Acceptance of mobile services - insights from the Swedish market for mobile telephony

The main purpose of the paper is to investigate young peoples’ perspectives on mobile services in order to shed light on the acceptance of mobile services. The knowledge of and interest in mobile services of individuals using such services is analyzed. A second objective is to investigate the reasons for using/not using mobile services. In-depth focus group interviews and secondary empirical data provide the main data. Concerning the youth’s general knowledge of and interest in mobile services, the results point to six things: young people show a low demand for many mobile services, there is a demand for extended, established mobile services, like SMS, the interest in the new services vary, there is low interest in active information search, there is little knowledge of the enabling technology, and the understanding of the pricing is generally low. As concerns reasons for and against usage of mobile services, results point to four central aspects: many individuals could present clearly defined needs for certain services, many indicated an interest in "community usage" of mobile services, they experienced the prices of mobile services to be a hinder for usage, and technology placed limitations on the usage. The paper discusses practical implications on the acceptance of mobile services.Mobile services; mobility; focus groups; telecommunications; wireless; knowledge

The Role of Customer Participation in Creating e-Service Value

Customer participation in service delivery has been argued to be growing especially in the field of e-services. The aim of this paper is to explore the role of participation on customer perceptions of e-service value. The theoretical framework represents a fourdimensional model of e-service value based on technical, functional, temporal, and spatial value dimensions and it is suggested that e-service value is influenced by the service, customer, and situation. An empirical study based on 3328 usable responses investigates consumers’ perceptions of an online travel service. The findings show that active participation on the site increases service value and hence it indicates that customer participation has a role in creating value to e-services. The paper contributes to service marketing research through its empirical findings on e-service value and customer participation

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How Customers Involve Service Providers

The emancipation of customers has raised an interest into how service providers can involve customers in their processes. In contrast, we argue that the key challenge for companies will become how they can get involved in customers’ processes and that represents an unexplored area open for academic research. Our paper is conceptual with empirical illustrations and builds on a Customer Dominant business Logic approach. It presents a model of how the customer’s logic is grounded in customers’ rather stable interest structure and perception of service providers and how this forms different styles of using service and interacting with service providers

Drivers, types and value outcomes of customer-to-customer interaction: An integrative review and research agenda

Purpose Customer-to-customer (C2C) interaction plays a significant role in service. The purpose of this paper is to identify the drivers that motivate customers to interact with other customers, the interactions through which customers affect other customers and the value outcomes of C2C interactions for the participants.Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on a systematic literature review of C2C interactions. The authors analyzed 142 peer-reviewed articles to synthesize existing knowledge about C2C interactions. A generic value framework is used to categorize earlier research and reveal areas for further research.Findings The main outcome of this study is an integrative framework of C2C interaction that bridges C2C interactions and customer value. The findings indicate customer-, firm- and situation-induced drivers of C2C interactions. Outcome- and process-focused C2C interactions are identified to result in functional, emotional and social value outcomes. Avenues for additional research to explore issues related to current technology-saturated service settings are proposed.Research limitations/implications The paper proposes an agenda for future research to extend the C2C interaction research domain and explore how such interactions create value for the customer. The role of the service provider is not explicitly addressed but is an important area for further research.Practical implications Companies can use the framework to understand how they can become involved in and support beneficial C2C interaction.Originality/value This paper reviews empirical studies on C2C interaction, offering a systematic review of C2C interaction and producing an integrative framework of C2C interaction. It identifies a research agenda based on the framework and on topical issues within service research and practice

A Customer Ecosystem Perspective on Service

This paper conceptualises customer ecosystems, which are defined as systems of actors related to the customer that are relevant concerning a specific service. Moving from provider-driven dyads and service systems to customer ecosystems, the paper uncovers multiple implications for service marketers regarding the definition of the customer, configurations of value units, scope of value formation, as well as relevant actor systems. The paper extends the perspective on service and suggests implications for research and practice

THE EFFECT OF ACETYLSALICYLIC ACID ON ANGIOGENESIS IN VITRO

Angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels, is an essential aspect of, among others, embryonic development, wound healing and the female reproductive cycle. It is also necessary for the expansion of tumour masses beyond a minute volume. Acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug with additional antitumour activity. We tested ASA for its ability to inhibit angiogenesis in a simplified angiogenesis model, hASC+HUVEC co cultured in vitro, using immunocytochemical staining with fluorescence-marked antibodies and observation of tubulelike structures and their branching under a fluorescence microscope. We confirmed that ASA is an efficient and useful angiogenesis inhibitor and deserves further attention. We intend using the designed angiogenesis model and the methods described for observing changes in angiogenesis after anti tumour photodynamic therapy (PDT), and also for enhancing PDT efficiency by addition of angiogenesis inhibitors

GENE EXPRESSION PROFILING AFTER ANGIOGENESIS INHIBITOR TREATMENT

The angiogenic process can be summarized as cell activation by a lack of oxygen releases angiogenic molecules that attract inflammatory and endothelial cells and promote their proliferation. Several protein fragments produced by the digestion of the blood-vessel walls intensify the proliferative activity of endothelial cells. Acetyl salicylic acid is often used as an analgesic drug to relieve minor aches and pains, a drug with antitumour activity and an anti-inflammatory medication. In our experiments we propose using the angiogenesis model and photodynamic therapy (PDT) for observing changes in angiogenesis after treatment, and also for increasing the effect of PDT by addition of angiogenesis inhibitors