Search results

This study aims to investigate the impact of viewing different types of digital environment images on college students’ positive emotions, nature relatedness and environmental preference. This aimed to address the gap in empirical studies regarding the effects of digital environment images on these psychological constructs.

This study used a three-group experimental between-subjects design. Participants (48 undergraduate students) were divided into three groups, each viewing a different set of digital images (nature, city or object). Pre- and posttest measures assessed positive emotions and nature relatedness, whereas environmental preference was measured after image viewing. One-way analysis of variance and post hoc Tukey’s honestly significant difference (HSD) tests were used to analyze the data.

Viewing digital nature images elicited significantly higher positive emotions, nature relatedness and environmental preference compared to viewing city or object images. In addition, environmental preference for the digital object group was marginally higher than the city group.

This study was limited by its relatively small sample size. Although further research is needed to investigate the underlying mechanisms behind the observed effects, this study provides valuable implications for education, economic dimensions and public policy initiatives, encouraging the development of pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors.

The findings suggest that incorporating digital nature images into learning activities can promote positive emotions, nature relatedness and environmental preference among college students. This has implications for the design of digital learning environments, especially for those with limited access to natural environments.

By promoting positive emotions and nature relatedness, digital nature experiences can contribute to emotional well-being and potentially foster pro-environmental behaviors. This can have implications for promoting sustainable lifestyles and environmental conservation efforts.

This study provides original empirical evidence on the impact of viewing digital environment images on several psychological constructs. It highlights the potential of digital nature experiences as a complement to direct nature exposure, particularly for those with limited access to natural environments. These findings contribute to the growing body of literature on the benefits of digital nature experiences and have implications for various fields, including education, environmental psychology and human–computer interaction.

This study aims to explore the factors influencing the evolution of emerging technology innovation network (ETIN) in combination with the key attributes and life cycle of emerging technologies, particularly the impact of multiple knowledge attributes and technology life cycle on the ETIN evolution.

This study collects 5G patent data and their citation information from the Derwent Innovations Index to construct a 5G technology innovation network (5GIN) as a sample network and conducts an empirical analysis of the 5GIN using the temporal exponential random graph model (TERGM).

The results indicate that during the 5GIN evolution, the network scale continues to expand and exhibits increasingly significant core-periphery structure, scale-free characteristic, small-world characteristic and community structure. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the multiple knowledge attributes based on the key attributes of emerging technologies, including knowledge novelty, coherence, growth and impact, have a significant positive influence on the ETIN evolution. Meanwhile, the temporal evolution of ETIN is also found to be correlated with the life cycle of emerging technologies.

This study extends the exploration of emerging technology research from a complex network perspective, providing a more realistic explanatory framework for the factors influencing ETIN evolution. It further highlights the important role that multiple knowledge attributes and the technology life cycle play within this framework.

Audit firms have a strong historical tradition of professionalism, but they are also commercial entities. This study aims to investigate the relationship between auditor cash compensation and office-level financial performance.

This study uses proprietary compensation expense and financial performance data from audit offices in China. Using the ordinary least squares regressions, this study tests the association between per capita compensation and office-level financial outcomes.

This study provides evidence that audit offices offering higher compensation achieve more profitable performance, as reflected in increased market share, higher return on assets and greater operating profit margins. Mechanism tests suggest that reductions in auditor turnover, driven by compensation incentives, partially account for this performance improvement. Additional tests show that the benefits of compensation incentives are particularly pronounced in audit firms licensed to conduct listed firm audits or when accompanied by staff training and technical development. Furthermore, both partner-level and staff auditor compensation significantly enhance office-level financial performance. The results might be of interest to both practitioners and regulatory bodies.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine the relationship between auditor cash compensation and audit-office profitability. The findings highlight important policy implications for audit firms seeking to retain high-caliber auditors and maximize their economic benefits through human capital investments, including compensation, education, training and technical development.

This study aims to investigate the potential use of potato peel extracts as antibacterial finishes for cotton fabrics against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. Potato peels are abundant as waste and provide a natural, cheaper and sustainable alternative means of preventing the spread of bacterial infections on cotton fabric.

This research included the characterization of potato peel extracts, application of the extract onto cotton fabric and efficacy testing of the treated cotton fabric against bacteria. Phytochemical screening, agar well diffusion antibacterial test, minimum inhibitory concentration and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) tests were used to characterize the extract. Antibacterial efficacy of the treated fabric was determined qualitatively using the disc diffusion assay and quantitatively using the bacteria reduction test.

Phytochemical screening confirmed the presence of several secondary metabolites including phenols and flavonoids. Antibacterial tests revealed a positive response in Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus with a zone of inhibition of 6.50 mm and 5.60 mm, respectively. Additional peaks on the FTIR spectroscopy confirmed the presence of potato peel extract on the treated cotton fabric. The treated cotton fabrics showed efficacy against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli up to 20 washes.

This study introduced the application of potato peel extracts onto cotton fabrics and assessment of the antibacterial properties before and after washing. Results of this study suggest that potato peel extracts can be used as an organic eco-friendly antibacterial finish for cotton fabrics.

Users’ active participation in platform value co-creation is the key to the development of crowdsourcing logistics platforms, especially the active participation of the crowdsourcee who provide logistics services. However, driven by self-interest, coupled with loose links among subjects on the platform ecological chain, it is difficult for users to effectively form value co-creation intentions. This study aims to explore how platform governance affects crowdsourcees’ intention to participate in value co-creation on the platform through individual cognition.

Based on social cognitive theory (SCT), this study built a research model and took the crowdsourcee on China’s well-known crowdsourcing logistics platforms as the investigation object, using the collected 302 valid survey data to test the model.

The results showed that platform governance mechanisms have a significant influence on crowdsourcees’ intention to participate in value co-creation on the platform, either directly or through crowdsourcee cognition, and the impact is different. The crowdsourcee cognition plays a mediating role between platform governance mechanisms and crowdsourcees’ intention to participate in value co-creation on the platform, and the mediating effect of value acquisition perception (VAP) is significantly higher than self-efficacy (SE).

The results provided references for crowdsourcing logistics platforms to develop a targeted governance mechanism to promote the platform to achieve value co-creation.

This study aims to deepen our understanding of how chatbots’ empathy influences humans–AI relationship in frontline service encounters. The authors investigate the underlying mechanisms, including perceived anthropomorphism, perceived intelligence and psychological empowerment, while also considering variations between different stages of the customer journey (before and after purchase).

Data collection was conducted through an online survey distributed among 301 customers who had experience using AI-based service chatbot in frontline service encounters in China. The hypotheses were examined through structural equation modeling and multi-group analysis.

The findings of this study revealed the positive impacts of emotional and cognitive empathy on humans–AI relationship through perceived anthropomorphism, perceived intelligence and psychological empowerment. Furthermore, this study verified the moderating effect of the customer journey stages, such that the impacts of anthropomorphism and intelligence on humans–AI relationship displayed more strength during the pre- and post-purchase phases, respectively.

This research offers practical implications for companies: recognize and enhance empathy dimensions in AI-based service chatbot to empower human–AI relationships; boost customer empowerment in human–AI interactions; and tailor anthropomorphic features in the pre-purchase stage and improve problem-solving capability in the post-purchase stage to enrich user experiences.

This study extends relationship marketing theory and human–AI interaction frameworks by investigating the underlying mechanisms of the effect of two-dimensional empathy on human–AI relationship. This study also enriches service design theories by revealing the moderating effect of customer journey stages.

This paper aims to provide a reference for the development of digital transformation from the perspective of manufacturing process links.

This paper applies canonical correlation analysis based on digital technology patents in the key links of manufacturing industries (product design, procurement, product manufacturing, warehousing and transportation, and wholesale and retail) and the related indicators of economic benefits of regions in China.

(1) The degree of digitalization of manufacturing process links is significantly correlated with economic benefits. (2) The improvement of the degree of digitalization in the “product design” link, the “warehousing and transportation” link, the “product manufacturing” link and the “wholesale and retail” link has significant impacts on the economic benefits of manufacturing industry. (3) The digital degree of the “procurement” link has no obvious influence on the economic benefits of manufacturing industry.

The research results can provide reference for the formulation and implementation of micro policies. The strategy of improving the level of digital transformation of key links of manufacturing industry is put forward to better promote both the digital transformation of manufacturing industry and economic development.

This paper innovatively studies the relationship between digitalization of manufacturing process links and economic benefits. The findings can provide theoretical and empirical support for the digital transformation of China's manufacturing industry and high-quality development of economy.

The emergence of live streaming commerce has injected promising impetus into rural development and attracted many rural streamers. This study aims to explore the influencing factors of rural streamers’ engagement intentions to help promote the sustainable development of rural live streaming commerce.

Grounded in the extended valence framework, this research employs a mixed-methods approach encompassing both qualitative and quantitative methodologies. In the qualitative phase, the authors conduct in-depth interviews with 15 rural streamers, employing data coding techniques to uncover underlying factors. Subsequently, in the quantitative phase, the authors analyze survey data from 282 rural streamers, subjecting hypotheses to validation through structural equation modeling.

The findings derived from the analysis of both interviews and questionnaires reveal that several platform qualities, including platform rural-aiding support, perceived effectiveness of dispute resolution, perceived interactivity and platform reputation, have a positive effect on trust in the platform and validate the extended valence framework in understanding rural streamers’ live streaming intention. In addition, ties with customers have a moderating effect. Specifically, the stronger the ties with customers, the stronger the positive effect of perceived benefits and the weaker the positive effect of trust in the platform on live streaming intention will be.

This study contributes to the rural live streaming commerce literature and trust research from the sellers’ perspective and provides practical implications for policymakers and live streaming platform managers on enhancing rural streamers’ participation.

Much prior literature has discussed bioethics from a Confucian perspective in biomedical research, but little has applied Confucianism in examining ethics in social and behavioral research involving human subjects. This paper aims to reexamine the Belmont principles in social and behavioral research from a Confucian perspective to discuss their applicability and limitations and propose implications for revising or extending them potentially in the future.

A comparison is conducted on bioethics and social and behavioral research ethics. Afterward, a critical analysis is conducted on the Belmont principles of respect for persons, beneficence and justice from a Confucian perspective regarding their application in social and behavioral research.

From a Confucian perspective, the Belmont principles are necessary but may not be sufficient to cover the width and depth of ethical issues in social and behavioral research, such as those in crowd work-based research. This paper proposes that ethical guidelines for social and behavioral research may need to be updated from the Belmont principles adopting or incorporating certain Confucian ethics.

Social and behavioral research ethics have been relatively marginal compared to the bioethics deliberation in the existing literature. Unlike Beauchamp and Childress’s continued efforts in refining ethical guidelines for biomedical research specifically, little similar work has been done in this area since the Belmont report’s publication in 1979. This paper sheds light on building more refined and specific ethical guidelines to navigate the ever-growing numbers and diversities of nonmedical research topics, methodologies and contexts.

Aluminum foam-filled thin-walled unit structures have received much attention for their excellent energy absorption properties. To improve the energy absorption effect of car energy absorption box under axial compression, this paper optimizes the fiber lay-up sequence, fiber angle and aluminum foam density of aluminum foam filled carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) thin-walled square tubes.

Design of sample points required to construct the proxy model using design of experiments (DOE) method, and the data sample points of different models are obtained through Abaqus simulation and test. A double high-precision proxy model with the maximum specific energy absorption (SEA) and the minimum initial peak crash force (PCF) as the evaluation index is constructed based on the response surface function method. The NSGA-II multi-objective genetic algorithm was used to optimize the design parameters and obtain the optimal solution for the Pareto front, and the results were verified by using the multi-objective optimization toolbox in design-expert.

The results show that the optimal solution to the multi-objective optimization problem with the inclusion of the lay-up sequence is ρ = 0.5g/cm3 for a fiber lay-up angle varying in the range ±15–90° and an aluminum foam density varying in the range 0.2g/cm3-0.5g/cm3, with a lay-up method of [±87°/±16°/±15°/±89°]. The two optimization methods correspond to SEA and PCF errors of 2.109% and 4.1828%, respectively. The optimized SEA value is 18.2 J/g and the PCF value is 18,230 N. The optimized design reduces the peak impact force and increases the specific energy absorption, which improves the energy absorption effect of thin-walled energy-absorbing boxes for automobiles.

In this paper, the impact resistance of CFRP thin-walled square tubes filled with aluminum foam is optimized. Based on numerical simulations and experiments to obtain the sample point data for constructing the dual-agent model, we investigate the effect of filling with different densities of aluminum foam under the simultaneous change of fiber lay-up angle and order on its mechanical properties in this process, and carry out the multi-objective optimization design with NSGA-II algorithm.