ONLINE USER INTENTION TO SELECT A SHARED ACCOUNT OPTION ON MULTI-SERVICE PLATFORMS

Online users are free to register an account on a website for the purpose of enjoying various online services. More and more multi-service platforms are being developed. Users have the option to either create a new account or simply share their original account information, e.g., Facebook, to complete registration. However, when using the original account information on a new platform, online users are possibly at risk disclosing their personal information to platform vendors. Therefore, this study\u27s purpose is to explore online user intention toward using shared accounts on another new multi-service platform. Individual aspects of perceived risk and perceived benefits for using shared accounts are examined through an online survey which was validated by MIS experts and passed a pilot test. The preliminary results of this study show that registration efficiency and perceived platform trust level have significant positive impacts on user intention, which further impacts their actual behavior related to using a shared account while user privacy concerns and the perceived security level of the platform have a significant negative impact on their use intention. Discussion is provided along with other data sources arguing the non-significant effects of perceived enjoyment and perceived usefulness on online user intention

UNDERSTANDING USER PERCEPTIONS AND PREFERENCES FOR MASS-MARKET INFORMATION SYSTEMS – LEVERAGING MARKET RESEARCH TECHNIQUES AND EXAMPLES IN PRIVACY-AWARE DESIGN

With cloud and mobile computing, a new category of software products emerges as mass-market information systems (IS) that addresses distributed and heterogeneous end-users. Understanding user requirements and the factors that drive user adoption are crucial for successful design of such systems. IS research has suggested several theories and models to explain user adoption and intentions to use, among them the IS Success Model and the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Although these approaches contribute to theoretical understanding of the adoption and use of IS in mass-markets, they are criticized for not being able to drive actionable insights on IS design as they consider the IT artifact as a black-box (i.e., they do not sufficiently address the system internal characteristics). We argue that IS needs to embrace market research techniques to understand and empirically assess user preferences and perceptions in order to integrate the "voice of the customer" in a mass-market scenario. More specifically, conjoint analysis (CA), from market research, can add user preference measurements for designing high-utility IS. CA has gained popularity in IS research, however little guidance is provided for its application in the domain. We aim at supporting the design of mass-market IS by establishing a reliable understanding of consumer’s preferences for multiple factors combing functional, non-functional and economic aspects. The results include a “Framework for Conjoint Analysis Studies in IS” and methodological guidance for applying CA. We apply our findings to the privacy-aware design of mass-market IS and evaluate their implications on user adoption. We contribute to both academia and practice. For academia, we contribute to a more nuanced conceptualization of the IT artifact (i.e., system) through a feature-oriented lens and a preference-based approach. We provide methodological guidelines that support researchers in studying user perceptions and preferences for design variations and extending that to adoption. Moreover, the empirical studies for privacy- aware design contribute to a better understanding of the domain specific applications of CA for IS design and evaluation with a nuanced assessment of user preferences for privacy-preserving features. For practice, we propose guidelines for integrating the voice of the customer for successful IS design. -- Les technologies cloud et mobiles ont fait émerger une nouvelle catégorie de produits informatiques qui s’adressent à des utilisateurs hétérogènes par le biais de systèmes d'information (SI) distribués. Les termes “SI de masse” sont employés pour désigner ces nouveaux systèmes. Une conception réussie de ceux-ci passe par une phase essentielle de compréhension des besoins et des facteurs d'adoption des utilisateurs. Pour ce faire, la recherche en SI suggère plusieurs théories et modèles tels que le “IS Success Model” et le “Technology Acceptance Model”. Bien que ces approches contribuent à la compréhension théorique de l'adoption et de l'utilisation des SI de masse, elles sont critiquées pour ne pas être en mesure de fournir des informations exploitables sur la conception de SI car elles considèrent l'artefact informatique comme une boîte noire. En d’autres termes, ces approches ne traitent pas suffisamment des caractéristiques internes du système. Nous soutenons que la recherche en SI doit adopter des techniques d'étude de marché afin de mieux intégrer les exigences du client (“Voice of Customer”) dans un scénario de marché de masse. Plus précisément, l'analyse conjointe (AC), issue de la recherche sur les consommateurs, peut contribuer au développement de système SI à forte valeur d'usage. Si l’AC a gagné en popularité au sein de la recherche en SI, des recommandations quant à son utilisation dans ce domaine restent rares. Nous entendons soutenir la conception de SI de masse en facilitant une identification fiable des préférences des consommateurs sur de multiples facteurs combinant des aspects fonctionnels, non-fonctionnels et économiques. Les résultats comprennent un “Cadre de référence pour les études d'analyse conjointe en SI” et des recommandations méthodologiques pour l'application de l’AC. Nous avons utilisé ces contributions pour concevoir un SI de masse particulièrement sensible au respect de la vie privée des utilisateurs et nous avons évalué l’impact de nos recherches sur l'adoption de ce système par ses utilisateurs. Ainsi, notre travail contribue tant à la théorie qu’à la pratique des SI. Pour le monde universitaire, nous contribuons en proposant une conceptualisation plus nuancée de l'artefact informatique (c'est-à-dire du système) à travers le prisme des fonctionnalités et par une approche basée sur les préférences utilisateurs. Par ailleurs, les chercheurs peuvent également s'appuyer sur nos directives méthodologiques pour étudier les perceptions et les préférences des utilisateurs pour différentes variations de conception et étendre cela à l'adoption. De plus, nos études empiriques sur la conception d’un SI de masse sensible au respect de la vie privée des utilisateurs contribuent à une meilleure compréhension de l’application des techniques CA dans ce domaine spécifique. Nos études incluent notamment une évaluation nuancée des préférences des utilisateurs sur des fonctionnalités de protection de la vie privée. Pour les praticiens, nous proposons des lignes directrices qui permettent d’intégrer les exigences des clients afin de concevoir un SI réussi

The impact of brand communication on brand equity through Facebook

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to fill the gap in the discussion of the ways in which firm-created and user-generated social media brand communication impacts consumer-based brand equity metrics through Facebook. Design/methodology/approach: We evaluated 302 data sets that were generated through a standardized online-survey to investigate the impact of firm-created and user-generated social media brand communication on brand awareness/associations, perceived quality, and brand loyalty across 60 brands within three different industries: non-alcoholic beverages, clothing, and mobile network providers. We applied structural equation modeling techniques (SEM) to investigate the effects of social media brand communication on consumers’ perception of brand equity metrics, as well as in an examination of industry-specific differences. Findings: The results of our empirical studies showed that both firm-created and user-generated social media brand communication influence brand awareness/associations; whereas, user-generated social media brand communication had a positive impact on brand loyalty and perceived brand quality. Additionally, there are significant differences between the industries being investigated. Originality/value: This article is pioneering in that it exposes the effects of two different types of social media brand communication (i.e., firm-created and user-generated social media communication) on consumer-based brand equity metrics, a topic of relevance for both marketers and scholars in the era of social media. Additionally, it differentiates the effects of social media brand communication across industries, which indicate that practitioners should implement social media strategies according to industry specifics to lever consumer-based brand equity metrics

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

The legal framework to address “fake news”: possible policy actions at the EU level. CEPS Research Report, 2018

This paper argues that the current policy initiatives adopted by the European Commission are meaningful, but still incomplete. The policy response to online disinformation should ideally rely on: (i) the promotion of responsible behaviour in conveying information to end users; (ii) the enactment of a proactive media policy aimed at promoting pluralism and improving the exposure of diverse content to end users; and (iii) the empowerment of end users through media literacy initiatives, and supports to user behaviour. This document was prepared by Policy Department A at the request of the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer Protection

Main design factors for shared ride-hailing services from a user perspective

Shared ride-hailing transportation is discreetly emerging in cities all over the world with the purpose of decongesting cities, offering a similar comfort and convenience of the private car, and this way, filling the gap between the cities’ bus services and the regular taxi services. Hence, the aim of this research is to detect the main factors that should be taken into account for the service design of shared ride- hailing transportation, as well as to compare this mean of transport with the bus and taxi services. The research was conducted through, first, an analysis of shared ride-hailing services business model. Then, a quantitative research was conducted to users of a small-scale one-week pilot in Barcelona. The results show that factors related to price and travel times are more important from a user perspective than the ones related to comfort, such as the walking distance to the pickup point or the comfort provided by the vehicle. Furthermore, results indicate the intended use of participants of a potential future shared ride-hailing service in different use casesPostprint (author's final draft

Familiars: representing Facebook users’ social behaviour through a reflective playful experience

In this paper, we describe the design and development of a social game called Familiars. Inspired by the daemons in Pullman’s “Dark Material” trilogy, Familiars are animal companions that sit on your Facebook profile and change into different animal forms based on your social activity within the social network of Facebook. . Familiars takes advantage of the powerful capabilities of the developers platform of Facebook to build a multi-dimensional picture of a player’s state based on social activity, facial expression analysis on photographs and suggestions from friends. This rich information is then distilled and presented to the player in the form of animal that the familiar chooses to take. We show how the types of animals and personalities were associated in a cross-cultural user study, and present quantitative results from the social behaviours of the players within the game in addition to qualitative data gathered from questionnaire responses

How to design for persistence and retention in MOOCs?

Design of educational interventions is typically carried out following a design cycle involving phases of investigation, conceptualization, prototyping, implementation, execution and evaluation. This cycle can be applied at different levels of granularity e.g. learning activity, module, course or programme. In this paper we consider an aspect of learner behavior that can be critical to the success of many MOOCs i.e. their persistence to study, and the related theme of learner retention. We reflect on the impact that consideration of these can have on design decisions at different stages in the design cycle with the aim of en-hancing MOOC design in relation to learner persistence and retention, with particular attention to the European context