Smartwatches : accessory or tool? The driving force of visibility and usefulness

Although still in the early stages of diffusion, smartwatches represent the most popular type of wearable devices. Yet, little is known why some people are more likely to adopt smartwatches than others. To deepen the understanding of underlying factors prompting adoption behavior, the authors develop a theoretical model grounded in technology acceptance and social psychology literature. Empirical results reveal perceived usefulness and visibility as important factors that drive intention. The magnitude of these antecedents is influenced by an individual’s perception of viewing smartwatches as a technology and/or as a fashion accessory. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed

Do the roles of dedication, constraint, and temptation-based mechanisms on customer loyalty vary for different length of relationship?

Achieving customer loyalty is a primary marketing goal, but cultivating loyalty and reaping its benefits remain ongoing challenges. Building on social exchange theory (SET) and the dedicationconstraint model, this study proposed a novel dedication-constraint-temptation model (DCTM) of customer loyalty by taking into account the boundary condition of relationship length. The DCTM highlights the prominent role of brand equity, switching barriers and alternative attractiveness, as well as their interplay in the formation of customer loyalty. Specifically, the DCTM underlines the important but underexplored role of alternative attractiveness as a mediator, and integrates both established and new antecedents to brand equity and switching barriers. The model was tested using data from an online survey of 331 postpaid mobile users in Malaysia. Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the data. The results show that customer value anticipation and customer satisfaction are the key antecedents of brand equity (the dedication-based mechanism) for both shorter- and longer-term relationships. However, the effect of customizationpersonalization control only exists for longer-term relationships. In both samples, brand equity exerts a significant influence on customer loyalty, with alternative attractiveness (the temptation-based mechanism) serving as a mediator. The results also reveal that procedural switching costs are the most salient antecedent of switching barriers (the constraint-based mechanism) for both shorter- and longerterm relationships. In contrast, the effect of monetary switching costs only exists for shorter-term relationships, whereas the effect of material benefits loss only exists for longer-term relationships. In either case, the effect of social relationship loss is not significant. Switching barriers, in turn, influence customer loyalty (via alternative alternativeness) and this effect only happens in longer-term relationships. Furthermore, the results from multigroup analysis indicate a significant difference in the effect of switching barriers on alternative attractiveness between shorter- and longer-term customers. Overall, the findings show that shorter-term customers rely on brand equity, whereas longer-term customers depend more on switching barriers and less on brand equity, in forming their loyalty. Based on these findings, we outline how mangers of mobile communications companies should adapt their retention efforts to different relationship types

Go loud or go home? How power distance belief influences the effect of brand prominence on luxury goods purchase intention

Based upon the signalling theory and self-congruity theory, this study theorizes and examines the effect of brand prominence on the purchase intention of luxury goods, with the mediating role of self-congruence and value-for-money perception. Furthermore, it explores the moderating effect of power distance belief. A single factor between-subject experiment study was conducted with a sample of 300 university students from Malaysia. Results suggest that the serial indirect effect of brand prominence on purchase intention through self-congruence and value-for-money perception is conditional upon the level of power distance belief. This study provides meaningful insight for marketing practitioners, as well as brand prominence literature by indicating how and when brand prominence works in evoking luxury goods purchase intention

Comprehensive molecular characterization of gastric adenocarcinoma

Gastric cancer is a leading cause of cancer deaths, but analysis of its molecular and clinical characteristics has been complicated by histological and aetiological heterogeneity. Here we describe a comprehensive molecular evaluation of 295 primary gastric adenocarcinomas as part of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project. We propose a molecular classification dividing gastric cancer into four subtypes: tumours positive for Epstein–Barr virus, which display recurrent PIK3CA mutations, extreme DNA hypermethylation, and amplification of JAK2, CD274 (also known as PD-L1) and PDCD1LG2 (also knownasPD-L2); microsatellite unstable tumours, which show elevated mutation rates, including mutations of genes encoding targetable oncogenic signalling proteins; genomically stable tumours, which are enriched for the diffuse histological variant and mutations of RHOA or fusions involving RHO-family GTPase-activating proteins; and tumours with chromosomal instability, which show marked aneuploidy and focal amplification of receptor tyrosine kinases. Identification of these subtypes provides a roadmap for patient stratification and trials of targeted therapies

AI is a viable alternative to high throughput screening: a 318-target study

: High throughput screening (HTS) is routinely used to identify bioactive small molecules. This requires physical compounds, which limits coverage of accessible chemical space. Computational approaches combined with vast on-demand chemical libraries can access far greater chemical space, provided that the predictive accuracy is sufficient to identify useful molecules. Through the largest and most diverse virtual HTS campaign reported to date, comprising 318 individual projects, we demonstrate that our AtomNet® convolutional neural network successfully finds novel hits across every major therapeutic area and protein class. We address historical limitations of computational screening by demonstrating success for target proteins without known binders, high-quality X-ray crystal structures, or manual cherry-picking of compounds. We show that the molecules selected by the AtomNet® model are novel drug-like scaffolds rather than minor modifications to known bioactive compounds. Our empirical results suggest that computational methods can substantially replace HTS as the first step of small-molecule drug discovery

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

Reducing temptation to switch mobile data service providers over time: The role of dedication vs constraint

[[abstract]]Purpose – This study proposes a dedication-constraint-temptation (DCT) model to study the factors influencing customers’ loyalty to mobile data service (MDS) providers. The DCT model explicitly explores the important yet overlooked role of alternative attractiveness (the temptation-based mechanism) as a mediator and the boundary condition of their interrelationships (e.g., relationship length). The model also integrates new and established antecedents of customer-based brand equity (C-BBE) (the dedication-based mechanism) and switching barriers (the constraint-based mechanism). Design/methodology/approach – The proposed model is tested using partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with a sample of 331 MDS users. Findings – The results indicate that C-BBE has an indirect effect on customer loyalty (via alternative attractiveness) in both relationship groups (shorter- vs. longer-term). However, the indirect effect of switching barriers on customer loyalty only exists in longer-established relationships. The results from multi-group analysis (MGA) reveal that the effect of switching barriers on alternative attractiveness significantly differ across groups. In addition, customer value anticipation and procedural switching costs appear to be the most salient antecedents of C-BBE and switching barriers for both groups. Originality/value – This study makes an incremental contribution by incorporating the temptation-based mechanism as a mediator and relationship length as a moderator into the dedication-constraint model. This study also extends the IS and brand management literature by demonstrating the strategic importance of customer value anticipation in the ICT brand equity-building