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.     

Will smartwatches last? factors contributing to intention to keep using smart wearable technology

This study aims to deepen our understanding of the underlying factors affecting the intention to continue using increasingly popular wearable technology. A new theoretical model is developed and validated to extend traditional technology acceptance theories by identifying several value drivers of the continuous intention and actual usage of wearable devices. Hypotheses were tested using partial least squares path modeling on data collected from 383 actual smartwatch users. The results provide wearable device manufacturers with practical guidance for optimizing competition strategies. They also offer policy-making insights for practitioners to promote better wearable devices on the market, especially during the early stages of adoption.     

“OK,Google, why do I use you?” Motivations,post-consumption evaluations,and perceptions of voice AI assistants

Voice-activated, artificial intelligence–based assistants (voice AI assistants) have become an integral part of everyday life because they can be easily activated to complete numerous tasks. However, little is known about what motivates people to use them or how these motivations influence users’ post-consumption evaluations and perceptions. This study develops measures to capture uses and gratifications related to voice AI assistants. It identifies five primary motivations for use—social interaction, personal identity, conformity, life efficiency, and information. Results show that the utilitarian motivations of life efficiency and information influence all post-consumption evaluations and behavioral intentions positively (i.e., users’ attitudes, satisfaction, and intentions to continue using voice AI assistants). However, social motivations are also important. Social interaction and conformity motivations also influence user satisfaction, and the conformity motivation shapes individuals’ intentions to continue using voice AI assistants. The findings further demonstrate that users’ motivations influence perceptions of their voice AI assistants’ roles. In keeping with the “Computers Are Social Actors” (CASA) paradigm, users motivated by social interaction are likely to perceive a voice AI assistant as socially attractive and as a friend, whereas users motivated by life efficiency are likely to perceive it as an assistant. Users motivated by information are more likely to perceive a voice AI assistant as technology, while those motivated by social interaction are less likely to do so. The implications of these findings are discussed, and recommendations for future research are provided.     

A feminine burden of perfection? Appearance-related pressures on social networking sites

This study examines how social networking sites (SNS) are experienced as a source of appearance-related pressures for men and women in Finland. We explored the differences between two platforms, Facebook and Instagram, in the probability be linked with experiences of social media -caused appearance-related pressures, and tested if these experiences are gendered. Finally, we investigated whether the number of friends or followers affected the probability of experiencing appearance-related pressures for men and women. We approach these questions with unique data nationally representative of the Finnish population aged 18–74 (N = 3724), and offer insights into the discussion on the relationship between social media and appearance-related pressures. Our findings suggest that both gender and age are associated with experiences of appearance-related pressures engendered by social media. The propensity to report social media as a source of appearance-related pressures is higher particularly for younger women. The preferred social network site was connected to experiencing appearance-related pressures. Both male and female Instagram users were more likely to perceive appearance-related pressures than male and female Facebook users. The number of followers increased the likelihood of Instagram users to perceive social media -caused appearance-related pressures, however, the effect was apparent only for women.     

Auction-Based Effective Bandwidth Allocation Mechanism

Several auctions have been proposed and applied to perform contract negotiation and resource allocation in reservation-based networks. The methods proposed by these works perceive resources as single items with multiple units and place importance on a limited efficiency inside each node. However, as a user evaluates resources not individually, but rather as a whole set of required resources, the economical efficiency of the overall network cannot be achieved by these methods. To solve this problem, we propose a bandwidth allocation system using GVA (Generalised Vickrey Auction). Network resources, which are composed of many links at various bandwidths, are regarded by the proposed method as multiple items with multiple units. We describe how to apply GVA protocol to bandwidth allocations among multiple users. We investigate algorithmic and accounting problems inside multiple nodes using an end-to-end approach. We evaluate the proposed method's performance from various viewpoints: the utilisation of resources, profits of the telecommunications carriers, users' utility and users' satisfaction. We show that, by adopting GVA, the total utility of users can be maximised and the revenues of networks can also be improved.     

The making of standards: looking inside the work groups

This article attempts to contribute to a better understanding of how standards actually emerge by taking a closer look at what is going on inside standards setting committees. It discusses the results of a study of senior committee members from the ISO, ITU and the IETF; who they are, where they come from, which rules they assume during the process, how they perceive this process, and what they feel actually influences its final outcome: the standard     

Internal and External Dimensions of Computer Self-Efficacy: An Empirical Examination

Researchers have found computer self-efficacy (CSE) to be important to technology adoption. Past research has treated CSE as a unitary concept. This paper proposes that CSE has two dimensions—internal and external. The idea that CSE has internal and external dimensions is based on attribution theory, which identifies the human tendency to attribute events to causes that are either internal or external to the self. The internal CSE dimension focuses on how individuals perceive their capacity to use computers independently (i.e., without help). The external CSE dimension focuses on how individuals perceive their ability to use computers with human assistance and other forms of external support. Using items drawn from the Compeau and Higgins’ CSE instrument, this paper examines each dimension's relationship to computer anxiety and perceived ease-of-use of information technology. The paper also reports on six studies that examine this proposal, and contributes to the literature by identifying two distinct CSE dimensions, developing theory-driven explanations for their relationships to constructs within the CSE's nomological network, and empirically establishing that they have distinct effects. Implications for research and practice are presented.      

Comparative Optimism About Privacy Risks on Facebook

Comparatively optimistic people feel that they are less susceptible to risks than are others. This study investigated predictors and outcomes of comparative optimism about privacy risks on Facebook. Results from a nationally representative survey of adult U.S. Facebook users (N = 1,156) show that users exhibit comparative optimism in believing that they are less susceptible to privacy risks than are average users. However, unlike prior findings in offline contexts, this study finds that comparatively optimistic Facebook users do not appear to engage in riskier privacy behaviors. The findings of this study shed light on how privacy decision-making may be different in social networking contexts compared to other contexts due to the networked nature of the communication platform.     

Networked Authoritarianism and Social Media in Azerbaijan

The diffusion of digital media does not always have democratic consequences. This mixed‐methods study examines how the government of Azerbaijan dissuaded Internet users from political activism. We examine how digital media were used for networked authoritarianism, a form of Internet control common in former Soviet states where manipulation over digitally mediated social networks is used more than outright censorship. Through a content analysis of 3 years of Azerbaijani media, a 2‐year structural equation model of the relationship between Internet use and attitudes toward protest, and interviews with Azerbaijani online activists, we find that the government has successfully dissuaded frequent Internet users from supporting protest and average Internet users from using social media for political purposes.     

Implementation of a Secure Wireless Communication Technology in a Highly Mobile Organisation: Challenges and Issues

Wireless Technology is growing at an alarming rate with increased security being the main challenge for developers and end users. This study presents after tackling initial challenges and issues faced during the implementation of wireless technology, how security issues and wireless application were implemented at Sydney Airport – a highly mobile organization. The decision to deploy and manage the wireless spectrum throughout the Airport campus meant the wireless LAN will be a shared medium with public users, tenants and aircraft communications, sharing the same available bandwidth. Therefore to protect unintended users from breach of existing security policies adopted by their corporate network a comprehensive security solution needed to be established. This study focuses on how Sydney Airport undertook the WLAN architecture and security challenges of implementing a common use wireless infrastructure. Authentication and data privacy challenges are also presented. The complete WLAN connectivity for tenants, public and corporate usage is presented.     

Users’ Preferences for Smart Home Automation – Investigating Aspects of Privacy and Trust

Smart home automation provides residents with relief and convenience in everyday life and allows for self-determined aging in place. Yet, market penetration is offset by user concerns related to privacy and trust issues: With increasing system complexity, users may perceive a loss of control and fear technical unreliability. While barriers to acceptance in terms of privacy and trust are well understood when considered separately, they are hardly investigated in conjunction so far. We conducted a quantitative study using Adaptive Choice-Based Conjoint Analysis via an online questionnaire. We explored how aspects of privacy and trust determine the willingness to use smart homes from the perspective of (future) users (n = 137, 18 to 64 years of age), and also with respect to the level of automation and application field. Results show that semi-automated systems are rather preferred than fully automated smart home technology. The perceived reliability of automation is the most important acceptance determinant, followed by the location of data storage. Whereas the awareness to use (e.g., recommendations), the type of data, and application field are less important factors for the overall willingness to use smart homes. Findings inform scientists in the field of human-automation interaction and technical developers of smart home automation for technology innovation adapted to user needs.     

Video acceptability and frame rate

The advantage of degrading the QoS of a multimedia session is that it reduces the network bandwidth required for distributed multimedia applications, increasing the number of users that a multimedia server can support concurrently. Experimentation shows that users perceive a reduced frame rate for a continuous-media stream differently, depending on the content     

Disentangling facial recognition payment service usage behavior: A trust perspective

Facial recognition payment (FRP) technology has been used as an innovative digital approach to payment services. This study develops a model to investigate how user trust—including trust in FRP service providers and FRP—affects users’ continuance intentions toward FRP services. We also propose that trust in FRP itself is affected by perceived vulnerability, perceived security, and perceived response efficacy from a privacy and security perspective. Our research model was empirically tested via a partial-least-squares analysis with survey data collected from 217 FRP users in China. The results show that trust in both FRP service providers and FRP itself positively affects users’ continuance intentions, and trust in service providers affects trust in FRP. Perceived security and response efficacy positively affect trust in FRP. This research contributes to the literature on FRP and trust, offering practical implications for FRP service providers on how to manage individual users’ FRP-related privacy concerns while enhancing user trust in FRP, which facilitates continuous FRP use.     

An analysis of user behavior in a private BitTorrent community

This paper aims to develop an understanding on how users of private BitTorrent communities participate in downloading and uploading by using the download records of CHDBits, one of the largest private BitTorrent communities in China. First, we investigate the arrivals of CHDBits users, which correspond to the initiations of new download tasks. The investigation demonstrates that user arrival rate varies with time in a day, and this variation dovetails well into users’ daily schedule. Moreover, we observe that it is with more than half possibility that the two consecutive arrivals of a CHDBits user take place in the same day, and that an individual user issues new download tasks with a probability of 0.23, on which we base to estimate that all CHDBits users are expected to launch at least one new download task in 42 days. Second, we present an analysis on the post‐download behavior of users. We observe that the average per task seeding time of 99% of users is no less than 8 h, showing CHDBits users’ great willingness to contribute. We also find that almost all the seeding processes have been interrupted and resumed multiple times. Finally, we study the bandwidth distribution of users and evaluate users’ bandwidth utilization in the downloading process. Our study shows that the bandwidths of most CHDBits users are uniformly distributed in the range from 256 kB/s to 16 MB/s, and users with a higher bandwidth tend to experience a lower bandwidth utilization. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Does the manual help? An examination of the problem-solving supportoffered by manuals

The paper examines whether manuals provide adequate help for users who are experiencing a problem. First, an outline is given of the main stages in problem solving. This outline offers a broad framework for the two studies of current practice that follow. The first study focuses on the accessibility of help. It examines how often manuals fail to offer the right keywords, and how often they have not marked or have misplaced problem solving information. The main conclusion is that most manuals pose formidable obstacles to accessing help. The second study investigates the main reasons for presenting problem solving information as a regular step, as a skipable action, or as an afterthought. The main finding is that writers or typographers tend to opt for a different design than what is theoretically best     

Helping relations between technology users and developers: avignette study

This paper describes a vignette study of help-seeking and help-giving by technology users and technical specialists in response to problems with technologies-in-use. It was found that decisions both to seek and to give help were affected by task variables, such as problem urgency and problem difficulty. They also found evidence that technology users' decisions about help-seeking are not driven by opportunities to learn from specialists. In fact, users generally avoided the kind of direct, face-to-face interactions with specialists that could yield the richest learning opportunities, with more experienced users shunning such interactions most strongly. Technical specialists, on the other hand, showed a marked preference for forming intimate, face-to-face working relationships with technology users. Specialists saw these interactions as opportunities for gaining useful feedback on new technologies and how to improve them. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed     

Incentive‐rewarding mechanism to stimulate activities in social networking services

We have developed an incentive‐rewarding mechanism that stimulates activities in social networking services (SNSs), including content uploading and link establishment. We particularly focus on changing the reward assignment ratio based on the different risks users perceive when uploading content with different privacy settings: public‐open and friend‐limited. Learning‐based simulation allowed us to observe that SNS activity, which we measured as the amount of browsed content within a certain period, can be controlled by a rewarding assignment ratio. We then analyzed how the amount of uploaded content and the increase of established links affect SNS activity. Results suggested that the optimal reward assignment ratio to maximize SNS activity changes depending on the total amount of available reward resources. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Insta-echoes: Selective exposure and selective avoidance on Instagram

Many studies have examined the degree to which social media facilitate echo chambers that keep users from diverse political perspectives (Bakshy, Messing, & Adamic, 2015; Parmelee & Bichard, 2012; Zhu, Skoric, & Shen, 2017). The present study expands the debate regarding selective exposure and selective avoidance to political Instagram use. A survey of politically active Instagram users measured how often users expose themselves to opinion-reinforcing political leaders and the extent to which users avoid opinion-challenging leaders. The findings indicate a high level of selective avoidance behavior on Instagram, especially by users who are conservative, Republican, very ideological, and female.     

Internet applications use and personality

Many studies have looked at how personality influences a particular Internet application. This study used another approach and considered several applications in a single study. Using hierarchical multiple regression and with a sample of mostly young Internet users, this study provided a holistic picture of how personality traits affected usage level of 22 applications. Personality traits affect application usage level differently because of the underlying characteristics of applications. Generally, the more an Internet application possess characteristics of simplicity, basic applications needed for surfing the Internet, having been with us for a long time, popular, easy to use, low risk and general online leisure activities, the more likely its usage level will be less influenced by the personality of users. This study suggested that changes in the characteristics of applications over time cause personality’s impact on usage level to change as well. Openness to experience has a limited impact. It reflects the rapid maturity of Internet applications.