Xueting Zhang, Longsheng Yin and Feng Wang
Despite the growing importance of digital transformation, few studies have investigated its precise effects on firm efficiency. This research explores the differential effects of…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the growing importance of digital transformation, few studies have investigated its precise effects on firm efficiency. This research explores the differential effects of digital transformation on the profitability and marketability of manufacturing firms.
Design/methodology/approach
We analyze the relationship between digital transformation and firm efficiency using a dataset of Chinese-listed manufacturing firms from 2011 to 2023.
Findings
The results indicate that digital transformation improves marketability and has a U-shaped relationship with profitability. Moreover, industry competition amplifies the positive effect of digital transformation on marketability but attenuates its U-shaped effect on profitability. In contrast, media coverage attenuates the positive effect of digital transformation on marketability and amplifies its U-shaped effect on profitability.
Originality/value
While the existing conclusion about the efficiency of digital transformation is inconsistent, this research enriches the literature on digital transformation and provides insights for improving firm efficiency in terms of both profitability and marketability.
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Xueting Zhang, Tanya (Ya) Tang, Man Chen and Feng Wang
This research explores whether, when and why employee identity salience influences content sharing of employee's friends in social networks and further investigates two moderating…
Abstract
Purpose
This research explores whether, when and why employee identity salience influences content sharing of employee's friends in social networks and further investigates two moderating conditions of network overlap and deal content.
Design/methodology/approach
In Study 1, the authors analyzed a field data related to 20,715 users on the largest social network platform in China. In Studies 2 and 3, the authors verified the findings of Study 1 and tested the underlying mechanism with two experiments.
Findings
The results showed that employee identity salience could increase sharing likelihood of content receiver, especially when the employee had higher network overlap with receiver. However, when the content contained deal-related information, the receiver was less likely to share this content from employee with salient identity. The authors also found that perceived information credibility acted as a mediator in above relationships.
Originality/value
This research is the first to test the effects of employee identity salience on content sharing by considering both content type and network characteristics. The authors also provide insights into the mediating role of information credibility, which enriches the content sharing and social network literature.
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Hao Zhang, Mengjie Dong and Xueting Zhang
This study seeks to explore the impact of “fear of missing out” (FOMO) and “psychological enhancement” (PE) on addiction to social media applications, subsequently influencing…
Abstract
Purpose
This study seeks to explore the impact of “fear of missing out” (FOMO) and “psychological enhancement” (PE) on addiction to social media applications, subsequently influencing users' life satisfaction and continuous usage intention.
Design/methodology/approach
This research involved the administration of two sets of questionnaires during distinct periods: December 15 to December 30, 2022 and August 26 to September 2, 2023. The participants were college students from three universities in China, and the data collection utilized the “Questionnaire Star” platform. Only responses deemed valid and consistent were included in the subsequent statistical analysis. A total of 1,108 valid samples were used for the final analysis. Analyses including reliability, validity, path analysis, structural equation modeling, mediation effects and moderation effects were conducted using SPSS and AMOS software.
Findings
The study revealed that both FOMO and PE exerted positive influences on users' addiction to social media applications. Furthermore, this addiction was found to have a negative effect on users' life satisfaction while simultaneously contributing positively to their intention to continue using these platforms. The mediating effect of social media application addiction and the moderating impact of self-regulation were also substantiated through the analysis.
Research limitations/implications
Firstly, it is important to note that the research population of this study is limited to college students, which may limit its generalizability and representativeness. Although college students are a group known for their familiarity with and frequent use of smartphones and social media apps, the findings may not fully capture the behaviors of social media app users in other age groups. To enhance the understanding of social media app addiction across different age groups, future studies should consider expanding the research population and conducting multi-group difference analyses. Secondly, while focusing on specific users within a particular region can minimize unexplained variance in model estimation, it may also restrict the broader applicability of the study results. Therefore, future studies should consider testing the research model with diverse groups from different regions and cultural backgrounds. This approach will provide valuable insights into how social media app addiction may vary across various contexts, thereby enriching our understanding of this phenomenon.
Practical implications
Our findings reveal that in the “attention economy” environment shaped by addiction, social media app managers should leverage technology to swiftly and accurately target audiences, attract them to their platforms and cultivate long-term relationships. Encouraging users to develop new beneficial habits through app-specific functions and precise services will foster continuous usage and unlock revenue and marketing opportunities for app companies.
Social implications
Despite the extensive scholarly discourse on social media application addiction, there is a lack of a well-defined framework delineating how addictive user behaviors can be leveraged in the marketing strategies of social media application platforms. The present study seeks to address these gaps, contributing to a better understanding of the formation mechanisms and knowledge systems related to social media application addiction. By investigating the causes and consequences of such addiction, this research offers valuable insights and recommendations for the innovative development of these apps, given their widespread popularity. Concurrently, the study establishes a theoretical basis for the concept that users can mitigate the negative effects of social media addiction by exercising their own self-regulation.
Originality/value
As the functionalities and features of social media apps converge, their individual uniqueness starts to diminish, intensifying the competition among social media companies. This escalating rivalry places higher demands on these companies. This study aims to aid social media app companies in comprehending and analyzing the diverse psychological needs of users. By enriching their platform features and services, leading users towards addiction and gaining an edge in the “Attention Economy” competition. Understanding and catering to users' needs will be instrumental in thriving within this dynamic and evolving attention economy landscape.
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Xueting Zhang, Younggeun Park and Jaejin Park
This study aims to investigate customers' personal innovativeness (PI) as an influencing factor of omni-channel customer experience throughout pre-purchase, purchase and…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate customers' personal innovativeness (PI) as an influencing factor of omni-channel customer experience throughout pre-purchase, purchase and post–purchase stages of the customer journey, and their subsequent influences on customers' reuse intention.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from customers who had experience with omni-channel shopping in South Korea through a questionnaire made with Naver Forms, both online and offline from 15 June to 15 July 2022. Out of the received responses, only valid and consistent questionnaires were considered for statistical analysis. In total, 272 valid samples were utilised for the final analysis. Analyses included reliability, validity, path, structural equation modelling and mediation effects, using SPSS and AMOS software.
Findings
The results revealed a significant influence of personal innovativeness on the omni-channel customer experience across all purchase stages. Personal innovativeness was found to influence the customer experience in the pre- and post–purchase stages, thus affecting reuse intention. However, it did not have the same effect in the purchase stage. The omni-channel experience customer experience also played an indirect mediating role in the relationship between personal innovativeness and reuse intention.
Research limitations/implications
First, personal innovativeness in the IT domain may be very prominent in studies examining innovative behaviours related to computing technology. Second, this study provides further understanding of customers' intentions to reuse omni-channel shopping. Third, the path analysis showed that personal innovativeness significantly affects customer experience at all pre-purchase, purchase and post–purchase stages of the customer journey. However, except for the purchase experience, both pre- and post–purchase experiences significantly impact customers' intention to reuse omni-channels and play a mediating role.
Practical implications
First, omni-channel retailers should launch new products, innovative promotional activities and explore new channels or new service modes to stimulate the need recognition of customers with high personal innovativeness. Second, omni-channel retailers should pay attention to the users' reviews of each channel because they play a key role in potential customers' purchase decisions. Third, offering customers a seamless shopping experience is essential as a marketing strategy for omni-channel retailing.
Originality/value
This study elucidates the causal relationship between personal characteristics and behaviour by dividing the omni-channel customer journey. In particular, personal innovativeness is identified as an important predictor of the intention to reuse omni-channels during the pre- and post–purchase stages. This suggests that omni-channel retailers need to strategically manage these stages to boost customers' reuse intention.
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Guohua Zhang, Xueting Liu, Bengt Ake Sundén and Gongnan Xie
This study aims to clarify the mechanism of film hole location at the span-wise direction of an internal cooling channel with crescent ribs on the adiabatic film cooling…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to clarify the mechanism of film hole location at the span-wise direction of an internal cooling channel with crescent ribs on the adiabatic film cooling performance, three configurations are designed to observe the effects of the distance between the center of the ellipse and the side wall(Case 1, l = w/2, Case 2, l = w/3 and for Case 3, l = w/4).
Design/methodology/approach
Numerical simulations are conducted under two blowing ratios (i.e. 0.5 and 1) and a fixed cross-flow Reynolds number (Rec = 100,000) with a verified turbulence model.
Findings
It is shown that at low blowing ratio, reducing the distance increases the film cooling effectiveness but keeps the trend of the effectiveness unchanged, while at high blowing ratio, the characteristic is a little bit different in the range of 0 = x/D =10.
Research limitations/implications
These features could be explained by the fact that shrinking the distance between the hole and side wall induces a much smaller reserved region and vortex downstream the ribs and a lower resistance for cooling air entering the film hole. Furthermore, the spiral flow inside the hole is impaired.
Originality/value
As a result, the kidney-shaped vortices originating from the jet flow are weakened, and the target surface can be well covered, resulting in an enhancement of the adiabatic film cooling performance.
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Haowei Zhang, Lili Sun, Chengli Song, Ying Liu, Xueting Xuan, Fei Wang, Jing Zhong and Li Sun
Design, fabricate and evaluate all-solid-state wearable sensor systems that can monitor ion concentrations in human sweat to provide real time health analysis and disease…
Abstract
Purpose
Design, fabricate and evaluate all-solid-state wearable sensor systems that can monitor ion concentrations in human sweat to provide real time health analysis and disease diagnosis capabilities.
Design/methodology/approach
A human health monitoring system includes disposable customized flexible electrode array and a compact signal transmission-processing electronic unit.
Findings
Patterned rGO (reduced-graphene oxide) layers can replace traditional metal electrodes for the fabrication of free-standing all solid film sensors to provide improved flexibility, sensitivity, selectivity, and stability in ion concentration monitoring. Electrochemical measurements show the open circuit potential of current selective electrodes exhibit near Nernst responses versus Na+ and K+ ion concentration in sweat. These signals show great stability during a typical measurement period of 3 weeks. Sensor performances evaluated through real time measurements on human subjects show strong correlations between subject activity and sweating levels, confirming high degree of robustness, sensitivity, reliability and practicality of current sensor systems.
Originality/value
In improving flexibility, stability and interfacial coherency of chemical sensor arrays, rGO films have been the developed as a high-performance alternative to conventional electrode with significant cost and processing complexity reduction. rGO supported solid state electrode arrays have been found to have linear potential response versus ion concentration, suitable for electrochemical sensing applications. Current sweat sensor system has a high degree of integration, including electrode arrays, signal processing circuits, and data visualization interfaces.
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Xueting Gong, Dinkneh Gebre Borojo and Jiang Yushi
Due to their limited capacity for adaptation and dependence on natural resources for economic growth, developing countries (DCs) tend to be more prone to climate change. It is…
Abstract
Purpose
Due to their limited capacity for adaptation and dependence on natural resources for economic growth, developing countries (DCs) tend to be more prone to climate change. It is argued that climate finance (CF) is a significant financial innovation to mitigate the negative effects of climate variation. However, the heterogeneous impacts of CF on environmental sustainability (ES) and social welfare (SW) have been masked. Thus, this study aims to investigate the heterogeneous effects of CF on ES and SW in 80 CF receipt DCs from 2002 to 2018. This study also aims to investigate the effects of CF on ES and SW based on population size, income heterogeneity and the type of CF.
Design/methodology/approach
The method of moments quantile regression (MMQR) with fixed effects is utilized. Alternatively, the fully modified least square (FMOLS) and dynamic least square (DOLS) estimators are used for the robustness test.
Findings
The findings revealed that DCs with the lowest and middle quantiles of EF, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and human development exhibit large beneficial impacts of CF on ES and SW. In contrast, the positive effects of CF on ES breakdown for countries with the largest distributions of EF and CO2 emissions. Besides, the impacts of CF on ES and SW depend on income heterogeneity, population size and the type of CF.
Practical implications
This study calls for a framework to integrate CF into all economic development decisions to strengthen climate-resilient SW and ES in DCs.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the effects of CF on ES and SW in a wide range of DCs. Thus, it complements existing related literature focusing on the effects of CF on ES and SW.
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Hector R. Flores, Xueting Jiang and Charles C. Manz
The aim of this paper is to present a model of the moderating role of emotional self-leadership on the cognitive conflict–affective conflict relationship and their effect on work…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to present a model of the moderating role of emotional self-leadership on the cognitive conflict–affective conflict relationship and their effect on work team decision quality.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws upon extant theoretical and empirical research on the conflict, leadership and emotions literature works to argue for the role of emotional self-leadership as a boundary condition of the intra-team conflict–work team decision quality relationship.
Findings
Key to understanding why cognitive conflict sometimes leads to improved decision quality and sometimes it does not is the role of emotional self-leadership. Through emotional self-leadership, team members can actively anticipate, guide and focus their emotional responses to cognitive conflict and reduce their experience of affective conflict, improving team decision quality.
Research limitations/implications
Identifying and explaining the moderating role of emotional self-leadership represents important progress for reframing emotion regulation and emotional intelligence into a new theoretical lens that may yield more meaningful insights into self-managed teams’ research. If empirically supported, this moderating effect would help explain the contradictory results obtained in prior empirical studies.
Practical implications
Practitioners can diminish or avoid the negative effect of the type of conflict that lowers work team decision quality and preserve the positive effect of the type of conflict that improves work team decision quality by identifying and implementing ways to improve a work team’s level of collective emotional self-leadership.
Originality/value
This paper extends the emotions, leadership and conflict literature works into the current research on self-directed work teams’ effectiveness by bringing attention to the moderating role of emotional self-leadership and calls for empirical research on this subject.
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Dongsheng Wang, Xiaohan Sun, Yingchang Jiang, Xueting Chang and Xin Yonglei
Stainless-clad bimetallic steels (SCBS) are widely investigated in some extremely environmental applications areas, such as polar sailing area and tropical oil and gas platforms…
Abstract
Purpose
Stainless-clad bimetallic steels (SCBS) are widely investigated in some extremely environmental applications areas, such as polar sailing area and tropical oil and gas platforms areas, because of their excellent anticorrosion performance and relatively lower production costs. However, the properties of SCBS, including the mechanical strength, weldability and the anticorrosion behavior, have a direct relation with the manufacturing process and can affect their practical applications. This paper aims to review the application and the properties requirements of SCBS in marine environments to promote the application of this new material in more fields.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the manufacturing process, welding and corrosion-resistant properties of SCBS were introduced systematically by reviewing the related literatures, and some results of the authors’ research group were also introduced briefly.
Findings
Different preparation methods, such as rolling composite, casting rolling composite, explosive composite, laser cladding and plasma arc cladding, as well as the process parameters, including the vacuum degree, rolling temperature, rolling reduction ratio, volume ratios of liquid to solid, explosive ratio and the heat treatment, influenced a lot on the properties of the SCBS through changing the interface microstructures. Otherwise, the variations in rolling temperature, pass, reduction and the grain size of clad steel also brought the dissimilarities of the mechanical properties, microhardness, bonding strength and toughness. Another two new processes, clad teeming method and interlayer explosive welding, deserve more attention because of their excellent microstructure control ability. The superior corrosion resistance of SCBS can alleviate the corrosion problem in the marine environment and prolong the service life of the equipment, but the phenomenon of galvanic corrosion should be noted as much as possible. The high dilution rate, welding process specifications and heat treatment can weaken the intergranular corrosion resistance in the weld area.
Originality/value
This paper summarizes the application of SCBS in marine environments and provides an overview and reference for the research of stainless-clad bimetallic steel.
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Xueting Dou, Alei Fan and Liping Cai
This paper aims to investigate how the contextual marketing strategy facilitated by mobile technology enhances consumers’ purchase intention and experiential quality in a hedonic…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate how the contextual marketing strategy facilitated by mobile technology enhances consumers’ purchase intention and experiential quality in a hedonic service setting – museum. Specifically, this study explores the impacts of a context-triggered push notification promoting context-related souvenirs embedded in the museum mobile app on visitors’ souvenir purchase intention and visit experience.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted a scenario-based experimental design with video stimuli and a follow-up survey questionnaire. A total of 151 participants were randomly assigned to one of the two art museum visiting scenarios (i.e. with vs without the in-app push notification). A series of one-way ANOVA comparisons and serial mediation tests were conducted for hypotheses testing.
Findings
The results show that the mobile app promoting context-related souvenirs positively affects museum visitors’ souvenir purchase intention without undermining their experiential quality. The serial mediation effects through contextual perceived value and impulse buying tendency further explain how the in-app push notification influences visitors’ souvenir purchase intention.
Originality/value
This study extends the contextual marketing research to a unique service domain (i.e. museum) and contributes to the service technology literature. The findings present empirical evidence for the effectiveness of mobile contextual marketing and its potential to enhance consumers’ experiential quality in a hedonic service setting. The current research provides practical guidelines to both the museum management and mobile app developers.