Isaac Cheah, Ian Phau and Johan Liang
The purpose of this paper is to identify the key antecedents of attitude towards electronic deals (e-deals) and factors influencing purchase intention of e-deals. Specifically…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the key antecedents of attitude towards electronic deals (e-deals) and factors influencing purchase intention of e-deals. Specifically, perceived value and price consciousness will be tested as antecedents of attitudes towards e-deals. Attitudes towards e-deals, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control are proposed to have strong influences upon purchase intention. The theory of planned behaviour (TPB) provides the theoretical underpinning of the conceptual framework.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through convenience sampling. Overall, 611 valid responses of 780 distributed surveys were collected. Only 426 e-deals users were analysed by using structural equation modelling to test the hypotheses.
Findings
It is found that perceived value is a strong predictor of attitudes towards e-deals. Another finding also indicates that attitudes towards e-deals and normative influence positively affect consumers’ purchase intention towards e-deals.
Practical implications
Practitioners are advised to integrate social media (e.g. Facebook or Twitter) and online communities to approach the “leader” to influence new potential consumers to purchase e-deals. It is also important to maintain the good value of e-deals and emphasise the huge benefits of using e-deals to persuade consumers to purchase it.
Originality/value
The originality of this study lies in extending the TPB as a robust measurement to investigate online shopping behaviour in the context of e-deals.
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Ian Phau, Aaron Lim, Johan Liang and Michael Lwin
The purpose of this paper is to identify the antecedents affecting digital piracy of movies, and evaluate them in the context of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). It will…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the antecedents affecting digital piracy of movies, and evaluate them in the context of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). It will also determine via a proxy measurement, if individuals’ intentions to engage in digital piracy will translate into actual engagement in digital piracy of movies.
Design/methodology/approach
In all, 404 students at a large Western Australian University were surveyed using self-administered surveys. The data were analysed via a path analysis using structural equation modelling in order to identify the influences of antecedent factors on individual attitudes and intentions to engage in digital piracy. Finally, through the proxy measurement, actual engagement in digital piracy of movies was evaluated against consumer intentions to perform that behaviour.
Findings
The results confirm the identified antecedents (affect, moral judgement, social habit and self-efficacy) as appropriate in evaluating an individual's intentions to engage in digital piracy of movies. The findings indicated that social habit, self-efficacy and attitude towards digital piracy had a positive effect on individual intentions to engage in digital piracy of movies. It also showed that affect is an antecedent factor to attitudes towards digital piracy but also directly influences individual intentions to engage in digital piracy. Moral judgement and social habits was also found to have negative and positive influences on an individual's engagement in digital piracy of movies.
Practical implications
This study reinforces previous studies in showing that the neutralisation theory and TPB are effective in explaining attitudes towards digital piracy of movies and intentions to engage in it. It has also sought to ascertain if intentions to engage in digital piracy of movies would significantly influence behaviour to engage in digital piracy of movies via a proxy measurement.
Originality/value
This study adds to the literature of piracy in software and music downloads. In terms of digital movies, this study uncovers other possible factors that may affect engagement in digital piracy of movies, which could serve as the basis for future research into the phenomenon of digital piracy.
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Ian Phau and Johan Liang
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how personal and social factors influence attitudes towards downloading pirated games from the internet. It also examines the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate how personal and social factors influence attitudes towards downloading pirated games from the internet. It also examines the moderators between attitudes and intention to download pirated digital video games.
Design/methodology/approach
The research was conducted using convenience samples in a large university in Western Australia. The data were analysed mostly through regression models.
Findings
Self‐efficacy, affect and moral judgement have significant influences upon attitudes towards downloading pirated games from the internet. Conversely, habits, facilitating conditions and social factors do not have significant influences upon attitudes towards downloading pirated games from the internet. In addition, attitudes towards downloading pirated digital video games from the internet have a significant influence upon the intention to download pirated digital video games from the internet. It is also found that the level of internet usage, the level of internet time spent and the internet speed do not moderate the relationship between attitudes and intention to download pirated games from the internet.
Research limitations/implications
The major limitation is the use of a convenience sample. Therefore, future research should replicate and extend this study by using more valid random samples. In addition, qualitative approach, field experiment and foolspeed campaign analysis need to be considered to gain a better understanding of why internet users indulge in games piracy.
Practical implications
Authorities should create awareness campaigns about digital video games piracy to alert the public about the risk of being caught and the consequence of unethical behaviour. Managers, marketers and policy makers should collaborate to combat piracy to prevent illegal downloading of free pirated games in the future.
Originality/value
The paper assesses the impact of six antecedents and the attitudes towards downloading pirated digital video games from the internet that will lead to the intention to download pirated digital video games from the Internet.
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Pien Walraven, Rogier van de Wetering, Remko Helms, Marjolein Caniëls and Johan Versendaal
Advanced Electronic Medical Records (EMR) provide many potential benefits to hospitals. However, because of their broad scope, many stakeholders deal with the EMR and a continuous…
Abstract
Purpose
Advanced Electronic Medical Records (EMR) provide many potential benefits to hospitals. However, because of their broad scope, many stakeholders deal with the EMR and a continuous effort has to be made to keep up with internal and external change. Therefore, hospitals need to deliberately shape their organizational competencies considering the pursuit of alignment, i.e. making sure that the EMR remains optimally aligned with strategies, goals and needs of the hospital and its stakeholders. This paper aims to investigate the evolutionary paths of these alignment competencies and their drivers, from a theoretical perspective of co-evolutionary information systems alignment (COISA).
Design/methodology/approach
This paper reports on a longitudinal multiple case study of three Dutch hospitals which each recently implemented an advanced EMR system. The authors conducted 35 in-depth interviews in 2 phases (before and after go-live of the EMR), and studied documentation related to the EMR implementations.
Findings
The findings show that each hospital's COISA capability shows a different evolutionary path. However, two of the three case hospitals ended up coordinating part of their COISA capability to an ecosystem level, i.e. they incorporated other hospitals using the same EMR system to coordinate their alignment efforts, either from an operational perspective, or in terms of orchestration and strategy. The found evolutionary paths' key drivers include “stakeholder initiative”, “accumulating experience”, “driving events” and “emerging issues”.
Originality/value
The findings help healthcare practitioners to deliberately shape their organization's COISA capability in pursuit of EMR alignment. Furthermore, the authors add to the knowledge base on co-evolutionary approaches to alignment through the longitudinal approach.
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Cong‐qian Cheng, Jie Zhao, Yang Xu, Fu‐Min Xu and Ming‐liang Huang
The aim of this paper is to investigate the growth behaviours of intermetallic compound (IMC) layers in solid‐liquid interfacial reactions of Sn1.5Cu/Cu in various intensities of…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to investigate the growth behaviours of intermetallic compound (IMC) layers in solid‐liquid interfacial reactions of Sn1.5Cu/Cu in various intensities of high‐magnetic field.
Design/methodology/approach
Sn1.5Cu solder was prepared and melted in a vacuum furnace at 873 K and cast into solder bars. Samples were mounted using resin and etched after being carefully polished. Then the IMC layers were observed by using scanning electron microscopy.
Findings
The results show that the growth of IMC layers has been accelerated by high‐magnetic field through the comparison of growth kinetics of IMC layers among 0‐2.5 T magnetic filed. IMC grains in high‐magnetic field are much bigger than that in 0 T. By the analyzing of X‐ray diffractometer patterns of IMC layers, it can be found that the orientations of IMC have been changed by magnetic field.
Originality/value
This paper investigates the growth behaviour of IMC layers during the solid‐liquid interfacial reactions of Sn1.5Cu/Cu in a high magnetic field.
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Qiaoran Zhang, Abdelhafid Zehri, Jiawen Liu, Wei Ke, Shirong Huang, Martí Gutierrez Latorre, Nan Wang, Xiuzhen Lu, Cheng Zhou, Weijuan Xia, Yanpei Wu, Lilei Ye and Johan Liu
This study aims to develop a bimodal nano-silver paste with improved mechanical property and reliability. Silicon carbide (SiC) particles coated with Ag were introduced in…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to develop a bimodal nano-silver paste with improved mechanical property and reliability. Silicon carbide (SiC) particles coated with Ag were introduced in nano-silver paste to improve bonding strength between SiC and Ag particles and enhance high-temperature stability of bimodal nano-silver paste. The effect of sintering parameters such as sintering temperature, sintering time and the proportion of SiC particles on mechanical property and reliability of sintered bimodal nano-silver structure were investigated.
Design/methodology/approach
Sandwich structures consist of dummy chips and copper substrates with nickel and silver coating bonded by nano-silver paste were designed for shear testing. Shear strength testing was conducted to study the influence of SiC particles proportions on the mechanical property of sintered nano-silver joints. The reliability of the bimodal nano-silver paste was evaluated experimentally by means of shear test for samples subjected to thermal aging test at 150°C and humidity and temperature testing at 85°C and 85 per cent RH, respectively.
Findings
Shear strength was enhanced obviously with the increase of sintering temperature and sintering time. The maximum shear strength was achieved for nano-silver paste sintered at 260°C for 10 min. There was a negative correlation between the proportion of SiC particles and shear strength. After thermal aging testing and humidity and temperature testing for 240 h, the shear strength decreased a little. High-temperature stability and high-hydrothermal stability were improved by the addition of SiC particles.
Originality/value
Submicron-scale SiC particles coated with Ag were used as alternative materials to replace part of nano-silver particles to prepare bimodal nano-silver paste due to its high thermal conductivity and excellent mechanical property.
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Johan Bruwer, Polymeros Chrysochou and Isabelle Lesschaeve
The purpose of this paper is to examine the utilisation of product choice cues in a retail environment and the impact of consumer involvement on this utilisation. It further…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the utilisation of product choice cues in a retail environment and the impact of consumer involvement on this utilisation. It further investigates the impact of product knowledge on product choice cue utilisation and its moderating role on the impact of consumer involvement.
Design/methodology/approach
The case of wine as an exemplary product category is considered, given the importance and variability of choice cues that have been found to affect product choice. Analysis is conducted on survey data from a sample of wine consumers in Ontario, Canada. Product choice cues are grouped into extrinsic, intrinsic and marketing mix. The importance of how these cues are influenced from different dimensions of consumer involvement is illustrated.
Findings
The results show that product knowledge has a positive impact on intrinsic product cue utilisation and further moderates this relationship improving the predictability of the hypothesised model. Implications for theory and practice are also discussed.
Practical implications
From an industry viewpoint, the focus in the past has mostly been on using packaging to attract attention/create awareness, create an image of desirability, etc., but not nearly as much on the functionality aspects thereof; for example alternative smaller packaging sizes to the standard 750 ml wine bottle.
Originality/value
The study uses a multi-dimensional approach to measure the impact of enduring involvement on utilisation of product choice cues.
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S.L. Tay, A.S.M.A. Haseeb and Mohd Rafie Johan
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of addition Co nanoparticles on the characteristic properties of Sn‐3.8Ag‐0.7Cu solder.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of addition Co nanoparticles on the characteristic properties of Sn‐3.8Ag‐0.7Cu solder.
Design/methodology/approach
Cobalt (Co) nanoparticles were added to Sn‐Ag‐Cu solders by thoroughly blending various weight percentages (0‐2.0 wt%) of Co nanoparticles with near eutectic SAC387 solder paste. Blending was done mechanically for 30 min to ensure a homogeneous mixture. The paste mixture was then reflowed on a hot plate at 250°C for 45 s. The melting points of nanocomposite solder were determined by differential scanning calorimetry. Spreading rate of nanocomposite was calculated following the JIS Z3198‐3 standard. The wetting angle was measured after cross‐sectional metallographic preparation.
Findings
No significant change in melting point of the solder was observed as a result of Co nanoparticle addition. The wetting angles of the solder increased with the addition of nanoparticles, while the spreading rate decreased. Although the wetting angle increased, the values were still within the acceptable range. Scanning micrograph observations revealed that the as‐solidified microstructure of the composite solder was altered by the addition of Co nanoparticles. Microhardness of the solders slightly increased upon Co nanoparticles addition to SAC387.
Originality/value
The paper demonstrates that a simple process like paste mixing can be used to incorporate nanoparticles into solder.
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Lin Jia, Ying Zhang and Chen Lin
Social interaction in comment sections has become a key factor for backers' decision making in crowdfunding platforms. However, current research on the two-way social interaction…
Abstract
Purpose
Social interaction in comment sections has become a key factor for backers' decision making in crowdfunding platforms. However, current research on the two-way social interaction in crowdfunding is insufficient, and there exist inconsistent conclusions. This study focuses on the social interaction between creators and backers and explores its influence on the successful exit of crowdfunding projects.
Design/methodology/approach
The extended Cox model is used for the empirical analysis of 1,988 crowdfunding projects on the Modian (www.modian.com) platform, a crowdfunding platform for cultural and creative projects in China. The two-way social interaction is reflected in comment quantity and sentiment, as well as reply rate.
Findings
Results reveal an inverted U-shaped relationship between comment quantity/sentiment and the successful exit of crowdfunding projects. This relationship is strengthened by high reply rate.
Originality/value
This study focuses on comment quantity and sentiment. The inverted U-shaped results reconcile previous conclusions. Replies from creators are regarded as a separate factor, and their moderating role is explained. The study research proves the importance of social interaction in crowdfunding platforms and provides suggestions for backers, creators and platform managers.
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Michael B. McDonald and Ramon P. DeGennaro
The purpose of this paper is to examine the literature on angel investors. Research on angel investors is sparse because data are sparse. Most comprehensive studies of angel…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the literature on angel investors. Research on angel investors is sparse because data are sparse. Most comprehensive studies of angel investors have focused on the USA and UK. In these studies, definitions of angel investors and estimates of returns on angel investments vary dramatically. What can one make of this wide range of reported returns?
Design/methodology/approach
The authors examine the literature and find that the calculations of reported results are vague.
Findings
Most researchers do not explicitly report if their estimates are equal-weighted or value-weighted, nor do they say whether the results are weighted by the duration of the investment. The authors show that the unit of analysis – investment, project or angel – affects interpretations.
Practical implications
Limitations on the comparability between various studies of angel investing returns leave the current literature incomplete. They also offer opportunities for future study in the area.
Originality/value
The authors are the first to examine the angel investing literature in a comprehensive fashion, comparing between various returns found across all major studies of the subject done to date.