Effects of cross-platform multichannel shopping on online customer–firm relationship length,depth, and breadth: An empirical investigation

The rise of online retail platforms has facilitated customers to purchase from the same firm across multiple platform channels. It is challenging for firms to maintain online customer–firm relationships as customers are easily attracted by competitors on different platforms. While previous studies focus on offline-online multichannel shopping, how cross-platform multichannel shopping affects customer–firm relationships is largely neglected. Utilizing longitudinal customer data from an online seller with channels on two major Chinese retail platforms, we found that cross-platform multichannel shopping lengthens, deepens, and broadens online customer–firm relationships. Cross-platform multichannel shopping has a stronger positive effect on the length and depth of online customer–firm relationships as the duration before multichannel shopping increases. After cross-platform multichannel shopping, customers who revert to the original channel weaken their relationship with the firm compared to those who keep using both channels or migrate to another channel. Our empirical results contribute to the literature by examining novel multichannel shopping behavior and its dynamic process. The findings also provide insights into customer relationship management by targeting cross-platform multichannel shopping customers.     

How does health information seeking from different online sources trigger cyberchondria? The roles of online information overload and information trust

Cyberchondria is conceptualized as excessive online searches for medical information, which is typically accompanied by feelings of emotional distress or anxiety. While previous studies in this nascent area have identified various psychological predictors of cyberchondria, a relative dearth of research has explored the role of different online information sources in its development. Informed by the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model and the literature on cyberchondria, this study proposes a theoretical framework to explain why people develop cyberchondria when seeking medical information via different online sources. Based on a three-wave panel survey (N = 654), our findings suggest that health information seeking via online search engines increases online information overload (β = 0.11, p = .02), while health information seeking via social media platforms and health-specific websites increases online information trust (β = 0.13, p = .005; β = 0.25, p < .001). Additionally, online information overload is negatively related to online information trust (β = -0.39, p < .001). Subsequently, both online information overload and online information trust trigger cyberchondria (β = 0.73, p < .001; β = 0.15, p < .001). This study can contribute to the literature by expanding and deepening our understanding of cyberchondria developmental trajectory as well as emphasizing the pivotal role of online information sources in this complicated and dynamic process.     

Diverse needs and cooperative deeds: Comprehending users’ identities in online health communities

In recent years, the number of online health communities (OHCs) has increased rapidly as more patients seek to access alternate sources of health information and connect with other patients who have similar health concerns. However, insufficient attention has been paid to investigating user identities in OHCs. To address this potential research gap, by elaborating on the communication theory of identity, this study presents a multi-layered framework to analyze the different layers of user identities that are portrayed in OHCs. Through coding analysis, we discovered that the personal-layer identities that appear in OHCs are patients, partners, offspring, parents, friends and relatives, and others. Moreover, a series of detection models for the personal-layer identities of users were developed, which incorporated content features into machine learning approaches, and they achieved F1-scores above 0.88. Furthermore, we analyzed the features of enactment-layer identities presented by users’ posting behavior and content and the impact of the personal-layer identities of users on the features of the enactment-layer identities. The findings suggested that the features of the enactment-layer identities differed significantly among users with diverse personal-layer identities in terms of both behaviors and communication needs. Users who were identified as patients served as both information seekers and providers, whereas users with the personal-layer identities of parents tended to engage in the community continuously. Our findings extend the understanding of user identities within the context of OHCs.     

Voters’ online information behaviour and response to campaign content during the Scottish referendum on independence

Research into the public’s motivations for, and barriers to, the use of referendum campaign sites was carried out in the final weeks before the 2014 vote on Scottish independence. As a qualitative study, drawing on 54 interactive, electronically-assisted interviews, where participants were observed and questioned as they searched for and used information on the websites and social media sites of the campaign groups, the results enable more precise causal inferences to be drawn about voters’ exposure to campaign sites. Results indicate participants value ‘facts’, what they perceive as authoritative voices, the capacity to compare campaign messages directly, infographics and concise, direct information. They are sceptical, particularly about celebrity contributions, preferring expert messages, and uncertain about their personal capacity to evaluate information they will use to make decisions. The authors set out a new model of levels of user engagement with political discourse during campaigns. Results have relevance for governments, as well as researchers in the fields of politics, communications and information management.     

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.     

The impact of consumers’ perceptions regarding the ethics of online retailers and promotional strategy on their repurchase intention

Cause-related marketing (CRM) has become increasingly popular and widely adopted by large companies. However, not much attention has been paid to the effect of CRM on small or unknown online retailers. As ethical concerns about the Internet continue to rise, consumers' perceptions regarding the ethics of online retailers (CPEOR) become important when making a purchase decision. This research uses the self-signaling theory to examine how online retailers’ information management and promotional strategy (CRM vs. Price Discount) may emit signals and impact on the consumers’ repurchase intention. It was assumed that a high CPEOR would work better with a CRM-based strategy, which is fundamentally aligning in ethics. However, the experimental results surprisingly revealed that when CPEOR was high, the consumers’ repurchase intention increased in the case of a Price Discount-based promotion when compared to a CRM-based promotion; the effect was the opposite when consumers’ CPEOR was low. ANCOVA was used to analyze the data while setting certain variables as covariates. This research is a meaningful contribution to the literature and serves as an important reference for e-commerce practitioners to understand how they can wisely manage the information on the online storefront to signal their consumers and create an incremental value for the business.     

The influence of cultural blogs on their readers’ cultural product choices

While some conceptual studies have highlighted the impact that Web 2.0 technology and social media have on cultural industries, empirical evidence is still missing. Specifically, no study has considered the role of cultural bloggers, who mediate the information flows from cultural organizations to consumers. To fill this gap, this paper suggests and tests a model that explains blog readers’ intentions to consume cultural products suggested by the blog. The findings from a sample of 215 cultural blog readers show that the impact of the blog on reader intention to consume the products suggested by the blog is strongly influenced by reader engagement with the blog. In addition, the results highlight the effects of content quality, enjoyment, and homophily. The implications of these findings for bloggers and for organizations communicating through bloggers are discussed in detail.     

The reflection of offline activities on users’ online social behavior: An observational study

The ever increasing presence of online social networks in users’ daily lives has led to the interplay between users’ online and offline activities. There have already been several works that have studied the impact of users’ online activities on their offline behavior, e.g., the impact of interaction with friends on an exercise social network on the number of daily steps. In this paper, we consider the inverse to what has already been studied and report on our extensive study that explores the potential causal effects of users’ offline activities on their online social behavior. The objective of our work is to understand whether the activities that users are involved with in their real daily life, which place them within or away from social situations, have any direct causal impact on their behavior in online social networks. Our work is motivated by the theory of normative social influence, which argues that individuals may show behaviors or express opinions that conform to those of the community for the sake of being accepted or from fear of rejection or isolation. We have collected data from two online social networks, namely Twitter and Foursquare, and systematically aligned user content on both social networks. On this basis, we have performed a natural experiment that took the form of an interrupted time series with a comparison group design to study whether users’ socially situated offline activities exhibited through their Foursquare check-ins impact their online behavior captured through the content they share on Twitter. Our main findings can be summarised as follows (1) a change in users’ offline behavior that affects the level of users’ exposure to social situations, e.g., starting to go to the gym or discontinuing frequenting bars, can have a causal impact on users’ online topical interests and sentiment; and (2) the causal relations between users’ socially situated offline activities and their online social behavior can be used to build effective predictive models of users’ online topical interests and sentiments.     

Effects of members’ response styles in an online depression community based on text mining and empirical analysis

The online depression community (ODC) has become a popular resource for people with depression to manage their mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study proposed a novel perspective based on response style theory to investigate whether depression individuals’ distractive and ruminative behaviors in ODC were related to social support received and co-rumination. Furthermore, we explored the influences of social support and co-rumination on suicidal behaviors using panel data set. We collected text data from 22,286 depressed users of a large ODC in China from March 2020 to July 2021, and conducted text mining and econometrics analyses to test our research questions. The results showed that depression users’ online ruminative behaviors had a positive relationship with the co-rumination and had a negative relationship with social support received. Besides, constructive distractive behaviors (i.e., providing social support to others) increased the support users received from others but had a negative relationship with co-rumination. Depression users' future suicidal behaviors are influenced by past received social support and co-rumination. The received social supports and co-rumination have a negative and positive influence on depression users' future suicidal behaviors, respectively. Our results enrich the application of response style theory in online medicine. They provide meaningful insights into behaviors that influence the acquisition of online social support and the incidence of online co-rumination in ODCs. This study helps relevant institutions to conduct more targeted online suicide interventions for depression patients.     

Differential influences of perceived organizational factors on younger employees’ participation in offline and online intergenerational knowledge transfer

Intergenerational supportive climate, top management support, organizational institution are seen as three types of important organizational factors for intergenerational knowledge transfer (IGKT), however, current studies are qualitative with little empirical evidence, further, the interrelations of them are little known. This paper investigates and verifies their relationships by an empirical study, especially focuses on their differential effects on younger employees’ participation in IGKT using offline versus online communication methods drawing upon social influence theory. A survey with younger doctors was conducted in the medical industry to test the research model proposed in this study. Results show that younger employees’ perceived intergenerational supportive climate (PISC) has a significant positive influence on offline IGKT, but not on online IGKT; perceived top management support (PTMS) has a significant positive influence on offline IGKT, but has a negative impact on online IGKT; perceived organizational institution support (POIS) has a significant positive influence on online IGKT, but not on offline IGKT. These findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding about IGKT, as well as help managers be more effective to enhance younger employees’ participation in IGKT through offline/online methods, which contribute to offline and online intergenerational knowledge transfer to knowledge management.     

Customers’ acceptance of artificially intelligent service robots: The influence of trust and culture

This study addresses two critical research gaps in human-robot interaction (HRI): the limited systematic research on the role of trust in customers’ acceptance of artificially intelligent (AI) robots; and the lack of understanding of robot acceptance under different cultural backgrounds. Drawing on the AIDUA framework, this study examines the impacts of trust and moderating effects of both national (the U.S. and China) and individual culture on customers’ intentions to use AI robots in hospitality services by developing a theoretical model. The model is tested on data collected using online data collection platforms from 491 U.S. and 495 Chinese respondents. PLS-SEM and the bootstrapping method were used to test the hypothesized relationships and analyze the moderating effects of culture, respectively. The findings suggest that trust in interaction with AI robots is a significant higher-order construct that influences the intention of use. Furthermore, uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, and power distance have been found to exhibit significant moderation effects. The results of this study extend the theoretical frameworks in HRI and provide detailed guidance to promote AI robot applications across different cultures.     

Developing voice-based information sharing services to bridge the information divide in marginalized communities: A study of farmers using IBM’s spoken web in rural India

Farming communities in developing countries like India are victims of the information divide. Voice-based information sharing services (VISS) can bridge this divide and help farmers address a range of challenges by exchanging knowledge with their peers. An analysis of in-depth phone interviews with farmers in remote, rural Gujarat, India, reveals four stages for developing a VISS for marginalized communities in developing countries. The four stages are: identify gatekeepers to seed the VISS, expand the VISS by building on existing communities of practice, share information, and incentivize members to sustain the VISS. The VISS in this study is based on IBM’s Spoken Web platform, which enables even illiterate and semi-literate farmers to seek, share, use, and benefit from information using feature mobile phones. Research contributions and practical implications of the study are discussed at the end.     

Analyzing the public discourse on works of fiction – Detection and visualization of emotion in online coverage about HBO’s Game of Thrones

This paper presents a Web intelligence portal that captures and aggregates news and social media coverage about “Game of Thrones”, an American drama television series created for the HBO television network based on George R.R. Martin’s series of fantasy novels. The system collects content from the Web sites of Anglo-American news media as well as from four social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and YouTube. An interactive dashboard with trend charts and synchronized visual analytics components not only shows how often Game of Thrones events and characters are being mentioned by journalists and viewers, but also provides a real-time account of concepts that are being associated with the unfolding storyline and each new episode. Positive or negative sentiment is computed automatically, which sheds light on the perception of actors and new plot elements.     

The effects of individualism–collectivism cultural orientation on eWOM information

Drawing upon elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and espoused culture, this study predicts that eWOM reader's individualism–collectivism orientation (ICO) moderates eWOM antecedent factors’ effects on the perception of information credibility. 274 data were collected from two leading electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) forums in China, the results confirm our prediction: eWOM reader's ICO positively moderates information sidedness’ effect on the perception of information credibility, it also negatively moderates the relationships between information consistency/information rating and information credibility. These findings validate the necessity and importance to consider readers’ espoused cultural differences in eWOM context.     

On exploring the impact of users’ bullish-bearish tendencies in online community on the stock market

The online financial community enables non-professional individual investors to express opinions, share information and even spread emotions through the Internet. This paper uses 5,178,824 comments published in an online financial community to study the users’ bullish-bearish tendencies on the stock market. To that end, we propose a convolutional neural network based classifier to extract users’ tendencies from their comments, and introduce the distributed lag model and the GARCH model to investigate the impact of users’ tendencies on market volatility and market returns. The results show that the online users’ bearish tendencies are reflected in stronger market volatility and higher market returns, and the consistency of online users’ tendencies has a positive impact on market volatility.     

Luciano Floridi’s philosophy of information and information ethics: Critical reflections and the state of the art

I describe the emergence of Floridi’s philosophy of information (PI) and information ethics (IE) against the larger backdrop of Information and Computer Ethics (ICE). Among their many strengths, PI and IE offer promising metaphysical and ethical frameworks for a global ICE that holds together globally shared norms with the irreducible differences that define local cultural and ethical traditions. I then review the major defenses and critiques of PI and IE offered by contributors to this special issue, and highlight Floridi’s responses to especially two central problems – the charge of relativism and the meaning of ?entropy’ in IE. These responses, conjoined with several elaborations of PI and IE offered here by diverse contributors, including important connections with the naturalistic philosophies of Spinoza and other major Western and Eastern figures, thus issue in an expanded and more refined version of PI and IE – one still facing important questions as well as possibilities for further development.     

Promoting users’ intention to share online health articles on social media: The role of confirmation bias

Nowadays, it is a common practice for healthcare professionals to spread medical knowledge by posting health articles on social media. However, promoting users’ intention to share such articles is challenging because the extent of sharing intention varies in their eHealth literacy (high or low) and the content valence of the article that they are exposed to (positive or negative). This study investigates boundary conditions under which eHealth literacy and content valence help to increase users’ intention to share by introducing a moderating role of confirmation bias—a tendency to prefer information that conforms to their initial beliefs. A 2 (eHealth literacy: high vs. low) × 2 (content valence: positive vs. negative) between-subjects experiment was conducted in a sample of 80 participants. Levels of confirmation bias ranging from extreme negative bias to extreme positive bias among the participants were assessed during the experiment. Results suggested that: (1) users with a high level of eHealth literacy were more likely to share positive health articles when they had extreme confirmation bias; (2) users with a high level of eHealth literacy were more likely to share negative health articles when they had moderate confirmation bias or no confirmation bias; (3) users with a low level of eHealth literacy were more likely to share health articles regardless of positive or negative content valence when they had moderate positive confirmation bias. This study sheds new light on the role of confirmation bias in users’ health information sharing. Also, it offers implications for health information providers who want to increase the visibility of their online health articles: they need to consider readers’ eHealth literacy and confirmation bias when deciding the content valence of the articles.     

A walk on the wild side: ‘Predatory’ journals and information asymmetries in scientific evaluations

In recent years the academic world has witnessed the mushrooming of journals that falsely pretend to be legitimate academic outlets. We study this phenomenon using information from 46,000 researchers seeking promotion in Italian academia. About 5% of them have published in journals included in the blacklist of ‘potential, possible, or probable predatory journals’ elaborated by the scholarly librarian Jeffrey Beall. Data from a survey that we conducted among these researchers confirms that at least one third of these journals do not provide peer review or they engage in some other type of irregular editorial practice. We identify two factors that may have spurred publications in dubious journals. First, some of these journals have managed to be included in citation indexes such as Scopus that many institutions consider as a guarantee of quality. Second, we show that authors who publish in these journals are more likely to receive positive assessments when they are evaluated by (randomly selected) committee members who lack research expertise. Overall, our analysis suggests that the proliferation of ‘predatory’ journals reflects the existence of severe information asymmetries in scientific evaluations.