Liberating or debilitating? An examination of romantic relationships,sexual relationships and friendships on the Net

Ever since the beginnings of the internet researchers have questioned its utility in developing and maintaining psychological healthy romantic and sexual relations. Advocates of the social presence theory and media richness theory purport that in leaner media individuals can be quite aggressive towards one another (e.g., in the form of flaming). In contrast, others believe that the lack of traditional cues in CMC can in fact be overcome and instead lead to more personal, intimate relationships. As this paper will demonstrate, when we consider how beneficial it is to form relationships online we also need to consider individuals’ characteristics (e.g., personality characteristics and physical attractiveness), the amount of time people spend online, the duration of online relationships, and how these relationships effect individuals’ offline activities and relationships. Overall, the view here is that online relationships can be empowering for many people; that is, cyberspace provides a unique environment for people to experience and learn about relationships and sexuality.     

Understanding the mindset of the abusive insider: An examination of insiders’ causal reasoning following internal security changes

Employees can have a profound, detrimental influence on information security that costs organizations billions of U.S. dollars annually. As a result, organizations implement stringent security controls, which can inadvertently foster the behaviors that they are designed to deter. This research attempts to understand this phenomenon of increased internal computer abuses by applying causal reasoning theory to explain employees’ causal-search process following the implementation of information security measures. Our findings show how interpersonal and environmental factors influence insiders’ beliefs that the organization trusts them (i.e., attributed trust) and how low attributed trust perceptions drive computer abuse incidents subsequent to security changes. We also highlight the need for both managers and security researchers to assess the frequency with which employees encounter information security changes within dynamic, organizational environments.     

Location matters,especially for non-salient features–An eye-tracking study on the effects of web object placement on different types of websites

Users have clear expectations of where web objects are located on a web page. Studies conducted with manipulated, fictitious websites showed that web objects placed according to user expectations are found faster and remembered more easily. Whether this is also true for existing websites has not yet been examined. The present study investigates the relation between location typicality and efficiency in finding target web objects in online shops, online newspapers, and company web pages. Forty participants attended a within-subject eye-tracking experiment. Typical web object placement led to fewer fixations and participants found target web objects faster. However, some web objects were less sensitive to location typicality, if they were more visually salient and conformed to user expectations in appearance. Placing web objects at expected locations and designing their appearance according to user expectations facilitates orientation, which is beneficial for first impressions and the overall user experience of websites.     

An open book on Facebook? Examining the interdependence of adolescents’ privacy regulation strategies

Users of social network sites (SNSs) use three main strategies that help to manage the privacy of their profile information: (1) limiting the level of data revealed, (2) using privacy settings to exert control over data and (3) audience/friendship management by being restrictive about whom to accept as a ‘friend’. Extant research does not show whether these strategies operate as independent mechanisms or whether they are interdependent and work as a system. Given what offline privacy theorist Irwin Altman (1977 Altman, Irwin. 1977. “Privacy Regulation: Culturally Universal or Culturally Specific?” Journal of Social Issues 33 (3): 66–84. doi: 10.1111/j.1540-4560.1977.tb01883.x[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) designates as the multi-mechanic nature of privacy protection, we test a model in which we expect to find that the three discerned strategies are related to one another. Structural equation modelling analysis performed on the subsample (n?=?1564) of our study’s data – collected among 1743 adolescents by means of a paper-and-pencil survey – demonstrates that, in line with Altman’s vision of privacy protection, the three discerned strategies effectively operate as an interdependent system. In congruence with the hypotheses derived from extant research, we found that adolescents’ level of disclosure influences adolescents’ involvement in the two other discerned strategies: Adolescents with high levels of personal information disclosure share an increased tendency to have many friends on SNSs and a lower level of using privacy settings.     

Linking objective design factors with subjective aesthetics: An experimental study on how structure and color of websites affect the facets of users’ visual aesthetic perception

The present study examines how objective design factors of a website are linked to different facets of subjective aesthetic perception. Five online experiments based upon the screenshots of real-existing websites with a total of N = 194 participants were conducted to isolate and analyze the effects of two objective structural factors (vertical symmetry, visual complexity) and three objective color factors (hue, saturation, brightness) on the different facets of subjective aesthetic perception (simplicity, diversity, colorfulness, craftsmanship) measured with the Visual Aesthetics of Website Inventory (Moshagen & Thielsch, 2010). Although all investigated factors are apparent features in website design, their effects on different facets of subjective aesthetic perception are not yet well understood. Our results show that websites of high symmetry, low complexity, blue hue, medium brightness or medium and high saturation received the highest overall aesthetics ratings. Furthermore, data reveal that structural factors compared to color factors have a manifold and greater impact on the different facets of subjective aesthetic perception than the color factors. Both structural factors have a great impact on simplicity, diversity and craftsmanship whereas the color factors have a great impact especially on colorfulness. Only complexity affects all facets of subjective aesthetic perception. The other objective design factors had effects on specific facets. Our findings shed light on the relationship between objective and subjective factors of aesthetic perception and may help designers to systematically target specific facets of visual aesthetics.     

An explorative study of industry influences: on vertical e-marketplaces’ adoption of e-procurement auction

Vertical electronic marketplace (EM) is a new inter-organizational intermediary within a single industry that enables participating buyers and sellers to exchange information about price and product offerings and to cooperate on commodity exchange. Prior research on EM design has given a heavy weight on auction mechanism design. However, the feasibility of e-procurement auction to auction providers has long been ignored in academic. With an analysis on 157 vertical EMs from six different industries, this paper empirically demonstrates that industry contingencies exist in vertical EMs’ adoption of e-procurement auction service.

Skewing users’ rational risk considerations in social commerce: An empirical examination of the role of social identification

Social commerce has emerged as a new platform that enables users to conduct shopping assisted by inputs from other members and to publicly comment on transactions or products. It therefore adds a social aspect to traditional online commerce environments. Nevertheless, the role of the social facet embedded in such transactions in influencing user behaviors is not fully understood. In this study, we rely on theories of risk deterrence in decision-making and the “risky/choice shift” logic to suggest that the social identification of users regarding their community members skews the way they consider risks in decision-making on these sites. Using data from 175 users of etsy.com, we show that perceived commerce risk reduces intentions to buy from the website and that perceived participation risk curtails intentions to post comments on social commerce forums. The findings further show that the influence of these risk assessments is reduced when the degree of social identification with the website community increases; these risk considerations become negligible in decision-making processes when ’social identification is one standard deviation above the mean. Hence, users’ social identification with the social commerce website community skews their rational decision-making.     

‘Big time’: An examination of temporal complexity and business value in analytics

Time is central to the purported business value of analytics. Yet, research has adopted a simplistic, ‘clock’ interpretation of time, ignoring its complex and socially embedded nature. There is also an overemphasis on analytics software and not on the people using them. Although analytics may be ‘fast’ to realise business value, it must cater to temporal complexities of organisations and people using it. Drawing on the temporality theory, this study develops temporal factors to examine the value of analytics. We also develop a research agenda that identifies opportunities to examine time, temporal personalities and other factors when people use analytics in the organisation.     

An examination of the Internet’s development as a disabling environment in the context of the social model of disability and anti-discrimination legislation in the UK and USA

Research indicates that inaccessible website design persists despite the existence of anti-discrimination legislation and the influence of the social model of disability on policy development. In this paper, the concept of universal access is examined in the light of the social model of disability in relation to both the physical and virtual environments. The manner in which disability is often deemed a design afterthought is highlighted. The need for universal access is then placed alongside a discussion of access to the Internet in relation to an ageing population and people with cognitive difficulties. Subsequently, anti-discrimination provisions are analysed in relation to how they support designers’ focus on an accepted normality to which reasonable adjustments need to be made, rather than the acquisition of full universal access.     

How does service price influence patients’ decisions? An examination of the free-market pricing mechanism in online health communities

Electronic Markets - In online health communities (OHCs) in China, physicians can provide online diagnostic services and use the free-market pricing mechanism to price their service so as to...     

Mutual information expansion for studying the role of correlations in population codes: how important are autocorrelations?

The role of correlations in the activity of neural populations responding to a set of stimuli can be studied within an information theory framework. Regardless of whether one approaches the problem from an encoding or decoding perspective, the main measures used to study the role of correlations can be derived from a common source: the expansion of the mutual information. Two main formalisms of mutual information expansion have been proposed: the series expansion and the exact breakdown. Here we clarify that these two formalisms have a different representation of autocorrelations, so that even when the total information estimated differs by less than 1%, individual terms can diverge. More precisely, the series expansion explicitly evaluates the informational contribution of autocorrelations in the count of spikes, that is, count autocorrelations, whereas the exact breakdown does not. We propose a new formalism of mutual information expansion, the Poisson exact breakdown, which introduces Poisson equivalents in order to explicitly evaluate the informational contribution of count autocorrelations with no approximation involved. Because several widely employed manipulations of spike trains, most notably binning and pooling, alter the structure of count autocorrelations, the new formalism can provide a useful general framework for studying the role of correlations in population codes.     

Insiders’ Adaptations to Security-Based Demands in the Workplace: An Examination of Security Behavioral Complexity

Information Systems Frontiers - The protection of organizational information and information systems (IS) is a socio-technical issue and requires insiders take on a more proactive set of security...     

Development of a procedure writers’ guide framework: Integrating the procedure life cycle and reflecting on current industry practices

The current study aims to advance a procedure development process that will create procedures as effective safeguards. Several past incidents identified that many current procedural systems failed to support workers conducting their work safely and effectively. There is currently a dearth of systematic inquiry regarding the procedure development process. A key element of the procedure development process is writers' guide, which dictates how these procedures should be developed, written, reviewed and managed. The current effort collected 16 writers' guides across various industries such as chemical, oil and gas, nuclear, and energy. Different components of these writers' guides were identified, summarized, and later categorized according to a newly developed writers' guide framework. The framework uses four phases of the procedure life cycle and five sections for procedure content. The analysis showed that industry practices primarily focus on general goals of the procedure, writing style, and review process. Many important components of the procedure, such as process hazard information, execution challenges, and training requirements were not addressed adequately. Of the 41 components, there were only 3 that 80% of the writers' guides contained suggesting little consensus about the content. The proposed writers' guide framework organizes all components including low frequency of appearance ones in different phases of procedure life cycle. The significance of the current procedure writers' guide framework is that it not only produces a structure for a comprehensive writers’ guide but also opens an opportunity for future improvement in current procedure writing practices.     

An old game,new experience: exploring the effect of players’ personal gameplay history on game experience

This experimental study explores how game experience differs between players with different gameplay histories within the same game universe. We are interested in how prolonged engagement with a game series affects the gameplay experience in relation to the most recent game version in the series. A total of 54 participants were divided into four groups depending on their gaming experience, namely non-gamers, new-gamers, old-gamers and core-gamers. They played the mobile version of Super Mario Run, and questionnaire data was collected after the gameplay session. The results of the study showed that not only the players’ personal gameplay history but also the length of experience or degree of familiarity with the game universe affected the experience of playing a new game in the same game universe. Additionally, familiarity with the game universe had a positive impact on the feeling of competence, immersion, emotions and flow.

     

The influence of eWOM in social media on consumers’ purchase intentions: An extended approach to information adoption

Social media websites have created valuable opportunities for electronic word of mouth (eWOM) conversations. People are now able to discuss products and services of brands with their friends and acquaintances. The aim of this study is to examine the influence of these conversations in social media on consumers' purchase intentions. For this purpose, a conceptual model was developed based on the integration of Information Adoption Model (IAM) and related components of Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA). The new model, which is named as Information Acceptance Model (IACM), was validated through structural equation modelling (SEM) based on surveys of 384 university students who use social media websites. The results confirm that quality, credibility, usefulness and adoption of information, needs of information and attitude towards information are the key factors of eWOM in social media that influence consumers’ purchase intentions. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed as well as recommendations for further research.     

“I like them,but won't ‘like’ them”: An examination of impression management associated with visible political party affiliation on Facebook

Unlike traditional media, our interactions with political parties via social media are generally public, subject to scrutiny by others and, consequently, a self-presentation concern. This paper contributes to theory on impression management within social network sites (SNSs) by providing an understanding of the effect of visible affiliation on page ‘Liking’ behavior in the context of political parties; specifically, the possible association with social anxiety and the use of protective impression management. We predict that while users may be motivated to ‘Like’ a political party, some may feel socially anxious about the impressions their friends may derive from this action, and so ultimately choose to refrain from ‘Liking’ the party. Furthermore, we propose a new function of ‘Secret Likes’ (i.e. ‘Likes’ that others cannot see) as a means to increase gateway interactions. A survey of eligible voters (n = 225) was conducted in the month prior to the 2015 UK general election, examining behavior associated with the Facebook pages of the two largest political parties. Results support that conspicuous affiliation with political parties indeed hinders intention to ‘Like’ political pages and is associated with social anxiety. ‘Secret Likes’ were found to be a successful method to increase gateway interactions. In addition to the theoretical contribution, implications for political party communications and site designers are considered.     

An empirical study of the relationships among employee’s perceptions of HR practice,human capital,and department performance: A case of AT & T Subordinate telecoms company in Taiwan

The telecom industry in Taiwan began to enter a vigorous development stage after Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan enacted the three major telecommunications laws in 1996. After 2003, the number of mobile phone subscribers began to shrink after reaching a climax penetration rate of 111%. The problems which were ignored during the high growth period began to appear. This research discusses which human practices are effective in developing human capital and whether they will influence the performance of the telecom industry. Human capital is used as a mediate variable between human resources and department performance. Through a questionnaire survey, an analysis by mean, standard deviation, and Pearson correlation is performed. A causal multivariable analysis by structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to test the causal relationship among these factors.