Digital Rule of Thumb: A Natural Experiment on Autocomplete in Search Engines

Search engines are an essential part of our lives. However, we do not fully understand what affects users\u27 search inputs. One of the most notable features affecting search inputs is autocomplete, an intelligent agent suggesting queries while typing. Understanding the impact of autocomplete helps eCommerce companies retain customers; examining its impact is difficult since all search engines have adopted it, and experiments are risky for firms. We overcome the challenges by leveraging a novel natural experiment of an eCommerce company. Our preliminary results suggest that the deactivation of autocomplete for the incorrect keyword led to a substantial drop in website visits in the PC channel compared to the mobile channel. In addition, website visits substantially shifted from the incorrect keyword to the correct keyword in the mobile channel but not in the PC environment. This short paper is expected to shed new light on our understanding of autocomplete\u27s impact

Partisan Responses to Fact-Checking in Online News Platforms: Evidence from a Political Rumor about the North Korean Leader

To correct misinformation and mitigate the social costs of political rumors and fake news, news providers, politicians, and researchers have exerted significant efforts on fact-checking and rumor debunking. This study examined how individuals will respond when a political rumor is debunked by large-scale fact-checking. To explore this question, we leveraged a quasi-experimental setting where the North Korean leader’s reappearance in the public event suddenly rebutted a political rumor about his death. Collecting 2.6 million comments from the largest online news portal in South Korea, we employed a difference-in-differences approach comparing differences in commenting behaviors between liberals and conservatives before and after this event. The results show that a political side empowered by the fact-checking coverage became more vocal and hostile. However, their explicit support level for the rumor did not change significantly compared to their partisan counterparts. Besides, we found that news outlets rebutted by fact-checking attracted more user comments than supported news outlets. Swearing comments of the supported political side mostly drove this difference, suggesting that partisans tend to utilize favorable fact-checking to empower their political side through blaming the other side. Our research stresses the importance of capturing the silence of partisans in considering the effectiveness of fact-checking and provides an alternative explanation on why fact-checking evokes hostile communication in online media

A Multiyear Study of Smart Meter Adoption: Empirical Evidence from the United Kingdom

For tackling climate change and energy security, IT enabled connected systems are regarded as one of the most fundamental infrastructures for managing energy demand in the market. As these systems require to be connected to consumers via smart meters, adoption of smart meter has drawn huge attention from policymakers and researchers. However, little research has been based on the real-world market outcomes and only relies on responses in a single time window. Using a rich dataset on smart meter adoption in the UK between 2012 and 2016, we examine the effects of behavioral and household attributes on adoption of smart meter. The findings suggest that environmental concerns are negatively associated with smart meter adoption in contrast to general sustainable innovations. We also find that the determinants of overall adoption and conditional adoption differ significantly, and the effects change as the product become prevalent. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed

Gender Economy in Live Streaming: Moderating Effects of Relational Motivation on Viewer Contributions

Live streaming platforms such as Amazon’s Twitch and YouTube Live have rapidly grown by taking advantage of unprecedented real-time interactivity between content creators and viewers. While numerous researchers suggested that viewer-streamer interactions and relationships are significantly associated with viewer donation, which is the main business model of live streaming, the economic impact of these relationships has not been quantified perhaps due to a lack of relevant data. In this paper, we measured the impact of cross-gender relationships between viewers and streamers on viewer contributions by using a rich dataset from the largest live streaming platform in South Korea. After controlling several viewer- and streamer-specific characteristics, we found that viewers donate larger amount of money to the opposite gender streamers by 4.4 percent than the same gender streamers. We also revealed that relational motivation positively moderates preferences for the opposite gender. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed

On the Effectiveness of Smart Metering Technology Adoption: Evidence from the National Rollout in the United Kingdom

In response to the burgeoning threats of climate change to humanity, numerous governments, such as those of the United States and most European countries, have launched rollout programs for the distribution of smart metering technology (SMT). Despite this notable recent investment, questions of whether and why SMT adoption facilitates households’ energy demand reduction remain relatively unexplored. Building on cognitive dissonance theory, we propose a research model for SMT adoption, residential energy-saving behaviors, and moderating factors. We then empirically test the model using a rich household dataset in the United Kingdom between 2012 and 2016. Our results show that SMT adoption is positively associated with energy-saving behaviors, while energy-saving motivations substantially moderated this association—a lower level of concern about energy saving/a higher level of concern about climate change amplifies this effect. Importantly, we find that SMT usage positively moderates this relationship, but this marginal gain decreases in technology usage intensity. Our findings contribute to the information systems literature by showing a consequence of new technology adoption along with the role of cognitive dissonance in promoting intended objectives and identifying potential moderating effects. We discuss actionable insights for policymakers and utility firms

Concerns make your decision better: Privacy perception, increased awareness, and the decision of mobile app installation.

While much of Information Systems literature has investigated the mechanism between privacy concerns and acceptance of IT application, little research has studied the role of privacy perception moderated by notice and consent in the context of mobile apps installation. Understanding mechanism of notice and consent, we investigate the role of privacy perceptions, increased awareness then how it affects the decision of mobile app installation. To better understand this incautiousness, we build on the theoretical support of privacy attention and information boundary theory. This paper aims at encapsulating the results of the relationship between the different levels of perception to install the mobile application when different messages – Threat, Safety, and Neutral message. We conduct a survey model to between subject groups with different intervening messages. We assume that users’ privacy perceptions formed previously may differently affect to their awareness of the notice and consent messages at the moment of installing an app. We conclude that previous perceptions about the threat of privacy affect to the awareness of notice and consent messages. The result shows that regardless of the advantage of the notice and consent message; information boundary mechanism does not work for the people have a positive perception of safety

Poly[(μ6-benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylato-κ6O1:O1′:O3:O3′:O5:O5′)tris(N,N-dimethylformamide-κO)tris(μ3-formato-κ3O:O:O′)trizinc(II)]

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, [Zn3(HCO2)3(C9H3O6)(C3H7NO)3]n, contains one Zn ion, one formate ligand, one N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) ligand and one-third of a benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylate (btc) ligand situated on a crystallographic 3 axis. Each ZnII atom is coordinated by one O atom from a DMF ligand, two O atoms from two btc ligands and three O atoms from three formate ligands in a distorted octahedral geometry. The ZnII atoms are connected by the formate and btc ligands, forming hexanuclear cores, which are linked by btc ligands, constructing a two-dimensional layered network along the ab plane

Identity and Status: When Counterspeech Increases Hate Speech Reporting and Why

Much has been written about how social media platforms enable the rise of networked activism. However, few studies have examined how these platforms’ low-information environments shape how social movement activists, their opponents, and social media platforms interact. Hate speech reporting is one understudied area where such interactions occur. This article fills this gap by examining to what extent and how the gender and popularity of counterspeech in comment sections influence social media users’ willingness to report hate speech on the #MeToo movement. Based on a survey experiment (n = 1250) conducted in South Korea, we find that YouTube users are more willing to report such sexist hate speech when the counterspeech is delivered by a female rather than a male user. However, when the female user’s counterspeech received many upvotes, this was perceived to signal her enhanced status and decreased the intention to report hate speech, particularly among male users. No parallel patterns were found regarding other attitudes toward hate speech, counterspeech, YouTube, the #MeToo movement, and gender discrimination and hate speech legislation. These findings inform that users report hate speech based on potentially harmful content as well as their complex social interactions with other users and the platform.1