Examining Online Switching Costs over Search Product and Experience Product Contexts

Many Internet vendors have realized the importance of “locking-in” online customers in order to ensure their profitability. For this reason, many researchers have paid attention to the formation of switching costs which acting as a barrier that prevent customers from easily changing from one vendor to another. Erection of switching barriers will represent an important strategy for locking in customers and increasing their willingness to pay price premium. This study aims to examine the relationships among customer satisfaction, perceived value, relative advantage, and switching costs. This study further examines the effect of switching costs on customer’s willingness to pay more. This study collects data and test the research model over two contexts, search product context and experience product context. The empirical results show the key role of switching costs in leading to willingness to pay more and the relationships among the four constructs. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are then discussed

Metal-Insulator Phase Transition in Quasi-One-Dimensional VO₂Structures

The metal-insulator transition (MIT) in strongly correlated oxides has attracted considerable attention from both theoretical and experimental researchers. Among the strongly correlated oxides, vanadium dioxide (VO2) has been extensively studied in the last decade because of a sharp, reversible change in its optical, electrical, and magnetic properties at approximately 341 K, which would be possible and promising to develop functional devices with advanced technology by utilizing MITs. However, taking the step towards successful commercialization requires the comprehensive understanding of MIT mechanisms, enabling us to manipulate the nature of transitions. In this regard, recently, quasi-one-dimensional (quasi-1D) VO2structures have been intensively investigated due to their attractive geometry and unique physical properties to observe new aspects of transitions compared with their bulk counterparts. Thus, in this review, we will address recent research progress in the development of various approaches for the modification of MITs in quasi-1D VO2structures. Furthermore, we will review recent studies on realizing novel functional devices based on quasi-1D VO2structures for a wide range of applications, such as a gas sensor, a flexible strain sensor, an electrical switch, a thermal memory, and a nonvolatile electrical memory with multiple resistance.</jats:p

Pathological hypersexuality induced by dopamine replacement therapy in a patient with progressive supranuclear palsy

To the Editor: The pathogenesis of pathological hypersexuality is still in controversy. To our knowledge, this is the first report of pathological hypersexuality induced by two different dopamine receptor agonists in a single patient with progressive supranuclear palsy. In this case, dopamine D2 receptor agonism, perhaps specifically D3 receptor subclass agonism, might have played a key role in the development of pathological hypersexuality induced by dopamine replacement therapy