Novel Hedonic Games and Stability Notions

We present here work on matching problems, namely hedonic games, also known as coalition formation games. We introduce two classes of hedonic games, Super Altruistic Hedonic Games (SAHGs) and Anchored Team Formation Games (ATFGs), and investigate the computational complexity of finding optimal partitions of agents into coalitions, or finding - or determining the existence of - stable coalition structures. We introduce a new stability notion for hedonic games and examine its relation to core and Nash stability for several classes of hedonic games

HedN Game, a Relational Framework for Network Based Cooperation

This paper proposes a new framework for cooperative games based on mathematical relations. Here cooperation is defined as a supportive partnerships represented by a directed network between players (aka hedonic relation). We examine in a specific context, modeled by abstract games how a change of supports induces a modification of strategic interactions between players. Two levels of description are considered: the first one describes the support network formation whereas the second one models the strategic interactions between players. Both are described in a unified formalism, namely CP~game. Stability conditions are stated, emphasizing the connection between these two levels. We also stress the interaction between updates of supports and their impact on the evolution of the context.Cooperative Game, Network, Stability, Hedonic Relation

The Hedonistic Paradox: Is Homo Economicus Happier?

The “Hedonistic Paradox” states that homo economicus, or someone who seeks happiness for him- or herself, will not find it, but the person who helps others will. This study examines two questions in connection with happiness and generosity. First, do more generous people, as identified in dictator experiments, report on average greater happiness, or subjective well-being (SWB), as measured by responses to various questionnaires? Second, if the answer is affirmative, what is the causal relationship between generosity and happiness? We find a favorable correlation between generosity and happiness (i.e., SWB is directly related to several measures of happiness and inversely related to unhappiness) and examine various possible explanations, including that material well-being causes both happiness and generosity. The evidence from this experiment, however, indicates that a tertiary personality variable, sometimes called psychological well-being, is the primary cause of both happiness and greater generosity. In contrast to field studies, the experimental method of this inquiry permits anonymity measures designed to minimize subject misrepresentation of intrinsic generosity (e.g., due to social approval motives) and of actual happiness (e.g., because of social desirability biases) and produces a rich data set with multiple measures of subjective, psychological and material well-being. The results of this and other studies raise the question of whether greater attention should be paid to the potential benefits (beyond solely the material ones) of policies that promote charitable donations, volunteerism, service education, and, more generally, community involvement, political action, and social institutions that foster psychological well-being.Happiness; Subjective well-being; Altruism; Generosity; Psychological well-being; Eudaimonia

Gamification in Mobile Payment: An Empirical Investigation

Mobile payment has evolved from a basic payment method into a community that provides a variety of value-added services. These services are meant to encourage continuous use by enhancing the value and experience of the fundamental payment services. This paper investigates the effects of gamification on the sustained usage of mobile payment. Using a sample of 323 Alipay Ant Forest users collected through online questionnaires, we find that gamification has a strong and direct impact on the continuous use of mobile payment. Interestingly, despite the fact that gamification also positively influences flow experience, flow experience derived from gamification has no significant impact on continuous use. Despite the fact that gamification provides an enjoyable and immersive experience and raises users\u27 awareness of the mobile payment app, it appears that the key utilitarian value of the app is still a payment tool with a focus on its convenience, security and versatility

User misrepresentation in online social networks: how competition and altruism impact online disclosure behaviours

Their sheer size and scale give social networks significant potential for shaping popular opinions. While the spread of information and influence within social networks has been popular area of research for some time, more recently a research trend has appeared in which the researcher seeks to understand how users can aggressively influence community opinions, often using misrepresented or false information. Such misrepresentations by users are deeply troubling for any social network, where revenue-generation and their reputation depend on accurate and reliable user generated information. This study investigates the individual motivations that both promote and inhibit intentions towards personal information misrepresentation. These motivations are hypothesised to result from the dichotomy of competitive and altruistic attitudes existing with social network communities. Results of a survey analysis involving 502 users of Facebook offer insights useful for understanding social network information sharing practices. Marketing strategies, in particular, should benefit from the careful evaluation of the factors that lead to honesty (or dishonesty) among OSN users

The Economics of Fairness, Reciprocity and Altruism – Experimental Evidence and New Theories

This paper surveys recent experimental and field evidence on the impact of concerns for fairness, reciprocity and altruism on economic decision making. It also reviews some new theoretical attempts to model the observed behavior.Behavioural Economics; Other-regarding Preferences; Fairness; Reciprocity; Altruism; Experiments; Incentives; Contracts; Competition

The Economics of Fairness, Reciprocity and Altruism – Experimental Evidence and New Theories

Chapter written for the Handbook of Reciprocity, Gift-Giving and AltruismBehavioural Economics; Other-regarding Preferences; Fairness; Reciprocity; Altruism; Experiments; Incentives; Contracts; Competition

Values shaping consumer interactions on social commerce sites within game retail

The game industry has continued to grow for decades and the social interaction trend has been growing for years in gaming. In retail, the e-commerce companies have been extending the social interaction trend to the e-commerce platforms and turning the e-commerce into social commerce. Even though the social commerce and gaming have aroused the interest of the researchers earlier, social commerce interactions have not been studied from the value perspective and how the consumer interactions are shaped by the consumer values. In addition, game purchases have not been studied from a value co-creation perspective even though the gaming has been discussed from a value co-creation perspective. This study approaches the console game retail by exploring how the game retailers support value proposition in the social commerce, how do the consumers reflect on the use of social interaction possibilities on these sites and how do the values shape these interactions. Ethnographic study was conducted in spring 2017, where 5 game retail sites were analyzed, 12 Xbox and PlayStation console gamers were interviewed in Finland and in Sweden and one gaming group’s chat was analyzed as part of the data collection. Content analysis revealed the game retailers offering several possibilities for the gamers to interact on their site from user reviews to participation in the streaming services. The discovered themes, why consumers used interactions, were the aspect of discovery, the aspect of offering the helping hand and the aspect of enjoyment. The study revealed how gamers, who had the possibility to interact privately on social commerce sites seemed to experience utilitarian, hedonic, social and altruistic values and these values shaped their interaction culture. The consumers, who only participated in the public social commerce interactions, only referred to utilitarian and hedonic values as part of their interactions

Happiness Functions with Preference Interdependence and Heterogeneity: The Case of Altruism within the Family

This study investigates the prevalence and extent of altruism by examining the relationship between parents' and their adult children's subjective well-being in a data set extracted from the German Socio-Economic Panel. In order to segregate the share of parents with altruistic preferences from those who are selfish, we estimate a finite mixture regression model. We control for various sources of potential bias by taking advantage of the data's panel structure. To validate our modeling approach we show that predicted altruists indeed make higher average transfer payments.altruism, subjective well-being, finite mixture regression models