Online, set, go - Design and empirical test of an IT-based physical activity intervention

Financial services have been a recurrent subject of a multichannel inquiry but investigation into the wealth management area is scarce. This paper intends to fill the gap and presents the results of a questionnaire directed at customers of a financial conglomerate. The objective of this research is to examine which variables influence consumers’ channel preferences in the wealth management context, and to find out possible differences between the customers who prefer predominantly electronic service or personal service delivery. Logistic regression and t-tests are used in the analysis. The perceived channel attributes of personalization, convenience and safety, relationship strength, and the internet and wealth management knowledge influence the channel preferences. Typical wealth management customers prefer multichannel service delivery; only 4 % of customers prefer pure electronic service, and 14 % of customers prefer pure personal service. There are several aspects that differentiate those customers who prefer predominantly electronic or personal service. The preference for the electronic channel indicated investments in shares, independent decision making style in wealth management tasks and reliance on electronic information channels. In addition, the customers who perceive relationship strength with the service provider as weaker prefer predominantly eservices, which should give impetus for action among the management in the financial service companies

Predominantly Electronic or Personal Service Delivery? A Case in the Wealth Management Context

Financial services have been a recurrent subject of a multichannel inquiry but investigation into the wealth management area is scarce. This paper intends to fill the gap and presents the results of a questionnaire directed at customers of a financial conglomerate. The objective of this research is to examine which variables influence consumers’ channel preferences in the wealth management context,and to find out possible differences between the customers who prefer predominantly electronic service or personal service delivery. Logistic regression and t-tests are used in the analysis. The perceived channel attributes of personalization, convenience and safety, relationship strength, and the internet and wealth management knowledge influence the channel preferences. Typical wealth management customers prefer multichannel service delivery; only 4 % of customers prefer pure electronic service, and 14 % of customers prefer pure personal service. There are several aspects that differentiate those customers who prefer predominantly electronic or personal service. The preference for the electronic channel indicated investments in shares, independent decision making style in wealth management tasks and reliance on electronic information channels. In addition, the customers who perceive relationship strength with the service provider as weaker prefer predominantly eservices, which should give impetus for action among the management in the financial service companies

Analyzing the Internet-based Changes in the Finnish Residental Real Estate Market. Case: Igglo

This paper is about real estate industry in Finland, and the Internet-based changes that have turned a collection of static pictures and text into a more interactive search and decision making tool for home hunters. The novel e-services and marketing model of Igglo, a newcomer to the Finnish real estate industry, are described in detail. In addition, several US exemplars of innovative ways of offering real estate services are presented. Finally, different ways of providing real estate services are compared in order to judge whether the Internet is now ready to fulfill its promise of more efficient and nearly friction-free markets

Policies for Improving Energy Efficiency in the European Housing Stock

According to EC forecasts, if energy efficiency could be increased 1% annually until 2010, two-thirds of the potential energy saving in the EU could be achieved. This would comply with 40% of the EU’s Kyoto obligation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 8% on the 1990 level by 2010-12, by cutting 200 million tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. Improving energy efficiency in existing buildings is often considered to be one of the most cost-effective ways of cutting carbon emissions. Current policy measures, however, seem to be decided with little reference to the specific needs of renovation in the housing sector instead of basing policy measures on detailed sets of requirements and actual costs. The research provides information for national governments in the EU on how to improve their sustainable building policies so as to increase carbon reductions in the existing housing stock. It addresses the question of the extent to which stronger government intervention is possible and necessary for circumnavigating barriers and the policy approaches that are likely to be feasible, effective cost-efficient and legitimate

Irrational homeowners? How aesthetics and heritage values influence thermal retrofit decisions in the United Kingdom

In order to reduce CO2 emissions in line with UK policy, existing UK homes need to be retrofitted to high thermal standards. A large proportion of these homes have traditional or aesthetically pleasing features which people are reluctant to compromise for the sake of thermal efficiency. A minority of such dwellings are protected by statute, but millions are not. There is a dearth of structured discussion on the issues owners of such homes face when planning thermal retrofits. This study begins with a literature review of sustainable development, heritage and aesthetics. It then reports the results of qualitative interviews with retrofitting owners of such homes in Cambridge, UK. It finds homeowners struggling to balance thermal issues against a range of heritage and aesthetic concerns which often overlap or clash. Homeowners develop their own logic in working these through, and their aesthetic convictions strongly influence what happens with retrofitting. The interviews suggest that concern for the heritage embodied in the housing stock can be one reason current policy does not always engage homeowners in retrofitting.This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214629615300566

Quantification of (p)rebound effects in retrofit policies - Why does it matter?

The ‘prebound effect’ characterises how average heating energy consumption in older homes is consistently lower than these buildings' calculated energy ratings, and helps explain why energy savings from thermal upgrades are often lower than anticipated. This paper explores the conceptual links between prebound and rebound effects and aims to quantify these behavioural effects. It applies the resulting mathematical model to empirical examples of actual and calculated energy consumption at scales of individual dwelling and national housing stock. These show that the rebound effect, as defined in econometrics literature, can only indicate proportionate reductions in energy consumption and can mask high levels of absolute consumption. The prebound effect, however, can identify under- and over-consumption regardless of rebound effects. A combination of high prebound effect and low income suggests fuel poverty, and the rebound effect here is less relevant regarding total energy consumption. Policymakers should identify housing with high prebound effects in order to eliminate fuel poverty, and be aware of inaccuracies in calculating payback time where economic viability of retrofits is mandated. Further research is needed to understand motivations and practices in households that have high prebound effects and to identify specific priority groups for thermal retrofit policy.The authors wish to thank Benoit Allibe, Marie-Helen Laurent and Jean-Narie Cayla of Electricite de France, for making data on French houses available for use in this paper.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2015.12.03

Collaborative Knowledge Building for Accessibility in Higher Education. The inclusion of human diversity on the teaching & learning processes at Aalto University

This paper examines accessibility from the point of view of inclusive teaching and learning in the higher education. Instead of focusing on the various disabilities, addressing the needs and the diversity of all students is adopted as a starting point. We present several conceptual tools regarding the process of collaborative knowledge building. Finally, we suggest an iterative cycle of developing inclusive teaching and learning by using a PDCA tool with the continual iteration on communities of practice level among all stakeholders.Peer reviewe

Consumers\u27 acceptance and use of personal health record systems: A theoretical model

Recently, there has been a growing trend towards consumer-based healthcare in which consumers are increasingly becoming partners in their own care. One way of accomplishing this is to provide consumers with access to their health records through the use of Personal Health Record (PHR) systems. In spite of their potential benefits, recent research has shown that PHRs are not yet popular or well known to consumers. The overall objective of this research is to investigate the influences of various personal, behavioral, and environmental factors on the adoption and use of PHR systems by Canadian consumers. Drawing on both the information systems and behavioral healthcare literatures such a model is developed and presented. The proposed model will be validated using a longitudinal design over a period of 16 months involving patients from two local clinics. The study participants will be introduced to an existing PHR system at those clinics. The system will subsequently be made available for their potential use. Users will be surveyed at various points in time regarding their perceptions about the system utilizing both close-ended and open-ended questions. Collected data will be analyzed using structure equation modeling and qualitative data analysis techniques