“Run Forrest Run!”: Measuring the Impact of App-Enabled Performance and Social Feedback on Running Performance

Exercise tracking apps offer a novel and powerful channel to deliver behavioral interventions at a massive scale. As thousands of fitness tracking solutions emerge, the lack of systematic research quantifying their effectiveness on exercise outcomes becomes more prominent. Drawing on the motivation literature, this paper elucidates the effects of app-enabled motivation on fitness improvement. Specifically, this study examines the two most common forms of feedback available to users of exercise tracking apps, namely performance feedback and social feedback. The results of our field experiment reveal strong evidence that performance feedback and social feedback motivate fitness improvement. Furthermore, whereas the effect of social feedback diminishes over time, the effect of performance feedback remains resilient. There theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed

Comparing thixotropic and Herschel–Bulkley parameterizations for continuum models of avalanches and subaqueous debris flows

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. Avalanches and subaqueous debris flows are two cases of a wide range of natural hazards that have been previously modeled with non-Newtonian fluid mechanics approximating the interplay of forces associated with gravity flows of granular and solid-liquid mixtures. The complex behaviors of such flows at unsteady flow initiation (i.e., destruction of structural jamming) and flow stalling (restructuralization) imply that the representative viscosity-stress relationships should include hysteresis: there is no reason to expect the timescale of microstructure destruction is the same as the timescale of restructuralization. The non-Newtonian Herschel-Bulkley relationship that has been previously used in such models implies complete reversibility of the stress-strain relationship and thus cannot correctly represent unsteady phases. In contrast, a thixotropic non-Newtonian model allows representation of initial structural jamming and aging effects that provide hysteresis in the stress-strain relationship. In this study, a thixotropic model and a Herschel-Bulkley model are compared to each other and to prior laboratory experiments that are representative of an avalanche and a subaqueous debris flow. A numerical solver using a multi-material level-set method is applied to track multiple interfaces simultaneously in the simulations. The numerical results are validated with analytical solutions and available experimental data using parameters selected based on the experimental setup and without post hoc calibration. The thixotropic (time-dependent) fluid model shows reasonable agreement with all the experimental data. For most of the experimental conditions, the Herschel-Bulkley (time-independent) model results were similar to the thixotropic model, a critical exception being conditions with a high yield stress where the Herschel-Bulkley model did not initiate flow. These results indicate that the thixotropic relationship is promising for modeling unsteady phases of debris flows and avalanches, but there is a need for better understanding of the correct material parameters and parameters for the initial structural jamming and characteristic time of aging, which requires more detailed experimental data than presently available

Software piracy in China

According to the Business Software Alliance (BSA), business software piracy rates worldwide have fallen from nearly 50 percent in 1994 to 36 percent in 1999 (Gruenwald 2001). However, the illegal reproduction and distribution of copyrighted computer software continues to be a major problem encountered by software manufacturers in the Chinese market. BSA statistics indicate that 94 percent of the software used by Chinese corporations was pirated during 2000 as compared to 91 percent in 1999 (BSA 2001). Even in 1996, Chinese officials estimated software piracy to be a $16 billion per year problem (Smith 1996). The 3 percent increase in software piracy between 1999 and 2000 was due to an increase in computer usage and a decline in government enforcement efforts. Since the Chinese government does not consistently prosecute piracy violators, the sale of illegal software has increased. There are over 20 plants in China that manufacture pirated software, many of which are state-owned (Ho 2001). Obviously the Chinese government engages in and profits from the piracy trade. The BSA estimates that the revenue lost from pirating in China represents one fourth of the loss from the entire Asian-Pacific region. Software piracy first emerged as a problem in Hong Kong, and quickly spread to Mainland China and other surrounding countries. Many Chinese citizens believe sharing software is not stealing. Furthermore, most software purchased is already pirated

Editorial

"Editors' Introduction." Global Labour Journal (January) 7(1). Rina Agarwala, Jenny Chan, Alexander Gallas, and Ben Scull

Antecedents of Product Placement Effectiveness Across Cultures

Purpose -- The research contributes to the marketing literature by developing and testing a conceptual model to examine the effects of product placement across a country low in assertiveness and performance orientation (the United Kingdom) and a country high in assertiveness and performance orientation (Hong Kong). Design/methodology/approach -- A content analysis of brand appearances in high grossing films within the UK and HK was conducted followed by a 2x2 between-subjects experiment (n=572). Findings -- The results indicate participants exposed to prominent placements have a less positive brand attitude and lower purchase intention towards the placed brand. Likewise, respondents exposed to a less well-known placed brand tend to have a less positive brand attitude and lower purchase intention towards the placed brand. There is evidence of interaction effects with cultural dimensions such as assertiveness and performance orientation within the UK and HK. Practical implications -- The results suggest that product placements can be optimized through tailored campaigns targeted at markets with known cultural characteristics. With advances in digital technology such practices are becoming more frequent and more feasible. Originality/value -- This is one of the first studies to explore the effect of culture on perceptions of product placement and the first study to empirically examine the role of prominence and brand awareness, and their interactions with GLOBE values on the effectiveness of product placement