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The purpose of this paper is to explore the key factors that affect consumer redemption intention toward mobile coupons recommended in social network sites (SNS).

A research model that integrates recommendation trust, positive utilities, and negative utilities of coupon redemption is developed. With the important role of trust in social recommendation taken into consideration, the key drivers of recommendation trust were analyzed in the model. Data were collected from 210 users with mobile coupon recommendation experience in one of the largest SNS (i.e. WeChat) in China. The authors used partial least squares technique to analyze the model.

Recommendation trust and positive utilities (economic benefits and perceived enjoyment) positively affect the intention of mobile coupon redemption. Perceived risk, as a negative utility, negatively influences coupon redemption intention. In addition, swift trust (structure assurance, perceived similarity, trust propensity, and expertise of the recommender), knowledge-based trust (familiarity with the retailers), and emotion-based trust (social tie strength) are key drivers that promote recommendation trust.

While prior research investigated mobile coupon redemption behavior in which coupons were issued by merchants, limited research analyzed consumer responses toward mobile coupons in social recommendation. This study examines the effects of recommendation trust, positive utilities, and negative utilities on mobile coupon redemption in the context of social recommendation and recognizes the key drivers of recommendation trust.

This research aims to investigate how backstage visibility affects intangibility and perceived risk at the pre-purchase stage and how service credence moderates the effect of backstage visibility on intangibility and perceived risk. It also focuses on the effect of backstage visibility on perceived service quality and value at the post-purchase stage and the moderating role of the service contact level.

This research tests the causal relationships between backstage visibility and customers’ service evaluations through two experimental studies.

Study 1 shows that customers who are exposed to backstage cues perceive less pre-purchase risk in the service than those who are not exposed. Pictures plus text information are more effective than text illustrations alone for risk reduction. This risk reduction effect is stronger for high-credence than for low-credence services and is partially mediated by the perceived intangibility of the service. Study 2 reveals that customers with access to backstage cues perceive higher service quality and higher overall value from service experiences. The value increase is more significant for high-contact than for low-contact services.

Future research could apply different methods to different data sources to provide further insight about backstage visibility.

The findings of this research suggest that allowing customers to view some backstage activities before purchase helps tangibilize the service, achieve more effective communication with customers and create more positive service experiences.

Weight loss services feature high consumer involvement that is sometimes marked by repetitive failures. These features can affect regret and its associated factors differently from the way that discrete failure can. The purpose of this study is to investigate consumer regret over repetitive failures in weight loss services as well as its antecedents (overeating and insufficient exercise), consequences (rumination and reflection) and moderators (failure experiences and required effort). This study also investigates how rumination and reflection affect persistence intention.

A total of 318 samples were collected through three surveys, one of which contained a scenario, provided to consumers who experienced repetitive failures in weight loss. The proposed relationships were tested using structural equation modeling, dominance analysis and PROCESS modeling.

The results of this study reveal that overeating contributes to regret more saliently than does insufficient exercise. The effect of regret on rumination (thoughts about continuing to blame oneself and giving up the pursuit of goals) is stronger than on reflection (thoughts about learning from prior failures and willingness to try again), and greater reflection results in higher persistence intention. Moreover, the effect of insufficient exercise on regret and the effect of regret on rumination are augmented with cumulative failure experiences, whereas required effort enhances the impact of regret on reflection.

This study is the first to focus on regret over repetitive failures in weight loss. It advances the literature by clarifying the antecedents and consequences of regret, showing how failure experiences influence the relationships between regret and its associated factors as well as identifying interventions that benefit from regret.

The numerical simulation of dispersed-phase evolution in injection molding process of polymer blends is of great significance in both adjusting material microstructure and improving performances of the final products. This paper aims to present a numerical strategy for the simulation of dispersed-phase evolution for immiscible polymer blends in injection molding.

First, the dispersed-phase modeling is discussed in detail. Then the Maffettone–Minale model, affine deformation model, breakup model and coalescence statistical model are chosen for the dispersed-phase evolution. A general coupled model of microscopic morphological evolution and macroscopic flow field is constructed. Besides, a stable finite element simulation strategy based on pressure-stabilizing/Petrov–Galerkin/streamline-upwind/Petrov–Galerkin method is adopted for both scales.

Finally, the simulation results are compared and evaluated with the experimental data, suggesting the reliability of the presented numerical strategy.

The coupled modeling of dispersed-phase and complex flow field during injection molding and the tracing and simulation of droplet evolution during the whole process can be achieved.

The patient-side manipulator (PSM) achieves high torque capability by combining harmonic servo system with high reduction ratio and low torque motor. However, high reduction ratio can increase inertia and decrease compliance of the manipulator. To enhance the backdrivability of the minimally invasive surgical robot, this paper aims to propose a resistance torque compensation algorithm.

A resistance torque compensation algorithm based on dynamics and Luenberger observer is proposed. The dynamics are established, considering joint flexibility and an improved Stribeck friction model. The dynamic parameters are experimentally identified by using the least squares method. With the advantages of clear structure, simple implementation and fast solution speed, the Luenberger observer is selected to estimate the unmeasured dynamic information of PSM and realize the resistance torque compensation.

For low-speed surgical robots, the centrifugal force term in the dynamic model can be simplified to reduce computational complexity. Joint flexibility and an improved Stribeck friction model can be considered to improve the accuracy of the dynamic model. Experiment results show that parameter identification and estimated results of the Luenberger observer are accurate. The backdrivability of the PSM is enhanced in ease and smoothness.

This algorithm provides potential application prospects for surgical robots to maintain high torque while remaining compliant. Meanwhile, the enhanced backdrivability of the manipulator helps to improve the safety of the preoperative manual adjustment.

As a smart service, location-based advertising (LBA) integrates advanced technologies to deliver personalized messages based on a user’s real-time geographic location and needs. However, research has shown that privacy concerns threaten the diffusion of LBA. This research investigates how privacy-related factors (i.e. LBA type, privacy self-efficacy (PSE) and consumer generation) impact consumers’ value-in-use and their intention to use LBA.

This study developed and examined an LBA value-in-use framework that integrates the role of LBA type, consumers’ PSE and consumer generation into the technology acceptance model (TAM). Data were collected through two experiments in the field with a total of 374 consumers. The proposed relationships were tested using PROCESS modeling.

The results reveal that pull (vs push) LBA causes higher value-in-use in terms of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, leading to greater usage intention. Further, the differences in the mediated relationship between pull- and push-LBA are larger among consumers of low PSE (vs high PSE) and Generation Z (vs other generations). The findings suggest that the consumer value-in-use brought about by LBA diminishes when using push-LBA for low PSE and Generation Z consumers.

This research is the first to integrate the privacy-related interactions of LBA type and consumer characteristics into TAM to develop a TAM-based LBA value-in-use framework. This study contributes to the literature on service value-in-use, smart services and LBA by clarifying the boundary conditions that determine the effectiveness of LBA in enhancing consumers’ value-in-use.

This study aims to understand the underlying mechanism and boundary conditions of the IKEA effect in self-expressive mass customization (MC). It examines the effect of the extent of choice in MC toolkits in terms of perceived value of self-designed products, as well as how self-expression mediates this effect and what kind of consumers are more inclined to experience such effect.

Two experiments were conducted, using online MC toolkits. In total, 393 consumers participated in the experiments. Data collected were analyzed using t-tests, analyses of variance, path analyses, bootstrap analyses and spotlight tests.

The results show that offering a greater extent of choice in MC toolkits to consumers provides a greater opportunity for self-expression, resulting in higher product valuation. Further, consumers who have high romanticism in aesthetic preference and high self-esteem are more inclined to influences associated with this effect.

This research adds to the literature on the IKEA effect in self-expressive MC by identifying a key antecedent (extent of choice), its underlying mechanism (self-expression), and two boundary conditions (aesthetic preference and self-esteem). The results of this study provide firms with a better understanding of how they can improve their self-expressive MC strategies.

The purpose of this paper is to explore healthcare waiting time and the negative and positive effects (i.e. the dual effects) it has on outpatient satisfaction.

Self-administered surveys with 334 outpatients and follow-up interviews with 20 outpatients in three large hospitals in Taiwan were conducted to collect data.

Quantitative surveys demonstrated that perceived waiting time correlated with satisfaction negatively first but then positively. Satisfaction also correlated with doctor reputation and patient sociability. Follow-up qualitative interviews further revealed that, for some patients, waiting contributed positively to patient evaluations through signaling better healthcare quality and facilitating social interaction.

This research demonstrated the possibility that waiting might have positive effects on healthcare satisfaction. It also identified variables that could produce greater positive perceptions during hospital waiting and underlying mechanisms that could explain how the positive effects work. This research may potentially help hospitals with a better understanding of how they can improve patients’ waiting experiences and increase satisfaction.

The purpose of this paper is to integrate social capital theory and motivation theory to identify the factors that affect the intention of users to share mobile coupons (m-coupons) via social network sites (SNS). Social capital includes social ties, trust, and perceived similarity, whereas motivation comprises sense of self-worth and socializing.

A research model that integrates three social capital factors, two motivations, and m-coupon sharing is developed. Quantitative data from 297 users who had coupon usage experience are collected via offline and online survey. Partial least squares is used to conduct data analysis and test hypotheses.

Social ties, trust, and perceived similarity are positively related to m-coupon sharing intention and positively affect sense of self-worth and socializing, which have significant positive effects on m-coupon sharing intention and mediate the relationships between social capital factors and sharing intention.

This study highlights the integrated effects of social capital and motivations on m-coupon sharing intention in SNS. While social capital factors (i.e. social ties, trust, and perceived similarity) and motivations (i.e. sense of self-worth and socializing) positively affect m-coupon sharing, motivations are more directly associated with m-coupon sharing than social capital factors.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how consumers’ value evaluation and personality factors influence consumers’ intention to adopt mobile coupon (M-coupon) applications in China. The moderating effect of gender on the relationships between personality factors and consumers’ adoption intention is also tested.

This study conducted a survey to collect data from M-coupon application users. In total, 271 valid responses were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) technology.

The results indicate that perceived value, personal innovativeness, and coupon proneness positively affect consumers’ acceptance of M-coupon applications. Personal innovativeness has more positive impact on behavioral intention for males than for females. However, the differential effects of coupon proneness on behavioral intention are not significant between males and females. In addition, the findings show that perceived convenience, perceived enjoyment, and perceived money savings positively influence perceived value, whereas perceived fees and perceived privacy risk negatively influence it.

This study helps M-coupon application providers to identify who is positive toward their services and how to improve consumers’ perceived value of the services, eventually expanding their user base.

Prior studies mainly focussed on the usage behavior of M-coupons and overlooked the important role of M-coupon applications in promoting M-coupon use. This research fills this gap. The research findings offer insights into the factors influencing consumers’ behavioral intention to adopt M-coupon applications. Besides, the results of gender’s moderating effect advance the understanding of the differences in males’ coupon usage intentions between the contexts of M-coupon applications and paper-based coupon services, which enrich couponing research.