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In this study a survey with a questionnaire was used to track the learning situation and core competencies of students in electrical engineering and computer science at the University of Science and Technology. A determination of areas that need to be strengthened is used as a reference in the cultivation of core competency in higher education.

A total of 320 junior students in electrical engineering and computer science were surveyed and given questionnaires. A total of 219 valid questionnaires were collected for a paired sample t-test, to find and compare changes in core competencies of the group over a period of three years.

Higher education institutions are presently more inclined to competency-oriented education, training and learning. This establishes good relevant practices, enhances core competencies in students and improves their chances of satisfactory future employment. In this study it was found that the general core competencies of students were better than their professional core competencies, and the self-reported core competencies of freshman students were better than those of the junior students. The results showed that core competencies did not grow with the years. This result is most likely due to a gain of knowledge which makes them more able to understand their own shortcomings.

Most studies investigating the core competencies of higher education students are cross-sectional studies. This study follows students over a period of three years and provides the results of a longitudinal survey of a group of students' core competencies.

The purpose of this study is to develop the dictionary with grammar and multiword structure has to be used in conjunction with sentiment analysis to investigate the relationship between financial news and stock market volatility.

An algorithm has been developed for calculating the sentiment orientation and score of data with added information, and the results of calculation have been integrated to construct an empirical model for calculating stock market volatility.

The experimental results reveal a statistically significant relationship between financial news and stock market volatility. Moreover, positive (negative) news is found to be positively (negatively) correlated with positive stock returns, and the score of added information of the news is positively correlated with stock returns. Model verification and stock market volatility predictions are verified over four time periods (monthly, quarterly, semiannually and annually). The results show that the prediction accuracy of the models approaches 66% and stock market volatility with a particular trend-predicting effect in specific periods by using moving window evaluation.

Only one news source is used and the research period is only two years; thus, future studies should incorporate several data sources and use a longer period to conduct a more in-depth analysis.

Understanding trends in stock market volatility can decrease risk and increase profit from investment. Therefore, individuals or businesses can feasibly engage in investment activities for profit by understanding volatility trends in capital markets.

The ability to exploit textual information could potentially increase the quality of the data. Few scholars have applied sentiment analysis in investigating interdisciplinary topics that cover information management technology, accounting and finance. Furthermore, few studies have provided support for structured and unstructured data. In this paper, the efficiency of providing the algorithm, the model and the trend in stock market volatility has been demonstrated.

This study used the industry-oriented capstone course to increase the employability of electrical engineering and computer science (EECS) students in technological university.

In this study, EECS students were selected and divided into groups, and the non-equivalent pretest–posttest quasi-experimental research method was adopted.

Industry-oriented capstone courses can improve students' employability, especially general ability, behaviour and attitude.

The results of this study and many other studies show that capstone courses are helpful for the soft skills of students.

This study provides evidence that industry-oriented capstone courses can improve EECS students' employability.

Workplace bullying has become a major challenge across the globe as it is associated with negative outcomes. Therefore, this study was designed to assess the impact of workplace bullying on knowledge hiding through emotional exhaustion. The study further investigated the moderating role of workplace friendship to reduce the detrimental effect of workplace bullying on knowledge hiding.

The study collected data from 358 nurses working in three large cities (Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore) of Pakistan in two lags to tackle the issue of common method bias.

The study applied structural equation modeling with maximum likelihood method using AMOS to test the hypotheses. The study noted that workplace bullying elevates emotional exhaustion and knowledge hiding among nurses; whereas, workplace friendship was noted as an essential factor to control adverse effects of workplace bullying on knowledge hiding.

The study used a cross-section design that restricts causality. However, the findings of this study add to the conservation of resources theory by providing insights into the role of workplace friendship in reducing the relationship between workplace stressors (bullying) and negative behaviors (knowledge hiding). The study also suggests healthcare administration foster workplace friendship to cope with the negative outcomes of workplace bullying.

Drawing upon conservation of resources, this study explored the moderating role of workplace friendship between workplace bullying and knowledge hiding.

The purpose of this paper is to explore how far plans to “modernize” hospital management in China are converging toward a global model of new public management (NPM) or represent a distinctive pathway.

This paper draws on a systematic review of available secondary sources published in English and Chinese to describe both the nature and trajectory of hospital management reforms in China.

In China, while public hospital reforms bear many of the hallmarks of the NPM, they are distinctive in two key respects. First, the thrust of current reforms is to partially reverse, not extend, the trend toward marketization in order to strengthen the public orientation of public hospitals. Second is a marked gap between the rhetoric and reality of empowering managers and freeing them from political control.

This paper develops a framework for understanding the drivers and obstacles to hospital management reforms in China that is useful for managers, clinicians and policy makers.

In China, few authors have considered NPM reform in relation to healthcare. This paper contributes in better understanding current reforms taking place in China’s expanding healthcare sector and locates these within broader theoretical and policy debates.

There has been a growing concern about employee silence (ES) within an organization. ES is associated with low creativity and innovativeness, unethical organizational practices, avoidable errors and safety-related issues. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the mediating role of psychological insecurity (PI) in the relationship between leaders’ bullying behaviour (LBB) on defensive (DES) and acquiescent employee silence (AES).

Data were collected among police personnel working in Plateau state Nigeria. In all, a total of 350 responses were found useable for further analysis, of the 398 copies of the questionnaire administered. A structural equation modelling technique was used via SMART-PLS version 3.3.3 to test the hypothesized relationship.

The findings of this study revealed that leaders’ bullying positively and significantly influences both AES and DES, and PI was found to mediate the relationship between LBB and AES and DES.

LBB among the police has been under-researched, even when there is clear evidence of its existence. PI explains the mechanism through which LBB influences officers' silence.

Outlines the various ways of seeking or identifying good employees. Discusses how to prepare an effective job application and how to review a resume. Provides a structure for interviewing a candidate effectively with suggested questions to help the candidate display specific skills. Looks at the decision‐making process. Gives a checklist for the employer and emphasizes the importance of references.

User-centered product designs have been attracting increasing attention, particularly in digital design. In interacting with the design support system, designers may face problems such as changing demands (e.g. unclear demands) and insufficient descriptions of these demands (e.g. data scarcity). The purpose of this paper is to build a design support system prototype for demonstrating the feasibility of meeting the high involvement of users in digital products.

Interactive evolutionary computation is applied.

A prototype of self-design greeting card system (SDGCS) was proposed. It provides professional design layouts, offers users numerous self-design models, and allows nonprofessional users to easily design greeting cards. The results of this study show that users were satisfied with the functionality, usefulness, and ease-of-use of the SDGCS.

This study used digital card design as an example for demonstrating the feasibility of satisfying the unclear needs of uses, enabling users to design a digital card creatively and complete their designs quickly. However, the current system only supports the design of static objects and layout of card. And the evaluation sample size was small, which might affect generalizability of the findings.

In practice, greeting card web operators can image the feasible business models by providing the attraction of self-design functionalities.

In current human-centric marketing era, consumers have begun to request interaction with designers in creating the value of a product. However, very few previous studies have provided support for digital product self-design. This study demonstrated the feasibility of satisfying the needs of self-design.

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the underlying consumer values that drive hotel booking mobile app users to engage more with the app and use the app continuously for hotel booking purposes.

By conducting confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) on the data collected through the Qualtrics online survey platform from 506 respondents in the United States, the proposed measurements and structural models were tested.

The findings for both Generation Xers and Millennials revealed that hedonic and social values influenced mobile app engagement, which strongly influenced mobile app loyalty. Thus, to enhance customer engagement and indirectly influence mobile app loyalty, the app value delivery should appeal to social and hedonic values. Although the utilitarian values for using apps had a potential direct impact on mobile app loyalty, the mediation analysis showed that mobile app engagement, when connecting consumption values to mobile app loyalty, served as a full mediator for Generation Xers and a partial mediator for Millennials.

This study provides insights into how hotels and online travel agent (OTA) marketing managers may consider augmenting user engagement with hotel booking mobile apps. This study suggests that hoteliers and OTAs should further develop their user experience efforts to enhance the utilitarian features of their mobile app to increase revenue from repeat purchases. Additionally, this study provides implications for enhancing the hedonic and social features of hotel booking mobile apps to appeal to Millennials and Gen Xers.

This study developed and assessed an integrated model to investigate the relationships between consumption values, engagement and loyalty in hotel booking mobile apps. Furthermore, it examined generational cohorts' role in the relationships between these constructs.

There is limited empirical research on the internationalization processes, strategies and operations of Asian multinational enterprises (MNEs) from countries at different levels of development. This paper examines and analyzes the internationalization strategies and characteristics of Asian MNEs within the investment development path (IDP) perspective.

Primary data are drawn from matched case studies of emerging MNEs from Taiwan (a newly industrializing country) and Malaysia (a fast developing country) in the textile and electronics industries.

The internationalization strategies of our Taiwanese and Malaysian case firms were founded on cost‐based competencies and other location‐based advantages, brought together by an extensive web of ethnic networks. Differences between our Taiwanese and Malaysian case firms were found and discussed. In general, the Taiwanese firms were more internationalized (at stage 3 of IDP) than the Malaysian firms (stage 2). They had more developed and elaborate production networks and greater own design manufacturing/own brand manufacturing participation than the Malaysian firms.

The research did not capture the operational strategies at the level of the subsidiary or JV. The findings were exploratory and formed the basis for research propositions presented. As indicated there existed a wide empirical research gap on Asian as well as Taiwanese and Malaysian MNEs. These need to be filled to provide further evidence and answers to the issues raised in the paper. Other potential areas of research could include longitudinal studies of Asian MNEs to examine whether they will resemble Western MNEs as they evolve, the impact of ethnic networks on the performance of Asian MNEs of both Chinese and non‐Chinese origins, and the role of the state in internationalization strategies.

Few studies have been done on emerging market multinationals and their internationalisation strategies.

One important strategy Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) employ to compete in the global market is to engage in foreign investment, but firms must know how they can perform better in the host country market. International subsidiaries’ performances play a chief role for MNEs’ globalization strategy. The purpose of this paper is to construct multi-level research with parent-level data at the higher level and subsidiary-level data at the lower level.

This study helps capture the rapid growing trend in emerging markets and uses a sample of Taiwanese enterprises and their subsidiaries in China. The data come from the Taiwan Economic Journal database. Precisely, the authors obtain 711 Taiwanese MNEs and 4,458 of their subsidiaries in China.

This study finds among the parent company’s attributes that firm size, firm total performance, depth of internationalization and foreign shareholding have significant impacts on subsidiary performance, while within the subsidiary’s attributes, subsidiary size, subsidiary-owned capital and total investment fund significantly affect subsidiary performance.

In order to capture subsidiary performance, this study uses a multi-level analysis approach with the Hierarchical Linear Model statistic method to separate parent company attributes and subsidiary-owned attributes as two distinct levels. This method fills the gap in the literature by analyzing subsidiary performance and clarifying that foreign direct investment is a multi-level phenomenon that cannot be analyzed using a one-level analysis method.

The purpose of this paper is to prepare polypyrrolone nanofibres and investigate the effects of concentration of polypyrrolone precursor and voltage on polypyrrolone precursor nanofibres by electrospinning, in order to achieve ideal nanofibres.

Polypyrrolone nanofibres were prepared by polypyrrolone precursor electrospinning. Various fibres were made with different concentrations of polypyrrolone precursor and different voltages. Morphology of fibres was characterised by scanning electron microscopy to study the effect of different preparation conditions on morphology of fibres.

A method of preparation of polypyrrolone nanofibres with the polypyrrolone precursor by electrospinning was introduced which had not been reported. The effects of concentration of polypyrrolone precursor and voltage on the morphology of the nanofibres were studied. It was found that the concentration of polypyrrolone precursor was the major factor and the voltage also affected the distribution and dimension of polypyrrolone fibres to an extent.

Polypyrrolone nanofibres provided potential applications in solar cells and field‐effect transistors.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, there is no literature on the preparation of polypyrrolone nanofibres by electrospinning. Herein the preparation of polypyrrolone nanofibres by electrospinning is first reported. The polypyrrolone nanofibres might be used in solar cell, non‐linear optics, conducting and semi‐conducting materials.

Although location-based augmented reality (AR) games are popular in recent years, the motivation of in-app purchases still needs further investigation. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the antecedents of the intention to make a purchase in location-based AR games.

This research develops a conceptual model and hypotheses based on the theory of perceived values and satisfaction to investigate the antecedents. An online questionnaire was developed and distributed on popular websites to collect data, and 662 usable responses were collected from the players of Pokémon Go in Taiwan.

In total, 22 hypotheses were validated by using partial least squares techniques. Among the antecedents of in-app purchases intention in the model, the perceived value and satisfaction were found to have strong direct effects. The antecedents of the perceived value (flow, design aesthetic, social self-expression and good price) have direct influences on the perceived value of all players. Design aesthetic, reward and the perceived value were found to have a direct impact on all players’ satisfaction. Moreover, the differences between paying users and non-paying users were discussed and verified.

The model demonstrated relatively good explanatory power for purchase intention in the context of location-based AR game. The proposed model can provide insights to location-based AR game developers to design their games and marketing strategies.

The authors consider the quasi maximum likelihood (MLE) estimation of dynamic panel models with interactive effects based on the Ahn et al. (2001, 2013) quasi-differencing methods to remove the interactive effects. The authors show that the quasi-difference MLE (QDMLE) over time is inconsistent when N→∞ whether T is fixed or goes to infinity. On the other hand, the QDMLE is consistent and asymptotically unbiased if the difference is taken over individuals when T is large whether N is fixed or large. Monte Carlo studies are conducted to compare the performance of the QDMLE using different quasi-difference methods.

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.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of the public pension governance practices on the public defined benefit pension (DBP) fund performance.

To provide a holistic evaluation of public DBP performance, this study first employs the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) approach to construct a relative performance measure that simultaneously takes into account the association between investment inputs and performance outputs across DBPs in our sample. A DEA regression model is then constructed to empirically examine the impact of pension governance on public DBP performance.

Using 1,544 hand-collected observations in the USA from 2002 to 2013, the findings show that the public DBP plans with a small board, appointed board trustees, and a separate investment council exhibit better performance.

The effectiveness of pension governance has increasingly drawn public attention, as it affects the performance of the public DBP plans that especially matter to public employees. The empirical findings of this research offer insights into recent calls to reexamine public DBP management practices and to carry out related public pension fund policy reforms.

The examination of public DBP governance practices in this study enriches the governance literature, particularly research on public pension funds, by using public sector data. Second, by applying the DEA method to evaluate the relative performance of public DBP funds, this study obtains a more comprehensive analysis of the public pension governance.

The choice of accounting methods is critical in measuring the performance and sustainability of a public defined benefit pension (DBP) plan, and such measurement has an impact on the effectiveness of the entire pension system. Prior literature rarely discusses the choice and rationale of the accounting assumptions for public DBP plans. This study fills the gap by investigating whether crucial plan characteristics, including operational performance, financial health, sponsor fiscal stress, and audit quality, are associated with the accounting assumptions of public DBP plans.

The sample includes 1,170 plan-years from the intersection of the Center for Retirement Research and public DBPs' annual financial reports for the years 2001–2013. This study develops regression models to examine the relationship between the characteristics of public DBP practices and DBP accounting choices.

The empirical results show that the public DBPs that have better investment performance, higher funding status, less fiscal stress, and that are audited by Big 4 accounting firms are more likely to adopt conservative accounting choices.

The study documents the impact of crucial pension plan characteristics on public DBP managers' accounting choices, which were not extensively discussed in pension literature. The findings help us understand the rationale for employing different accounting treatments in the context of public pension fund practices. In addition, the study sheds light on policy implications for the future reform of public pension regulations.

Despite the important role of distrust in predicting the intention to use, existing literature has not studied the impact of distrust on the buyer’s integration with suppliers and their e-procurement usage in the B2B context, creating major gaps in the e-procurement theory. The purpose of this paper is to fill the gaps in the literature by examining the role and impact of distrust in the e-procurement context.

Data were collected through a web-based survey of purchasing professionals in the USA. ANOVA was used to compare the level of distrust among companies. In addition, the measurement model and hypotheses were tested using the structural equation modeling method.

Empirical findings indicate if buyers have uncertainty or negative expectation on the reliability and capability of the supplier in e-procurement systems, they would tend to hesitate to use e-procurement for purchasing. Furthermore, distrust also inhibits buyers from strengthening the supplier integration through sharing operational and logistics information and collaborating in new product development and purchasing process.

This paper discovers the vital role of distrust in the e-procurement context. Distrust has a significant impact on a company’s cooperation and commitment with business partners. Additionally, to improve the supplier integration, it is important not only to use e-procurement applications but also to have a mechanism to lower the buyers’ distrust level in e-procurement systems.

Realizing the important role of distrust, e-procurement vendors could improve the supplier selection process by allowing buyers to review the supplier’s reliability and capability, and to interact with the supplier before making any online purchase. Vendors could also build a better supplier verification system and collaborative mechanism to reduce buyers’ distrust issues.

Despite the important role of distrust in predicting the intention to use, existing literature has not studied the impact of distrust on the buyer’s integration with suppliers and their e-procurement usage in the B2B context, creating major gaps in the e-procurement theory. This paper fills the gaps in the literature by examining the role and impact of distrust in the e-procurement context.

Based on the perspectives of social capital, image motivation and motivation affordances, this paper explores the direct and moderation effects of different kinds of motivations (i.e. relationship-based motivation, community-based motivation and individual-based motivation) on users' continuous knowledge contributions in social question and answer (Q&A) communities.

The authors collect the panel data of 10,193 users from a popular social Q&A community in China. Then, a negative binomial regression model is adopted to analyze the collected data.

The paper demonstrates that social learning, peer recognition and knowledge seeking positively affect users' continuous contribution behaviors. However, the results also show that social exposure has the opposite effect. In addition, self-presentation is found to moderate the influence of social factors on users' continuous use behaviors, while the moderation effect of motivation affordances has no significance.

First, this study develops a comprehensive motivation framework that helps gain deeper insights into the underlying mechanism of knowledge contribution in social Q&A communities. Second, this study conducts panel data analysis to capture the impacts of motivations over time, rather than intentions at a fixed time point. Third, the findings can help operators of social Q&A communities to optimize community norms and incentive mechanisms.

This paper aims to present the development of an electrospinning-based rapid prototyping (ESRP) technique for the fabrication of patterned scaffolds from fine fiber.

This ESRP technique unifies rapid prototyping (RP) and electrospinning to obtain the ability of RP to create a controllable pattern and of electrospinning to create a continuous fine fiber. The technique follows RP process of fused deposition modeling, but instead of using extrusion process for fiber creation, electrospinning is applied to generate a continuous fiber from a liquid solution. A machine prototype has been constructed and used in the experiments to evaluate the technique.

Three different lay-down patterns: 0°/90°, 45°/135° and 45° twists were used in the experiments. According to the experimental results, stacks of patterned layers could be created with the ESRP technique, and the fabrication process was repeatable and reproducible. However, the existing machine vibration influenced the fiber size and the ability to control straightness and gap size. Also, incomplete solidification of the fibers prior to being deposited obstructed the control of layer thickness. Improvement on vibration suppression and fiber solidification will strengthen the capability of this ESRP technique.

This research is currently limited to the introduction of the ESRP technique, to the development of the machine prototype, to the demonstration of its capability and to the evaluation of the structural properties of the fabricated patterned scaffolds. Further studies are required for better control of the patterned scaffolds and for investigation of mechanical and biological properties.

This unification of the two processes allows not only the fabrication of controllable patterned scaffolds but also the fabrication of both woven and non-woven layers of fibers to be done on one machine.

The use of three-dimensional virtual worlds (3DVWs) is increasingly becoming a common practice in language education to provide digital learning environments for second-language (L2) communicative classes. This study aimed to identify the key factors underlying communication in 3DVWs that can improve the communication skills of L2 learners.

To achieve this, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted to validate the identified factors affecting communication in 3DVWs. A self-reported questionnaire with 47 items on a five-point Likert scale was administered to 513 pre-service teachers, teachers and lecturers in the field of language education.

The results of the EFA revealed four factors that contribute to communication in 3DVWs, namely learner motivation, interaction pattern, language development and learner autonomy. CFA results provided support for the updated model, with statistically significant Chi-square results (χ² (df = 83) = 181.049, p < 0.001) indicating a good fit between the model and the data.

The findings suggest that the four EFA-derived parameters are valid and can assist instructional designers and L2 instructors in creating 3DVWs that enhance L2 learners' communication abilities. This study provides valuable insights for educators, instructional designers and researchers in the field of language education and technology-enhanced learning.

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 elicits the critical attributes, consequences and values associated with the purchasing process in the context of cross-border e-commerce (CBEC). The purpose is to provide a better understanding of the fundamental factors that determine consumer values in CBEC.

The study applies the means-end-chain theory and soft-laddering techniques to interview 60 CBEC consumers to construct an implication matrix and a hierarchical value map (HVM) of the consumer purchasing process, consisting of attribute-consequence-value (A-C-V) paths.

By analyzing the significant linkages, elements, ladders and chains in the HVM, four dominant A-C-V paths were identified: economic-driven, efficiency-driven, progress-driven and quality-driven paths.

This study included only Chinese CBEC buyers. This limitation might affect the generalizability of the conclusions as culture, purchase habits and economic development differ between China and other countries.

The results of this study provide CBEC practitioners an understanding of the consumer purchasing process and how consumer values are associated with platform characteristics. Thus, the results aid practitioners in allocating resources and developing CBEC platforms in an appropriate manner and direction.

This study sheds lights on the emerging phenomenon of CBEC. By applying the means-end-chain approach, the study provides a comprehensive HVM for interpreting the consumer online purchasing process in this novel context. By illustrating the dominant paths, this research provides deeper theoretical insights into the specific focuses of CBEC consumer purchasing.

Applying a computable general equilibrium model to assess the impact of tariffs between the US and China, Taiwan stands to gain from trade diversion of the trade war between the two largest world economies in the short term.

Initially, Taiwan suffered a minor loss from the sector-specific tariff on steel and aluminum imposed by the US. However, its loss is mitigated after counting counter measures from foreign countries. The cumulated US tariffs and China's retaliations led to trade diversion effect. Taiwan's initial loss from the steel and aluminum tariffs was over compensated by a series of trade war between the US and China.

Under the scenario of the cumulated tariffs of $250 billion of US imports and China's retaliations of $110 billion on US goods, the social welfare, exports, import and trade balance in Taiwan increased. Its terms of trade improved as well. Real wage increases slightly more for unskilled labor than for skilled labor. The short-term effect of the trade war has positive effect on all macro indicators of Taiwan's economy.

On sectoral shift, Taiwan's export will gain the most in precision engineering products ($2,941.6 million), followed by electronics ($310.7 million) and agricultural products ($31.3 million). The negative effects are in sectors such as business services ($58.323 million), other services ($46.9 million), transportation service ($36.6 million), trade service ($25.3 million), and finance service ($24.5 million). Taiwan's total imports will increase by 0.59%, whereas its total export will increase by 0.33%. However, total trade balance still increases by $451.1 million.

The study also finds that Taiwan has a high degree of overlapping export commodities with China in the US market, much higher than most major trading partners for the US, yet its market share for those products in the US is ranged from 1% to 5% only. Moreover, more than 60% of Taiwan's export to the US is in intermediate goods which have less product differentiation than those in final consumption goods. These two factors will provide an opportunity for Taiwan to exploit the US market.

Though the short-term effect of trade war is positive, Taiwan needs to have a long-range planning amid the external shocks. Policy implications for Taiwan are to map out a cosmopolitan view of its geo-strategy by diversifying outward foreign direct investment and trade destinations. It needs to reduce the “systemic risk” of relying on single market in China which is vulnerable to the uncertainty in the US–China relations. If the trade war lasts too long, Taiwan would need to reevaluate its triangular trade-investment nexus with China and the US as well as its role in the global supply chain.

Retailers are increasingly using self-service technologies to improve customer experience and reduce costs. The purpose of this study is to identify factors that could explain the level of continuance intention of mobile self-scanning applications in retail. Based on previous theoretical streams, the present study integrates technology readiness (TR) and service quality into the technology acceptance model.

Using data collected through an online survey of 217 users of a mobile self-scanning application of a large supermarket chain operating in Portugal, the study uses partial least squares structural equation modeling to test the proposed hypotheses.

The results indicate that the continuance usage of the self-scanning apps is directly driven by users' satisfaction and perceived usefulness. Findings also show that TR has a positive and significant impact on ease of use and perceived usefulness. Ease of use has a positive impact on users' satisfaction and perceived usefulness but has no direct effect on the continuance intention to use the application. Perceived quality has a positive direct effect on satisfaction and a positive indirect effect on continuance intention. Finally, need for interaction has a negative effect on TR.

This work contributes to a better understanding of the emerging market for mobile self-scanning applications in retail applications, particularly relevant in a digital transition context.

This study aims to illuminate Turkish gen Z players’ intention to make in-game purchases based on stimulus–organism–response (SOR) model and uncover the distinctive role of gender.

Six hundred and ninety-six young players were included in the research who are aged 12 to 29 in Istanbul, Türkiye. Measurement validity was checked via principal component and confirmatory factor analysis. Structural model testing, mediation and multigroup analysis were conducted to test relationships among latent constructs.

The study revealed enjoyment, perceived attractiveness and economic value were positively associated with gamer satisfaction, though connectedness was not. In addition, gamer satisfaction positively affected loyalty and loyalty predicted in-game purchase intention. On the other hand, the magnitude of enjoyment-gamer satisfaction path was greater in female players than in males. However, the effect sizes of perceived attractiveness and economic value on gamer satisfaction were larger in males than in females.

The research focuses on freemium game context, the sample of Istanbul province in Turkey, and gen Z (12 to 29) players constituting the limitations.

Mobile game producers should consider that enjoyment is more substantial for female players to increase in-game revenue. Hence, perceived attractiveness and economic value may be improved for male players. They could also balance the gaming experience by providing social connectivity and isolation.

It is the initial attempt to unveil Turkish young mobile players’ behavioral tendency toward paid in-game extensions. On the other hand, gender difference is a salient matter unnoticed by other investigations that the strength of stimulus varies from players’ gender discovered by the research.

Providing that branded applications (apps) became a new trend in mobile marketing, the purpose of this study, thus, is to explore how to promote app users’ continuance intention and purchase intention (i.e. “app continuance”) toward a specific branded app.

By integrating both goods-dominant logic (GDL) and service-dominant logic (SDL), this study uses a unifying model to examine whether perceived usefulness and task-service fit (TSF) have different effects on the two parts of app continuance. This study identifies task characteristic and four service characteristics (interactivity, presence, localization and ubiquity) as antecedents of TSF. Furthermore, psychological barriers are examined as mediators of TSF and purchase intention within SDL. Data collected from 631 users of the targeted branded apps support all of the proposed hypotheses.

The findings show that besides perceived usefulness, TSF is an essential determinant of both app continuance in the context of branded apps and a partial mediator of psychological barriers between TSF and purchase intention.

Unlike prior studies, which have focused on traditional GDL to examine continuance intention, this study incorporates SDL and the notion of psychological barriers to explore such matters. The evidence concerning the significantly higher explanatory power of the full model suggests that a deeper understanding of the antecedents of app continuance is possible when the alternative view is taken into consideration, thus providing a promising avenue for future research.

This study investigates the association between interim audits and final audits. The authors focus on whether interim audits affect the audit time lag and the risk of restatement associated with final audits.

Two regression models are established to empirically test if an interim audit helps to reduce the audit time lag and the restatement risk on annual reports based on a sample of Chinese listed firms.

The authors find that performing interim audits helps to reduce the audit time lag. This result suggests that final audits can be completed more efficiently when interim audits are performed during the same period. The authors also find that the decision to audit interim reports is associated with a lower risk of restating annual reports. The lower risk of restatement in turn suggests more effective final audit results.

Together, the results from this study demonstrate that interim audits could benefit final audits, which highlight the value and importance of the continuous auditing.

The purpose of this study is to propose a research model based on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model to test whether network externality, gamification and media richness as environmental feature antecedents to learners' learning engagement (LE) can affect their continuance intention of massive open online courses (MOOCs).

Sample data for this study were collected from learners who had experience in taking the gamified MOOCs provided by the MOOC platform launched by a well-known university in Taiwan, and 315 usable questionnaires were analyzed using structural equation modeling in this study.

This study verified that learners' perceived network externality, gamification and media richness in MOOCs positively influenced their behavioral LE, emotional LE and social LE elicited by MOOCs, which collectively caused their continuance intention of MOOCs. The results support all proposed hypotheses, and the research model accounts for 75.6% of the variance in learners' continuance intention of MOOCs.

This study uses the S-O-R model as a theoretical groundwork to construct learners' continuance intention of MOOCs as a series of the internal process, which is influenced by network externality, gamification and media richness. Noteworthily, three psychological constructs, behavioral LE, emotional LE and social LE, are employed to represent learners' organisms of MOOCs usage. To date, the concepts of network externality, gamification and media richness are rarely together adopted as environmental stimuli, and psychological constructs as organisms have received lesser attention in prior MOOCs studies using the S-O-R model. Hence, this study's contribution on the application of capturing psychological constructs for completely expounding three types of environmental features as antecedents to learners' continuance intention of MOOCs is well documented.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influencing factors of new logistics service product design (NLSPD) in China to establish a theoretical framework for the future development of the logistics industry.

The paper adopts the multi-case study method based on a sample of four Chinese logistics enterprises, in which the authors consider the logistics service maturity (LSM), a distinct characteristic of logistics enterprises.

NLSPD is directly related to the degree of supply–demand matching (SDM) and LSM. Customer demand, service capability and peer competition influence the performance of NLSPD through the SDM degree, whereas LSM moderates these influencing mechanisms. Moreover, the degree of SDM has a positive impact on LSM.

The findings can help the managers of logistics enterprises and practitioners in the logistics industry understand the complexity of NLSPD. First, they should broaden and deepen their service offering to enhance the degree of LSM. Second, they should pay attention to the factors that affect SDM systematically. Finally, it is vital to balance the relationship between LSM and SDM.

NLSPD has become an important tool affecting the competitiveness and sustainability of logistics service enterprises. This is the first paper to propose a theoretical framework for NLSPD that considers the characteristic of the logistics industry. It clarifies the mechanisms of influencing factors, and contributes to the literature by filling the research gap.

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.

The purpose of this study is to propose a research model based on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model to explore whether media richness and social interaction as environmental feature antecedents to nurses’ learning engagement (LE) can affect their continuance intention of massive open online courses (MOOCs) and task performance.

Sample data for this study were collected from nurses at five university-/medical university-affiliated hospitals in Taiwan. A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed, and 303 (60.6%) usable questionnaires were analyzed using structural equation modeling in this study.

This study proved that nurses’ perceived media richness and social interaction in MOOCs positively influenced their behavioral LE and psychological LE elicited by MOOCs, which jointly caused their continuance intention of MOOCs and, in turn, enhance their task performance. The results support all proposed hypotheses and the research model, respectively, explains 84.3% and 63.7% of the variance in nurses’ continuance intention of MOOCs and task performance.

This study uses the S-O-R model as a theoretical base to frame nurses’ continuance intention of MOOCs and task performance as a series of the internal process, which is affected by environmental stimuli (i.e. media richness and social interaction) and organismic states. Noteworthily, while the S-O-R model has been extensively used in prior literature, little research uses this paradigm to expound nurses’ continuance intention of MOOCs in the work settings. Besides, there is a dearth of evidence on the antecedents of nurses’ task performance in the context of MOOCs. Hence, this study’s empirical evidence contributes significantly to the existing literature on bridging the gap of limited evaluation for the research on the impact of nurses’ MOOCs learning on their task performance in the work settings, which is very scarce in the S-O-R view.

The purpose of this paper is to examine an integrated model of factors affecting attitudes toward online shopping in Jordan. The paper introduces an integrated model of the roles of perceived website reputation, relative advantage, perceived website image, and trust that affect attitudes toward online shopping.

A structured and self-administered online survey was employed targeting online shoppers of a reputable online retailer in Jordan; MarkaVIP. A sample of 273 of online shoppers was involved in the online survey. A series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to assess the research constructs, unidimensionality, validity, and composite reliability (CR). Structural path model analysis was also used to test the proposed research model and hypotheses.

The empirical findings of this study indicate that perceived website reputation, relative advantage, perceived website image, and trust have directly and indirectly affected consumers’ attitudes toward online shopping. Online consumers’ shopping attitudes are mainly affected by perceived relative advantage and trust. Trust is a product of relative advantage and that the later is a function of perceived website reputation. Relative advantage and perceived website reputation are key predictors of perceived website image. Perceived website image was found to be a direct predictor of trust. Also, the authors found that 26 percent of variation in online shopping attitudes was directly caused by relative advantage, trust, and perceived website image.

The research examined online consumers’ attitudes toward one website only therefore the generalizability of the research finding is limited to the local Jordanian website; MarkaVIP. Future research is encouraged to conduct comparative studies between local websites and international ones, e.g., Amazon and e-bay in order to shed lights on consumers’ attitudes toward both websites. The findings are limited to online shoppers in Jordan. A fruitful area of research is to conduct a comparative analysis between online and offline attitudes toward online shopping behavior. Also, replications of the current study’s model in different countries would most likely strengthen and validate its findings. The design of the study is quantitative using an online survey to measure online consumers’ attitudes through a cross-sectional design. Future research is encouraged to use qualitative research design and methodology to provide a deeper understanding of consumers’ attitudes and behaviors toward online and offline shopping in Jordan and elsewhere.

The paper supports the importance of perceived website reputation, relative advantage, trust, and perceived web image as keys drivers of attitudes toward online shopping. It further underlines the importance of relative advantage and trust as major contributors to building positive attitudes toward online shopping. In developing countries (e.g. Jordan) where individuals are generally described as risk averse, the level of trust is critical in determining the attitude of individuals toward online shopping. Moreover and given the modest economic situation in Jordan, relative advantage is another significant factor affecting consumers’ attitudes toward online shopping. Indeed, if online shopping would not add a significant value and benefits to consumers, they would have negative attitude toward this technology. This is at the heart of marketing theory and relationship marketing practice. Further, relative advantage is a key predictor of both perceived website image and trust and the later is a major driver of attitudes toward online shopping. Online retailers’ executives and managers can benefit from such findings for future e-marketing strategies and retaining customers to achieve long-term performance objectives.

This paper is one of the early empirical endeavors that examined factors affecting attitudes toward online shopping in Jordan. This study provides evidence on the factors that determine online shoppers’ attitudes as an antecedent to consumers purchase decisions. From a theoretical perspective, this study contributes to the existing body of knowledge by revealing the sort of cause and effect relationships among relative advantage, perceived website reputation, perceived website image, in addition to trust, and their effect on consumers’ attitudes toward online shopping. Moreover, this paper is one of handful research that has distinguished between perceived website image and perceived website reputation along with their relationships and more specifically in the context of online shopping. From an international e-marketing perspective, online retailers planning to expand their operations to include Jordan or the MENA Region have now valuable empirical evidence concerning the predictors of online shopping attitudes and online shoppers’ behavior upon which e-marketing strategies are formulated and implemented.

The effects of country-of-origin (COO) cues on product evaluations are well documented. However, research on the relative effects of COO compared to other geographical indicators, such as region-of-origin (ROO), on food purchases is still limited. This study investigates how geographical origin labels influence consumers' perceptions of product value and authenticity of foreign food, as well as subsequent purchase intention (PI) and willingness to pay premium prices (WTPPP). The moderating role of health consciousness on these relationships is also examined due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

This study uses a between-subjects experimental design conducted with 300 middle- and high-income Chinese consumers aged between 25 and 50 years. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling.

Whilst under both COO and ROO cues, all five product values positively influenced consumers' WTPPP, only functional, economic and novelty values influenced PI. The ROO cue performed significantly better than the COO cue in eliciting functional, economic and novelty value perceptions, which triggered stronger PI and willingness to pay a premium price. These relationships were mediated by product authenticity (PA) and moderated by consumers' health consciousness (HC).

Because food labels provide salient product information that facilitates consumers' evaluation of products, marketers should assess which product value perceptions they wish to enhance and then choose the appropriate geographical indicators for their labelling strategies.

This study identifies the effects of COO and ROO cues on product values, authenticity, PI and WTPPP. It also provides valuable insights into the role of HC on consumers' purchase decisions, which also aids in understanding the impact of global crises on food purchases.

Virtual goods consumption has risen dramatically in recent years. Recognizing the benefits of virtual goods in generating revenue for online game companies, marketers strive to understand the motives behind virtual goods purchases. We investigated the direct and indirect effects of functional, emotional, and social values through player satisfaction on purchase intention toward virtual goods among online players.

In total, we surveyed 332 online game players utilizing a structured questionnaire. We employed a multi-analytic approach combining partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and necessary condition analysis (NCA) to examine the proposed relationships.

The findings show that all dimensions of value and player satisfaction significantly affect the intention to acquire virtual goods. However, social value does not exert a significant effect on player satisfaction. Moreover, we confirmed that player satisfaction mediates the relationships between functional value, emotional value, and purchase intention. Furthermore, NCA results indicated that all predictors in the model are necessary conditions of purchase intention for virtual goods.

These findings contribute to an enhanced understanding of purchase intentions among online game players from a symmetric (PLS-SEM) and asymmetric (NCA) perspective by proposing a multi-analytic approach.

The purpose of this study is to propose a research model based on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model to examine whether media richness (MR), human-system interaction (HSI) and human-human interaction (HHI) as technological feature antecedents to medical professionals’ learning engagement (LE) can affect their learning persistence (LP) in massive open online courses (MOOCs).

Sample data for this study were collected from medical professionals at six university-/medical university-affiliated hospitals in Taiwan. A total of 600 questionnaires were distributed, and 309 (51.5%) usable questionnaires were analyzed using structural equation modeling in this study.

This study certified that medical professionals’ perceived MR, HSI and HHI in MOOCs positively affected their emotional LE, cognitive LE and social LE elicited by MOOCs, which together explained their LP in MOOCs. The results support all proposed hypotheses and the research model accounts for 84.1% of the variance in medical professionals’ LP in MOOCs.

This study uses the S-O-R model as a theoretical base to construct medical professionals’ LP in MOOCs as a series of the psychological process, which is affected by MR and interaction (i.e. HSI and HHI). Noteworthily, three psychological constructs, emotional LE, cognitive LE and social LE, are adopted to represent medical professionals’ organisms of MOOCs adoption. To date, hedonic/utilitarian concepts are more commonly adopted as organisms in prior studies using the S-O-R model and psychological constructs have received lesser attention. Hence, this study enriches the S-O-R model into an invaluable context, and this study’s contribution on the application of capturing psychological constructs for completely explaining three types of technological features as external stimuli to medical professionals’ LP in MOOCs is well-documented.

The aim of this study is to explore, identify and understand the impact of technology affordance in the context of social networking sites (SNSs). Moreover, this study incorporates user experience as a moderator, in order to explore behavioral differences between veterans (high-experience users) and newbies (low-experience users).

A research model was developed to examine the influences of three technology affordances: interactivity, information and navigation on user satisfaction and SNS stickiness. Totally 266 data were collected from a famous college in China using an online survey, and structural equation modeling technique was used to examine the proposed research model.

The empirical research findings indicated that the three technology affordance attributes exhibited different degrees of influence on user satisfaction, which in turn facilitated SNS stickiness. Particularly, high-experience users were more likely influenced by interactivity and information affordances, while low-experience users are more susceptible to navigation affordance.

This study can provide guidelines to the platform administrators to design SNSs from the aspects of interactivity, information and navigation attributes and pay attention to the preference differences between high-experience users and low-experience users.

This study uncovers the significant antecedents of SNS stickiness from a technology affordance lens and reveals the moderating effect of user experience on the relationship between three technology affordance attributes and satisfaction.

To improve the effectiveness of online reviews in the cultural industries, the purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of online cultural reviews of professional and consumer commentators on consumer responses toward elite and mass cultural offerings by drawing upon associative learning theory and social influence theory.

This study used a 2 (cultural offerings: elite vs mass)×2 (commentators: professional vs consumer) between-participants factorial design to examine the proposed hypotheses. A total of 195 participants were randomly assigned to one of four experimental cells.

The ANOVA results indicate that the credibility of online cultural reviews is significantly higher for professional commentators than for consumer commentators across both elite and mass cultural offerings. Furthermore, the results confirm that there is a significant cultural offering type by commentator interaction on a consumer's offering evaluation, overall attitude, and behavioral intention.

This study provides strong support for the congruence between cultural commentators and cultural offerings in online cultural reviews. The findings can also effectively explain the weak correlation between professional judgments and popular appeal.

For better effectiveness of online cultural reviews, the findings recommend cultural marketers that the use of professional commentators is effective for elite cultural offerings, whereas the use of consumer commentators is effective for mass cultural offerings.

This study proposes a useful dichotomy to classify cultural offerings as elite and mass. Meanwhile, this study is one of the first to examine the congruence between cultural offerings and cultural commentators in online reviews.

The Old Farmer Pension Program (OFPP) represents Taiwan’s long-standing efforts aiming at improving farm household income and well-being; however, how effective the pension program is in terms of achieving the policy agenda has remained unclear. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Based on data drawn from the Survey of Family Income and Expenditure during 1999–2013, two identification strategies are used to examine the effect of OFPP. First the authors apply the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition to address the concern if the program reaches the socially/economically disadvantaged farm households. The second identification strategy involves using the static and dynamic decomposition approaches to identify the major factors contributing to farm household income inequality and the redistribution role of the OFPP.

Results from the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition indicate that about 60 percent of the income gap can be eliminated if the pension recipients’ socio-economic characteristics are the same as the non-recipient group, suggesting it is the disadvantaged group that receives the old farmer pension. Moreover, the results suggest the significant contributions of household investments in health and human capital as well as diversification toward nonfarm activities, to income inequality among Taiwan’s farm households. Results from the dynamic decomposition suggest that the first-wave adjustment of the OFPP enlarges farm household income inequality, the following two waves of adjustment, however, plays an equalizing role.

This study adds to the literature by providing a methodological refinement promoting the view that it calls for the use of the dynamic (change) decomposition framework to investigate the inequality-enlarging or inequality-equalizing role each income determinant plays.

This research investigates the impact of learners' non-substantive responses in online course forums, referred to as online listening responses, on e-learning performance. A common type of response in online course forums, online listening responses consist of brief, non-substantive replies/comments (e.g. “agree,” “I see,” “thank you,” “me too”) and non-textual inputs (e.g. post-voting, emoticons) in online discussions. Extant literature on online forum participation focuses on learners' active participation with substantive inputs and overlooks online listening responses. This research, by contrast, stresses the value of online listening responses in e-learning and their heterogeneous effects across learner characteristics. It calls for recognition and encouragement from online instructors and online forum designers to support this activity.

The large-scale proprietary dataset comes from a leading MOOC (massive open online courses) platform in China. The dataset includes 68,126 records of learners in five MOOCs during 2014–2018. An ordinary least squares model is used to analyze the data and test the hypotheses.

Online listening responses in course forums, along with learners' substantive inputs, positively influence learner performance in online courses. The effects are heterogeneous across learner characteristics, being more prominent for early course registrants, learners with full-time jobs and learners with more e-learning experience, but weaker for female learners.

This research distinguishes learners' brief, non-substantive responses (online listening responses) and substantive inputs (online speaking) as two types of active participation in online forums and provides empirical evidence for the importance of online listening responses in e-learning. It contributes to online forum research by advancing the active-passive dichotomy of online forum participation to a nuanced classification of learner behaviors. It also adds to e-learning research by generating insights into the positive and heterogeneous value of learners' online listening responses to e-learning outcomes. Finally, it enriches online listening research by introducing and examining online listening responses, thereby providing a new avenue to probe online discussions and e-learning performance.

The overarching goal of the study was to formulate an integrated research model to empirically demonstrate the complex interplay between heuristics, project characteristics, information system usage quality, empathy, and mindfulness in predicting users'/donors' donation behaviour and well-being in the context of donation-based crowdfunding (DBC) mobile apps.

The data were collected from 786 respondents and analysed using the multi-stage SEM-ANN-NCA (Structural equation modelling-artificial neural network-necessary condition analysis) method.

Increased perceived aesthetics, narrative structure, self-referencing, project popularity, project content quality, and initiator reputation would foster empathy. Empathy and mindfulness lead to donation behaviour, and, ultimately emotional well-being.

This study offers a clear framework by ranking the key contextual predictors and assessing the model’s necessity logic to facilitate crowdfunders' donation behaviour and well-being on DBC platforms. This research provides practical insights for bank marketers and further aids financial service providers in formulating an optimal DBC mobile app strategy.

This study intends to (1) systematically review methodological, theoretical and empirical aspects of dynamic capabilities (DCs) research in international marketing; (2) identify problematic areas and gaps in the reviewed literature and (c) provide directions to address problematic aspects and fill the gaps in future research.

The study applies a systematic literature review methodology and covers 97 articles published between 2001 and 2022 in peer-reviewed journals ranked 2, 3, 4 and 4* in the Academic Journal Guide 2021.

The content analysis shows that (1) methodologically, the literature is dominated by single-country studies conducted mostly in Asia and Europe on a cross-section of industries, mostly adopting survey-based approaches with a cross-sectional time emphasis; (2) theoretically, dynamic capabilities view is mainly accompanied by resource-based view, followed by institutional-, organizational learning- and internationalization theories; and (3) according to the nomological network, DCs are predicted by firm-characteristics, factors related to networks/relationship/partnerships and managerial characteristics, while they act as predictors of performance-related, strategy-related and operational change and renewal-specific outcomes. Several problematic aspects and gaps for each part of the review are diagnosed.

The authors provide a comprehensive assessment of current knowledge on methodological, theoretical and empirical aspects of the relevant literature, map a nomological network of variables surrounding DCs in international marketing research and offer future research directions capitalizing on the problems and gaps identified in the review.

Many video sharing sites (e.g. YouTube, Vimeo, and Break) host user-generated video content in the hopes of attracting viewers and thus profits. Therefore, continuous use and video sharing behavior on the part of site users is critical to the continue enjoyment of other users and to the video service providers business. The purpose of this paper is to provide an improved understanding of what motivates internet users to share videos and spend more time on video sharing web sites.

The authors propose a research model based on Uses and Gratification Theory and on Social Cognitive Theory, incorporating key determinants of web site stickiness. An online survey instrument was developed to gather data, and 265 questionnaires were used to test the relationships in the model.

The causal model was validated using SmartPLS 2.0, and 14 out of 18 study hypotheses were supported. The results indicated that continuance motivation and sharing behavior were important antecedents of YouTube stickiness and mediated the influence of need, personal, and environmental factors.

The proposed framework can be used by online video service providers to develop a platform that satisfies user needs and to enhance sharing intention.

The study provides a comprehensive framework of the antecedents and effects of continuance motivation and sharing behavior on video sharing web sites.

The latest mobile technology may shape consumers' motivations by allowing them to order a variety of foods using smartphone apps. Following the stimulus–organism–response (SOR) framework and using a mixed methods approach, this study investigates the impacts of different components of mobile dining on customers' perceived value, which leads to actual purchase intentions. Furthermore, this study examines the moderating effect of the restaurant type.

Data were collected via an online questionnaire survey from 351 individuals in the city of Jakarta (Indonesia) who actually used mobile apps to order food online. Data analysis was carried out using structural equation modeling.

The findings reveal that source credibility, review valence, the navigation system, food quality and service quality significantly impact customers' perceived value. Customers' perceived value, in turn, positively affects their purchase intentions. The findings also reveal that the impacts of review valence, the navigation system, food quality and service quality on customers' perceived value depend on the different levels of restaurants.

This study is among the first in the mobile commerce research that studies the impacts of mobile electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM), system quality and overall restaurant image on dining choices by considering actual mobile shoppers. Second, this study extends the SOR model to examine the impact of the mobile environment-based characteristics on the perceived value that leads to purchase intentions. Third, the current study examines whether the relationships that are discussed early on differ based on the restaurant type. The findings of this study could help practitioners achieve a deeper understanding of diners' behaviors due to the perceived benefits of mobile dining.

Social recommender systems have recently gained increasing popularity. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influences of informational factors on purchase intention in social recommender systems.

Specifically, this study validated the mediating effect of trust in recommendations and the perceived value between informational factors and consumers’ purchase intention.

The results confirm that recommendation persuasiveness was a strong predictor of trust in recommendations and perceived value. Recommendation completeness was positively related to trust in recommendations and perceived value as well. Trust in recommendations and perceived value was found to be strong drivers of purchase intention.

The author identifies two sets of informational factors, i.e. recommendation persuasiveness and recommendation completeness, which are relevant to consumer attitudes. The current study proved that informational factors on consumers’ purchase intention are fully mediated through trust in recommendations and perceived value.

Social media has progressively upgraded an interactive domain via online sociability and information-sharing. This study aims to formulate an information-sharing intention model by identifying the decisive role of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations.

Empirical data from 508 participants were collected to examine the structural model using structural equation modeling.

Results indicate that information-sharing intention is strongly promoted by intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. Furthermore, perceived herding, perceived crowd and intrinsic motivation boost substantially extrinsic motivation. Perceived herding is of utmost importance to extrinsic motivation, whereas emotional appeal and informative appeal are of paramount importance to intrinsic motivation. Moreover, source trust and exhibitionism are underlying motivations for intrinsic motivation.

The findings provide useful guidelines for practitioners to urge users into information-sharing via social media.

This study contributes significantly to the current literature by developing an effective mechanism of information-sharing through social media based on the motivational theory.

Ancient city walls are typical linear space elements of Beijing that represent the transformation of urban form over the past 800 years and have greatly influenced the memory of the entire city. However, recently, most of the walls have been torn down in the process of fast urbanization and old city renewal. The purpose of this paper is to focus on people’s cognition and evaluation of urban memory during this pull-down-and-preserve process.

A sample of 380 participants was investigated on a number of issues using questionnaires, including memory case reminders (stability, variability, temporality), emotional bonding with memory case (identity, dependence, authenticity), and socio-demographic variables (age, education, life experience, length of residence). The urban memory cognition model and attitude evaluation value model which were based on Likert scale were used to process the collected data.

In the three aspects of memory case reminders, stability and temporary elements can be most cognized, whereas variability elements are more difficult due to their change over time. As for emotional bonding with memory case, people show a high level of identification with the walls; the walls’ memory being passed down could enhance people’s memory when mentioning Beijing. Further, higher education groups consider the walls’ authenticity to be most important and are unwilling to accept the outcome of walls-ruins parks; older adults have tolerant attitudes to the ruins parks.

This study could not only contribute to the excavation of urban memory, but also strengthen citizens’ sense of identity and cohesiveness, thus shaping the spirit and culture of the city. Some findings could provide applicable guidelines for urban heritage protection and contribute a new perspective on the interrelationship between people and their physical surroundings.

This chapter offers a case study of the distinctive political activism in Taiwanese metal by analysing the intertextuality of Just Not Meant to Be (還君明珠) (2015) by Crescent Lament (恆月三途). From the perspective of a cultural insider, the author examine the socio-cultural dynamics underlying this activism and explain how Taiwanese metal attempts to tackle the troubled past of Taiwan. The author brings attention to Just Not Meant to Be's commentary about the activism it takes part in, and reflect on problematics inherent to political activism in Taiwanese metal. Finally, the author explicates the problematics in the context of metal subculture in general. Pivotal throughout this chapter are the questions: Why does Taiwanese metal replicate forms of domination it seeks to counter? What can metal subculture in general learn from Taiwanese metal and its political activism?

This paper aims to investigate outsourcing of different types of logistics activities in Taiwanese food industry, and benchmark with practices in The Netherlands.

The outsourcing of four levels of logistics activities is investigated: transportation (level 1), packaging (level 2), transportation management (level 3), and distribution network management (level 4). A structured questionnaire was designed and sent to logistics managers in The Netherlands and Taiwan to evaluate the most commonly outsourced activities and identify specific outsourcing firm's characteristics.

About 69 per cent of the companies, in both countries outsource level 1 activities, 16 per cent level 2, and 37 per cent level 3 activities. Only few companies (about 10 per cent) outsource the highest level of activities. In particular, The Netherlands has higher percentages for levels 1 and 3. This might be caused by the fact that most Taiwanese companies emphasise low cost whereas the Dutch companies focus on flexibility in order to deal with higher complexities. When intentions for the future are included, Taiwan is planning to outsource level 2 (40 per cent) and level 4 activities (36 per cent) much more than The Netherlands (respectively 13 and 17 per cent). When zooming in, it was found that outsourcing strategies of companies in the subsectors differ. For instance, the dairy sector outsources more frequently than the meat sector on the first three levels. This might be caused by the fact that meat companies emphasise food quality, whereas dairy companies emphasise flexibility and reliability.

This study investigated only food processors. The paper suggests further research should include other types of food organisations.

The paper provides valuable insights in outsourcing strategies of food processing companies in Taiwan and The Netherlands for advanced logistics service providers who are looking at the market potential of Taiwan.