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The inclusion of esports as an official event in the Hangzhou Asian Games is an important step towards the institutionalisation of esports. The significance of this event marks that Asia once again takes a lead in the global esportisation. This chapter investigates a series of history events in the inclusion process of esports into the comprehensive Games in Asia using process sociology and actor network theory (ANT). This study will analyse the type characteristics of esports events in Hangzhou Asian Games, whilst examining how key stakeholders' interact and balance in the network composed of international sports organisations, host of the event, emerging esports organisations and esports game companies. The chapter also examines the functions of global game industrial economic geography, local cultural politics, esports geopolitics and Olympic values in esports sportization, aiming to reveal the implications of esports inclusion in the Asian Games on the debate of whether esports meets the criteria to be classified as a ‘sport’ and its enlightenment of digital strategy to the inclusion esports in the Olympics.

This study aims to investigate a chromium-free sealing treatment process to replace the chromate sealing process in response to the environmental hazards caused by chromate in the Phosphate chemical conversion (PCC) coating post-treatment sealing process.

In this paper, chromium-free sealing technology was used to post-treat PCC coatings. Scanning electron microscopy was used to investigate the structure of the surface of the PCC coatings after the sealing treatment, and the corrosion resistance, hydrophobicity and bonding were tested using an electrochemical workstation, a copper sulfate spot-drop test, a lacquer bonding test, a contact angle meter and a neutral salt spray test.

Chromium-free closure makes the grain distribution on the surface of the PCC coating more uniform and dense, and forms an organic film on the surface of the coating, which significantly improves the corrosion resistance and hydrophobicity of the PCC coating, does not affect the coating film bonding force and has similar performance with potassium dichromate solution.

The results show that the corrosion resistance of PCC coatings after chromium-free sealing treatment is improved, and chromium-free sealing has the potential to replace chromium sealing.

Informality in the tourism sector of the Philippines is a pervasive phenomenon, yet only few studies have explored the former's contribution to the latter, especially at the local level. Hence, this chapter utilizes a tourism value chain model developed by the United Nations World Tourism Organization and Directorate-General for Development and Cooperation (DEVCO) to determine the presence and examine the role of the informal sector in various spheres of Binondo's tourism industry. Findings reveal that informality is thriving in the areas of transportation, food and beverage, handicraft, leisure, excursion, tours, and support services. Conversely, they are inexistent or less visible in the accommodation and tourism assets in destination segments. Moreover, the fragmented tourism value chain of Binondo is heavily shaped by three primary challenges, namely, difference in perception between decision-makers and economic actors, resistance to change by the informal sector, and lack of relevant data to support evidence-based policymaking. To address these issues, the local government of Manila City may hence consider the following policy options: (i) mainstream a “whole-of-locality” approach, (ii) conduct an industry mapping of Binondo's tourism value chain, (iii) facilitate linkages between formal and informal businesses, (iv) develop shared infrastructure and extend capacity-building to the informal sector, and (v) employ a regulatory sandbox approach.

Food labels are increasingly used to provide information to consumers. As a common design strategy used for food package labels globally, label frame is often used to expand the perceived breadth of a brand and create a broader brand image. We evaluated the effect of the presence or absence of a non-genetically modified organism (non-GMO) label frame on consumers' preferences for non-GMO foods.

This study collected data from 120 MBA students at a university in Sichuan, China, and 126 foreign volunteers in a shopping mall in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. The study investigates the effect of the presence or absence of non-GMO label frame (i.e. label with or without an outline) on non-GMO food preferences through a field survey and two controlled experiments. To empirically analyse the psychological mechanisms by which non-GMO label frames affect consumers' preferences for non-GMO food, we set up the mediating variable of food association of safety.

For ordinary consumers, a framed non-GMO label is more likely to evoke food association of safety and further enhance consumer preference for non-GMO foods. It facilitates consumers' choice of healthier foods. This finding did not otherwise vary across demographic characteristics.

This study is the first to examine the influence of non-GMO label frames on consumers' non-GMO food preferences, which is an innovative research question. The findings of this study are instructive for food manufacturers and policymakers to better design and use non-GMO label frames to attract more consumers to choose non-GMO foods.

The study aims to devise a comprehensive evaluation model (CEM) for evaluating spatial equity in the layout of elderly service facilities (ESFs) to address the inequity in the layout of ESFs within city center communities characterized by limited land resources and a dense elderly population.

The CEM incorporates a suite of analytical tools, including accessibility assessment, Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient evaluations and spatial autocorrelation analysis. Utilizing this model, the study scrutinized the distributional equity of three distinct categories of ESFs in the city center of Xi’an and proposed targeted optimization strategies.

The findings reveal that (1) there are disparities in ESFs’ accessibility among different categories and communities, manifesting a distinct center (high) and periphery (low) distribution pattern; (2) there exists inequality in ESFs distribution, with nearly 50% of older adults accessing only 18% of elderly services, and these inequalities are more pronounced in urban areas with lower accessibility, and (3) approximately 14.7% of communities experience a supply-demand disequilibrium, with demand surpassing supply as a predominant issue in the ongoing development of ESFs.

The CEM formulated in this study offers policymakers, urban planners and service providers a scientific foundation and guidance for decision-making or policy amendment by promptly assessing and pinpointing areas of spatial inequity in ESFs and identifying deficiencies in their development.

High-nitrogen steel is a common material for the manufacture of drilling equipment such as drill collars. However, its poor surface properties often limit its applications. The purpose of this paper is to find a way to enhance the surface performance of high-nitrogen steel, which is expected to improve the wear resistance of high-nitrogen steel.

The CoCrNi and CoCrFeNi medium-entropy alloy (MEA) coatings were prepared on high-nitrogen steel substrate by laser cladding technology. The microstructure, phase composition and element distribution of the fabricated coatings were investigated using scanning electronic microscopy, electron backscatter diffraction and X-ray diffraction. The phase structure, phase stability and structural stability of the CoCrNi and CoCrFeNi MEAs were investigated in combination with phase diagram calculation and molecular dynamics. Then the wear tests were carried out for coatings.

The results show that both prepared MEA coatings have good quality and contain a single face-centered cubic phase. The wear performance of MEA coatings is improved by the refinement of grain size and the increase of dislocation density. Due to the addition of Fe atoms, the lattice distortion of the CoCrFeNi system increased, resulting in a higher dislocation density of the coating. Cr atoms in the CoCrFeNi system are the largest, and the local lattice distortions induced by them are greater. Through this study, MEA coatings with high hardness can be expanded to drilling field applications.

CoCrFeNi and CoCrNi MEA coatings were successfully prepared on the surface of high-nitrogen steel for the first time without obvious defects. The micromorphology and grain orientation of the different kinds of coatings were discussed in detail. The hardness-strengthening mechanism and structure stability of the coatings were illustrated by experiments and molecular dynamics simulations.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-04-2024-0116/

The research aimed to identify factors influencing customer loyalty in the use of mobile telecommunication services in Vietnam, focusing on two dimensions “attitudinal loyalty” and “behavioral loyalty.”

Based on survey data collected from 820 in two of Vietnam’s major cities users, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the data were processed using SPSS and AMOS software.

The study identified four factors affecting customer loyalty to mobile telecommunication services, with perceived service quality directly impacting both attitudinal and behavioral loyalty. Corporate image and perceived switching costs influenced attitudinal loyalty, while trust affected behavioral loyalty. Moreover, perceived service quality indirectly influenced attitudinal loyalty through corporate image and perceived switching costs.

The study only focuses on a limited number of factors influencing mobile telecommunications service user loyalty, its restricted geographical sample from only Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and the simplification of perceived switching costs without considering their various components, such as psychological, financial and procedural costs, which could provide more comprehensive experimental and theoretical insights.

The study reveals that customer loyalty in Vietnam’s mobile telecommunications sector is linked to the relationship between attitude toward the service provider and continued usage behavior, categorizing customer groups into genuine loyalty, latent loyalty, feigned loyalty and disloyalty. It suggests that service providers should focus on improving service quality and cultivating a positive, transparent corporate image to bolster customer trust, foster stable relationships and remain competitive in the market.

The research model combines Oliver’s (1999) theory of loyalty with Aydin and Özer’s (2005) research model, focusing on perceived service quality, corporate image, trust and perceived switching costs, examining their relationships with both behavioral and attitudinal loyalty simultaneously.

This study aims to study the impact of earnings quality on firms’ financial performance.

An unbalanced panel data of 237 small- and medium-sized Portuguese companies from the mold industry, using 2010–2018 yearly data was analyzed. While most studies focus only on earnings management when assessing earnings quality, in this study six proxies for earnings quality are used, namely, accruals quality (a proxy for earnings management), earnings persistence, earnings predictability, earnings smoothness, earnings timeliness and earnings conservatism. Moreover, two proxies of financial performance are considered, the return on assets and the economic value added. An econometric model was estimated using either a fixed-effects or a random-effects specification to account for the individual firm-specific effects and ensure heteroscedasticity corrected estimates.

The results show that managers must be concerned with the quality of reported earnings, as it can affect positively firms’ financial performance, especially regarding accruals quality. Persistence, predictability, smoothness, timeliness and conservatism are shown not to exert significant influence on financial performance in the sample.

This work contributes not only as a literature review on these thematic but also to firms’ managers and stakeholders, who have information that helps them select strategies that guarantee earnings quality and improve firms’ financial performance.

This study proposed an econometric model that studies the relationship between earnings quality (using several proxies for it) and financial performance that can be applied to all companies.

Large digital platforms face intense scrutiny over self-preferencing, which involves a platform provider favoring its own offers over those of competitors. In online marketplaces, also called retail or e-commerce platforms, much of the academic and regulatory debate focuses on determining whether the marketplace provider gives preference to its own private labels, such as “Amazon Basics” or Walmart’s “Great Value” products. However, we outline, both conceptually and empirically, that self-preferencing can also occur through other dimensions of vertical integration – namely, retailing and fulfillment.

This article contributes by conceptualizing three dimensions of vertical integration in online marketplaces – private labels, retailing and fulfillment. Then, two studies empirically assess (1) which of the 20 most-visited global online marketplaces vertically integrates which dimension and (2) which share of 600 m available offers is vertically integrated to which degree in eleven international Amazon marketplaces.

The majority of the leading marketplaces vertically integrate all three dimensions, implying ample opportunities for self-preferencing. Across international Amazon marketplaces, only 0.02% of available offers consist of an Amazon private-label product. However, Amazon is a retailer for around 31% and fulfills around 38% of all available offers in its marketplaces. Hence, self-preferencing on Amazon can occur most frequently through retailing and fulfillment but comparatively infrequently through private-label offers. Still, these shares differ substantially by country – every second offer is vertically integrated in the USA, but only one in ten in India.

Most of the self-preferencing debate often focuses on private-label products. Instead, we present large-scale empirical results showing that self-preferencing on Amazon could occur most often through retailing and fulfillment because these channels affect much larger shares of offers. We also measure the variation of these shares across countries and relate them to regulatory environments.

The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyse the potential of existing buildings in the UK to contribute to the net-zero emissions target. Specifically, it aims to address the significant emissions from building fabrics which pose a threat to achieving these targets if not properly addressed.

The study, based on a literature review and ten (10) case studies, explored five investigative approaches for evaluating building fabric: thermal imaging, in situ U-value testing, airtightness testing, energy assessment and condensation risk analysis. Cross-case analysis was used to evaluate both case studies using each approach. These methodologies were pivotal in assessing buildings’ existing condition and energy consumption and contributing to the UK’s net-zero ambitions.

Findings reveal that incorporating the earlier approaches into the building fabric showed great benefits. Significant temperature regulation issues were identified, energy consumption decreased by 15% after improvements, poor insulation and artistry quality affected the U-values of buildings. Implementing retrofits such as solar panels, air vents, insulation, heat recovery and air-sourced heat pumps significantly improved thermal performance while reducing energy consumption. Pulse technology proved effective in measuring airtightness, even in extremely airtight houses, and high airflow and moisture management were essential in preserving historic building fabric.

The research stresses the need to understand investigative approaches’ strengths, limitations and synergies for cost-effective energy performance strategies. It emphasizes the urgency of eliminating carbon dioxide (CO₂) and greenhouse gas emissions to combat global warming and meet the 1.5° C threshold.