Pro-environmental User Behavior in the Lifecycle of Consumer Electronics

Acknowledging environmental sustainability as one of the most critical global challenges in our time, information systems (IS) scholars and practitioners have begun to address environmental problems by developing and implementing various green information systems. Besides pro-environmental IT artifacts, we argue that user-oriented green practices play a crucial role in ameliorating the adverse effects that result from making, using, and disposing electronic devices. To that end, we examine user intentions toward engaging in pro-environmental behaviors that can penetrate the electronic device lifecycle, which includes choosing, using, and disposing such devices. In particular, we adopt the extended theory of planned behavior as a lens and suggest ecological beliefs among users can determine their ecological attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control, which, in turn, can shape their pro- environmental behavior. Also, ecological knowledge appears to play an influential role in changing user intentions to perform pro-environmental practices. We also revisit relevant green IT and green IS literature while providing future research directions

Belief and actual behaviour in green information technology within a South African tertiary institution

Most research in green IT tend to focus on the practices of large IT vendors and companies. There is therefore a need to examine the beliefs and actual behaviour of IT users about green IT, as it significantly impact of energy consumption and computer design on the broader society. The main question to be answered was ―Are IT users generally concerned with regards to green IT issues?‖. Therefore the main purpose of this study was thus to evaluate the beliefs and actual behaviour of IT users regarding green IT in South Africa through a survey that was completed by university students and lecturers. The paucity of available research on this subject pertaining to South Africa justifies the importance of conducting this study. A hypothesised research model based on the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) was used to evaluate the main factors contributing to green IT awareness in an empirical study. A mixed research method was used as the paradigm which combines aspects from both interpretive and positivist research approaches. A questionnaire was used to collect data from university students and lecturers. The data was captured and analysed for convergent validity. The reliability of measurement items was tested using Cronbach‘s alpha. Structural Equation Modelling was used to model latent variables under conditions of non-normality. Subjective norm was the main factor contributing to intended belief and actual behaviourSchool of ComputingM.A. (Computer Science

Rethinking Digital Nudging: A Taxonomical Approach to Defining and Identifying Characteristics of Digital Nudging Interventions

Digital nudging interventions have emerged as soft-paternalistic mechanisms for reducing heuristic limitations and biases in decision-making environments. Prior research has conceptualized digital nudging interventions as subtle modifications in the decision-making environment that nudge a decision maker towards better choices without limiting other alternatives. The approach has received criticism as researchers have achieved limited consensus on its definition, categorized diverse behavior-modulation methodologies as digital nudging, and raised multiple ethical concerns about it. Such ambiguity reduces fidelity while challenging synthesis, application, and replication. In this paper, we posit the need to broaden the definition of digital nudging interventions, reconcile the inconsistencies, and present a coherent frame. Based on a systematic review of the extant literature, we propose an extended definition that is coherent with the libertarian-paternalistic principle, clarifying the intent of digital nudging interventions, and delineating the nature of the digital artifacts involved. We further present a taxonomy with standard vernacular and label its complex underlying principles and the components that can guide practitioners and researchers

Green IT Segment Analysis: An Academic Literature Review

Research on Green Information Technology (IT) is becoming a prevalent research theme in Green Information Systems (IS) research. This article provides a review of 98 papers published on Green IT between 2007−2013 to facilitate future research and to provide a retrospective analysis of existing knowledge and gaps thereof. While some researchers have discussed phenomena such as Green IT, motivation of Green IT and the Green IT adoption lifecycle, others have researched the importance of Green IT implementation within the organisational and individual level. Throughout the literature, scholars are trying to portray a constructive relationship between IT and the environment. Through our analysis, we can provide an assessment of the status of information systems literature on Green IT and, we provide taxonomy of segments of Green IT publications. Future research opportunities are identified based on the review

Developing consumer-based service brand equity via the internet: The role of personalization and trialability

The commercialization of the Internet has provided opportunities for building service brands in the minds of consumers. Services are characterized as intangible, heterogeneous, inseparable, and perishable features that often engender high information costs and, hence, low perceived value to potential consumers. When a service is available via the Interneta medium that can subdivide and rebuild the service into personalized offeringspotential consumers become better informed in advance of what the service provides. The Internet also permits most services to be trialable before consumption. These new features, empowered by the Internet, have important implications for what we call consumer-based service brand equity (CSBE), the value that potential consumers assign to a service brand. This article investigates the effects of service personalization and trialability on the development of CSBE of Internet banking service, a typical service available via the Internet. Results from a laboratory experiment indicate that both service personalization and trialability have significant positive influences on the development of the CSBE of an Internet banking service brand. While personalization was found to indirectly influence CSBE development by mediating the perceived benefits of the brand, trialability exerted both a direct and an indirect effect. Trialability developed the brand's CSBE by first mediating the information through gathering cost savings and then the perceived benefits of the brand. Implications of the study's results are discussed.published_or_final_versio

Corporate Commitment to International Law

Corporations are increasingly important actors in international law. But vital questions underlying this development have long gone unanswered: How and why do corporations commit to international law? This article constructs a general account of business interaction with international legal obligation and suggests that a gateway to demystifying this persistent puzzle lies in corporate opinio juris. Corporate opinio juris describes a company\u27s subscription to a rule of international law, even though the company is not technically bound by that rule. This subscription functions as a kind of pledge that, once made, has sway over the company and its peers and symbiotically enhances the authority of international law. Corporate opinio juris provides a common rubric to analyze the subfields of international law where these corporate pledges have been documented, serving as a paradigm to better understand how and why companies adhere to international law. The article then unpacks how various structures within business law and management theory help to predict the formation of corporate commitments to international law, arguing that corporate opinio juris holds potentially sweeping implications for international law generally

Privacy fatigue: The effect of privacy control complexity on consumer electronic information disclosure

When online social networks change privacy control features (i.e. methods of sharing consumer information), the result is often media attention and public outcry. Facebook introduced new privacy controls in 2009 causing the Electronic Frontier Foundation to accuse them of pushing users to disclose more information than ever before. However, there is little research to indicate that such practices are effective. Although research on privacy control designs is emerging, few studies adopt theoretical bases or empirically test the results of the design. This study fills a theoretical and methodological gap in the context of privacy controls. We adopt feature fatigue theory from the marketing literature to explain the effects of privacy control complexity on consumer self-disclosure behavior. We test our model with a unique longitudinal field experiment wherein participants are randomly assigned to various treatments of privacy control complexity. We found support for our theoretical extension we term privacy fatigue