Trust Building in Electronic Markets: Relative Importance and Interaction Effects of Trust Building Mechanisms

We examine the relative and complementary effectiveness of trust-building strategies in online environments. While prior research has examined various antecedents to trust, we investigated two trust-building mechanisms more in depth: Web site trust and vendor reputation. We tried to understand the relative effectiveness of these two important mechanisms to provide online businesses with a clear recommendation of how to establish trust in an effective and efficient manner. Drawing from the literature on trust, we proposed vendor reputation to be more effective than Web site trust. Moreover, we examined a potential complementary effect of these mechanisms so as to provide online businesses with a deeper understanding of how to derive superior trust. We hypothesize a small such effect. The study proposes a laboratory experiment to test the model

What Drives Fitness Apps Usage? An Empirical Evaluation

Part 3: Creating Value through ApplicationsInternational audienceThe increased health problems associated with lack of physical activity is of great concern around the world. Mobile phone based fitness applications appear to be a cost effective promising solution for this problem. The aim of this study is to develop a research model that can broaden understanding of the factors that influence the user acceptance of mobile fitness apps. Drawing from Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), we conceptualize the antecedents and moderating factors of fitness app use. We validate our model using field survey. Implications for research and practice are discussed

Global surveillance of cancer survival 1995-2009: analysis of individual data for 25,676,887 patients from 279 population-based registries in 67 countries (CONCORD-2)

BACKGROUND: Worldwide data for cancer survival are scarce. We aimed to initiate worldwide surveillance of cancer survival by central analysis of population-based registry data, as a metric of the effectiveness of health systems, and to inform global policy on cancer control. METHODS: Individual tumour records were submitted by 279 population-based cancer registries in 67 countries for 25·7 million adults (age 15-99 years) and 75,000 children (age 0-14 years) diagnosed with cancer during 1995-2009 and followed up to Dec 31, 2009, or later. We looked at cancers of the stomach, colon, rectum, liver, lung, breast (women), cervix, ovary, and prostate in adults, and adult and childhood leukaemia. Standardised quality control procedures were applied; errors were corrected by the registry concerned. We estimated 5-year net survival, adjusted for background mortality in every country or region by age (single year), sex, and calendar year, and by race or ethnic origin in some countries. Estimates were age-standardised with the International Cancer Survival Standard weights. FINDINGS: 5-year survival from colon, rectal, and breast cancers has increased steadily in most developed countries. For patients diagnosed during 2005-09, survival for colon and rectal cancer reached 60% or more in 22 countries around the world; for breast cancer, 5-year survival rose to 85% or higher in 17 countries worldwide. Liver and lung cancer remain lethal in all nations: for both cancers, 5-year survival is below 20% everywhere in Europe, in the range 15-19% in North America, and as low as 7-9% in Mongolia and Thailand. Striking rises in 5-year survival from prostate cancer have occurred in many countries: survival rose by 10-20% between 1995-99 and 2005-09 in 22 countries in South America, Asia, and Europe, but survival still varies widely around the world, from less than 60% in Bulgaria and Thailand to 95% or more in Brazil, Puerto Rico, and the USA. For cervical cancer, national estimates of 5-year survival range from less than 50% to more than 70%; regional variations are much wider, and improvements between 1995-99 and 2005-09 have generally been slight. For women diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2005-09, 5-year survival was 40% or higher only in Ecuador, the USA, and 17 countries in Asia and Europe. 5-year survival for stomach cancer in 2005-09 was high (54-58%) in Japan and South Korea, compared with less than 40% in other countries. By contrast, 5-year survival from adult leukaemia in Japan and South Korea (18-23%) is lower than in most other countries. 5-year survival from childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia is less than 60% in several countries, but as high as 90% in Canada and four European countries, which suggests major deficiencies in the management of a largely curable disease. INTERPRETATION: International comparison of survival trends reveals very wide differences that are likely to be attributable to differences in access to early diagnosis and optimum treatment. Continuous worldwide surveillance of cancer survival should become an indispensable source of information for cancer patients and researchers and a stimulus for politicians to improve health policy and health-care systems

What drives Users' Website Registration?

User registration is an important prerequisite for the success of many websites by enabling users to gain access to domain information and personalized content. It is not always desirable for users, however, because they need to disclose personal information. This paper examines what drives user registration using two studies on a website that requires user registration to offer access to a mobile phone directory. In the first study, we collected survey data from more than 300 users who visited the website in order to understand the factors that influence users’ intention to register. The results show that brand awareness is a key determinant of user registration by negatively moderating (attenuating) the negative effect of information privacy concerns on user registration and positively moderating (reinforcing) the positive effect of trust on user registration. In the second study, we conducted a randomized field experiment over a period of 20 weeks and collected data from over 4,000 users to examine if website informedness (credibility and user base) affects actual registration behavior. We manipulated credibility information through word-of-mouth (WOM) information (expert, customer, or none) and popularity information on the user base information (number of visitors, number of registered users, both number of visitors and registered users, or none) directly on the real-life mobile phone directory website in a 3 × 4 experiment. The results show that displaying popularity information is most effective in enabling user registration. Notably, when both the number of visitors and of registered users were highlighted, together with expert WOM, the website achieved over 12% higher user registration than without showing any information. Interestingly, the results indicate that the mere presence of popularity information can boost registration by itself, but the exact numbers displayed do not really matter. This finding implies that the negative impact of information privacy concerns may outweigh the positive network externalities that arise from the numbers of visitors and registered users that the website displays to prospective users. We discuss the study’s theoretical contributions and implications, and we conclude with a set of managerial implications for commercial websites to increase user registration

Comparison of Subsistence Activities Among Natives and Non-Natives in Bristol Bay, Alaska

The current debate over subsistence rights is presently one of Alaska\u27s most volatile unresolved public policy issues. Preference has been given to subsistence uses of wild resources, but debate has raged over how to define subsistence users. The special rights of Alaskan Native communities to harvest resources have been eroded through political and legal battles that have extended subsistence harvesting rights to all rural residents (federal law) and to all state residents (state law) and that seek to individualize the eligibility criteria. This study demonstrates that there are significant behavioral differences between the subsistence activities of Native, part‐Native, and non‐Native households in Bristol Bay, Alaska. These differences are cultural in nature and are rooted in different systems for organizing relationships between people and the natural world. These differences need to be taken into account in the legal and political debates over subsistence and in resource management decisions that affect subsistence users