Evolving Roles and Structures of Triadic Engagement in Healthcare

Purpose This study focuses on the changing nature of healthcare service encounters by studying the phenomenon of triadic engagement incorporating interactions between patients, local and virtual networks and healthcare professionals. Design/methodology/approach An 18-month longitudinal ethnographic study documents interactions in naturally occurring healthcare consultations. Professionals (n=13) and patients (n=24) within primary and secondary care units were recruited. Analysis of observations, field notes and interviews provides an integrated picture of triadic engagement. Findings Triadic engagement is conceptualised against a two-level framework. (1) The structure of triadic consultations is identified in terms of the human voice, virtual voice and networked voice. These are related to: companions’ contributions to discussions and the virtual network impact. (2) Evolving roles are mapped to three phases of transformation: enhancement; empowerment; emancipation. Triadic engagement varied across conditions. Research limitations/implications These changing roles and structures evidence an increasing emphasis on the responsible consumer and patients/companions to utilise information/support in making health-related decisions. The nature and role of third voices requires clear delineation. Practical implications Structures of consultations should be rethought around the diversity of patient/companion behaviours and expectations as patients undertake self-service activities. Implications for policy and practice are: the parallel set of local/virtual informational and service activities; a network orientation to healthcare; tailoring of support resources/guides for professionals and third parties to inform support practices. Originality/value Contributions are made to understanding triadic engagement and forwarding the agenda on patient-centred care. Longitudinal illumination of consultations is offered through an exceptional level of access to observe consultations

Me, Myself, and Future Generations: The Role of Affinity and Effectiveness in the Creation of Consumer Environmental Stewardship (CENS)

Policymakers, consumer advocate groups, and researchers agree that consumers need to increase their proenvironmental behaviors if a decent standard of living is to be ensured for future generations. Despite high levels of environmental concern, consumers still refrain from large-scale adoption of proenvironmental behaviors. Social marketers agree that a change in attitudes is not enough to stimulate the necessary behavioral change and are looking for ways to help consumers overcome the costs (e.g., price premiums, inconvenience) that are often associated with proenvironmental behaviors. Currently, consumers often see proenvironmental behavior as a trade-off between short-term personal benefits and longer term collective benefits. The authors contribute to the social marketing literature on proenvironmental behavior by introducing the concept of Consumer Environmental Stewardship (CENS), which centers on the use of intrinsic motivation to stimulate a personal sense of responsibility for the environment. The findings, based on a survey and three experiments, show that the stimulation of consumers’ affinity with future generations (AFGs) and perceived consumer effectiveness (PCE) can help to promote CENS, which in turn raises proenvironmental behaviors. However, this research also shows that increasing levels of AFGs can backfire and result in lower levels of CENS, if consumers experience low levels of PCE

Entropy and information in neural spike trains: Progress on the sampling problem

The major problem in information theoretic analysis of neural responses and other biological data is the reliable estimation of entropy--like quantities from small samples. We apply a recently introduced Bayesian entropy estimator to synthetic data inspired by experiments, and to real experimental spike trains. The estimator performs admirably even very deep in the undersampled regime, where other techniques fail. This opens new possibilities for the information theoretic analysis of experiments, and may be of general interest as an example of learning from limited data.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures; referee suggested changes, accepted versio

Making omnichannel an augmented reality: the current and future state of the art

Purpose—This paper explores the current and future role of Augmented Reality (AR) as an enabler of omnichannel experiences across the customer journey. To advance the conceptual understanding and managerial exploitation of AR, the paper synthesises current research, illustrating how a variety of current applications merge online and offline experiences, and provides a future research agenda to help advance the state of the art in AR. Design/methodology/approach—Drawing on situated cognition theorising as a guiding framework, the paper reviews previously published research and currently deployed applications to provide a roadmap for future research efforts on AR-enabled omnichannel experiences across the customer journey. Findings—AR offers myriad opportunities to provide customers with a seamless omnichannel journey, smoothing current obstacles, through a unique combination of i) embedded, ii) embodied, and iii) extended customer experiences. These three principles constitute the overarching value drivers of AR and offer coherent, theory-driven organising principles for managers and researchers alike. Originality/value—Current research has yet to provide a relevant, conceptually robust understanding of AR-enabled customer experiences. In light of the rapid development and widespread deployment of the technology, this paper provides an urgently needed framework for guiding the development of AR in an omnichannel context

Finding consensus on well-being in education

Research on well-being and concern over the well-being of students and teachers has grown dramatically in recent years. Researchers and reformers in positive psychology and education, self-determination theory, social and emotional learning, liberal-democratic political and educational philosophy, and neo-Aristotelian theories of flourishing and character education have played formative and intersecting roles in what is now an international movement to promote the lifelong flourishing of students as an alternative to a human capital and economic growth focus for education. This article defends this flourishing-focused reorientation of education policy and practice, using a value-led and evidence-informed methodology. It sorts through the conceptual disputes and clarifies the ethical considerations that should guide efforts to advance the well-being of students and teachers, assesses key claims and arguments, and brings together compatible aspects of the leading philosophical and psychological perspectives on flourishing as an aim of education. It identifies ethically and evidentially justifiable points of consensus on well-being and flourishing in education, presents a consensus model of relationships between educational environments, learning, and flourishing, and concludes with some recommendations for educational policy and practice

Disrupting marketing realities: A research agenda for investigating the psychological mechanisms of next‐generation experiences with reality‐enhancing technologies

Reality‐enhancing technologies such as augmented reality and virtual reality are rapidly becoming a part of everyday life. Seizing this moment, we set out a research agenda for studying the psychological mechanisms underpinning consumer experiences with these new technologies, structured around four application areas: (1) delivering innovative offerings, (2) supporting sustainability and consumer well‐being interventions, (3) balancing value cocreation and privacy concerns, and (4) achieving new modes and means of impact. For each area, we identify research directions that can guide the development and use of reality‐enhancing technologies for the realization of next‐generation consumer experiences. We explicitly balance potential advantages and disadvantages, thus encouraging researchers and practitioners to prioritize developing the “purpose” of these technologies, by focusing on the psychological mechanisms that underlie their use, over the technological development of their “pixels.” In this way, we guide the impactful development of reality‐enhancing technologies for applications with significance for consumers and firms

Auswirkungen von depressiven Störungen auf die kognitive Leistungsfähigkeit und die Fahrkompetenz

Depressive Störungen können neben den Erstrangsymptomen „depressive Stimmung“, „Verlust von Interesse oder Freude“ und „erhöhte Ermüdbarkeit“ mit einer großen Anzahl an weiteren Symptomen einhergehen. Folgende kognitive Defizite sind kennzeichnend: Störungen der kognitiven Flexibilität, des Arbeitsgedächtnisses, des freien Abrufs von Gedächtnisinhalten, der geteilten Aufmerksamkeit und von Teilbereichen der selektiven Aufmerksamkeit. Die Bundesanstalt für Straßenwesen (BASt) und wissenschaftliche Forschungsarbeiten konnten eine Reihe an Leistungs- und Persönlichkeitsmaßen identifizieren, welche eine ausreichende psychische Leistungsfähigkeit im Straßenverkehr gewährleisten sollen. Obwohl sich die hierbei hervorgehobenen kognitiven Leistungsfunktionen nahezu umfassend mit den Defizitbereichen bei depressiven Störungen überschneiden und bisher kein rein linearer Zusammenhang zwischen der Schwere der depressiven Symptomatik und dem Ausprägungsgrad kognitiver Beeinträchtigungen gefunden werden konnte, besagt die aktuelle Rechtslage, dass lediglich bei schweren depressiven Episoden die Fahreignung anzuzweifeln sei. Ziele der vorliegenden Arbeit: Zum einen sollte überprüft werden, ob sich die in der Literatur berichteten Unterschiede zwischen depressiven Patienten und gesunden Vergleichspersonen in der kognitiven Leistungsfähigkeit, bei der Fahrkompetenz, bei der Selbstbeschreibung und im Risikoverhalten finden lassen. Zum anderen wurde zu bestimmen versucht, welche dieser Maße hauptverantwortlich für Unterschiede in der Fahrkompetenz sind. Methode: Hierzu bearbeitete eine Gruppe stationär-psychiatrischer Patienten mit unipolarer Depression jeweils unmittelbar nach stationärer Aufnahme und bei Entlassung (neuro-) psychologische Testverfahren. Darüber hinaus wurde zeitnah zu den Testungen eine praktische Fahrerprobung in einem Fahrschulauto durchgeführt. Ein dritter Schwerpunkt der vorliegenden Arbeit bestand darin, die wissenschaftliche Güte dieser praktischen Fahrverhaltensprobe zu überprüfen. Alle Untersuchungen wurden parallel auch mit einer Kontrollgruppe körperlich und psychisch gesunder Probanden durchgeführt. Ergebnisse: Die Fahrverhaltensprobe konnte strenge wissenschaftliche und verkehrspsychologische Anforderungen erfüllen. Es zeigte sich, dass sich die Patienten neben dem Ausmaß ihrer subjektiven und objektiven Depressivität, auch in einer Reihe von Leistungs- und Persönlichkeitsmaßen von den Kontrollpersonen unterschieden. Es ließen sich sowohl einzelne wie auch Kombinationen an Variablen identifizieren, die bereits für die eher geringe Stichprobengröße der Studie die Fahrkompetenz der Probanden mit einem zufrieden stellenden Maß an Sensitivität und Spezifität vorhersagten. Diskussion: Mit dieser Arbeit wurde erstmals bei Patienten mit mittelschwerer Depression sowohl anhand neuropsychologischer Testverfahren als auch mit Hilfe einer praktischen Fahrverhaltensprobe untersucht, welche Auswirkungen deren Erkrankung auf die Fahrkompetenz hat. Vorangegangene Studien konnten aber bereits die Annahme der BASt, dass nur bei schweren depressiven Episoden die Fahreignung fraglich sei, deutlich in Frage stellen. Die vorliegende Studie stützt die bisherigen Erkenntnisse und zeigt zusätzlich auf, dass auch bei einer praktischen Fahrverhaltensprobe, die den Anforderungen der BASt entspricht, nicht von vergleichbaren Leistungen bei depressiven Patienten und gesunden Kontrollen auszugehen ist. Die geringe Stichprobengröße lässt allerdings eine Generalisierung der Ergebnisse nicht zu. Weitere Forschungsarbeit in dieser Richtung ist erforderlich

Touching the untouchable: exploring multi-sensory augmented reality in the context of online retailing

Mental intangibility during product evaluation remains one of the greatest drawbacks for online purchasing. However, emerging multi-sensory Augmented Reality (m-AR) applications offer a potential solution for this online retailing problem. Drawing on active inference theory, this article proposes a conceptual framework to assess how sensory control and feedback modalities affect consumer value judgements by reducing mental intangibility. We show how touch control, compared to voice control, positively affects consumers’ willingness-to-pay. The underlying mechanism is a sequential process of reduced mental intangibility and increased feeling of decision comfort. In addition, we highlight a positive moderating effect of congruent auditory feedback on decision comfort. We also demonstrate a novel consumer boundary condition. Consumers high in assessment orientation experience a stronger reduction in mental intangibility. The results are consistently replicated across three experiments implying theoretical and managerial contributions for m-AR in the context of online retailing

How to strategically choose or combine augmented and virtual reality for improved online experiential retailing

Despite the promise of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to help experiential retailers align online and offline experiences, guidance on choosing or combining these technologies is lacking. In three experiments, we address this research gap by investigating the individual and combined impact of AR and VR on key marketing objectives. First, we establish that AR is more effective in stimulating purchase intentions than VR, due to its ability to support customers in fluent product-focused mental imagery. Second, we demonstrate that VR is better suited for improving brand attitudes than AR, as it helps customers to form fluent context-focused mental imagery. Third, we show that AR and VR, in combination, can improve both purchase intentions and brand attitudes, but only when the order of deployment is sequenced as AR then VR. This is due to greater alignment with the customer's online-to-offline journey in experiential retail. When deployed the other way around, we observe a detrimental impact on purchase intentions and a potential harmful impact on brand attitudes. Our research offers a nuanced theoretical perspective of AR and VR in marketing and provides experiential retailers with evidence-based guidelines for leveraging AR and VR within their online retailing strategy

Seeing with the customer’s eye: exploring the challenges and opportunities of AR advertising

This position article on augmented reality (AR) advertising offers a conceptual framework of recent scholarship on the intersection between AR technologies, advertising, and marketing metrics. The framework identifies theory-based building blocks for this domain alongside relevant recent examples. It proposes a conceptual case for contextualization of advertising content through AR technology. Finally, an agenda for future research in AR advertising is specified, incorporating multiple conceptual perspectives and empirical directions