The six relative advantages in multichannel retail for three-dimensional virtual worlds and two-dimensional websites

Multichannel retail is now prevalent with retailers and consumers utilizing a number of channels in parallel or in some instances in an interconnected way. There is a degree of understanding on what each channel can offer but the Relative Advantage of each channel in relation to the others is less understood. This research evaluates the Relative Advantage between the three channels of three-dimensional Virtual Worlds, two-dimensional websites and offline retail stores. The consumer’s preferences across the three channels were distinguished across six Relative Advantages. The three channels were then compared across the six Relative Advantages identified. Participants showed a preference for offline and 2D in most situations apart from enjoyment, entertainment, sociable shopping, the ability to reinvent yourself, convenience and institutional trust where the Virtual Worlds were preferred

Social actors and institutional carriers in small island states: Examining the role of partnerships in influencing organisations’ approach towards environmental disclosure

Island societies are states with distinct inherent characteristics and vulnerabilities.Their features are important constraints in the development and adaption of actions towards environmental disclosure.Since 1992, international bodies and institutions have been emphasizing the importance of international cooperation and partnerships for helping island societies overcome their inherent obstacles and engage in environmental matters and consequently environmental disclosure.Although international bodies and institutions have been pointing out the importance of studying island societies for many years, in academic research it remains relatively unexplored.This research adopts neo-institutional theory and Scott’s theoretical framework on institutional carriers to examine the role of partnerships in imposing institutional carriers and influencing organisational behaviour towards environmental disclosure.The study examines island societies that have been cooperating through partnerships with large developed countries. Social actors are analysed at three levels, partnerships being one of them, (a) transnational through the European Union, (b) societal through domestic society and politics, and (c) the organisational field through industrial sectors, in an attempt to examine the role of social actors in shaping the structure of organisations and ascertain their interaction in diffusing institutional carriers for environmental disclosure.Qualitative content analysis was used to examine and interpret semi-structured face-to-face interviews with private and public sector organisations and the governmental environment representative

The impact of extended global ransomware attacks on trust: How the attacker's competence and institutional trust influence the decision to pay

© 2018 Association for Information Systems. All rights reserved. The standardization, interconnectivity and pervasiveness of information systems, combined with the increasing ability to collect and utilize data, enhance the value they offer a user. These strengths however can also be turned into a weakness and vulnerability by ransomware (RW). RW can utilize the functionality of current systems both to infect them but also to increase the magnitude of the attack. This research proposes a model of the impact of the RW attack on the user's trust, which in turn has an effect on their decision to pay the ransom or follow the guidance from the relevant institutions. The model shows that the effectiveness of the attack, the trust in the competence of the attacker and ransomware demands that are reasonable and easy to fulfil, positively influence the intention to pay the ransom. The initial institutional response, institutional trust and institutional solution influence the intention to follow the institutional guidance

The AI challenge

In this article, Ian Herbert and Alex Zarifis from Loughborough University look at a typical industry disruption scenario through the eyes of a hypothetical division that has been tasked by head office with planning a digital transformation. The current context and challenges of the hypothetical insurer are outlined first and then a plan to utilise AI is discussed

Exploring the language of the sharing economy: Building trust and reducing privacy concern on Airbnb in German and English

Several countries’ economies have been disrupted by the sharing economy. Global champions like Airbnb and Uber use similar models and platforms across many countries. However, each country and its consumers have different characteristics including the language used. The text in the profile of those offering their properties in England in English and in Germany in German, are compared to explore whether trust is built, and privacy concerns are reduced in the same way. Six methods of building trust are used by the landlords: (1) the level of formality, (2) distance and proximity, (3) emotiveness and humor, (4) being assertive and passive aggressive, (5) conformity to the platform language style and terminology and (6) setting boundaries. Privacy concerns are not usually reduced directly as this is left to the platform. The findings indicate that language has a limited influence and the platform norms and habits are the biggest influence

Trust in Digital Currency Enabled Transactions Model

This research extends theories of trust from e-commerce to incorporate digital currencies. In particular trust in business to consumer e-commerce transactions carried out using digital currencies such as Bitcoin is explored. A model of online trust is considered to be valid in this different transaction context but the significance of each construct changes and some extensions are necessary. The role of institutional trust in transactions has differences that are explored and new constructs are suggested. These new constructs are incorporated into a new digital currency enabled transactions trust model. The results support the validity of the role of the rate of adoption and reputation of digital currencies as part of situational normality. The nature of the digital currency itself, the digital currency payment system, the payment intermediary, the digital currency P2P infrastructure, self-imposed and external regulation are also considered valid as part of structural assurance. These findings can be used by those developing the related technology, the vendors and regulatory institutions to increase consumer trust in digital currency enabled transactions in order to extend adoption and use

Designing a talents training model for cross-border e-commerce: a mixed approach of problem-based learning with social media

© 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. Cross-border e-commerce has developed rapidly integrating the global economy. Research has presented some solutions for the challenges and barriers in cross-border e-commerce from the perspective of the enterprise. However, little is known about the requirements of cross-border e-commerce talents and how to train them. In this paper, we firstly conducted semi-structured interviews to acquire the requirements of cross-border e-commerce talents. Business and market knowledge, technical skills, analytical ability and business practical ability were found to be the four core requirements. Then, we integrated problem-based learning and social media to design a talents training model for cross-border e-commerce and did a program to evaluate effectiveness of the model. Finally, its effectiveness was evaluated from the four evaluation dimensions of attitude, perceived enjoyment, concentration and work intention. The talents training model was improved according to the suggestions

Evaluating the impact of AI on insurance: The four emerging AI- and data-driven business models [version 1; peer review: awaiting peer review]

The increasing capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) are changing the way organizations operate and interact with users both internally and externally. The insurance sector is currently using AI in several ways but its potential to disrupt insurance is not clear. This research evaluated the implementation of AI-led automation in 20 insurance companies. The findings indicate four business models (BM) emerging: In the first model the insurer takes a smaller part of the value chain allowing others with superior AI and data to take a larger part. In the second model the insurer keeps the same model and value chain but uses AI to improve effectiveness. In the third model the insurer adapts their model to fully utilize AI and seek new sources of data and customers. Lastly in the fourth model a technology focused company uses their existing AI prowess, superior data and extensive customer base, and adds insurance provision

Individual trust development in computer mediated teamwork

Facilitated group collaboration is evolving into a new generation in Web 2.0 using new technology such as online group systems. Building trust is vital to group collaboration. Risk, benefit, utility value, power and interest are six factors that influence individual trust development. This paper further develops the Scale Balance Model based on the Individual Trust Development Model in order to investigate individual trust development in facilitated group collaboration. There is a two stage investigation using a survey from face-to-face student groups with Web based group system support. The model is used to analyse the individual trust development in the sample. The results of applying the improved model can help give feedback and advice for future collaboration research. Copyright 200 ACM