Virtual reality and artificial intelligence applied to consumer experience: a scenario-based approach

Emerging technologies like Virtual Reality (VR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been receiving much attention in the Marketing context as a new way to attract customers and enrich their experiences with brands. This study aimed to research the current state of these technologies in Business and discuss the extent to which experiences using Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence may impact a customer experience in three different points of the customer journey: pre-purchase, purchase, and post- purchase stage. An online survey was constructed to measure the effectiveness of VR and AI on a scenario-based approach, along three consumer behaviours in the customer journey – brand associations (pre-purchase stage), purchase intention (purchase stage) and brand loyalty (post-purchase stage). From a sample of 302 respondents, the results suggest that these technologies represent valuable opportunities in Marketing. Overall, the results revealed that the type of experiences addressed in this paper are more prone to instil action (purchase stage) than to build brand associations (pre-purchase stage) or brand loyalty (post-purchase stage). An in-depth analysis of these results manifested interesting outcomes, suggesting several managerial on how to apply these technologies in an integrated marketing communication (IMC) plan.Realidade Virtual (RV) e Inteligência Artificial (IA) têm recebido bastante atenção nos últimos anos pelo facto de serem uma nova forma de atrair os consumidores e enriquecer as suas experiências com as marcas. O principal objetivo desta dissertação é oferecer uma visão do "state of the art" da aplicação destas tecnologias no marketing e investigar até que ponto as experiências com RV e IA podem contribuir para uma melhor experiência do consumidor, nomeadamente em três fases distintas da jornada do consumidor: antes da compra, no momento da compra, e após a compra. Um questionário online foi construído para medir a eficácia de 7 cenários usando RV e AI, em três dos mais representativos comportamentos de uma jornada do consumidor: associações à marca (antes da compra), intenção de comprar (momento da compra) e lealdade à marca (após a compra). Com base numa amostra de 302 participantes, os resultados sugerem que RV e IA contribuem para a criação de significantes oportunidades no marketing. Numa forma geral, os resultados indicam que as experiências que foram selecionadas para este estudo são mais eficientes a persuadir os potenciais consumidores a comprar (momento da compra) do que a contribuir para a criação de associações à marca (antes da compra) ou para construir lealdade à marca (depois da compra). Sendo que, numa análise mais profunda dos resultados, diversas recomendações em como aplicar estas tecnologias numa comunicação integrada de marketing foram retratadas neste estudo

Using Web services choreography to support an extensible and flexible system development process

Systems Engineering (SE) controls a complex environment consisting of various collaborative subsystems. Each subsystem demands different kind of requirements and follows a specific strategy for its development process. Unifying and harmonizing the development process of all collaborative subsystems towards achieving the ultimate integrated system is one of the main challenges of SE. This work introduces a new approach towards having a generic SE unified process applicable to various environments. We suggest a service-oriented framework for SE process implemented using Web Services, and describe the process scenario in a machine-friendly abstract layer over the Development Process. This description layer choreographs collaborative subsystems and is implemented by a Web Services Choreography Description Language (WSCDL). It also covers Interface Management concerns of SE. In such an environment, as long as all services follow a unique framework for the SE process such as the one specified by the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), each phase of the process would then be an anonymous service implemented by a different vendor. As the result, an organization could easily customize its own specific development environment by editing this choreography layer according to its specific development policies, and then tailor its own desired development environment by choosing and integrating various services available on the Web. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-01, page: 0351. Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2006

Using Web services choreography to model business process in e-commerce

Web modeling languages like WebML (Web modeling Language), OOHDM (Object Oriented Hypermedia design) are evolved from hypermedia models. And they pay attention only to hypermedia modeling and model business rules as a form of navigation, this is called business process emulation. Our approach is to use web service peer-peer language, such as WS-CDL to model business process in an e-commerce application. In this way we introduce a new layer that models all the business rules using WS-CDL In this approach the hypermedia model models only navigation using WebML and once business process is initiated from simple navigation the process layer defined using WS-CDL will execute the business rules. By constructing a case study to test this hybrid-modeling framework, we hypothesise that this newly released peer-peer collaborative language for web-services can be used to model the concepts of business process. Thus we get a unique approach to model business process along with navigation. This approach is a proposed solution to the issues of business process emulation. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis2006 .S86. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 45-01, page: 0366. Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2006

Commercial communication in the digital age : information or disinformation?

In today’s digital age, online and mobile advertising are of growing importance, with advertising no longer bound to the traditional media industry. Although the advertising industry still has broader access to the different measures and channels, users and consumers today have more possibilities topublish, get informed or communicate – to “co-create” –, and toreach a bigger audience. There is a good chance thus that users and consumers are better informed about the objectives and persuasive tricks of the advertising industry than ever before. At the same time, advertisers can inform about products and services without the limitations of time and place faced by traditional mass media. But will there really be a time when advertisers and consumers have equal power, or does tracking users online and offline lead to a situation where advertisers have more information about the consumers than ever before? The volume discusses these questionsand related issues

National HIV Prevention Conference

CDC NPIN 2009 National HIV Prevention Conference Presentation Web Library: "The library is a resource for those that were unable to attend the conference and for those that attended and want to share information with their colleagues. The library houses PDF versions of Plenary presentations and other presentations made by CDC and other federal agencies that you are able to view and download by Population, Track, or Plenary session. Only presentations for which the authors have given their permission for posting are included."Conference Website -- Abstract book -- Conference program -- CDC NPIN 2009 National HIV Prevention Conference Presentation Web Library (NHPC 2009 Webcasts)Convened by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Mode of access: World Wide Web

PRACTITIONER-RESEACH AS DISSERTATION: EXPLORING THE CONTINUITIES BETWEEN PRACTICE AND RESEARCH IN A COMMUNITY COLLEGE ESL CLASSROOM

Traditional notions around research and teaching tend to project the two as separate, often conflicting, activities. My dissertation challenges this perceived dichotomy and explores points of connections, or continuities, between teaching and research through my own practice as an adjunct community-college English as a Second Language (ESL) instructor as well as a doctoral candidate at a research-intensive university. I use Wenger's (1998) framework of communities of practice to locate my practitioner research at the intersections of the academic community and the teaching community. I also employ Cochran-Smith and Lytle's (2009) ideas around the dialectic of practice and research to conceptualize the integration of research and practice in my dissertation project. I employ a pluralistic approach to the dissertation design and procedures by drawing upon and adapting elements from different research traditions and approaches in ways that best fitted my integrated practitioner research. Keeping doability and ethicality as my guiding principles, I provide authenticity to the thesis report by writing with deep reflexivity. With inquiry as my ongoing stance, I identify ways in which I integrated teaching and research: by primarily harnessing teaching tools to do research, and research tools to teach. I then propose that practitioner inquiry is an ongoing process, wherein the practitioner researcher analyzes in-depth a specific aspect of her pedagogy post-instruction to make research non-parasitic on teaching. I provide an example of such an ongoing inquiry by analyzing deeply a specific aspect of my own instruction--global Englishes and translinguistic identities in my ESL classroom. I thus make a case for engaging in practitioner inquiry that integrates teaching and research, and discuss the implications of my dissertation work for teacher preparation and professional development, doctoral education, TESOL and community college practice, as well as practitioner research at large. I finally conclude my doctoral thesis by reimagining myself as a pracademic: a coherent unified and hybrid identity that allows me to be both a practitioner and an academic at the same time without privileging either role; and invite my readers to push the boundaries of their own thinking about the roles of teachers and researchers in the academy

Social Commerce: A Framework for Fashion SMEs in Pakistan

Pakistan is one of the developing countries where the adoption and diffusion of e-commerce remains a challenge for consumers and fashion businesses because of the significant barriers facing the economy. This has led the small businesses to a new online business model "Social Commerce" which has stemmed from the integration of social media into e-commerce. Research suggests that Social Commerce is evolving and proliferating across many emerging markets. Yet the implications of this new form of e-commerce in Pakistan is still largely unknown. Hence, this research contributes to knowledge by exploring the potential of using the Social Commerce business model as an alternative to e-commerce amongst the small fashion businesses in Pakistan. The research adopted a mixed-methods, pragmatic philosophical perspective using a convergent research design. The primary data was gathered through mixed-mode surveys from consumers groups, and interviews and social media content from six fashion case businesses. The data obtained was analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative content analysis, respectively. The findings revealed that the integration of the social aspect in the social commerce business model can help in overcoming the limitations of e-commerce whilst also enhancing the benefits that were not truly accomplished by e-commerce. It was recognised that the growing acceptance of this evolving phenomenon amongst consumers was because of its ease of use and social interactivity. The study provides a contribution to theory by proposing a model that enables theoretical understanding of Social Commerce and its value potential for consumers and Fashion SMEs. This was later conceptualised and presented in the form of an empirically grounded framework that explained the use of this business model within Pakistan's context, thus advancing Social Commerce research in this underexplored region. Lastly, a simplified version of the framework was designed for the practitioners entailing seven key principles that can help to achieve effective and efficient use of Social Commerce. In terms of the research impact on the industry, the practitioners will greatly benefit from the use of this framework as a guideline for building and improving the Social Commerce presence. Finally, due to the lack of guidelines on the use of the Social Commerce business model in Pakistan this framework has the potential of becoming a leading influence in the area as affirmed by the industry experts

Conversational agents trust calibration

Previous work identified trust as one of the key requirements for adoption and continued use of conversational agents (CAs). Given recent advances in natural language processing and deep learning, it is currently possible to execute simple goal-oriented tasks by using voice. As CAs start to provide a gateway for purchasing products and booking services online, the question of trust and its impact on users' reliance and agency becomes ever-more pertinent. This paper collates trust-related literature and proposes four design suggestions that are illustrated through example conversations. Our goal is to encourage discussion on ethical design practices to develop CAs that are capable of employing trust-calibration techniques that should, when relevant, reduce the user's trust in the agent. We hope that our reflections, based on the synthesis of insights from the fields of human-Agent interaction, explainable ai, and information retrieval, can serve as a reminder of the dangers of excessive trust in automation and contribute to more user-centred CA design