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A lack of differentiation in the function and appearance of web portals has led to fierce competition; attracting users' attention is no doubt the most important factor for portal success. This study aims to combine rational assessment factors and non‐rational assessment factors to examine their impact on the intended use of portals.

The research participants were individuals who have experience using web portals. A total of 215 valid questionnaires were collected. Structural equation modelling was used to test the research hypothesis.

This study is based on the technology acceptance model (TAM), a significant model in MIS research. The results show that all assessment factors have an impact on the intended use of web portals.

TAM emphasised perceived usefulness as the key determinant of user acceptance of technology. This study finds, however, that in the portal context, non‐rational assessment factors such as perceived playfulness and habit have more significant effects on users' intention than perceived usefulness.

The paper concludes that non‐rational assessment factors are important boundary conditions to the validity of the technology acceptance model. To attract users, web site designers should be more aware of aesthetics and the hedonic nature of web users.

This study has contributed to the original TAM by incorporating non‐rational assessment factors. It also validates this empirical model. The results of this study can help practitioners create a more successful business model and help researchers better understand user behaviour on the internet.

There has been an explosive growth of blog usage recently. However, little research has explored the forces motivating people to engage in blog activities. The purpose of this paper is to suggest that the driving forces to engage in blog participation not only includes utilitarian motivation (i.e. perceived usefulness) and hedonic motivation (i.e. perceived playfulness) but also habitual behaviour and social identity (blog identification). The quality of the blog is included as an antecedent to perceived usefulness and perceived playfulness.

In total, 225 valid questionnaires were collected from blog users. Structural equation modelling was used to test the research hypothesis.

The results show that blog users' intentions to participate in blogs are determined by all four key drivers: habit, perceived playfulness, blog identification, and perceived usefulness. Blog quality has an effect on perceived usefulness and perceived playfulness.

Previous studies emphasise the importance of perceived usefulness as the key determinant for user acceptance of technology. However, in the blog context this study finds habit, perceived playfulness, and blog identification have more significant effects on users' intention than perceived usefulness.

Blog hosts should encourage habitual blog usage (habit), pay more attention to the hedonic nature of the blog (perceived playfulness) and establish a stronger sense of blog identification among participants, in order to retain active users.

This study articulates and empirically validates a motivational research model of blog usage, helping researchers to better understand such behaviour.

Knowledge sharing has played an important role in the proliferation of virtual communities. However little research has provided an integrated view of knowledge sharing for a general-purpose (non-professional) virtual community. This study aims to suggest that four driving forces, i.e. utilitarian motivation, hedonic motivation, control belief (self-efficacy) and contextual force (sharing culture), motivate users' attitudes toward knowledge sharing.

The research participants are knowledge contributors who participate in general-purpose virtual communities. A total of 473 valid questionnaires were collected. Structural equation modelling was used to test the research hypothesis.

The results show that users' attitude toward knowledge is determined by all four key forces: utilitarian motivation (reciprocity, reputation), hedonic motivation (enjoying helping), control belief (self-efficacy) and contextual force (sharing culture). Users' attitude, self-efficacy and sharing culture have an effect on continuance intention to share knowledge.

Contrary to prior studies of professional knowledge sharing, this study found that hedonic motivation is more important than utilitarian motivation in terms of intention to continue sharing knowledge.

Virtual community service providers should provide mechanisms for users to enjoy helping others, refine utilitarian benefits by improving honour and rewards systems, support a fair and open sharing culture, and help users to gain a stronger sense of competence as successful knowledge sharers.

This study articulates and empirically validates an integrated model of knowledge sharing. It helps researchers better understand continued knowledge sharing behaviour in virtual communities.

This paper aims to study the impact of CEOs’ personality and social connections on corporate risk-taking in the Russian market.

Using a sample of 93 large listed Russian corporations between 2008 and 2016, this study tests a range of personal traits, including the classical personal characteristics like age and tenure, some country-specific traits such as connections and military experience, as well as other human and social capital characteristics.

This study finds non-linear relationships between corporate risk-taking and CEO age and tenure. This study also finds that firms run by CEOs with military experience take more corporate risk. On the CEOs’ social capital side, this study’s results suggest that both political and educational connections are positively related to corporate risk-taking.

This study also tests some traits that have usually been ignored by the literature, such as marital and family status.

The author’s interest in vernacular architecture, over the years, has attracted the author’s attention to three distinctive and similar forms of architecture in faraway regions of the globe. These are; Asir region of Saudi Arabia, The Caucasus including the republic of Georgia, Chechenia, and North Ossetia, and Sichuan region in China. Stone towers dominate the landscape of these remote regions. The similarity of these towers in these far away regions is quite remarkable.

This paper will introduce these towers in their geographic, social and natural context. Although several studies have been done on these regions, it is the aim of this paper to introduce their architecture in a comparative approach to explore how these remotes corners of the globe with different historical, ethnic and cultural backgrounds developed similar architectural forms in total isolation from each other.

Architecture is a physical production of different and diverse factors. Geographically, isolated regions with similar natural and social factors, mountainous landscape, tribally-based, agrarian societies, produces similar architectural forms.

This paper is a clear testimony to the human nature and how people think, react and build, under similar conditions. Architecture becomes a manifestation of human oneness, unity, believes and behaviour.