are some areas of news reporting (such as those related to crime and disasters) where this power does not apply. This highlights the existence of a social “news gap” where social media filters out certain types of news, producing a social media news agenda which has important differences from its traditional counterpart. The discussion suggests that this may be consequential for perceptions of crime and engagement with politics; it might even stimulate a partial reversal of the tabloidization of news outlets.     

区域卫生信息共享平台的体系模型研究

区域卫生信息化建设是我国"十二五"期间的重要任务,合理、可实施的区域卫生信息共享平台体系建设是其中的核心内容,是解决百姓"看病难、看病贵",提高医疗服务质量的主要手段。本文分析目前区域卫生信息化建设的现状及不足,结合上海的区域特点,初步探索以居民健康档案为基础,设计区域卫生信息共享平台的体系框架,为实现区域范围内卫生信息互联互通和资源共享提供参考。     

战场信息共享系统构建研究

战场信息共享是实现协同作战所急需解决的问题。本文通过分析战场通信网络的现状以及对战场信息共享的需求,在研究战场信息共享系统工作方式的基础上,总结了实现战场信息共享系统所解决的关键技术,并提出了系统未来的改进和发展方向。     

Relevant and rich interactivity under uncertainty: Guest reviews,host responses,and guest purchase intention on Airbnb

Online commerce, increasingly running on digital platforms, is subject to higher uncertainty and risk in transactions (e.g., fraud, opportunism) than offline commerce. To cope with this challenge, online commerce companies often use information systems to promote interactive communication between sellers and buyers. This study examines how such seller-buyer interactivity affects buyers’ purchase intention in an online commerce context of accommodation sharing. In particular, we use text mining techniques to analyze guest reviews and host responses on Airbnb. Our analysis suggests that not only the quantity but also the quality of the response messages matter: potential guests’ purchase intention increases with the relevance and richness of the host’s responses as well as their volume. Further, we find a notable nonlinearity in the quantity effect that the volume of host responses significantly affects guest purchase intention only when it is large enough. Making sufficient responses, the hosts could enjoy complementarity between the quantity and quality effects of their responses; otherwise, the relative richness of their responses becomes more important.     

面向社会媒体的信息抽取:任务、挑战与机遇

社会媒体是人们用来分享意见、见解、观念和经验的平台或工具,目前已经发展成具有日益重大影响力的新媒体。面向社会媒体的信息抽取就是要从充满噪音的、零碎的、非结构化的社会媒体的自由文本中提取有价值的结构化的信息,以利于从社会媒体内容中有效地获取信息。介绍了面向社会媒体的信息抽取这一任务的诞生背景、要解决的主要问题、面临的主要挑战、相关工作以及未来的研究方向。