Yajun Zhang, Yongge Niu, Zhi Chen, Xiaoyu Deng, Banggang Wu and Yali Chen
Online retailers are pioneering the incentivization of customers to generate more product reviews by rewarding them. However, little is known about the impact of reward types on…
Abstract
Purpose
Online retailers are pioneering the incentivization of customers to generate more product reviews by rewarding them. However, little is known about the impact of reward types on customers' review behavior, including review frequency and sentiment. To address this gap, we investigated the effects of different reward types on customers' review behavior and how these rewards influence customers' review behavior.
Design/methodology/approach
We collected secondary data and empirically tested the hypothesis by analyzing the change in reward policy. Regression and two-stage Heckman models were applied to investigate the effects, with the latter used to control potential selection issues.
Findings
The results revealed that monetary rewards can stimulate customers to generate more positive product reviews. Furthermore, the reward amount has a negative moderating effect on the aforementioned relationship. Additionally, customer tenure negatively moderates the relationship between monetary rewards and review behavior.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the understanding of user-generated content motivation and provides managerial implications for reward programs.
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Weifei Hu, Tongzhou Zhang, Xiaoyu Deng, Zhenyu Liu and Jianrong Tan
Digital twin (DT) is an emerging technology that enables sophisticated interaction between physical objects and their virtual replicas. Although DT has recently gained significant…
Abstract
Digital twin (DT) is an emerging technology that enables sophisticated interaction between physical objects and their virtual replicas. Although DT has recently gained significant attraction in both industry and academia, there is no systematic understanding of DT from its development history to its different concepts and applications in disparate disciplines. The majority of DT literature focuses on the conceptual development of DT frameworks for a specific implementation area. Hence, this paper provides a state-of-the-art review of DT history, different definitions and models, and six types of key enabling technologies. The review also provides a comprehensive survey of DT applications from two perspectives: (1) applications in four product-lifecycle phases, i.e. product design, manufacturing, operation and maintenance, and recycling and (2) applications in four categorized engineering fields, including aerospace engineering, tunneling and underground engineering, wind engineering and Internet of things (IoT) applications. DT frameworks, characteristic components, key technologies and specific applications are extracted for each DT category in this paper. A comprehensive survey of the DT references reveals the following findings: (1) The majority of existing DT models only involve one-way data transfer from physical entities to virtual models and (2) There is a lack of consideration of the environmental coupling, which results in the inaccurate representation of the virtual components in existing DT models. Thus, this paper highlights the role of environmental factor in DT enabling technologies and in categorized engineering applications. In addition, the review discusses the key challenges and provides future work for constructing DTs of complex engineering systems.
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Banggang Wu, Xiaoyu Deng and Xuebin Cui
The existing research does not systematically explore customers' option about different payment methods, nor does it analyze how shopping channels and shopping scale affect…
Abstract
Purpose
The existing research does not systematically explore customers' option about different payment methods, nor does it analyze how shopping channels and shopping scale affect customers' option about different payment methods. Furthermore, there is a lack of exploration on what the relationship is, and how they are adjusted by customer purchasing experience. The authors’ research questions are: (1) when using different shopping channels in online retailing, whether customers will choose different types of payment methods? (2) Does the purchase amounts affect customers' choice of different payment methods?
Design/methodology/approach
This study takes 60,484 customers from JD.com, one of the largest B2C platforms in China, as the research object and collects the purchase data of these customers from October 01, 2012 to December 31, 2013, and analyzes them through panel data models.
Findings
Based on their purchase data, the authors find the main results by using panel data model that (1) the use of mobile channel has a positive effect on cash on delivery (COD), implying that when consumers use mobile to purchase, they have a higher possibility to use COD, (2) the order size has a positive effects on COD, that is to say, when the purchase amount increases, the possibility of using COD also increases. (3) Furthermore, when consumers' purchase experience abound, mobile channel's positive effect on COD will be decreased, but it does not affect the positive effect between order size and COD.
Originality/value
From the aspects of shopping channels, product attributes and customer purchase experience, it fills the gaps in the research on the preselection of payment methods and makes research of payment methods a complete research system. Secondly, this study adds COD to the options of payment method selection. Finally, the moderating effect of customer shopping experience from a dynamic perspective elaborates that customers can learn from multiple purchases and overcome the shopping risks brought by shopping channels, thereby reducing the probability of choosing a COD method.
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Xiaoyu Chen, Alton Y.K. Chua and Shengli Deng
As an increasing number of users have acquired information across the web and mobile platforms for social question and answering (Q&A), it is of interest to explore whether there…
Abstract
Purpose
As an increasing number of users have acquired information across the web and mobile platforms for social question and answering (Q&A), it is of interest to explore whether there are differences in social Q&A usages between the two platforms. The purpose of this paper is to compare web and mobile platforms of a social Q&A service from the user’s perspective in terms of three dimensions, namely, demographics, individual-based constructs, and information-based constructs.
Design/methodology/approach
Because Zhihu.com is one of the most popular social Q&A sites in China, the authors used online questionnaires to investigate its users’ perceptions of these three dimensions. From January to March 2016, the authors obtained 278 valid responses in total through snowball and convenient sampling. Collected data are analyzed through descriptive statistics and inferential statistics.
Findings
The results indicate that there exist significant differences between web users and mobile users on Zhihu.com in terms of gender, affinity, and information seeking. More specifically, compared to the male users, more female users rely on the mobile platform to access the information service; mobile users perceive higher affinity with Zhihu.com than web users; and mobile users perceive higher information-seeking intention than web users do.
Originality/value
Regarding the theoretical aspect, this study proposes a conceptual framework for comparison between the web and mobile platforms of social Q&A from the user’s perspective. Regarding the practical aspect, the comparative results of this study could give social Q&A service providers useful information about users’ differences between web and mobile platforms of social Q&A services.
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Antagonistic relationship among the participants of construction projects has significantly improved, and further improving cooperation quality are committed. In this context…
Abstract
Purpose
Antagonistic relationship among the participants of construction projects has significantly improved, and further improving cooperation quality are committed. In this context, expanding new ways to improve cooperation quality has become a new topic in cooperation research. This study is dedicated to exploring the mechanism of cross-organizational private relationships on cooperative behaviors, which is rarely addressed in current research on construction projects, and provides reference for the rational use of cross-organizational private relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on analysis of studies related to relational governance theory, institutional theory and project complexity, this study constructs the theoretical model. This study uses survey data from 395 construction professionals in China to test the theoretical model by using structural equation modeling (SEM) and explains the direct and indirect mechanism of cross-organizational private relationships on cooperation behavior.
Findings
(1) Cross-organizational private relationships have direct and indirect facilitating effect on cooperation behavior. (2) Relational norms as mediating variables contribute to the expansion of the positive effects of cross-organizational private relationships on cooperation behavior. (3) Institutional environment and project complexity have the moderating effect between cross-organizational private relationships and cooperation behavior.
Originality/value
This research investigates the impact mechanisms and boundary conditions of cross-organizational private relationships at the micro level on the cooperative behaviors in construction projects and conducts empirical research. It is a topic that has not been adequately researched in the field of project management. The research results expand the scope of research on relational governance and deepen the research on the antecedents of relational norms. It provides the base for the proposed contingency theory of relational governance.
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Binchao Deng, Xindong Lv, Yaling Du, Xiaoyu Li and Yilin Yin
Inefficiency dilemmas in project governance are caused by various risks arising from the characteristic of construction supply chain projects, such as poor project performance…
Abstract
Purpose
Inefficiency dilemmas in project governance are caused by various risks arising from the characteristic of construction supply chain projects, such as poor project performance, conflicts between stakeholders and cost overrun. This research aims to establish a fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE) model to analyze construction supply chain risk factors. Corresponding risk mitigation strategies are provided to facilitate the improvement performance of ongoing construction supply chain projects.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review is utilized to reveal the deficiencies of construction supply chain risk management. Thus, a total of five hundred (500) questionnaires are distributed to construction professionals, and four hundred and thirty-five (435) questionnaires are recovered to obtain the evaluation data of construction professionals on critical risk factors. Additionally, the FSE is used to analyze and rank the significance of critical risk factors. Finally, this research discusses nine critical risk factors with high weight in the model, and explains the reason for the significance of critical risk factors in the construction supply chain.
Findings
The questionnaire results show that the thirty-one (31) identified critical risk factors are verified by related practitioners (government departments, universities and research institutions, owners, construction units, financial institutions, design units, consulting firms). Thirty-one (31) identified critical risk factors are divided into common risks, risks from contractors and risks from owners. The most significant factors in the three categories, respectively, are “political risks,” “owner's unprofessional” approach and “cash flow.” Managing these risks can facilitate the development of the construction supply chain.
Originality/value
This paper expands the research perspective of construction supply chain risk management and complements the risks in the construction supply chain. For practitioners, the research result provides some corresponding measures to deal with these risks. For researchers, the research result provides the direction of construction supply chain risk treatment.
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Xin Fan and Xiaoyu Song
Regulating and guiding the sound development of capital under a socialist system is not only a significant theoretical innovation rooted in Chinese…
Abstract
Purpose
Regulating and guiding the sound development of capital under a socialist system is not only a significant theoretical innovation rooted in Chinese practice by the Communist Party of China (CPC) but also a major practical exploration for the smooth progression of the party and the nation’s modernization endeavors.
Design/methodology/approach
Adopting an analytical framework that unifies theoretical, historical and practical logic, this paper explores the rationality of capital’s existence under a socialist system based on the notion that capital is a materialized production relationship. It also examines the staged evolution of capital theory under socialism, highlighting the great leap forward realized by the capital theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Findings
With the CPC Central Committee’s deepening understanding of the capital patterns in the socialist system, capital-related policies have undergone a developmental journey through several stages – from the negation and elimination of capital to the support and operation of capital and finally to the stage of regulating and guiding capital. This reflects the reciprocal and complementary relationship between capital theory and capital policy.
Originality/value
In response to issues such as the disorderly expansion of capital in the new development stage, it is imperative to actively promote a practical pathway safeguarded by the adherence to Party leadership, guided by the capital theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics and targeted toward common prosperity.
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This study aims to investigate motivators, mediator and moderator of users' sustained information seeking on academic social networking sites (ASNSs).
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate motivators, mediator and moderator of users' sustained information seeking on academic social networking sites (ASNSs).
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing upon the expectancy–value theory and related information-seeking literature, the study developed a theoretical model to explain why and how users intend to continue seeking information on ASNSs. Thereafter, a field survey with 385 participants was conducted to test the model. Finally, a content analysis of participants' post-survey feedback was performed to complement the model test results by showing more fine-grained findings.
Findings
Results suggest that information usefulness and information adoption (IA) are significant to users' sustained information seeking on ASNSs, while users' satisfaction with ASNSs may play a mediating role in the relationship between information usefulness and sustained information seeking. Additionally, self-efficacy for critical thinking (SCT) weakens the impact of IA on users' satisfaction with ASNSs. The post-survey feedback analysis indicates that information usefulness is more critical to sustained information seeking for users with high SCT, whereas IA becomes more crucial to users' satisfaction with ASNSs and sustained information seeking for users with low SCT.
Originality/value
Although the extant literature has distinguished between information seeking and sustained information seeking, empirical research into users' sustained information seeking on ASNSs is limited. The study fills this gap by proposing and validating relevant factors and the boundary condition of users' sustained information seeking.
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Xiaoyu Wang, Mengxi Chen, Zhiyan Wang, Chun Hung Roberts Law and Mu Zhang
This study aims to investigate the affordances of service robots (SRs) in hotels and their effects on frontline employees (FLEs).
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the affordances of service robots (SRs) in hotels and their effects on frontline employees (FLEs).
Design/methodology/approach
Purposive and referral samplings methods were used to conduct 28 semistructured interviews with hotel FLEs, and the transcribed manuscript was analyzed based on grounded theory.
Findings
The study identifies six dimensions of SR affordances: physical, sensory, task, safety, social and emotional affordances. The main effects of SR affordances on FLEs involve reducing work stress and mental fatigue and increasing positive emotions in the psychological aspects of FLEs. In terms of behavioral aspects, shifts in task priorities and enhancements in SR usage behaviors were observed. Accordingly, a mechanistic framework was revealed through which SR affordances influence FLEs via direct and indirect interactions between FLEs and SRs.
Originality/value
This paper expands robotics research from a supply-side perspective and is one of the few studies to investigate SR affordances in the field of hospitality research. Findings of this study provide practical guidelines for designing and implementing SRs to support hotel FLEs in their daily work.
研究目的
本研究旨在调查酒店中服务机器人(SR)的可供性及其对一线员工(FLEs)的影响。
研究方法
本研究采用目的性和推荐抽样方法, 对酒店一线员工进行了28次半结构化访谈, 并根据扎根理论对转录的手稿进行了分析。
研究发现
本研究确定了服务机器人的六个可供性维度:物理、感官、任务、安全、社会和情感可供性。服务机器人可供性对一线员工的主要影响包括减少工作压力和心理疲劳, 以及在心理方面增加积极情绪。在行为方面, 观察到任务优先级的变化和服务机器人使用行为的增强。因此, 研究揭示了一种机制框架, 通过一线员工与服务机器人的直接和间接互动, 服务机器人可供性影响一线员工。
研究创新
本文从供给侧视角扩展了机器人研究, 是少数几篇研究酒店业中服务机器人可供性的研究之一。本研究结果为设计和实施服务机器人以支持酒店一线员工的日常工作提供了实践指南。
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Yaming Zhang, Na Wang, Koura Yaya Hamadou, Yanyuan Su, Xiaoyu Guo and Wenjie Song
In social media, crisis information susceptible of generating different emotions could be spread at exponential pace via multilevel super-spreaders. This study aims to interpret…
Abstract
Purpose
In social media, crisis information susceptible of generating different emotions could be spread at exponential pace via multilevel super-spreaders. This study aims to interpret the multi-level emotion propagation in natural disaster events by analyzing information diffusion capacity and emotional guiding ability of super-spreaders in different levels of hierarchy.
Design/methodology/approach
We collected 47,042 original microblogs and 120,697 forwarding data on Weibo about the “7.20 Henan Rainstorm” event for empirical analysis. Emotion analysis and emotion network analysis were used to screen emotional information and identify super-spreaders. The number of followers is considered as the basis for classifying super-spreaders into five levels.
Findings
Official media and ordinary users can become the super-spreaders with different advantages, creating a new emotion propagation environment. The number of followers becomes a valid basis for classifying the hierarchy levels of super-spreaders. The higher the level of users, the easier they are to become super-spreaders. And there is a strong correlation between the hierarchy level of super-spreaders and their role in emotion propagation.
Originality/value
This study has important significance for understanding the mode of social emotion propagation and making decisions in maintaining social harmony.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-03-2024-0192.