Wayne Huang, Taowen Le, X. Li and S. Gandha
To propose an assessment framework that can be used to categorise and assess commercial web sites from the perspective of web‐technological features and functions and to…
Abstract
Purpose
To propose an assessment framework that can be used to categorise and assess commercial web sites from the perspective of web‐technological features and functions and to demonstrate its usefulness.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on prior relevant research and successful web site design experiences of industrial experts in the field, an assessment framework that can be used to categorise and assess web features and functions is proposed, and 252 commercial web sites of listed Australian companies were randomly sampled and assessed to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed assessment framework.
Findings
The proposed assessment framework provides valuable insights. While different companies normally use different web‐technological features and functions on their web sites, certain features and functions have been more commonly used in designing commercial web sites than others, and certain differences in the use of web features and functions on commercial web sites exist across different industries.
Research limitations/implications
This research studied commercial web sites of Australian companies. Possible differences in the use of web features and functions on commercial web sites across different countries remain to be explored.
Originality/value
Although various approaches have been proposed in previous studies to evaluate commercial web sites, no prior research could be found to assess commercial web sites from the perspective of web‐technological features and functions. This research proposed an assessment framework that can be used to categorise and assess commercial web sites from the perspective of web‐technological features and functions and demonstrated its usefulness. It also provided valuable insights to commercial web site owners and designers.
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Brian F. Blake, Steven Given, Kimberly A. Neuendorf and Michael Horvath
The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to present a framework of five “facets,” i.e., distinct but complementary ways in which the observed appeal of a consumer shopping…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to present a framework of five “facets,” i.e., distinct but complementary ways in which the observed appeal of a consumer shopping site’s features can potentially be generalized across product/service domains (the authors call this framework the feature appeal generalization perspective); second, to determine if and how observed feature preferences for consumer electronics, bookstores, and sites “in general” generalize across domains; third, to test hypotheses about the impact of frequency of domain usage upon feature generalizability.
Design/methodology/approach
Via an online survey administered in a controlled laboratory setting, 313 respondents evaluated 26 website features in three domains (books, electronics, general) for a total of 24,414 preference judgments.
Findings
Two facets, individual feature values and within domain evaluative dimensions, revealed minimal generalizability, while there was moderate comparability across all domains in between domain feature correspondence. Personal preference elevation could be generalized between books and general, but not between these two and electronics. Differentiating dimensions showed that preferences were not generalizable from electronics to books and general because consumers wanted electronics features to provide “flashy sizzle” and books/general features to give “comfortable safety.” As hypothesized, patterns of generalizability coincided with frequency of domain usage.
Research limitations/implications
Practitioners should not apply published studies of feature appeal to their domain of interest unless those studies directly analyzed that domain. Scientists should incorporate all five facets in modeling what attracts consumers to commercial websites.
Originality/value
This is the first multidimensional analysis of the generalizability of site feature appeal across business-to-consumer product/service domains, and the first to propose this integrated evaluative framework with its unique facets.
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Dimitris Kanellopoulos and Sotiris Kotsiantis
The aim of this work is to evaluate Greek newspaper websites using clustering and a number of criteria obtained from the Alexa search engine. Furthermore, a recommendation…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this work is to evaluate Greek newspaper websites using clustering and a number of criteria obtained from the Alexa search engine. Furthermore, a recommendation approach is proposed for matching Greek online newspapers with the profiles of potential readers. The paper presents the implementation and validation of a recommender tool that suggests to a user (based on age, education and income) an optional Greek newspaper's website to read.
Design/methodology/approach
A total of 25 newspaper websites were selected from the Greek information bank http://edoellada.gr. After investigating these websites one by one, this number was decreased to 16 websites due to their printing prevention, cessation or no coverage by Alexa.
Findings
Based on data obtained from Alexa, the Naftemporiki newspaper has the highest traffic rank and the Eleftherotypia newspaper the largest number of links among others. The Macedonia newspaper has the largest number of foreign users. The results of the study also show that most newspaper websites' visitors come from the UK. The expectation‐maximisation (EM) clustering algorithm classifies the 16 websites into two groups based on some common characteristics.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed recommendation approach is generic because it can be applied as a recommendation solution on various types of website, such as educational or commercial. However, slight adjustments are needed depending on the nature of recommending websites.
Practical implications
A website administrator of an online newspaper can adapt the newspaper's features such as content and layout according to the prevailing user profile of the online newspaper. For example, a website administrator of an online newspaper whose dominant user education is “no‐college” should enable the writing style of this newspaper in a more naive way. The administrator can also add advertisements that are more suitable to readers aged between 35 and 55 years, if the most frequent age of users of this online newspaper is between 35 and 55.
Originality/value
The results of this research will be important not only to administrators of Greek newspaper websites but also to anyone with a need to increase the usage of a website.
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Ibrahim A. Amar, Jawaher O. Asser, Amina S. Mady, Mabroukah S. Abdulqadir, Fatima A. Altohami, Abubaker A. Sharif and Ihssin A. Abdalsamed
The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the adsorption properties of CoFe1.9Mo0.1O4 magnetic nanoparticles (CFMo MNPs) using, anionic dye “congo red (CR)” as a model of…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the adsorption properties of CoFe1.9Mo0.1O4 magnetic nanoparticles (CFMo MNPs) using, anionic dye “congo red (CR)” as a model of water pollutants.
Design/methodology/approach
The magnetic nano-adsorbent was synthesized via sol-gel process. Different techniques including; Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, point of zero charge, scanning electron microscope and X-ray powder diffraction were used to characterize the prepared adsorbent. Adsorption experiments were conducted in batch mode under various conditions (contact time, shaking speed, initial dye concentration, initial solution pH, solution temperature and adsorbent amount) to investigate the adsorption capability of CFMo MNPs for CR.
Findings
The results showed that, CFMo MNPs could successfully remove more than 90% of CR dye within 20 min. Adsorption kinetics and isotherms were better described using pseudo-second-order (PSO) and Langmuir models, respectively. The maximum adsorbed amount (qmax) of CR dye was 135.14 mg/g. The adsorption process was found to be endothermic and spontaneous in nature as demonstrated by the thermodynamics (
Practical implications
This study provided a good example of using an easily separated magnetic nano-adsorbent for fast removal of a very toxic organic pollutant, congo red, from the aquatic environment
Originality/value
The employment of Mo-doped cobalt ferrite for the first time for removing hazardous anionic dyes such as congo red from their aqueous solutions.
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Blazenka Knezevic, Sanda Renko and Mirjana Pejic Bach
The main purpose of the paper is to investigate and to document the current level of web usage within the confectionery industry in the South Eastern European (SEE) region. Also…
Abstract
Purpose
The main purpose of the paper is to investigate and to document the current level of web usage within the confectionery industry in the South Eastern European (SEE) region. Also, the paper aims to examine the web content structure of confectioners in the given region and to explain the impact of the location and the size of the company on the quality of contents published on web sites.
Design/methodology/approach
The experimental research was conducted on the sample of 333 companies in the confectionery industry from 5 SEE countries. The research questionnaire included 56 web sites' characteristics divided into five categories.
Findings
The confectionery industry uses web sites as “presentation space” only, and the “show‐case” is the main purpose. The implementation of the web in the confectionery industry in SEE countries is correlated with a company's characteristics. Companies within EU member countries more often implement the web as a customer communication channel. However, confectioners in non‐EU countries have more information published on their web sites and their web sites are more interactive.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to a better understanding of web usage within the confectionery industry because it classifies information published on web sites into several categories and describes common web contents in the confectionery industry. Moreover, it discusses the correlation between a company's characteristics (size and location) and web implementation. Finally, it gives an overview of relevant findings of web usage as a customer communication channel within transitional economies.
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Eleni Panopoulou, Efthimios Tambouris and Konstantinos Tarabanis
In this paper, the aim is to develop a framework for evaluating the web sites of public authorities. The proposed framework consists of four axes: two for assessing the general…
Abstract
Purpose
In this paper, the aim is to develop a framework for evaluating the web sites of public authorities. The proposed framework consists of four axes: two for assessing the general characteristics and content of the web sites (namely general characteristics and e‐content); and two for assessing specific functionalities addressing their governmental character (namely e‐services and e‐participation).
Design/methodology/approach
The proposed framework is gradually built through a critical analysis of the two relevant domains, web site evaluation and e‐government. The methodology used in the case study includes the construction of an appropriate questionnaire for assessing the framework metrics. The practical use of the framework is demonstrated by means of a case study, namely evaluating the web sites of Greek public authorities at local and regional level.
Findings
The proposed framework presents a more holistic approach to e‐government web site evaluation, while the case study provides some interesting results with regards to the shortcomings of Greek public authority web sites.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed framework could be further enhanced by incorporating an evaluation of the demand site of e‐government. Moreover, a more thorough approach with regard to privacy would have to include metrics to be answered directly by IT security personnel.
Practical implications
The proposed framework can be used for evaluating the web sites of public authorities in a more comprehensive way. As an example, the case study reveals significant results of practical importance by indicating overall progress, aspects that are under‐developed, etc.
Originality/value
This paper provides a novel framework to e‐government web site evaluation that also considers e‐government services and e‐participation. We anticipate that it will be of interest to both researchers and practitioners alike.
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Ibrahim A. Amar and Mohammed M. Ahwidi
This paper aims to investigate the electrocatalytic activity of CoFe1.9Mo0.1O4-Ce0.8Gd0.18Ca0.02O2-δ composite (CFMo-CGDC) for the direct synthesis of ammonia from H2O and N2…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the electrocatalytic activity of CoFe1.9Mo0.1O4-Ce0.8Gd0.18Ca0.02O2-δ composite (CFMo-CGDC) for the direct synthesis of ammonia from H2O and N2 under atmospheric pressure.
Designs
CoFe1.9Mo0.1O4 nanoparticles (CFMo NPs) were synthesized via a sol-gel method. CFMo NPs were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Brunauer–Emmet–Teller (BET) specific surface area measurement and scanning electron microscope (SEM). Double-chamber reactor was used to synthesize ammonia using H2O and N2 as precursors. The factors affecting the ammonia formation rate (applied voltage and temperature) were studied.
Findings
CoFe1.9Mo0.1O4 nanoparticles (CFMo NPs) were synthesized via a sol-gel method. CFMo NPs were characterized using XRD, Brunauer–Emmet–Teller (BET) specific surface area measurement and SEM. Double-chamber reactor was used to synthesize ammonia using H2O and N2 as precursors. The factors affecting the ammonia formation rate (applied voltage and temperature) were studied.
Originality/value
The usage of CFMo-CGDC composite as an electrocatalyst for the synthesis of ammonia directly from H2O and N2.
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Fotini Patsioura, Maro Vlachopoulou and Vicky Manthou
The purpose of this paper is to present an effectiveness conceptual framework to evaluate the overall performance of corporate advertising web sites towards the multiple…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present an effectiveness conceptual framework to evaluate the overall performance of corporate advertising web sites towards the multiple advertising, promotional and relationship marketing objectives of their establishment. Specifically, communication, feedback and customer support policies are examined in order to identify their contribution in creating or influencing advertising “effects”.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from a questionnaire‐based survey of 160 undergraduate and postgraduate students within the department of applied informatics are used to accomplish greater understanding of their perceptions and requirements towards the factors in question.
Findings
Findings reveal significant dimensions of the participants' behaviour based on their actions, activities, preferences and intentions. Also, the outcomes show a great impact of the relationship marketing qualitative factors in question on specific advertising effectiveness indicators.
Research limitations/implications
The stimulus materials are limited to two corporate advertising web sites. Further testing to a wider sample of advertising stimulus of different product categories is required.
Practical implications
Effectiveness measures provide to practitioners a factual demonstration of consumers' use and intended use regarding functions and features incorporated by corporate advertising web sites and enable the optimisation of their execution.
Originality/value
The paper introduces a new conceptual framework to support the contribution and significance of relationship marketing factors on the overall performance of corporate advertising web sites. This should be a useful approach for both academic researcher and practitioners.
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Martin Christopher Mapley, Geoff Tansley, Jo P. Pauls, Shaun D. Gregory and Andrew Busch
Additive manufacturing (AM) techniques have been developed to rapidly produce custom designs from a multitude of materials. Bonded permanent magnets (PMs) have been produced via…
Abstract
Purpose
Additive manufacturing (AM) techniques have been developed to rapidly produce custom designs from a multitude of materials. Bonded permanent magnets (PMs) have been produced via several AM techniques to allow for rapid manufacture of complex geometries. These magnets, however, tend to suffer from lower residual induction than the industry standard of injection moulding primarily due to the lower packing density of the magnetic particles and secondly due to the feedstock consisting of neodymium-iron-boron (Nd-Fe-B) powder with isotropic magnetic properties. As there is no compaction during most AM processes, increasing the packing density is very difficult and therefore the purpose of this study was to increase the magnetic properties of the PMs without increasing the part density.
Design/methodology/approach
Accordingly, this research investigates the use of anisotropic NdFeB feedstock coupled with an in-situ alignment fixture into an AM process known as selective laser sintering (SLS) to increase the magnetic properties of AM magnets. A Helmholtz coil array was added to an SLS machine and used to expose each powder layer during part fabrication to a near-uniform magnetic field of 20.4 mT prior to consolidation by the laser.
Findings
Permeagraph measurements of the parts showed that the alignment field introduced residual induction anisotropy of up to 46.4 ± 2.2% when measured in directions parallel and perpendicular to the alignment field. X-ray diffraction measurements also demonstrated a convergence of the orientation of the crystals when the magnets were processed in the presence of the alignment field.
Originality/value
A novel active alignment fixture for SLS was introduced and was experimentally shown to induce anisotropy in bonded PMs. Thus demonstrating a new method for the enhancement in energy density of PMs produced via AM methods.