A Qualitative Inquiry into the Adoption of ChatGPT in the Early Stage

ChatGPT, generative AI, technology acceptance, early adoption, qualitative analysi

DOES IT MATTER WHERE THE WORD-OF-MOUTH OCCURS?: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON THE SALES IMPACT OF THE DISTRIBUTION OF ONLINE USER REVIEWS

Consumers consistently resort to online Word-of-Mouth (WOM) in online shopping, thanks to the reach of the Internet and various web tools. Nevertheless, they are confronting relatively different levels of search costs for WOM information available on the Internet, depending on the distribution of WOM across websites. This study investigates the sales impacts of dispersion of WOM volume and variation of WOM valence by using sales and WOM data of software programs from Amazon and download.com. Our results suggest that less evenly distributed WOM leads to more sales, conditional on the total number of WOM conversations across websites. And it is even more beneficial for a product’s sales if having this less dispersed WOM distribution skewed towards retailing websites. In addition, more consistent consumer evaluations across websites encourage online purchasing decisions. By comparing the volume dispersion and variance variation, we find that receiving one hundred reviews of 5-star average rating on Amazon leads to sales almost six time greater than receiving fifty reviews of 5-star average rating on Amazon and another fifty reviews of 5-star average rating on download.com

The Sales Impact of Word-of-Mouth Distribution across Retail and Third-Party Websites

With online search tools and users’ Internet experiences, online consumers are shown to rely on Word-of-Mouth (WOM) information hosted by both retail and third-party websites. Nevertheless, will online consumers conduct the same comprehensive level of WOM search, if the distribution of WOM across websites differs? This study is intrigued by this question to propose that the distribution of WOM across websites affects the search cost of WOM information during consumers’ decision making, and thus influences online retail sales. By using sales and WOM data of software programs from Amazon and a third-party website download.com, we find negative sales impacts of WOM volume dispersion and valence variation. Our results show that less dispersed WOM leads to more sales. And it is even more beneficial for a product’s sales if having this less dispersed WOM distribution skewed towards retail websites. In addition, more consistent consumer evaluations across websites encourage online purchase decisions

Grotesque Inversions On Stage, In Film: Horrid Yet Curious, Fascinating Yet Alarming

Grotesque theatre is not a genre but a style of theatre made up of many strands which has been employed over many centuries beginning in Ancient Greece, particularly with Aristophanes and moving through time to the present. François Rabelais recognised the grotesque in Church Feasts, Festivals, Guild performances, sotties and farces. This thesis investigates through theatre and film the seven strands Bakhtin identifies: grotesque image, abusive language, grotesque madness, scatalogical humour, light, reversals and the lower bodily stratum (1984, pp. 24-41). In particular the thesis traces inversions in both theatre and film. These two mediums have been selected to compare and contrast the use of the grotesque in each, as they share two strong commonalities in acting and the requirement of scripts. Each chapter of this thesis deals with a script, and the last two chapters incorporate the use of a movie for contrast. The Introduction introduces the grotesque, offering an explanation of the styles of the grotesque as defined by Mikhail Bakhtin and Philip Thomson. Examples are shown in pictures. Chapter one explores two plays written by Eugene Ionesco: Amedée or How to Get Rid of It, and Rhinoceros. Chapter two moves back through time to Aristophanes' Lysistrata and explores the power women's bodies might have when men are in need. The third chapter investigates The Roaring Girl, written by Middleton and Dekker. This delves into the life of the character Moll Cutpurse and shows why Moll chose to dress as a man. Chapters four and five deal with the fantasy and the gothic elements in Frankenstein and Dracula respectively: focusing on bodily transformations; as well as the treatment of the monster and Dracula by society, and their treatment in turn of society. The grotesque is an intriguing style of theatre because it deals essentially with human nature and the human body in its imperfect and ever-changing form. The grotesque therefore lends itself to horror, comedy and exaggeration making it a style which does not have to be limited by strict parameters. The grotesque can be successfully woven into other genres such as the gothic or the absurd giving it even greater dimensions in storytelling, staging and special effects. Human beings are often torn between the gory or visually disturbing whilst needing the safety of the normal and acceptable. The grotesque offers both, which can make a scintillating piece of entertainment by fulfilling our needs at both ends of the emotional spectrum. Grotesque theatre therefore by its very nature is a style which will continue to exist so long as it keeps its patrons in suspense

Consumer Data Privacy in Marketing Research: A Study of Value-Based and Cognate-Based Approaches

In this paper, we used Smith et al. (2011)’s classification of privacy definitions based on cognate-based and value-based approaches and reviewed the marketing literature for the past five years on consumer information privacy. We added an extra dimension to this classification by looking at whether the research has a regulatory emphasis or not. Our results indicate that there are plenty of research articles on cognate-based and non-regulatory underscoring research as well as value-based and regulatory emphasis articles. There is exigent need for more research on cognate-based, regulation focused and value-based, non-regulation focused accentuation

Futurenatural? A future of science through the lens of wisdom

This is a PDF version of an article published in Heythrop Journal© 1999. The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com.This article discusses genetic engineering and Christian theories of wisdom, particularly in relation in creation, redemption, and apocalyptic literature. It concludes by discussing a future of science through the lens of wisdom