Amber A. Smith-Ditizio, Alan David Smith and Walter R. Kendall
The purpose of this paper is to provide useful insights underlying the popularity of search engine technologies within a social media-intensive environment.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide useful insights underlying the popularity of search engine technologies within a social media-intensive environment.
Design/methodology/approach
The degree of social interaction for social media platforms that integrate search engine technologies as part of the homepage and related experience is very mixed on part of its users. Through Barnard’ theory of authority acceptance, social media and its popularity may be examined by the ability of its users to create effective messages that can be broadcasted to many, yet controlled by individual. The hypotheses tested the interaction of social media and search engine with gender and technological ease-of-use factors.
Findings
The statistical evidence suggested that significant technological and ease-of-use aspects of search engines are not meaningful, based on gender alone. Males may slightly be prone to take advantage of such technologies, but their search and use patterns are not much varied from their female counterparts. Social media, generally more fully captured authority in individual search patterns, and a number of interactions among gender status, search engine characteristics, and social media were found to be significant and profound. The testing of these hypotheses directly reflect the complexities of unique needs among users of search engines within a social media environment.
Practical implications
Search engine technologies with a social media context has allowed for the development of a modern, user-driven internet experience that has been powered by users’ imagination and is designed to at least partially satisfy users’ need for self-directed engagement. Organizations are well advised to provide a mindful, less controlled, and more interactive presence of potential users, especially through an increasingly mobile presence.
Originality/value
Individuals as well as organizations are rapidly discovering that it is becoming easier to share and distribute their content, especially for more creative and innovative content, among all of its users. As businesses continue to focus on the quality of one’s own content, individuals are increasingly taking advantage of some tools to exert more control over their experiences and what they are willing to share, resulting in more user-based partnerships will formulate. As the transition of traditional forms of marketing to newer forms of integrated marketing, the future for search engines as marketing tools by social media users appears to be very promising in adding contextual content within users’ homepage.
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The purpose of this study is to highlight the overshadowing of the opioid crisis due to Covid-19 pandemic. Opioids are affecting increasing numbers as the current opioid overdose…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to highlight the overshadowing of the opioid crisis due to Covid-19 pandemic. Opioids are affecting increasing numbers as the current opioid overdose death rate is increasing to 209 per day. While there appears light shining on the end of the Covid-19 pandemic with the advent of a fourth vaccine, there is no such light for the opioid epidemic. Based on a sample of 603 relatively educated adults in NE Ohio, the health harm caused by both crises, prescribing physician blaming, high levels of income loss and physical and emotional burdens shared by the respondents were obvious and striking.
Design/methodology/approach
Using Bertram et al. (2014) theory of the blame model, the number of results concerning gender and personally involvement of friends and family members, including men empathy increased with greater knowledge of numbers of addicted opioid users in their personal contracts.
Findings
Unfortunately, many women had to remain home taking care of children and elderly loved ones at greater percentages than their male counterparts may account for less empathy as such addicted users have become a burden to economically impaired families. This tendency for placing blame for circumstances with twin crises appears to follow a relatively predictable path as modeled by Bertram et al. (2014) (i.e. denial, justification and excuse).
Originality/value
These are few studies that are studying the amplification effects of the Covid-19 pandemic context on the current opioid crisis.
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Amber Smith-Ditizio and Alan David Smith
The purpose of this paper is to explore and test certain assumptions concerning the role of the media in its coverage of the Olympic Games, US men's and women's basketball in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore and test certain assumptions concerning the role of the media in its coverage of the Olympic Games, US men's and women's basketball in particular, and its perceived impact on brand image of the athletes' performance from a fan's motivational and financial perspective.
Design/methodology/approach
Uses and gratifications theory and sport fan motivation scales were used to identify potential impacts of media coverage and branding on athletic performance. Based on a study of 143 working professionals that identified themselves as Olympic sport fans in the Pittsburgh, PA metropolitan area, several hypotheses were tested.
Findings
The most to least important factor-based constructs found from a PCA (Principal Components Analysis)/factor analysis included competitiveness, fan commitment, media connections, media impacts, demographics and financial impacts. When using the construct athletic performance at the Olympic level as the dependent variable, results suggested that competitiveness, media connections and fan commitment were significant for males only, while only media connections for significant for females. Males were found to be more player-centric than females, willing to be more focused on the competitive nature of the Olympic Games and to dedicate more money for such activities.
Originality/value
Focusing on Olympic Games and associated athletes' competitive nature opens a unique perspective from fan's gender perspective.
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Alan David Smith, Terry Damron and Amye Melton
With the passage of the Affordable Health Care Act in the USA, many companies are investing in corporate wellness programs as a way to reduce healthcare costs and increase…
Abstract
Purpose
With the passage of the Affordable Health Care Act in the USA, many companies are investing in corporate wellness programs as a way to reduce healthcare costs and increase productivity of their workforces. Increasing healthcare expenditures and the pandemic of obesity and chronic diseases are driving forces to the development and implementation of workplace wellness programs across the globe. Companies expect to experience a return on their investment through lower healthcare costs and increased productivity. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, 109 business professionals were surveyed (primarily almost equally divided between Russian and Americans citizens) to examine their health-promoting and health risk behaviors. Demographics were compared in an effort to identify the key differences in order to pinpoint development opportunities to increase efficiencies among target populations.
Findings
According to the results, nationality was related to certain differences in health-promoting behaviors, participation rates and frequency of wellness programs offered by employers. No differences were found among different age groups. The results indicated that not even a single wellness program design is appropriate for all companies or even one company across all locations.
Research limitations/implications
Although there were no general conclusions have been drawn nor have the influencing factors for the different behaviors of the various target groups been adequately examined in this exploratory study, there were baselines developed for future research.
Originality/value
Few empirical studies exists that measure the perceived value of corporate wellness programs, especially among different cultural settings. In effect, wellness programs need to be developed specifically for the target population, with considerations to perceived value differences.
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In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of…
Abstract
In the last four years, since Volume I of this Bibliography first appeared, there has been an explosion of literature in all the main functional areas of business. This wealth of material poses problems for the researcher in management studies — and, of course, for the librarian: uncovering what has been written in any one area is not an easy task. This volume aims to help the librarian and the researcher overcome some of the immediate problems of identification of material. It is an annotated bibliography of management, drawing on the wide variety of literature produced by MCB University Press. Over the last four years, MCB University Press has produced an extensive range of books and serial publications covering most of the established and many of the developing areas of management. This volume, in conjunction with Volume I, provides a guide to all the material published so far.
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Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some…
Abstract
Aim of the present monograph is the economic analysis of the role of MNEs regarding globalisation and digital economy and in parallel there is a reference and examination of some legal aspects concerning MNEs, cyberspace and e‐commerce as the means of expression of the digital economy. The whole effort of the author is focused on the examination of various aspects of MNEs and their impact upon globalisation and vice versa and how and if we are moving towards a global digital economy.
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Under New Labour, there was no area of public policy that reflected the imprint of media influence more vividly than the issue of drugs. The sacking of Professor David Nutt, the…
Abstract
Under New Labour, there was no area of public policy that reflected the imprint of media influence more vividly than the issue of drugs. The sacking of Professor David Nutt, the banning of mephedrone, and arguments about the harm classification of ecstasy and cannabis have all demonstrated a government in thrall to the views of the Daily Mail and The Sun. This paper traces the contours of the media‐government relationship on drugs through content and framing analysis and interviews with former members of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), former Home Secretary, Alan Johnson, and a leading newspaper columnist. It concludes that science was trumped by fears stoked by the media.
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The following bibliography focuses mainly on programs which can run on IBM microcomputers and compatibles under the operating system PC DOS/MS DOS, and which can be used in online…
Abstract
The following bibliography focuses mainly on programs which can run on IBM microcomputers and compatibles under the operating system PC DOS/MS DOS, and which can be used in online information and documentation work. They fall into the following categories:
The librarian and researcher have to be able to uncover specific articles in their areas of interest. This Bibliography is designed to help. Volume IV, like Volume III, contains…
Abstract
The librarian and researcher have to be able to uncover specific articles in their areas of interest. This Bibliography is designed to help. Volume IV, like Volume III, contains features to help the reader to retrieve relevant literature from MCB University Press' considerable output. Each entry within has been indexed according to author(s) and the Fifth Edition of the SCIMP/SCAMP Thesaurus. The latter thus provides a full subject index to facilitate rapid retrieval. Each article or book is assigned its own unique number and this is used in both the subject and author index. This Volume indexes 29 journals indicating the depth, coverage and expansion of MCB's portfolio.