USING SOCIAL NETWORK ANALYSIS AS A STRATEGY FOR E-COMMERCE RECOMMENDATION

Recommender agents are being widely used by E-commerce business to help customers make decisions from a large amount of choices. To improve the performance of recommendation agents, three main approaches (content-based approaches, collaborative approaches and hybrid approaches) have been proposed to address recommendation problem whose basic idea is to discover similarity of items and users and predicate users’ preference toward a set of items. This provides potential for using social network analysis to make recommendations since social network analysis can be used to investigate the relationships of customers. In this research, we illustrate the concepts of social network analysis and how it can be employed to make better recommendations in E-commerce context. Application and research opportunities are presented

Understanding Competing Application Usage By Integrating Information System Success Model And Network Externality Theory

The D&M IS Success Model has been widely applied to evaluate the information system now. Since the connections and communications among individuals tend to be closer, this study introduces network externalities to the existing model In addition, although previous studies view the information quality, system quality and service quality as independent variables without interactions, this research investigates the inter-relationships among them. Since there are so many applications with same functions in the competitive market, in this study we also try to understand competing application usage by integrating IS success model to see how individuals make a decision to select one from two choices, and analyze the theory in the relative evaluation by applying comparison by difference (e.g., “user’s satisfaction towards A” minus “user’s satisfaction towards B”). The result shows that network externalities have great significance on three dimensions of quality, and its effect on service quality actually exerts by the mediating effects of information quality and system quality. The service quality was also proved to be affected positively by information quality and system quality. Thus, the current study not only contributes to the current theory by extending the model, but also provides some practical implications

Will Jargon Use Increase or Decrease a Doctor\u27s Credibility? Exploring the Moderating Effects of eHealth Literacy and Question Type

Doctors are accustomed to using jargon to communicate in online medical communities, but is it actually effective? In this article, we propose two diametrically opposed mechanisms of jargon use that affect patients\u27 confidence in providers of online medical consultation services: The use of jargon affects competence-based confidence positively, but negatively on benevolence- and integrity-based trust. We take into account the moderating effects of eHealth literacy and question type to better comprehend the circumstances in which jargon use is at play. To test our conceptual model, we conduct a scenario experiment and then use a survey method to collect 203 valid questionnaires. Finally, we discuss our findings, their implications for theory and practise, and the study\u27s limitations

Understanding Digital Hoarding Behaviors of Social Media Users from a Stress Coping Perspective

Despite the information value brought by social media, the abundance of information on social media also contributes to digital hoarding. However, the underlying mechanisms about how digital hoarding behaviors in the social media context are formed has not been well studied. Thus, capturing the unique features of social media, this study tries to explore the impacts of information characteristics on digital hoarding from a stress coping perspective. Specifically, we identify three key information characteristics of social media namely information narrowing, information redundancy and information overload, and proposes that these information characteristics affect digital hoarding through two key cognitive appraisals namely perceived value uncertainty and cognitive load. Further, individuals\u27 information-seeking self-efficacy is proposed to moderate the relationship between cognitive appraisals and digital hoarding. A survey was administered to examine the proposed research model. The theoretical and practical implications are thoroughly examined and discussed finally

An Extended Model Of Review Helpfulness: Exploring The Role Of Tie Strength, Perceived Similarity, And Normative Susceptibility

Previous studies on review information evaluation focus on the important roles of two key factors namely argument strength and source credibility but pay less attention to how social influence and social relationship exert impact on this information evaluation behavior. To fill this research gap, based on the similarity – attraction theory and social capital theory, we articulate how source credibility is determined by two social relationship factors: tie strength and perceived similarity. Further, drawing upon the social influence model, we propose that the susceptibility to normative influence intensifies the impact exerted on source credibility by tie strength and perceived similarity. Also, relationships between argument strength and review helpfulness and between source credibility and review helpfulness are both moderated by normative susceptibility. A survey is conducted to test the proposed research model and the results suggest that hypotheses are supported. The results offer important and interesting insights to information systems research and practice

REVISIT THE INFORMATION ADOPTION MODEL BY EXPLORING THE MODERATING ROLE OF TIE STRENGTH: A PERSPECTIVE FROM CONSTRUAL LEVEL THEORY

Previous studies on review information adoption, drawing upon dual process theory, focus on the important roles of two key review-related factors namely argument strength and source credibility, but pay less attention to the social relationships between review sources and recipients. To fill this research gap, based on the construal level theory, we articulate that tie strength moderates the impacts of argument strength and source credibility on content diagnosticity. A survey was conducted to examine the proposed research model and hypotheses and the results showed that the relationship between argument strength and content diagnosticity is stronger when tie strength is weak than when tie strength is strong while the relationship between source credibility is stronger when tie strength is strong than when tie strength is weak. The theoretical and practical implications of the study are also discussed

Technology Leadership, Brand Equity, and Customer Loyalty in Mobile Banking: Moderating Role of Need for Uniqueness

Most of previous studies on mobile banking focus on the initial adoption by drawing upon the technology acceptance theories, while the post-adoption issues (e.g., loyalty) have been rarely examined. To fill this research gap, based on brand equity theory and symbolic value theory, we propose a research model to articulate the relationship between technology leadership, brand equity, and customer loyalty, as well as the moderating role of need for uniqueness. A survey from users of two mobile banking service providers was conducted to empirically examine the proposed research model and hypotheses. The results show that (1) technology leadership positively affects brand equity which in turn positively affects customer loyalty, and (2) need for uniqueness strengthens the relationship between technology leadership and brand equity and between brand equity and customer loyalty. The implications for theory and practice are also discussed

Social Distance and Information Avoidance in Public Security Events: A Dual Involvement Perspective

With the large spread of information thanks to ICT, public security events are increasingly focused on by the public. But meanwhile, the phenomenon of people’s information avoidance in these events still exists and even becomes more prominent. However, existing studies on information avoidance have ignored such an important context (i.e., public security event) and the influence of people’s perceptions of social relationship. To fill the gaps, we develop a model to explore the influence of social distance on information avoidance through two opposite mechanisms from a dual involvement perspective, perceived relevance and negative affect, in the context of public security events. We also consider self-efficacy’s moderating role to identify the boundary conditions. A scenario-based survey with college students was conducted to test the proposed research model. Finally, theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed