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The development of innovations in all the research and development (R&D) fields is leading to a huge increase of patent data. Therefore, it is reasonable to foresee that, in the next future, Big Data-centered techniques will be compulsory to fully exploit the potential of this kind of data. In this context, network analysis-based approaches are extremely promising. The purpose of this paper is to provide a contribution to this setting. In fact, the authors propose a well-tailored centrality measure for evaluating patents and their citations.

The authors preliminarily introduce a suitable support directed network representing patents and their citations. After this, the authors present the centrality measures, namely, “Naive Patent Degree” and “Refined Patent Degree.’” Then, the authors show why they are well tailored to capture the specificities of the patent scenario and why classical centrality measure fails to fully reach this purpose.

The authors present three possible applications of the measures, namely: the computation of a patent “scope” allowing the evaluation of the width and the strength of the influence of a patent on a given R&D field; the computation of a patent lifecycle; and the detection of the so-called “power patents,” i.e., the most relevant patents, and the investigation of the importance, for a patent, to be cited by a power patent.

None of the approaches proposing the application of centrality measures to patent citation networks consider the main peculiarity of this scenario, i.e., that, if a patent p_i cites a patent p_j, then the value of p_i decreases. So, differently from classical scientific paper citation scenario, in this one performing a citation has a cost for the citing entity. This fact is not considered by all the approaches conceived to investigate paper citations. Nevertheless, this feature represents the core of patent citation scenario. The approach has been explicitly conceived to capture this feature.

This paper aims to give an integrated framework for analysing the main opportunities and threats related to the exploitation of Big Data (BD) technologies within intellectual capital (IC) management.

By means of a structured literature review (SLR) of the extant literature on BD and IC, the study identified distinctive opportunities and challenges of BD technologies and related them to the traditional dimensions of IC.

The advent of BD has not radically changed the risks and opportunities of IC management already highlighted in previous literature. However, it has significantly amplified their magnitude and the speed with which they manifest themselves. Thus, a revision of the traditional managerial solutions needed to face them is required.

The developed framework can contribute to academic discourse on BD and IC as a starting point to understanding how BD can be turned into intangible assets from a value creation perspective.

The framework can also represent a useful decision-making tool for practitioners in identifying and evaluating the main opportunities and threats of an investment in BD technologies for IC management.

The paper responds to the call for more research on the integration of BD discourse in the fourth stage of IC research. It intends to improve this understanding of how BD technologies can be exploited to create value from an IC perspective, focussing not only on the potential of BD for creating value but also on the challenges that it poses to organizations.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the association of social avoidance among police, cardiovascular disease (CVD) (metabolic syndrome (MetSyn)), and social support.

Participants were officers from the Buffalo Cardio-Metabolic Occupational Police Stress study (n=289). Social avoidance (defined as the tendency to avoid social contact) and other subscales from the Cook-Medley Hostility Scale were analyzed. The mean number of MetSyn components across tertiles of the Cook-Medley scales was computed using analysis of variance and analysis of covariance. Social support was measured with the Social Provisions Scale, categorized as high or low based on the median.

The mean number of MetSyn components increased significantly across tertiles of social avoidance (1.51±0.18, 1.52±0.12, and 1.81±0.12); the only Cook-Medley subscale that remained significantly associated with MetSyn following adjustment for age and gender. Participants high in social avoidance reported significantly lower social support (79.9±8.5 vs 85.8±8.6; p=0.001).

The study is cross-sectional and therefore precludes causality. The authors were unable to determine the direction of associations between social avoidance and MetSyn. The measure of social support was unidimensional, including only perceived support; additional types of social support measures would be helpful.

This study suggests that occupational-based police social isolation is associated with health outcomes and lower support. Several suggestions are made which will help to improve communication between the police and public. Examples are the use of social media, training in communication techniques, and changing the police role to one of public guardians.

Social avoidance is the least studied the Cook-Medley subscale associated with CVD. It is important for the health of officers to maintain a social connection with others.

Nowadays all luxury brands have their own websites, using them either as a communication and/or distribution tool. However, luxury consumers might still have different perceptions regarding these websites, as it can be seen as a loss of prestige or selectivity. This study aims to have a deeper understanding of luxury consumers’ perceptions of luxury brand websites by identifying a typology and defining the individual characteristics of the groups identified.

The research uses the opposition of personal and interpersonal luxury as theoretical framework and the semiotic square based on this semantic opposition. A qualitative analysis based on 42 semi-structured interviews has been conducted. The interviews have been analyzed and subjected to interpretive content analysis.

The analysis of the verbatims shows that the consumers’ motivations toward luxury consumption (luxury for self or personal, luxury for others or interpersonal, negation of luxury for self and negation of luxury for others) can explain consumer differences in terms of attitudes toward luxury brand websites. The four classes are characterized according to their positive and negative perceptions of e-commerce and interaction tools used in luxury brands websites and also their expectations.

This study defines guidelines for managers to develop luxury brand websites that correspond to their target.

The originality of this study lies in the use of the semiotic square to refine the analysis of luxury consumers’ attitudes and to make more precise contributions. It also relies on using the theory of personal and interpersonal luxury to understand consumers’ expectations toward luxury brands websites.

The purpose of this study is to conduct a systematic literature review of the adoption of immersive marketing technology (IMT) in terms of strategic planning of its adoption, resource requirements and its implications and challenges.

This study categorizes and contextualizes qualitative approaches to evaluate the literature, with Scopus databases serving as the primary source of 90 selected articles in the areas of information technology, business and marketing strands. Theme analysis was carried out using thematic techniques and grounded approach principles to facilitate thematic coding and generate theme analysis.

The analysis was supported by the three concepts of business flexibility, agility and adaptability, which were drawn as a strategy for IMT adoption. The findings presented three main themes: proactive flexibility, responsive agility and reactive adaptability that enable business owner–managers to craft a strategy for IMT adoption.

The novel contribution of this study is the inclusion of key implications related to IMT as a starting point of the next level of innovative marketing for all academics, practitioners and business owner–managers.