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Intercultural communicative competence (ICC) is important when different cultural speakers learn Mandarin as a Foreign Language (MFL). The use of virtual reality (VR) has been shown to be effective for improving ICC. Hence, this study investigates a production-based instructional strategy where students use VR to view and create VR environments with cultural elements for learning MFL to determine if this strategy was effective with the current cohort of students (2023). In addition, it would be investigated whether there was a difference in ICC between the 2019 cohort and the 2023 cohort.

The study employed a quasi-experimental method to assess ICC using the Survey of student’s Intercultural Competence (SSIC) and gauged the improvement within the 2023 cohort. Next, the ICC between the 2023 and 2019 cohorts was compared to determine if there was a significant difference. Data was analysed using paired-samples t-tests and thematic analysis for the open-ended responses.

There was a significant improvement in ICC after the intervention for the 2023 cohort, which was supported with the open-ended response. However, the t-test results indicated no significant difference in ICC between the 2019 and 2023 cohorts. However, the 2023 cohort seemed to be more motivated, confident and eager to continue using VR. The findings indicate that VR when combined with an appropriate pedagogy could improve students ICC.

The use of VR and this production-based instructional strategy could be used in other languages and could possibly be used to improve linguistic and communication skills.

Open access (OA) has emerged as a modern academic publishing paradigm that strives to provide all members of society with free access to scholarly knowledge. This study aims to assess the behavior of faculty members to publish in OA journals from the perspective of the decomposed theory of planned behavior (DTPB).

A quantitative survey research design based on a cross-sectional survey approach was applied to investigate the phenomenon. The data were collected through a structured questionnaire from 338 faculty members of two large universities in Pakistan.

The findings of the study indicate that behavioral intentions (β = 0.664, p < 0.01), subjective norms (β = 0.159, p < 0.01) and perceived behavioral control (β = 0.238, p < 0.01) positively while attitude toward behavior negatively affected the actual behavior of the university faculty members to publish in OA journals.

The study offers theoretical implications for researchers and practical implications for educational authorities, policymakers and funding agencies.

The study fills the literature gap and offers insight into the OA publishing behavior of academicians from the perspective of DTPB.

This study aims to propose mindfulness as a key factor in merchants’ adoption of mobile payments through the trust and perceived value pathways in an unorganized sector.

Data were collected physically via a structured questionnaire from a random sample of 350 merchants from the unorganized retail sector in India. Partial least squares-based structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.

Mindfulness plays a key role in the formation of trust and perceived value, which further influences merchants’ intentions to adopt mobile payments. Furthermore, moderating effects of technology anxiety and skepticism were also observed.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to illustrate mindfulness in merchants of the unorganized sector in adopting mobile payments to influence the adoption intentions of mobile payments in emerging markets.

This study examines the impact of enhanced financial literacy on the allocation of risky assets within household financial portfolios, while also considering the mediating role of Taoist cultural influences.

The authors applied ordered probit models and ordinary least squares estimation to analyze a sample of 19,015 data collected from the 2019 Chinese Urban Household Consumer Finance Survey.

The results demonstrate that an improvement in financial literacy significantly contributes to an increase in residents’ allocation of risky assets. This enhancement in financial literacy, achieved through financial planning and a reduction in the influence of Taoist culture, effectively bolsters the quantity of risky financial assets held. Moreover, the impact of financial literacy on the allocation of risky financial assets is particularly pronounced among residents aged 45–55 and those aged 35–45 and older.

The practical implications suggest that policymakers and relevant departments may consider strategies to encourage greater participation in the financial market by promoting Taoist culture in an appropriate and reasonable manner while widely carrying out financial education for residents and improving their financial literacy.

While previous studies have not focused on the impact of traditional culture on financial decision-making allocations, this study investigates the significant impact of financial literacy and Taoist culture on risky asset allocations, highlighting in particular the significant impact on middle-aged residents. This provides a nuanced understanding of how financial literacy affects investment behavior and offers insights for policymakers to effectively tailor financial education programs.

This study examines how users' perceptions of application quality impact sustained usage, taking alternative options into account.

A hybrid approach combining partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and artificial neural networks (ANNs) was used to capture linear and non-linear relationships in the continuous intention to use mobile retail applications through 505 valid responses.

The findings highlight the significant role of utilitarian attitude, hedonic emotion, and trust in driving the adoption and continued use of mobile retail applications. Service and information qualities were identified as factors reinforcing trust, utilitarian attitudes, and hedonic emotion. Notably, system quality exclusively influences utilitarian attitude. Additionally, the presence of alternative options negatively moderates utilitarian attitude and the intention to persistently use the application.

By integrating the S-O-R model and the ISS model, this study’s theoretical framework provides fresh insights into the relative importance of these factors, enhancing our understanding of consumers' intention to continue using mobile retail applications.

Encouraging green consumption is a proven strategy for supporting destination sustainability. Nonetheless, extant research approaches destination sustainability mainly from an economic perspective. In this study, we explore the effectiveness of destination social responsibility (DSR) as a way to encourage green consumption among tourists from a social interaction perspective.

We used a mixed-method approach with two studies (i.e. a scenario experiment and a survey) to test our hypotheses. The scenario experiment included four versions of a narrative scenario with 40 samples each, and 421 valid questionnaires were obtained in the survey.

Our findings indicate that there is a significant relationship between DSR and green pressure. And DSR positively influences tourists’ green product purchase behavior (GPB). Tourists who have a high fear of negative evaluation (FNE) experience more pressure when exposed to DSR than those with low FNE.

This study sheds light on the mechanisms through which DSR influences tourists’ GPB from a stress transaction perspective and also offers practical implications for tourism marketing and destination management.

The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) applications has driven enterprises to provide many intelligent services to consumers. For instance, customers can use chatbots to make relevant inquiries and seek solutions to their problems. Despite the development of customer service chatbots years ago, they require significant improvements for market recognition. Many customers have reported negative experiences with customer service chatbots, contributing to resistance toward their use. Therefore, this study adopts the innovation resistance theory (IRT) perspective to understand customers’ resistance to using chatbots. It aims to integrate customers’ negative emotions into a predictive behavior model and examine users’ functional and psychological barriers.

In this study, we collected data from 419 valid individuals and used structural equation modeling to analyze the relationships between resistance factors and negative emotions.

The results confirmed that barrier factors affect negative emotions and amplify chatbot resistance influence. We discovered that value and risk barriers directly influence consumer use. Moreover, both functional and psychological barriers positively impact negative emotions.

This study adopts the innovation resistance theory perspective to understand customer resistance to using chatbots, integrates customer negative emotions to construct a predictive behavior model and explores users’ functional and psychological barriers. It can help in developing online customer service chatbots for e-commerce.

This study aims to analyze the effect of cryptocurrency capitalization market development on bank deposits variability in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) spanning the period 2005M1–2020M4 using the novel nonlinear autoregressive distributive lag (NARDL).

The study employs the NARDL recently developed by Shin et al. (2014) to estimate the long and short-run relationships between the variables rather than the widely known ARDL (Pesaran et al., 2001), which suffers from a complex structure in the estimation equation that usually includes lags and differences in both short and long terms. The implementation of NARDL required several proceedings after plotting the descriptive data, commencing with unit root tests, selection of lag length, estimating the long-and-short variables coefficients, heteroscedasticity test and Wald test for symmetries.

The long-run estimations of the positive and negative asymmetric coefficients indicate that cryptocurrencies capitalization has a negative impact on bank deposits in the UAE. Further, the short-run estimations coefficients exhibit that both significant positive and negative partial sum squares of cryptocurrencies decrease bank deposits.

The study has applied to the UAE spanning the period 2005M1–2020M4 using the NARDL.

The short-run estimations coefficients exhibit that both significant positive and negative partial sum squares of cryptocurrencies decreases bank deposits, which means that the increase in the magnitude of cryptocurrencies capitalization stimulates depositors and speculators to adjust their portfolios towards contracting their deposits in banks to invest partially in cryptocurrencies, on the other hand, the decline in cryptocurrencies capitalization process spur depositors and speculators to reduce their deposits for purchasing cryptocurrencies at lower prices.

The study infers that individuals and businesses are cautious when investing in cryptocurrencies, and they need more certainty and trust to include these types of assets in their portfolios. The fluctuation in cryptocurrencies capitalization prompts speculators to change their deposits according to the cryptocurrencies' prices.

This study explores the short-and long-run asymmetric impacts of cryptocurrencies capitalization development on bank deposits volatility in the UAE, based on a NARDL, for providing a manifest depiction of whether the cryptocurrencies industry might be a threat to conventional banking system performance in the potential future.

The design of cantilever pile walls (CPWs) presents several common challenges. These challenges include soil variability, groundwater conditions, complex loading conditions, construction considerations, structural integrity, uncertainties in design parameters and construction and monitoring costs. Accordingly, this paper is to provide a detailed literature review on the design criteria of CPWs, specifically in cohesionless soil. This study aims to present a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge in this area.

The paper uses a literature review approach to gather information on the design criteria of CPWs in cohesionless soil. It covers various aspects such as excavation support systems (ESSs), deformation behavior, design criteria, lateral earth pressure calculation theories, load distribution methods and conventional design approaches.

The review identifies and discusses common challenges associated with the design of CPWs in cohesionless soil. It highlights the uncertainties in determining load distribution and the potential for excessive wall deformations. The paper presents various approaches and methodologies proposed by researchers to address these challenges.

The paper contributes to the field of geotechnical engineering by providing a valuable resource for geotechnical engineers and researchers involved in the design and analysis of CPWs in cohesionless soil. It offers insights into the design criteria, challenges and potential solutions specific to CPWs in cohesionless soil, filling a gap in the existing knowledge base. The paper draws attention to the limitations of existing analytical methods that neglect the serviceability limit state and assume rigid plastic soil behavior, highlighting the need for improved design approaches in this context.

This study explores the effects of virtual streamer characteristics, virtual scene characteristics and streamer image-scene fit on users’ watching intention from the perspective of flow experience.

The survey data for this study were collected from the QQ fan group of virtual streamers between November 26th 2022 and December 5th 2022. The authors survey 274 viewers who have experience of watching virtual streaming and employ the partial least squares structural equation model to test the research hypotheses.

Among the characteristics of virtual streamers, interactivity significantly influences users’ perceived enjoyment and concentration, while vividness only affects perceived enjoyment. In addition, the novelty of the virtual scene has a notable impact on users’ perceived enjoyment and concentration, whereas aesthetic appeal serves as an important indicator solely for concentration. Furthermore, the virtual streamer image-scene fit also affects users’ perceived enjoyment and concentration. Finally, perceived enjoyment and concentration equally contribute to users' watching intention.

This study explores the impact of virtual streamer characteristics, virtual scene characteristics and streamer image-scene fit on users’ watching intention, which enriches the research on user behavioral intention in virtual streaming. Additionally, this study attempts to combine the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model and flow theory in the field of virtual streaming, expanding the research areas. Finally, this study also provides valuable insights for virtual streamers and virtual streaming platforms. By enhancing their virtual personas and optimizing their streaming strategies, virtual streamers can more effectively retain users and maintain audience engagement. Meanwhile, virtual streaming platforms can gain a deeper understanding of user preferences, enabling them to launch high-quality events that sustain user popularity. These efforts collectively contribute to the advancement of the virtual streaming industry.