Connection, Trust, and Commitment: Dimensions of Co-creation?

The purpose of this research is to identify a key driver of relationship closeness for service organizations. Based upon the co-creation concept from Service-Dominant Logic, connection is proposed as a new construct rooted in emotional attachment that bolsters the effect of trust and commitment on future intention among customers of a service-intense organization. Causal models are verified with a large empirical sample drawn from an organization in the process of dealing with the increasing sense of depersonalization that has afflicted growing organizations in a variety of industries. The paper distinguishes an important dimension of customer relationships that can be affected by service managers in order to enhance customer loyalty and satisfaction

The Role of Technology in Online Health Communities: A Study of Information-Seeking Behavior

This study significantly contributes to both theory and practice by providing valuable insights into the role and value of healthcare in the context of online health communities. This study highlights the increasing dependence of patients and their families on online sources for health information and the potential of technology to support individuals with health information needs. This study develops a theoretical framework by analyzing data from a cross-sectional survey using partial least squares structural equation modeling and multi-group and importance-performance map analysis. The findings of this study identify the most beneficial technology-related issues, like ease of site navigation and interaction with other online members, which have important implications for the development and management of online health communities. Healthcare professionals can also use this information to disseminate relevant information to those with chronic illnesses effectively. This study recommends proactive engagement between forum admins and participants to improve technology use and interaction, highlighting the benefits of guidelines for effective technology use to enhance users\u27 information-seeking processes. Overall, this study\u27s significant contribution lies in its identification of factors that aid online health community participants in the information-seeking process, providing valuable information to professionals on using technology to disseminate information relevant to chronic illnesses like COPD

A Comparative Study of the Equal-Weight Method and Hierarchical Risk Parity in Portfolio Construction

Purpose: Portfolio optimization is a process in which the capital is allocated among the portfolio assets such that the return is maximized while the risk is minimized. Portfolio construction and optimization has long been an active research area in finance. For the portfolios with highly correlated assets, the performance of traditional risk-based asset allocation methods such as, the mean-variance (MV) method is limited because quadratic optimizers require an inversion of the covariance matrix of the portfolio to distribute weight among the portfolio assets. Methods: A possible solution to the limitations of traditional risk-based asset allocation methods can be provided by a hierarchical clustering-based Machine Learning method because it uses hierarchical relationships between the covariance of assets in the portfolio to distribute the weight, and inversion of the covariance matrix is not required. A comparison of the performance of a simple non-optimization technique called the Equal-weight (EW) method to the two optimization methods, the Mean-variance method and the HRP method, which is a machine learning method, was conducted in this research. Results: It was found that in terms of cumulative returns, the equal-weight method has outperformed several more sophisticated optimization techniques, the mean-variance method, and the HRP method. For most of the period, the Sharpe ratio of the HRP method was observed to be similar to the mean-variance method and equal-weight method. Implications: This research supports the idea that HRP is a feasible method to construct portfolios with correlated assets because the performance of HRP is comparable to the performances of the traditional optimization method and the non-optimization method

TAM: The Moderating Effect of Gender on Online Shopping

In this study we applied Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to address consumers\u27 online purchasing intentions and examine the effect of gender as a moderating variable on purchase intention. Six hypotheses were proposed based on our research model. We validate TAM in an ecommerce environment using two split data sets one containing females and the other males. Structural equation modelling and t tests were performed to test the hypotheses. The results show that gender is an important moderating variable in online commerce. Understanding the differences between males and females provides practitioners with better understanding of the behaviour of consumers on the web and allows development of better marketing strategies

Exploring the Coverage of Cyberchondria Addiction in Newspapers: A Perspective from the USA

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate how US newspapers reported cyberchondria from 2009 to 2021. Cyberchondria shares similarities with addiction, making it imperative to delve into its representation in media. Cyberchondria refers to an issue of excessive and repetitive internet searches for health information often accompanied by obsessive-compulsive behavior. The goal of this research is locate the frames that appear in cyberchondria coverage, look at how the frames have changed over the given time span, and assess the emotions that the news frames portray. Method: After collecting the relevant news items, the study applies correspondence analysis, sentiment analysis, and cooccurrence network analysis. The NRC word-emotion lexicon is used for sentiment analysis, while the Fruchterman and Reingold algorithm is used for co-occurrence network analysis. Results: The co-occurrence network analysis reveals six frames in cyberchondria coverage. The frames depict themes such as defining cyberchondria, the impact on healthcare providers, health information-seeking behavior, internet diagnosis, and the exaggeration of health concerns. Sentiment analysis reveals that the predominant feeling, which reflects both the positive and negative elements of cyberchondria, is trust, followed by fear. Coding strategies validate the covering themes’ consistency during the years under examination. Correspondence analysis indicates a consistent framing pattern over the years, and we can see an increasing focus on academic studies addressing cyberchondria. Conclusions: The results point to the necessity of ongoing public awareness campaigns, health literacy initiatives, and stakeholder collaboration to effectively address the problems associated with cyberchondria addiction in the digital age. Policymakersand media practitioners can benefit greatly from the study’s insightful contributions in reducing the negative effects of cyberchondria addiction on society

An integrated model for customer online repurchase intention

The explosion of e-commerce activities required industry and academia to understand the key determinants of consumers\u27 online repurchase intention. We developed an integrated model by examining how utilitarian factors (perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness), the hedonic factor (perceived enjoyment), and social/psychological factors (confirmation, satisfaction and trust) directly or indirectly influenced consumers\u27 continuance intention in the context of online shopping. Results from confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation model analysis with LISREL 8.72 indicate that both utilitarian factors and hedonic factors examined through this model provide statistically significant explanations of the variation in consumers\u27 online repurchase intention. In the post-purchase stage, utilitarian factors play a more important role than hedonic factors in predicting customer online repurchase intention. The integrated theoretical framework explains 63% of the variations in online repurchase intention

An integrated model for customer online repurchase intention

The explosion of e-commerce activities required industry and academia to understand the key determinants of consumers\u27 online repurchase intention. We developed an integrated model by examining how utilitarian factors (perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness), the hedonic factor (perceived enjoyment), and social/psychological factors (confirmation, satisfaction and trust) directly or indirectly influenced consumers\u27 continuance intention in the context of online shopping. Results from confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation model analysis with LISREL 8.72 indicate that both utilitarian factors and hedonic factors examined through this model provide statistically significant explanations of the variation in consumers\u27 online repurchase intention. In the post-purchase stage, utilitarian factors play a more important role than hedonic factors in predicting customer online repurchase intention. The integrated theoretical framework explains 63% of the variations in online repurchase intention

An assessment of equivalence between Internet and paper-based surveys: evidence from collectivistic cultures

Little research exists that addresses the equivalence in collectivistic cultures of paper- versus Internet-based surveys. This study addressed this gap and examined the measurement equivalence of individual innovativeness scales between Internet surveys and paper-based surveys within a collectivistic culture (with China serving as our example). The study analyzed and compared survey data from both paper and web-based surveys using confirmatory factor analysis. The assessment of invariance included the levels of configural, metric, scalar, and covariance invariance. The means and variance of latent variables were also compared. The results show that measurements are invariant at the two levels (configural and metric), and the covariances between latent variables are also equivalent, but the mean and variance differences of latent variables are apparent. The results indicate that when conducting research in collectivistic cultures and collecting data from distinct survey modes, researchers should concern themselves with the potential of extreme response patterns and the inclination of social desirability responding, as well as considering the measurement invariance across survey modes

Death of an expert system: A case study of success and failure

A decision team composed of managers and staff experts at Mary Kay Cosmetics develops packaging for new and revised products as well as sets their prices. However, the potential for costly errors in the decision-making process motivated this group to pursue development of an expert system (ES) to assist with the problem. The ES performed so well that it changed the organization\u27s behavior—the group ceased to meet for the purpose of developing the packaging but instead gathered just to confirm and approve the expert system\u27s solution. Despite the clear benefits associated with using an ES approach, the group stopped using the ES application and the behavior of the group returned to pre-ES practices. This work describes from a managerial perspective how and why this valuable tool fell into disuse, and offers valuable lessons for management

The Role of National Culture on Relationships Between Customers’ Perception of Quality, Values, Satisfaction, and Behavioral Intentions

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of individualistic cultures (such as the American culture) and collectivistic cultures (such as the Chinese culture) on the interrelationship among service quality, food quality, perceived value, customer satisfaction, and behavioral intentions in the fast-food industry. First, the authors provide empirical evidence of the robust relationships among the constructs across diverse cultures. Second, they investigate how moderator variables such as customer age, gender, and national culture affect customer behavioral intentions. Moreover, they examine how national culture, as a moderator, affects the magnitude of the relationships among these constructs. Using survey data collected from the United States and China, results indicate that national culture does have a moderating effect on the relationships and there are differences in the behavioral intentions of American and Chinese customers. More specifically, in the United States, service quality and food quality have a stronger influence on customer satisfaction than in China. Also, the effect of perceived value on customer satisfaction and the effect of customer satisfaction on customers’ behavioral intentions are stronger in China than in the United States. Overall, the findings provide rare crosscultural insights and thus serve as building blocks for strategies in the global fast-food domain