Points of Reflection: A Case for Moral Engagement Across Video Game Time and Space

In the field of video game studies, meaningful action and flow are upheld as primary targets of game design, and key factors in many ontological definitions of what games can and should be. Yet, games are not all action. Within most games one encounters numerous pauses and interruptions of various kinds, including the much-maligned “cut-scenes” that lead or force the player out of an active role at certain moments. Furthermore, not all actions are goal-directed. If they are, they are not necessarily pragmatic. These pauses, interruptions, and nuanced goals are often overlooked, if not actively derided, in the field of game studies. In short, ideas about how players stop and reflect, how their goals and experiences take on emotional and/or moral valences, are under-represented. My work argues that moral reflection does occur even in mainstream games, and that it tends to happen in connection with the very moments game scholars often overlook—in the pauses before or after actions, in the moments of awe or realization, when the controller has been set down or the keyboard pushed away, and yes, even during cut-scenes. Such moments may invite the player into a state of moral reflection, but for this state of moral reflection to be poignant and memorable to the player these moments must also involve a consideration of differing values. Finally, how a game structures the player’s experience of time, from receiving quests to setting out into the game world, from pauses to demanding challenges, and even through the layout of video game spaces lends these points of reflection their crucial impact

Consequences of personalized product recommendations and price promotions in online grocery shopping

publishedVersionPaid open acces

Digital Transformation of SMEs: Capturing Complexity

The purpose of this paper is to study the ongoing digitalisation of SMEs in order to gain a richer understanding of the complexity of digital transformation. Six Swedish SMEs have been studied using a basic qualitative research approach. Main results of the study are the identification of internal as well as external drivers of value creation, categories of digital transformation actions and the presence of a strategic tension that SMEs had to manage in order to conduct their digital transformation. One conclusion is a proposed framework which supports a rich understanding of SMEs digital transformation

Meme marketing: How marketers can drive better engagement using viral memes?

publishedVersio

Design of Technology-Enabled Interactions for Flow Experience in an Omnichannel Customer Journey.

The omnichannel retail strategy has become increasingly popular in recent years as retailers strive to provide a seamless customer experience across all channels. However, multiple studies indicate that retailers are facing challenges in delivering desired experiences in an omnichannel environment. Given this uncertainty faced by many retail firms in an environment with multiple channels, it is imperative for researchers to discern and utilize the factors that improve the customers’ flow when customers are moving between channels. Digital technologies play a vital role in delivering this experience, but retailers need design guidelines to utilize the potential of these technologies effectively. This research addresses this problem by introducing the omniflow framework, a design framework for improving the flow experience in the digital technology-enabled cross-channel customer journey. The study employed the design science research methodology and evaluated the design framework through an in-depth case study with an Irish retailer. This study explores the elements that enable integrated customer interactions with touchpoints across different channels within and outside retailers’ direct control. This study identified the technologies and digital solutions that act as enablers for channel integration activities. It also identifies the various dimensions that constitute the flow experience and proposes design principles linking the dimensions of the flow experience and the design of technology-enabled interactions. The study advances design theory by establishing a link between the design of technology-enabled interactions and the flow experience. The study's findings also contribute to a clearer understanding of the differences between retailer-controlled channel integration and the flow experience in the customer journey, which extends beyond the retailer's control. The results of the study also offer practical insights for retailers seeking to enhance the omnichannel experience for their customers

Using stable isotopes as a tool to understand the trophic relationships and movement of seabirds off Southern Africa

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references.Stable isotopes (SI) have been widely applied in ecology to investigate the trophic relationships of animals. Stable isotope analyses were used to augment our understanding of the foraging ecology and movements of three globally threatened seabirds: African Penguins (Spheniscus demersus), Cape Gannets (Morus capensis) and White-chinned Petrels (Procellaria aequinoctiallis). The diets of captive penguins were varied to estimate the 15N turnover rates and discrimination factors of toenails and blood fractions. Plasma δ15N showed a faster turnover rate (7.6 ± 0.7 days) than erythrocytes (14.3 ± 1.6 days). Discrimination factors varied among tissues. No shift in nail δ15N signature was detected after 5 months, suggesting that toenails are insensitive to short to medium-term diet shifts. Among wild penguins and gannets sampled across the Benguela region, tow different responses to the effects of fisheries were observed,due to different feeding strategies, Age, sex year and colony location accounted for isotopic variation. Age-based differences may be linked to limited foraging skills of juvenile birds and their wider dispersion. Female gannets apparently feed on more live natural prey whereas males take more fishery discards, although the sex-based difference was confounded by colony effect. Marked inter-colony variation probably results from regional differences in oceanic conditions between, prey availability and among gannets, variation in dependence on fishery discards. Inter-annual variation in SI signatures might be linked to variation in primary production (African Penguins), or variation in prey availability (Cape Gannets)..

Exploring Department Store Offerings: A ZMET Study

Department stores in the UK have faced challenging retail conditions, which were affected by the everchanging external retail competition such as out-of-town and online retailers. As the boundaries between different retail institutions have blurred increasingly with an inclining similarity of their commodity offerings, the multi-department one-stop shopping experience is no longer unique to department stores. But the department stores are nevertheless still regarded as the anchor of the high street due to their strong brand associations linked to their heritage, physical presence, and emphasis on service quality. However, it is not clear if these associations are still relevant, particularly as customers are increasingly adopting a hybrid online/offline approach to shopping. This study, therefore, adopts a customer-based brand equity (CBBE) lens to explore the key constructs that are valued by customers in the current turbulent retail environment. This study was a mono-method qualitative study using Zaltman Metaphor Elimination Technique (ZMET). Data were collected from 24 UK high street department store shoppers in Derby using a cross-sectional time horizon. The use the of ZMET method elicited deep thoughts and feelings in the UK high street department stores by customers based on the participant’s choice of image. Thematic content analysis was used to analyse the data extracted from both the verbal interview, the participant’s choice of images and the montage created by the participants. A new onion model of customer-based brand equity (CBBE) in the current department store context was identified in this study, named customer-based department store brand equity (CBDSBE). This model showed that four out of Zaltman’s seven deep metaphors are more relevant to the current context, which are balance, resource, journey and connection. By identifying these deep metaphors, brand managers would gain in-depth understanding of their customers, and thus, establish enhanced marketing strategies accordingly. This study also identified that brand accessibility was a new construct that emerged from this study that contributed to the customer-based department store brand equity. It was identified that the department store provided access to the participants where they could access the individual brands, the physical products, and the experiences available at a department store. The outcomes of this study argued that the department store is not reaching the end of its lifecycle. It is suggested that a new definition of the department store is needed, which would ultimately distinguish the department store from its competitors who offered similar commodities and re-establish competitive advantage in the current turbulent retail environment by enhancing its customer-based department store brand equity

City innovation as resonance: : the case of outdoor offices and conferences in the open air museum

This paper explores an innovation case within a “smart” Swedish mid-sized city that works extensively with digitalization.Over a long period in time, city populations and city tourism have increased, while more urgentchallenges connected to sustainability have emerged along with health-related problems. In parallel the already established and ongoing digitalization of society was fortified in the pandemic period, something that may have changed the tourism industry. Today, manyprofessional meetings happen both on- and offline.One challenge for public officials who manage urban space, is a societal expectation to maximize and improve tax payers ́ life quality on limited budgets and resources that are commonly owned.This is one of the reasons to why contemporary urban planners and city tourism development organizations need to find new solutions in response to problems related to local and global change. I will focus on norm- changes related to digital nomadism (Makimoto & Manners, 1997) and in connection with a movement for outdoor office work (www. outdoorofficeday.nl,Petersson et al., 2021). The city culture department is testing to offer outdoor offices and meetings in an urban public open air museum, a place that is used for leisure and for pedagogicpurposes.These new offerings can be conceptualized as innovative value propositions (Corvellec & Hultman, 2014) because new values, for instance rich nature experiences or a feeling of doingthe right thing, are made available for tourism consumers. These proposed services can be understood as a re-negotiation of socio-cultural values, where the public institution re-frames space in response to external change.In sociologist Hartmut Rosas (2019) words, this constitutes a form of an ongoing dialogue withthe world, in resonance. Based on eight qualitative interviews with local managers, participant observations, online communication and documents, I explore innovation from this sociologicalperspective.The aim of this research project is to understand tourism innovation discursive practices in public management, as responses to local and global change. Three research questions guide the study; How are outdoor offices and conferences constructed as value propositions for potential visitors? To which problems/risks do these value propositions respond? With what terms are outdoor offices constructed as answers to problems?So far, it was found that some of the strategic actions taken by the project leader was to launchthe outdoor office through a local innovation program, and to frequently work with professionalsocial media platforms.ReferencesCorvellec, & Hultman. (2014). Managing the politics of value propositions. MarketingTheory, 1470593114523445.Makimoto, T., & Manners, D. (1997). Digital nomad: Wiley.Petersson, T., C., Lisberg, J., E., Stenfors, C., Bodin, D., C., Hoff, E., Mårtensson, F., & Toivanen, S. (2021). Outdoor Office Work – AnInteractive Research Project Showingthe Way Out. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.636091 Rosa, H. (2019). Resonance : a sociology of the relationship to the world: Polity Press.https://www.outdoorofficeday.n

Commodification of recreational hunting in Sweden : hunting tourism experiences as ‘peculiar goods’

The paper is based on a study of hunting tourism enterprising in Sweden. The study examines how hunting tourism businesses in Sweden navigate in a complex social, economic and moral environment. The aim of the present paper is to identify how tensions between a market- oriented value sphere and a value sphere based on friendship- and community reciprocity are played out in hunting tourism entrepreneurship. In particular, the study focuses on the ambiguous character of the hunting experience product and the different narratives and discourses framing what is considered, by the actors themselves, to be a ‘good’ hunting tourism experience

Value co-creation through digital technology in developing economies : reflections from Indonesian agri-food E-commerce chain

PhD ThesisValue co-creation (VCC) has supported the expansion of research in marketing by embracing service innovation within the digital-driven era. However, a small number of studies provide a comprehensive examination of VCC through digital technology from the perspective of multiple local market actors at developing economies at the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) market. This research explores the role of digital commerce in VCC with the empirical focus on the Indonesian horticulture industry, moving towards e-commerce for marketing innovation. This research aims to: (1) explore VCC manifestation within the local BOP market, (2) discover the role of e-commerce in the exchange process of co-creation at the local BOP market, (3) explore the dimensions of VCC of engagement amongst the local e-commerce supply chain actors of BOP, and (4) investigate the causes and effects of customer engagement to VCC of using e-commerce in this marketplace. This research adopted a mixed-method approach of qualitative semi-structured interviews and a quantitative survey. VCC identified as occurring in a newly emerging e-commerce marketing channel via the interaction amongst channel members. Inclusive, collaborative, and empowerment ideology contribute to market scripting scenario by local entrepreneurs who identify as ‘socio-entrepreneurs’. This research argues that the exchange logic underpinning this new transformative business approach of digitally enabled VCC in local BOP markets is akin to a ‘social justice logic’. For consumers, digital technologies create online ‘consumption communities’ where information is exchanged concerning product provenance and food preparation opportunities supporting online purchases and innovation in value chain ‘pull’ strategies. The research indicates that customer VCC behaviour was influenced by the significant effects of customer-related VCC resources of social expertise and openness, customer motivation, and its effects on value-in-use, willingness-to-engage, positive emotions, and behavioural intentions. Finally, the results highlight the moderating role of customer age and the length of engagement in VCC processes on these relationships.Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP