Does “Being There” Matter? The Impact of Web-Based and Virtual World’s Shopping Experiences on Consumer Purchase Attitudes

The use of virtual worlds as an emerging technology is already having a significant impact on business to consumer commerce and on corporate Internet retailing strategies. This research investigates consumer behavior in e-commerce retail environments, particularly with respect to consumer attitudes toward using virtual world’s shopping compared to web-based, online shopping for real-world items. We investigate two forms of presence, perceived social presence and telepresence, and their effect on attitudes toward e-commerce, attitudes that ultimately influence the consumer's intention to shop using a particular e-commerce environment. Key implications of this research for researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

Why Does the Negative Impact of Inconsistent Knowledge on Web Navigation Persist?

Farris (2003) discovered that users had greater difficulty finding information on a Web site when their prior knowledge was inconsistent with the Web site's content, relative to when their knowledge was consistent with it. In addition, he found that this difficulty was persistent over trials. To explain this persistence, Farris offered a schema-based account, which instantiated inconsistency in a single manner. These studies tested 2 predictions that were derived from Farris's account. Specifically, Experiment 1 assessed whether schema elaboration would be gradual, whereas Experiment 2 assessed whether task repetition would eliminate the negative impact of inconsistent knowledge. The results associated with navigation efficiency supported the predictions derived from Farris's account. The results associated with the choices made by participants as they navigated the site, however, contradicted the predictions. A new account, based on production-rules rather than schemata, is offered that considers both sets of results, because it instantiates inconsistency in more than 1 manner. This new account has implications for the design and redesign of Web sites.     

Gossiping Behavior on Social Networking Sites: Does Gender Matter?

This study examines how gender affects online gossip on social networking sites. Based on gender theories and agency-communion theory, it is posited that achievement value, friendship value, and normative pressure differ according to gender (female vs. male), the level of propensity to gossip (high vs. low), and the interaction between the two. An experimental survey is conducted with 809 general consumers. Between-subjects multivariate analysis of covariance reveals that gender has an impact only on friendship value, whereas propensity to gossip affects achievement value and normative pressure. No interaction effects are observed. However, a subsequent analysis of covariance finds an interaction between gender and propensity to gossip through electronic word-of-mouth for a high-involvement product. In closing, theoretical and managerial implications are discussed while important limitations are recognized.     

The Impact of Non-Gaussian Distribution Traffic on Network Performance

Recent extensive measurements of real-life traffic demonstrate that the probability density function of the traffic in non-Gaussian.If a traffic model does not capture this characteristics,any analytical or simulation results will not be accurate.In this work,we study the impact of non-Gaussian traffic on network performance,and present an approach that can accurately model the marginal distribution of real-life traffic.Both the long-and short-range autocorrelations are also accounted.We show that the removal of non-Gaussian components of the process does not change its correlation structure,and we validate our promising procedure by simulations.     

Does the Use of E-Mail Change Over Time?

Many empirical studies of the use of e-mail have been performed, but longitudinal studies are not common. In this article a longitudinal study is presented, with data collected during 1994, 1995, and 1998. The research question was as follows: How does the use of e-mail change over time concerning problems experienced with e-mail, the flow of messages, and time to handle mail (i.e., to send and receive a response)? Results show that the flow of messages was stable (sent mail per day) or doubled (received messages per day). Time to handle mail was stable over the 5 years, but the experienced amount of time to handle mail changed from not being sufficient to sometimes sufficient depending on the total work situation. Experienced problems with e-mail decreased during the 5-year study period. The time for respondents to reply to a message changed during this period from immediately to in a day or even a week. Respondents accepted not receiving replies to their own messages, but they used strategies to get answers to the most important messages.     

The Context of Information Use in a Hospital as Simultaneous Similarity–Difference Relations

In the light of the developing discourse on the relative merits of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ approaches to information systems development, we present a case study application of a methodology which attempts to dissolve such dualities. Personal Construct Psychology (PCP) offers, as a unity, the construing person who is both biology and culture. PCP argues that both the world and the person’s construct system are phenomenologically real and that the viability of any particular construct system depends only on its usefulness to the construing person. In this study, we used PCP to explore the organisational context of information use and distribution in a large hospital. We used repertory grids, a PCP technique, to elicit from 16 members of staff their personal construals of information from different sources in the hospital. The results highlight the relationship between meaningful information and meaningfully active relationships, a theme which we discuss in terms of the development of the hospital information system and in terms of the value of PCP in dissolving hard–soft dichotomies.     

The Impact of High Speed Machining on Computing and Automation

Machine tool technologies, especially Computer Numerical Control (CNC) High Speed Machining (HSM) have emerged as effective mechanisms for Rapid Tooling and Manufacturing applications. These new technologies are attractive for competitive manufacturing because of their technical advantages, i.e. a significant reduction in lead-time, high product accuracy, and good surface finish. However, HSM not only stimulates advancements in cutting tools and materials, it also demands increasingly sophisticated CAD/CAM software, and powerful CNC controllers that require more support technologies. This paper explores the computational requirement and impact of HSM on CNC controller, wear detection, look ahead programming, simulation, and tool management.     

Impact of Mobile Diabetes Self-Care System on patients’ knowledge,behavior and efficacy

Evaluating the impact of emerging mobile technology on chronic disease management such as diabetes mellitus has been a persistent concern among healthcare professionals. However, most of the previous studies have focused on assessing metabolic outcomes, rather than changes in patients’ self-care ability and practices, which have been found critical in properly managing the disease. The research team developed a system, called Mobile Diabetes Self-Care System, for people with diabetes, which facilitates the patients to enhance their self-care ability and practices with the flexibility of timing, location and choices. The study evaluates the system's effectiveness in patients’ self-care knowledge, behavior and efficacy. Twenty-eight patients with type 2 diabetes participated in the six-week intervention. Questionnaires were used to measure their changes before and after the intervention. The results indicate that the mobile system enhanced the patient's self-care knowledge and behavior by 17% and 22%, respectively, with statistical significance, yet only marginally increased their self-efficacy. The majority of the participants have enjoyed using the system. Remarks on the biggest advantages of using the system include portability, convenience in maintaining and accessing personal records, and flexibility in learning necessary information. Integrating mobile technology with patient education and support services bears great potential in combating the global burden of chronic diseases.     

Where Does It Fit In? The Use of Print Reference in Upper Division Library Instruction

The purpose of this research study is to identify whether academic librarians teach upper-division students about print reference resources, and how they teach students to use them. Questionnaires were sent to library instruction and reference services e-mail discussion lists. After analyzing results, researchers found that responses focused on the themes of pro-print, pro-electronic, relevance to instruction, collection development, and marketing. Using print reference in library instruction is related to the type of research assignment and electronic format availability. Librarians may want to consider engaging students in hands-on use of print and electronic reference material, so students are able to navigate the breadth of information sources.     

A Longitudinal Study of Well-Being of Older Europeans: Does Retirement Matter?

We examine determinants of financial and subjective well-being, in particular poverty and depression, among older individuals in Europe. We do so using the 2004, 2006, and 2010 waves of the Survey of Health Ageing and Retirement in Europe and estimating dynamic panel data and binary choice transition models. We find a number of common effects across financial and subjective well-being. Unemployment, disabilities, serious health conditions, lower education, being female, and not being married increase the probability of poverty or depression. Conversely, healthy individuals, those with higher levels of education, males, and married individuals have higher probabilities of exiting poverty or depression. The effect of retirement is of special policy interest. It turns out to be crucial to control for endogeneity (i.e. the possibility of reverse causality) of retirement. If we don’t control for endogeneity, retirement appears to increase both the risk of poverty and of depression. Once we control for endogeneity using instrumental variables, these negative effects disappear and point to weak evidence that retirement induced through eligibility for retirement pensions may be protective against poverty and depression.     

Internet Jokes: The Secret Agents of Globalization?

In this article, we use the somewhat unusual lens of joke translation to examine the process of "user‐generated globalization" – cross‐national diffusion of content by Internet users. We tracked the translations of 100 popular jokes in English into 9 languages and analyzed them quantitatively and qualitatively. Our findings indicate that (1) web‐based diffusion of translated jokes is common but varies greatly, both between languages and between jokes; (2) "global hits" differ from "translation‐resistant" jokes in their themes and incorporation of American markers; and (3) translated joke versions tend to include only minor cultural alternations (such as name shifting), thereby preserving the original messages. Overall, these findings suggest that Internet jokes serve as powerful (albeit often invisible) agents of globalization and Americanization.     

The rise of Internet telephony

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The Study on the Fast Handoff in Mobile Network

Mobile Network based on Mobile IPv6 has been considered as an active approach to support the NEtwork MObility （NEMO）. In this paper, a new authentication method for mobile network seamless and fast handoff is presented, which is based on the Mobile IP Joins with AAA Basic Model. An enhanced model is also presented, which adds new function and role to the AAAF, and reduces the network burden between AAAH and AAAF. The Low Handoffs Latency is realized by establishing a new bi-directional tunnel between NAR and OAR, and enhancing the basic Mobile IP/AAA model. Since the symmetric cryptosystem is employed in this method, it can reduce the computation complexity and accomplish the entire mission above. The new method also can improve the security of mobile network registration and handoff. Finally, the proposed method is simulated and analyzed; moreover, the result is given.     

The Impact of Social Media on Consumers’ Acculturation and Purchase Intentions

Social media has emerged as a significant and effective means of assisting and endorsing activities and communications among peers, consumers and organizations that outdo the restrictions of time and space. While the previous studies acknowledge the role of agents of culture change, it largely remains silent on the role of social media in influencing acculturation outcomes and consumption choices. This study uses self-administered questionnaire to collect data from 514 Turkish-Dutch respondents and examines how their use of social media affects their acculturation and consumption choices. This research makes a significant contribution to consumer acculturation research by showing that social media is a vital means of culture change and a driver of acculturation strategies and consumption choices. This study is the first to investigate the role of social media as an agent of culture change in terms of how it impacts acculturation and consumption. The paper discusses implications for theory development and for practice.     

Information Technology Workforce Skills: Does Size Matter?

ABSTRACT

Changes in information technology (IT) services and their delivery have shifted the need for non-IT firms' (i.e., firms whose primary business is something other than providing IT goods and services) IT skills and capabilities to emphasize a business focus while integrating more outsourcing options from both domestic and global third-party providers. This paper explores how organizations of different sizes value critical IT skills and investigates firms' needs for entry-level and mid-level capabilities. The results show that smaller organizations consider more in-house hiring than their counterparts. Although desired entry-level skills differed among organizations of varying sizes, they all valued project management skills highly for mid-level IT staff.     

Citizens’ Adoption Behavior of Mobile Government (mGov): A Cross-Cultural Study

This study aims to address the paradigms of consumers’ adoption behavior for mobile government, posits the factors which pursue citizens’ intention to adopt mobile government services, and reveals the impact of cultural dimensions in perceiving driving factors of mobile government adoption. The mobile government adoption model was developed and tested among users of three different countries, namely Bangladesh, Canada, and Germany. The finding suggests the rationale that cross-cultural differences impact consumers’ perception of mobile government adoption behavior.     

Is internet the cherry on top or a crutch? Offline social support as moderator of the outcomes of online social support on Problematic Internet Use

The study is part of a research whose goal is identifying what predictors determine either a positive or a dysfunctional use of Internet. The factor at stake is here social support. Specifically our study, carried out through an online questionnaire, hypothesized a moderation of Offline Social Support in the relationship between Online Social Support, Problematic Internet Use, and Life Satisfaction. The study found that while Offline Social Support reduces the chances of developing a Problematic Internet Use, Online Social Support increases them. Furthermore the data supported the moderation of Offline Social Support in the outcomes of Online Social Support: when the first is low, as the latter increases the Problematic Internet Use gets higher; when Offline Social Support is high, an increase in Online Social Support determines a decrease in Problematic Internet Use. By contrast the moderation of Offline Social Support on the relationship between Online Social Support and Life Satisfaction was not confirmed. Our research show that when investigating psychological constructs related to Internet activity these must be considered in their offline and online variations to provide an answer to the debate on psychological outcomes of undertaking social interactions in Internet land. Our results suggest that the usage of the Web may become dysfunctional when it is meant to compensate for lacks of the “offline life”.     

A Study of Bruneian Corporate Customers＇ Uses of Mobile Services： An Application of Value-Based Adoption Model

This pioneering study investigates the seventy Bruneian corporate customers＇ adoption intentions towards using the mobile services. The study uses and validates the VAM （value-based adoption model） for investigating mobile service in different geographical setting contrary to the original study for Mobile Interact. The study combines four external variables such as perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, technicality and perceived fee with perceived value in predicting the adoption intentions of using mobile services. The study results indicate that only perceived usefulness is significant predictor of perceived values which are significant indicator of adoption intentions of using mobile services. Based on the results, some recommendations are made for the managerial implications.