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The authors aim to examine how the construal level, either as an individual temporal orientation or temporal distance of promotion, moderates the effects of emojis' emotional intensity on consumers' purchase intentions in social media advertising.

Two experiments are used to test four hypotheses.

The results of two experimental studies show that present-oriented participants reveal greater purchase intentions when low (vs high) emotionally intense emojis are embedded in a social media ad; but future-oriented consumers showed no difference when viewing ads with the two different emojis. In Study 2, participants indicate greater purchase intentions when a social media ad includes a distant-future promocode and high (vs low) emotionally intense emojis and an ad with a near-future promocode and low (vs high) emotionally intense emojis.

The current study advances our understanding how emojis with different emotional intensities can be effectively used in social media ads. This study also provides theoretical implications to construal level theory (CLT) by examining how emojis interact with construal level, either as a chronic tendency or simulated by psychological distance, can influence consumer response.

Knowledge sharing, as a kind of social behavior that incorporates collective intelligence to achieve a certain goal, has become a remarkable developing trend in recent years. Under the context of traditional teaching, this study aims to explore the manner in which students become effective in sharing knowledge to help optimize course design and improve our existing education.

Among 195 university students taking an elective, the effects of different incentives on group performance in completing tasks is explored on the basis of a randomized experiment.

Results show that intra-group cooperation can be helpful to student performance, whereas intra-group competition neither improves nor worsens student performance. The former is mainly driven by reciprocity, especially for that stimulated by inter-group competition, whereas the latter is stimulated by egoism. Thus, proper reciprocity can promote student behavior to increase voluntary contribution. In addition, intra-group differences do not interfere with group performance, especially task-oriented groups.

Certain suggestions are proposed to improve the curriculum design in large classrooms. Forming groups is the best way to strengthen student knowledge sharing. Within task-oriented groups, the incentives of inter-group competition can encourage students to deepen intra-group cooperation and thus effectively improve group performance under the conditions of external competition.

This study aims to understand how product attributes (object stimuli), social influences (social-psychological stimuli) and internal factors (internal stimuli) contribute to Chinese Generation Z’s purchase intentions (responses) for new Chinese style apparel (NCSA) through NCSA attitudes (cognitive state) and cultural pride (affective state) based on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model.

Data were collected from 989 respondents aged between 18 and 29 years through self-administrated questionnaires via a professional survey panel, Credamo, in China. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Results showed that among the seven stimuli, NCSA’s design, online social networking communities, cultural identity and personal norms significantly influenced Generation Z’s purchase intentions through both NCSA attitudes and cultural pride. Further, NCSA’s cultural connotations and celebrity influences elicited purchase intentions merely through the affective state – cultural pride. In contrast, NCSA’s functionality did not have a significant influence on NCSA attitudes and adversely affected cultural pride.

This study fills the research gap and extends the application of the S-O-R model within the NCSA context. The findings of this study shed light on the practical implications for marketers, brands and policymakers with regard to a better understanding of Chinese Generation Z’s NCSA consumption.

Based on cue utilization theory, this study aims to examine effects of the style (fashion vs basic) and licensing status (licensed vs nonlicensed) of university-related apparel products (URAPs) as intrinsic and extrinsic cues, respectively, impacting university fans’ responses (i.e. attitudes, purchase intentions and purchase behaviors) and the moderating roles of personal factors (i.e. perceived university prestige, quality consciousness and uniqueness seeking).

Data were collected via an online quasi-experiment employing a 2 (licensing status: licensed vs nonlicensed) × 2 (style: basic vs fashion) within-subjects design with a purposeful sample of 1,126 students and alumni of a Southeastern American university.

Results show that consumers generally responded more favorably to licensed (vs nonlicensed) URAPs, especially for basic styles, whereas their responses to fashionable URAPs were more favorable for nonlicensed (vs licensed) URAPs. Furthermore, the positive effects of licensing status were stronger for consumers with high (vs low) perceived university prestige or quality consciousness. Consumers generally more favorably responded to basic (vs fashion) URAPs, but this style effect was weaker among those with a high (vs low) uniqueness seeking tendency.

Theoretical explanations on URAP consumption have been scant in the product and brand management literature. This study fills this literature gap by conceptualizing extrinsic (i.e. licensing status) and intrinsic (i.e. style) cues crucial in URAP consumption from a cue utilization theory lens and demonstrating empirical evidence for the intricate interplays among the two cues and diverse personal characteristics.

Current reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms are facing issues such as low learning efficiency and poor generalization performance, which significantly limit their practical application in real robots. This paper aims to adopt a hybrid model-based and model-free policy search method with multi-timescale value function tuning, aiming to allow robots to learn complex motion planning skills in multi-goal and multi-constraint environments with a few interactions.

A goal-conditioned model-based and model-free search method with multi-timescale value function tuning is proposed in this paper. First, the authors construct a multi-goal, multi-constrained policy optimization approach that fuses model-based policy optimization with goal-conditioned, model-free learning. Soft constraints on states and controls are applied to ensure fast and stable policy iteration. Second, an uncertainty-aware multi-timescale value function learning method is proposed, which constructs a multi-timescale value function network and adaptively chooses the value function planning timescales according to the value prediction uncertainty. It implicitly reduces the value representation complexity and improves the generalization performance of the policy.

The algorithm enables physical robots to learn generalized skills in real-world environments through a handful of trials. The simulation and experimental results show that the algorithm outperforms other relevant model-based and model-free RL algorithms.

This paper combines goal-conditioned RL and the model predictive path integral method into a unified model-based policy search framework, which improves the learning efficiency and policy optimality of motor skill learning in multi-goal and multi-constrained environments. An uncertainty-aware multi-timescale value function learning and selection method is proposed to overcome long horizon problems, improve optimal policy resolution and therefore enhance the generalization ability of goal-conditioned RL.

In 2002, Pakistan made a notable advancement toward inclusive education by approving the national policy for people with disabilities (Durrani et al., 2017). This policy, advised by the Ministry of Women’s Development, Social Work, and Special Education, aimed to integrate students with special needs into mainstream schools, emphasizing the significance of inclusive learning environments (Ashfaq and Rana, 2015). Despite these efforts, the practical application of this policy in high schools has encountered numerous obstacles. Effective integration of students with special needs requires more than just policy implementation; it demands effective educational practices. Teachers are crucial in this process as they are the primary facilitators of learning and significantly influence these students’ academic and social adaptation. Administrative support is essential in fostering an environment conducive to including and adapting students with special needs. This study aims to investigate these dynamics in high schools, focusing on the role of teacher interactions and administrative frameworks in supporting or hindering the adaptation process for students with special needs. Understanding these relationships is crucial for identifying gaps, challenges and opportunities within the current educational system, thereby contributing to the development of more effective strategies for inclusive education in Pakistan.

This study used a correlational research strategy to investigate the effects of administrative and teacher support on the adaptation capabilities of high school students with special needs. The correlational design was chosen to explore the relationships between different types of support and students’ adaptation capabilities without manipulating any variables (Seeram, 2019). The study involved 230 participants, comprising 170 educators and 60 support staff. Stratified random sampling ensured that the sample represented various school types and experience levels (Sharma et al., 2017). This sampling method helps provide a more accurate and comprehensive understanding of the population under study. The demographic characteristics of the sample are summarized in Table 1. Participants were categorized based on sex, level of education, age and experience level to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the sample’s diversity.

This study reveals that teacher and administrative support significantly impact students’ adaptation capabilities. Teacher support emerged as a strong predictor (ß = 0.502, p < 0.001), highlighting its crucial role in enhancing students’ adaptability. Administrative support also showed a positive and significant effect (ß = 0.211, p < 0.001), and its interaction with teacher support (ß = 0.102, p < 0.001) suggests that administrative support amplifies the positive effects of teacher support. These findings underscore the importance of a holistic support system within schools. While teachers provide direct instructional support and foster an inclusive learning environment, administrative support ensures teachers have the necessary resources and institutional backing to support students effectively (Carter et al., 2022). The interaction between these forms of support suggests that administrative efforts to support teachers can significantly enhance the overall adaptation capabilities of students (Gibbs, 2023b).

Several limitations should be considered when interpreting the findings of this study. First, the data were collected using self-reported questionnaires, which may be subject to biases such as social desirability or recall bias. Second, the study’s cross-sectional design limits the ability to establish causality between the variables. Longitudinal studies would be beneficial in exploring the causal relationships between teacher and administrative support and students’ adaptation capabilities. In addition, the study was conducted within a specific context and population, which may limit the generalizability of the findings to other settings. Future research should aim to replicate this study in different educational contexts to validate and extend the findings.

The practical implications of these findings are significant. Schools should prioritize developing comprehensive support systems that include robust teacher support mechanisms and strong administrative backing. Professional development programs should focus on enhancing teachers’ skills in differentiated instruction, formative assessment and the use of technology in the classroom. Moreover, administrative policies should aim to provide continuous support for teachers through resources, training and collaborative opportunities. This dual approach ensures that teachers are well-equipped to address the diverse needs of students with special needs and that students receive consistent, high-quality support across their educational experience.

This study uniquely explores the combined effects of administrative and teacher support on the adaptation of high school students with special needs in mainstream education, highlighting the synergistic relationship between these support systems. Using a robust correlational design and stratified random sampling, it provides valuable insights into the dynamics of inclusive education within a Pakistani context. The findings emphasize the critical role of holistic support systems, offering practical implications for enhancing educational policies and practices. By addressing gaps in existing research, this study contributes significantly to the discourse on inclusive education and the development of effective support frameworks for special needs students.

The Technical Education and Vocational Training Authority (TEVTA) plays a crucial role in the socioeconomic development of a country. Still, it is often stigmatized as a secondary choice in the Global South. This study explored the interrelationships and impacts of factors such as family, school, and society on the perception and reputation of TEVTA.

By employing quantitative methods, the analysis focused on how family, society, and school support influence these perceptions and reputations within TEVTA programs. Social Cognitive Theory is the theoretical underpinning of this study, in which 350 students from 13 TEVTA institutes participated by filling out questionnaires. The data was analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and IBM SPSS 28.

This study indicates that family and societal influences significantly shape students' perceptions, confirming their pivotal role in enhancing the reputation of these programs. School support also emerged as a critical factor, significantly impacting students' perceptions but not directly influencing the programs' reputation. The analysis underscores the importance of understanding the sociocultural context to develop effective strategies for the TEVTA sector in Pakistan. This clear understanding is essential for developing effective strategies to improve the reputation of TEVTA programs in this setting. Moreover, this research offers policy suggestions to make vocational education more attractive and accessible to diverse students, ultimately contributing to the country's socioeconomic development.

This study applied Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) to explore how individual thoughts, environmental influences (such as family, school, and society), and behaviors interact within the context of TEVTA programs. This approach fills gaps in current research and offers a clearer understanding of what affects TEVTA's perception and reputation.

To better understand the success of an open source software (OSS) project, this study aims to examine the role of social dependency networks (i.e. social and technical dependencies) in online communities.

This study focuses on dependencies using three network metrics – degree centrality, betweenness centrality and closeness centrality – in developer and module networks. A longitudinal analysis from the projects hosted at Sourceforge.net is conducted to examine the effects of social and technical networks on the success of OSS projects. To address our research questions, we have constructed research models to investigate the social network effects in developer networks, the technical network effects in module networks, and the social-technical network effects in both types of networks.

The results reveal nonlinear relationships between degree centrality in both social and technical networks and OSS success, highlighting the importance of a moderate level of degree centrality in team structure and software architecture. Meanwhile, a moderate level of betweenness centrality and a lower level of closeness centrality between developers lead to a higher chance of OSS project success.

This study is the first attempt to consider the network metrics in both module networks of the technical sub-system and developer networks of the social sub-system to better understand their influences on project success.

E-commerce continues to experience unprecedented growth, but a lack of understanding of socio-behavioral aspects of green last-mile delivery solutions is conflicting with e-commerce and shipping companies' climate-related pledges to e-shoppers. This study seeks to correct for research deficiencies in the e-commerce context by determining how e-shoppers' adoption of green last-mile delivery might be influenced by socio-behavioral factors, personality traits; and e-shopping motivations.

To test the hypotheses, this study collected data from 319 US adults enrolled in an online panel survey and conducted hierarchical regression analyses after controlling for demographic variables.

Results showed that socio-behavioral variables (attitude, subjective norms and perceived behavior control) contributed 60.3% of the unique variance in explaining purchase intention via green delivery (PIGD). Notably, e-shopping motivations derived from utilitarian features (convenience and energy efficiency) and experiential features (e-shopping adventure) emerged as significant predictors of PIGD. Although personality traits (conscientiousness and openness) significantly predicted PIGD in the regression model, the individual effect of openness was not significant. Further, demographic subgroups, including gender, education and income level revealed significant outcomes, while age and ethnicity exhibited no significant group differences with the above-mentioned variables.

The study findings would provide online retailers and marketers with in-depth insight on how green marketing initiatives can increase responsible consumers' intention to purchase via green delivery.

This is a one-of-a-kind effort that integrates and tests e-shoppers' socio-behavioral factors, e-shopping motivations and personality traits into a single model.

A number of automated tools will be required for the purpose of enabling efficient services in air traffic control. The purpose of this paper is to devise an optimal flight trajectory search method that optimizes airspace system efficiency for 3D space in the presence of uncertainties.

This paper put forward an optimization model for generating applicable solutions of multi-aircraft conflict resolution problem, and the solution is based on the principle of optimality.

The conflict resolution problem between multiple aircraft can be described by spatial discretization, and the approach taken digitizes the 3D space into a grid of nodes.

The simulation examples are given to illustrate the validity of trajectory search model and stress on the impact of different system parameters.

Realistic constraints that are convenient to operate are incorporated in the system model, and the results show that it can provide reliable decision-making for conflict avoidance.