Can we trace back hotel online reviews’ characteristics using gamification features?

Gamification is here to stay, and tourism and hospitality online review platforms are taking advantage of it to attract travelers and motivate them to contribute to their websites. Yet, literature in tourism is scarce in studying how effectively is users’ behavior changing through gamification features. This research aims at filling such gap through a data-driven approach based on a large volume of online reviews (a total of 67,685) collected from TripAdvisor between 2016 and 2017. Four artificial neural networks were trained to model title and review’s word length, and title and review’s sentiment score, using as input 12 gamification features used in TripAdvisor including points and badges. After validating the accuracy of the model for extracting knowledge, the data-based sensitivity analysis was applied to understand how each of the 12 features contributed to explaining review length and its sentiment score. Three badge features were considered the most relevant ones, including the total number of badges, the passport badges, and the explorer badges, providing evidence of a relation between gamification features and traveler’s behavior when writing reviews.     

The interaction effects of online reviews and free samples on consumers’ downloads: An empirical analysis

Consumers’ software purchase decisions are influenced both by online reviews and by their experiences with free samples provided by firms. This paper empirically investigates the differential effects of online reviews (user and editor ratings) on consumers’ sample downloading behavior, using a dataset drawn from a large software free sampling website CNET.com. Our findings extend the previous research by suggesting that information disclosure levels of free samples (indicated by licenses) moderates the impacts of online reviews on consumers’ sample downloads. For samples that disclose a great level of information, higher user ratings can increase downloads; otherwise, higher user ratings fail to increase downloads. When both user and editor ratings are available to consumers, only user ratings can increase sample downloads. The findings can be explained by consumers’ two-stage information process whereby consumers first refer to online reviews and then determine whether to sample software. This study provides practical implications on the design of information disclosure channel and offers suggestions for firms regarding how to select and apply sample licenses.     

The influence of financial features and country characteristics on B2B ICOs’ website traffic

Technology, blockchain, and initial coin offerings (ICOs) have changed the established ways of financing companies and doing business. The changes that affect organizational communications, specifically marketing communications, remain unclear, especially in the context of business-to-business (B2B) organizations. The current trend is for B2B companies to view social media as an optimal way to enhance lasting and valuable relationships with other companies. There is little research on social media marketing strategies by B2B organizations. To fill this gap, this study uses a sample of 57 B2B ICOs completed by December 2019 and qualitative comparative analysis to examine how the combined effect of four conditions related to B2B ICOs (percentage of tokens distributed, amount of funding raised, minimum investment required, and ICO price) and two conditions related to the promoter’s country (institutional efficiency and tax haven status) lead to a low Alexa Rank. While the percentage of tokens distributed and the amount of funds raised play a key role in achieving a low Alexa Rank, the minimum investment required seems to play a secondary role. Moreover, the importance of the characteristics of the B2B ICO promoter’s country depends on both the presence and the value of the conditions related to financial characteristics.     

Returning students’ right to access,choice and notice: a proposed code of ethics for instructors using Turnitin

This paper identifies the ethical issues associated with college instructors’ use of plagiarism detection software (PDS), specifically the Turnitin program. It addresses the pros and cons of using such software in higher education, arguing that its use is justified on the basis that it increases institutional trust, and demonstrating that two common criticisms of such software are not universally valid. An analysis of the legal issues surrounding Turnitin, however, indicates that the way it is designed and operates raises some ethical issues because it denies students notice, access and choice about the treatment of their personal information. The paper concludes with a set of guidelines for instructors using Turnitin in the classroom.     

Country-level technological disparities,market feedback,and scientists’ choice of technologies

This study investigates whether country-level technological disparities influence individual scientists’ choice of research agenda and, if so, how the effect of country-level technological disparities on individuals’ research activities differs before and after technology commercialization. To address these research questions, we use research proceedings published from the International Electric Vehicle Symposium (EVS) from 1990 to 2009. We find that a country’s technological capabilities tend to prevent its scientists from studying electric vehicles (defined as a disruptive technology) but encourage them to study hybrid vehicles (defined as a sustaining technology) before electric and hybrid vehicles are launched in the automobile market. We also find that a country’s technological capabilities do not subsequently help its scientists shift their research activities to the technologies that have received positive initial feedback from automobile markets.     

An Analysis of Some Gestures Widely Used In China,Russia and the USA

In social communication, people use not only verbal language, but also some gestures, body movements and facial expressions to express or emphasize their ideas, thoughts, etc. All of these movements belong to nonverbal communication. In fact, nonverbal Co…     

Measuring the temporal dynamics of policy mixes – An empirical analysis of renewable energy policy mixes’ balance and design features in nine countries

Complex societal or environmental problems require fast and substantial socio-technical transitions. For instance, in the case of climate change, these transitions need to take place in the energy, transport and several industry sectors. To induce and accelerate such transitions, numerous policy interventions are required, which interact with each other in policy mixes. While several conceptual studies on policy mixes have been published recently, there is very little empirical research apart from single case or small-n studies. It has been prominently argued that the debate about policy mixes has reached an impasse partly due to this lack of empirical work. This paper addresses this gap by providing a first analysis of the temporal dynamics of complex policy mixes. To do so, we develop a conceptualization and measurement of policy mix balance across instrument types as well as policy mix design features (in the form of intensity as a general and technology specificity as a technology-focused design feature). This allows us to answer the question how temporal dynamics of policy mixes differ between countries regarding their balance and design features. Our measurement approach is developed bottom-up, i.e., policies are assessed individually and then aggregated systematically at the policy mix level. This enables overcoming the ‘dependent variable problem in the study of policy change’, i.e., the problem of measuring policy output. More specifically, we develop a comparative dataset of 522 renewable energy policies in nine OECD countries. Our analysis shows that countries’ policy mix dynamics vary strongly regarding some variables (e.g., technology specificity) but less regarding others (e.g., balance). As a validity check, we also test the effects of these mix dynamics on policy outcome in the form of renewable energy technology diffusion. We reflect our findings in light of the theoretical debates around policy mixes and policy design and discuss how our results provoke an agenda for the new generation of research on policy mixes. We specifically discuss avenues for future research with a particular focus on the ‘politics of policy mixes’.     

Using computer vision techniques on Instagram to link users’ personalities and genders to the features of their photos: An exploratory study

Instagram and other photo-based social networking sites have emerged as a popular medium. Previous studies mainly focused on social media texts, but the current study deals with the relationships between the characteristics of Instagram users and the features of their photos. The Big Five personality traits and gender were employed as the variables for user characteristics. Content category, the number of faces, the emotions on the faces, and the pixel derived features were employed as the variables for photo characteristics. An online survey of 179 university students was conducted to measure user characteristics, and 25,394 photos in total were downloaded and analyzed from the respondents’ Instagram accounts. Results suggested that content category is associated with extraversion and gender of users. The number of faces is associated with extraversion, agreeableness, and openness of users. Extraversion, agreeableness, and openness of users were partly associated with emotions expressed on the faces in their photos. Correlations were observed among some pixel features and extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and gender of users. It was also observed that the Big Five personality traits, except for gender, can be predicted by above variables. Implications and limitations are discussed and suggestions for future research are suggested.     

The relationships among consumers’ ethical ideology,risk aversion and ethically-based distrust of online retailers and the moderating role of consumers’ need for personal interaction

Consumer distrust is only recently beginning to be perceived as an important e-commerce issue and, unlike online trust, the nature and role of distrust is much less established. This study examines the influence of two important consumer characteristics (ethical ideology and risk aversion) on consumer’s ethically-based distrust of online retailers. Also, the moderating role of consumer’s need for personal contact with sales staff is tested. Results from 409 online consumers confirm that both relativist-based ethical ideology and risk aversion are strongly and positively related to consumers’ distrust. Interestingly, our findings show that positive effects of relativism and risk aversion on consumer’s distrust are moderated by consumers’ need for personal interaction, which is more pronounced for those consumers with a high need for personal interaction with retail salespeople.     

Challenges of ethical and legal responsibilities when technologies’ uses and users change: social networking sites, decision-making capacity and dementia

Successful technologies’ ubiquity changes uses, users and ethicolegal responsibilities and duties of care. We focus on dementia to review critically ethicolegal implications of increasing use of social networking sites (SNS) by those with compromised decision-making capacity, assessing concerned parties’ responsibilities. Although SNS contracts assume ongoing decision-making capacity, many users’ may be compromised or declining. Resulting ethicolegal issues include capacity to give informed consent to contracts, protection of online privacy including sharing and controlling data, data leaks between different digital platforms, and management of digital identities and footprints. SNS uses in healthcare raise additional issues. Online materials acting as archives of ‘the self’ bolster present and future identities for users with compromised capacity. E-health involves actual and potential intersection of data gathered for the purpose of delivering health technological support with data used for social networking purposes. Ethicolegal guidance is limited on the implications of SNS usage in contexts where users have impaired/reduced capacity to understand and/or consent to sharing personal data about their health, medication or location. Vulnerable adults and family/carers face uncertainty in regard to consent, data protection, online identity and legal liabilities. Ethicolegal responsibilities and duties of care of technology providers, healthcare professionals, regulatory bodies and policymakers need clarification.     

Joseph Fourier,the ‘greenhouse effect’, and the quest for a universal theory of terrestrial temperatures

The central role that the theory of terrestrial temperatures played in Fourier's mathematical physics has not received the attention it deserves from historians, although his cryptic allusions to the heating of a greenhouse, taken out of context, have been widely cited by subsequent authors.     

Examination incentives,learning, and patent office outcomes: The use of examiner’s amendments at the USPTO

We investigate how U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) patent examiner experience and seniority-based incentives affect the innovation ecosystem. First, we show that examiners respond to production incentives and demonstrate learning by increasing the use of examiner’s amendments in both experience and seniority, a mechanism not previously studied. Second, this examination procedure directly benefits innovators and firms by significantly reducing prosecution processing time without impacting patent quality. Finally, after considering examiner’s amendments, the negative relationship between examiner characteristics and patent examination quality found in the previous literature does not persist at first action, a decision point that allows for the clear measurement of examiner behavior. Our results demonstrate a need for reformulated policy recommendations related to the structure of examination at the USPTO.     

THE OTHERS: The role of individual personality,cultural acculturation,and perceived value on towards firm’s social media and acculturation orientation

This paper systematically examines (i) how individual personality can influence on cultural acculturation which can impact on the higher level of perceived value in LGBTs, and (ii) how the higher level of perceived value towards social media can result in being more satisfied, (iii) consequently having a better working life at workplace and performance proficiency. The generated framework was validated through a survey from multinational corporations in multi-industries such as higher education (with more than two campuses around the world), global fashion, global retailing, tourism, hospitality, food, and electronics and information technology. Key results, implications for managers and researchers are highlighted.     

Policies,actors and sustainability transition pathways: A study of the EU’s energy policy mix

Policies and politics are crucial elements of sustainability transitions. Transition pathways unfold as a result of continuous struggles of actors over policy goals and instruments. Taking a policy mix perspective, we study policies and policy preferences of key industry actors in the ongoing energy transition at the level of the European Union. We introduce two central analytical dimensions for transition pathways: the degree of sustainability (here: renewable energy ambition) and the degree of disruption (here: whether to pursue centralized or decentralized energy system configurations). We find that the current EU energy policy mix is heterogeneous with respect to the issue of (de-)centralization, whereas most policies and actors express high or moderate ambitions for renewable energy. Our paper makes three contributions. It demonstrates how actors and policy preferences can be explicitly included in the study of policy mixes. To the literature on transition pathways, we introduce sustainability as another key dimension in addition to disruption. Lastly, we propose a novel methodology for analyzing the politics of transition pathways.