CONSUMERS’ PERCEPTIONS ON SMART HOME AND SMART LIVING

Internet of Things (IoT) is an umbrella term used for Internetworking physical devices such as vehicles, buildings, home appliances, and other physical objects to the Internet. This technology innovation allows for different objects or devices to be connected to each other, thus transforming the objects from “dumb” to “smart” devices. A central question for researchers and practitioners is whether and how the potential users of smart home technology, a subset of IoT technology, perceive this innovation. To address this question, the present paper seeks to empirically explore the relationships between determinant factors influencing users’ intentions. By drawing upon recent studies on smart home technology, this paper argues that multiple factors impact users’ perceptions and consequently their adoption decisions. By using a survey data from 156 individuals and applying structural equation modelling (SEM) and Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), this research suggests that attitudes toward using technology, social influence, perceived usefulness and perceived innovativeness impact users’ adoption decisions. Moreover, fsQCA results, while reinforcing and refining findings from the SEM analysis, reveal that there is no single solution that lead to the outcome of interest—smart home technology adoption—but multiple configurations of conditions do. Theoretical and methodological contributions are discussed

Fuzzy optimization to improve mobile wellness applications for young-elderly

Mobile applications and specifically wellness applications are used increasingly by different age-segments of the general population. This is facilitated by the large amount of data collected through various built-in sensors in the smartphone or other mobile devises, e.g. smart watches. Young-elderly cohort (60-75 year old individual) is probably one of the most potential user groups that would benefit from using mobile health and wellness applications, if their needs and preferences are precisely addressed. General knowledge is limited on understanding to what extent mobile wellness applications can and should provide precise recommendations which improve the users’ health and physical conditions. To address this problem, the current study identifies the potential benefits of utilizing fuzzy optimization tools to design recommendation systems that can take into consideration the (i) imprecision in the data and (ii) the imprecision by which one can estimate the effect of a recommendation on the user of the system. The proposed approach, depending on the context of use, identifies a set of actions to be taken by the users in order to optimize the physical or mental condition from various perspectives. The model is illustrated through the example of walking speed optimization which is an important issue for the young-elderly

Factors influencing the adoption of mobile services consumers' preferences using analytic hierarchy process

The rapid and widespread development of innovations in mobile services is changing societies and improving lives around the world. Due to lagging adoption, many of these new innovations have yet failed to generate revenue that was expected by mobile network operators, application and content developers. There are several factors which are affecting the service adoption by consumers. This paper aims to provide practitioners and academics, an insight on what consumers' preferences are by using an Analytic Hierarchy Approach (AHP). The objective of this paper is to identify factors influencing the adoption of the mobile services. In this study we have considered Payment Mode, Functionality, Added Value and PQCP (perceived quality, cost and performance) as the main service adoption factors. The survey results indicate that Functionality is the most important influencing factor for the respondents, followed by Added Value, PQCP and Payment Mode.Adoption,AHP,Mobile Value Services,Consumer's Preferences

THE IMPACT OF DIGITALIZATION ON LITERACY: DIGITAL IMMIGRANTS VS. DIGITAL NATIVES

Considering the speed at which new digital technologies are evolving, this paper aims to investigate the impact of digital transformation on multiple dimensions of literacy. An empirical research using antecedent factors of adoption is conducted to investigate the relationships between factors influencing digital immigrants’ and digital natives’ intentions to use digital technology. Using survey data on 177 digital immigrants and 183 digital natives, structural equation modelling (SEM) and a novel configurational thinking method—fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA)—are applied. The results, while showing some similarities, reveal that digital immigrants and digital natives utilize digital technologies differently and their intentions to use are influenced by different factors. For instance, for digital natives, information literacy has no significant effect on intention to use, while this path is significant for digital immigrants. Moreover, fsQCA results, while supporting the SEM findings, show that there are multiple configurations of conditions leading to the outcome of interest—intention to use digital technology

Avoiding negative information as a strategy for emotion regulation

The aim of the paper is to investigate whether the personality trait negative emotionality and sense of coherence influence emotionally motivated information avoidance, i.e., avoidance of negative information that potentially evoke anxiety or worry. Data from 412 respondents was collected in a survey which measured negative emotionality, sense of coherence and information avoidance. A conceptual model is proposed, and structural equation modelling (SEM) was applied to analyse the data.Results. Negative emotionality was found to influence information avoidance not only directly, but also indirectly through the manageability dimension of sense of coherence. In other words, manageability mediates the relationship between negative emotionality and information avoidance. The study contributes by showing that personal inclinations impact emotionally motivated information avoidance across contexts.Peer Reviewe

Effect of Digital Literacy on the Use of Digital Technology: Micro-Entrepreneurs in the Creative Industries

The present study aimed to analyse the role of digital literacy on the intention to use digital technology by professionals in the creative industries. There is consensus among academic literature and governmental reports that creative activities are essential for economic and socio-cultural development. Therefore, there is a need for ongoing research on these segments of industry, such as how they absorb the impacts of digitalisation and improvements in digital technology in their creative and artistic expression. For this latter research, it is required to go beyond the organisational level since these industries are dynamic segments, mostly composed of microentrepreneurs and independent workers. Based on an extensive literature review, relationships between the constructs of digital literacy (DL), subjective norms (SNs), compatibility (CP), selfefficacy (SE), attitude towards use (ATT) and intention to use (INT) digital technology were examined for a sample of 163 European creative workers. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was performed and the results showed that DL significantly affects the intention to use digital technology. Moreover, the SEM results showed that the effects of SNs, SE and CP on the intention to use digital technology are mediated through the ATT. Based on the results, theoretical and practical implications are discussed

MOBILE SOCIAL NETWORK SERVICES: CHINESE USERS’ ADOPTION PATTERNS

Recent technological advancement in Telecommunications industry has enabled service providers and application developers to offer some of their services which used to be solely PC based for mobile devices as well. Given the prevalence of mobile data services, specifically mobile social network services, and application-stores such as Market (Andriod) and AppStore (Apple), it is crucial to understand user behaviour toward mobile service diffusion. The present study aims to investigate Chinese users’ behaviour toward mobile social network services, based on a sample of 212 respondents who used the most popular mobile social network services such as Tencent QQ in China. Our analysis suggests that each construct, perceived enjoyment, social influence, critical mass and mobile accessibility of social network service makes a unique contribution to our understanding of mobile social network service usage behaviour

DO CONSUMERS CARE ABOUT MOBILE SERVICE PLATFORMS? A CONJOINT ANALYSIS ON CONSUMER PREFERENCE FOR MOBILE PLATFORMS

Literature on Mobile Platforms focuses predominantly on strategic issues in managing multi-sided platforms as well as economic issues of two-sided markets. Most of this literature is highly conceptual and empirical research on the perceptions, preferences and behaviour of consumers is lacking. Moreover, scholars typically focus on device-related platforms like operating systems and app stores, while platforms developed by mobile operators are seldom discussed explicitly. In this paper, we therefore aim to understand the criteria and expectations of consumers to opt for a specific platform from a device manufacturer or operator. To do so, we developed and executed a questionnaire for conjoint analysis. The data for the conjoint analysis was collected from 88 Chinese researchers and students. The conjoint results show that most respondents strongly prefer mobile operating systems provided by Apple (iOS) and Google (Android) over Nokia (Symbian) and BlackBerry OS. Moreover, application cost is considered to play an important role in the decision making of consumers to opt a platform. The findings of the study indicate that respondents hardly find the provider of the platform important, i.e. they prefer service provider and device provider platforms over operator platforms

Effective factors influencing individual’s shared health decision making

This paper investigates the effects of information avoidance, information overload, health literacy on individuals’ shared health decision making. A research model is proposed based on sound theoretical background. Data from 155 respondents was collected via an online survey. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was applied to analyse the data. The findings suggest that information overload and information avoidance both exhibit negative effects on an individual’s shared health decision making behaviour, while health literary possess positive effects. We also find that information avoidance has a positive impact on information avoidance. Moreover, health literacy is negatively related to both information overload and information avoidance. The paper enhances both theoretical and empirical understanding of the effects of individuals’ health literacy, information overload and information avoidance on their shared health decision making behaviour. The results indicate that sufficient health literacy enables individuals to engage in their health decision making process and sharing their concerns with their physicians. However, information overload and information avoidance trigger negative effects which lead to individuals less involved in shared health decision making. Our results advocate more efforts to improve individual health literary as the means to mitigate the negative effects of information overload and information avoidance towards shared health decision making.Peer Reviewe

A Consumer Perspective on Mobile Service Platforms: A Conjoint Analysis Approach

Digital platforms need to attract both application developers and end users. Existing literature suggests various strategies related to openness, flexibility, and generativity to attract application developers. However, how consumers make decisions on adopting platforms has not been studied. This paper studies which characteristics of digital platforms consumers most prefer. We focus on mobile platforms where application stores, operator portals, and service provider platforms compete for the consumer’s attention. We conducted a conjoint analysis among 166 consumers to determine the most important characteristics of the mobile platforms. We found that application-related characteristics were most important, especially the number of available applications. Governance-related and technical characteristics were hardly important. Platform characteristics were considerably less important than the brand of the operating system linked to the platform. These findings were consistent between European and Chinese users, and between males and females. The study paves the way for IS scholars to integrate consumer perspectives in the provider-dominated discourse of digital platforms