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People usually try to avoid uncertainty. Recently, however, uncertainty has become an emerging marketing tool in the hedonic product industry. In the case of blind box consumption, for example, the consumers become addicted to the uncertainty created by businesses, leading to repeat purchases and even indulgences. Previous research has, yet, to focus on the impact of uncertainty on indulgence and the role of emotions.

This paper constructs and validates a chain mediation model of uncertainty triggering indulgent consumption based on the information gap theory, positive emotion theory and uncertainty resolution theory and examines the difference between resolved and unresolved uncertainty. This study also explores differences in the impact of whether uncertainty is resolved on emotions. The uncertainty-resolved group elicited a more positive emotional response than the uncertainty-unresolved group, leading to a more indulgent consumption.

The results of three studies show that uncertainty influences indulgent consumption through curiosity and positive emotion, and that curiosity and positive emotion play separate and chain mediating roles between uncertainty and indulgent consumption, respectively. We validate our central hypothesis with questionnaires among blind box consumer groups, examining the moderating role of perceived luck and risk preferences.

The findings shed new light on firms' use of uncertainty to promote consumer purchases.

The aim of this paper is to review the psychological literature on curiosity and its relationship to information-seeking behaviour, and compare this with the information science literature on the same subject.

The approach adopted is that of a comparative literature review, with an analysis of the papers retrieved in terms of their theoretical approach, context, study population and research method.

Curiosity is understood as a multi-faceted cognitive trait in humans and the relationship to information-seeking behaviour is explored through an exploration of other personality characteristics. There is very little citation of the information science literature in the psychological papers, and only a little more citation of the psychological literature in the information science papers.

The author is not aware of any similar exploration of the literature on curiosity.

This paper aims to examine the mediating effect of work engagement on the relationship between curiosity and innovative work behavior. The context of the study is the initial stages of the pandemic starting April 2020, when international travel became restricted.

Self-administered questionnaires were distributed and collected from 327 respondents of 32 organizations in the aviation industry in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

As hypothesized, work engagement is a mediator of the relationship between curiosity and innovative work behavior.

The limited sample size and confinement to the aviation industry in the UAE limit the generalisation of the results.

Managers desirous of improving employees’ innovative work behavior will now understand how employees’ curiosity and exploration can impact innovative work behavior through the employees’ work engagement. Therefore, managers should focus on ensuring how employees’ curiosity and exploration can be created into work engagement, ultimately leading to innovative work behavior.

This research extends the social learning theory by positing that people who have strong traits of curiosity and exploration, will learn from others on how to work more effectively. This will make them more absorbed in their work (work engagement) and subsequently lead to innovative work behavior.

This study aimed to examine the effects of curiosity on expatriates' innovative work behaviour and job satisfaction in a cross-cultural setting, with the sequential mediating effects of cultural intelligence (CQ) and knowledge-sharing behaviour.

Data were collected by distributing an online survey to 465 Taiwanese expatriates living and working abroad. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses via AMOS v.22.

The results indicate that curiosity is an antecedent of an individual's CQ and both CQ and knowledge-sharing behaviour are sequential mediators in the relationships between curiosity and innovative work behaviour and between curiosity and job satisfaction.

The study expands the existing body of research to analyse personal traits as meaningful factors that enhance CQ and the mechanisms of CQ and knowledge sharing behaviour in the relationship between curiosity and innovative work behaviour and between curiosity and job satisfaction. It offers novel empirical evidence for the important role of curiosity, CQ and knowledge-sharing behaviour in enhancing an individual's innovative work behaviour and job satisfaction in a cross-cultural setting.

Senior tourist is a salient segment of the tourism sector. This segment reflects a robust ageing population with discretionary income and an appetite for tourism activities. However, to date, there has been a paucity of empirical insight on how the combination of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations may influence senior tourists’ connectedness and booking intentions towards home-sharing accommodation. Thus, this study aims to investigate how senior tourists’ curiosity and social interaction may influence their connectedness towards Airbnb and subsequently booking intention.

A conceptual model was developed and tested using partial least squares structural equation modelling to analyse data collected from a sample of 195 senior tourists in Malaysia.

The results showed that intrinsic (curiosity) and extrinsic (social interaction) motivations positively influence senior tourists’ connectedness towards platform accommodation, which in turn positively affects the outcome variable. Furthermore, this study found that a sense of connectedness is crucial in linking motivators and booking intentions.

This research was carried out in Malaysia; therefore, cross-national studies are encouraged to establish whether the findings described in this study can be extrapolated to other cultures/countries.

From a practitioner’s perspective, this study reinforces the need to address and understand senior tourists’ curiosity and how it may invoke their connectedness and behavioural actions towards the Airbnb platform. More importantly, this study gives home-sharing practitioners practical leverage on how combined intrinsic and extrinsic motivations may deduce senior tourists’ booking intentions.

The study contributes to the literature on senior tourism and the home-sharing sector by demonstrating the role of curiosity and social interaction in shaping senior tourists’ connectedness towards Airbnb and behavioural intentions.

Background: Ideas always have and always will change the world; with ideas-engagement enabling individuals to become more knowledgeable, better able to make good decisions and better positioned to re-align their values in response to new progressive norms and beliefs. Given these potential benefits, of primary interest is how citizens can be most effectively encouraged to engage with new ideas.

Methods: With this study we test the efficacy of two approaches designed to enhance citizen’s perceptions regarding the value of ideas-engagement. Specifically, we recontextualise a previously undertaken small-scale randomised control trial designed to stimulate states of either curiosity or pragmatic prospection amongst two randomly allocated groups of respondents. Our target variables involve the importance respondents attribute to staying up to date, as well as to four related attitudinal variables. Our target audience is the voting age population of England.

Results: 515 participants took part in the experiment, with 269 receiving the curiosity stimulating intervention and 246, the prospection intervention. Our findings suggest that, by the end of four weeks, only the intervention designed to promote pragmatic prospection had significantly impacted on the importance respondents attribute to staying up to date. It also positively impacted the value-scores for one of the secondary attitudinal variables (relating to the importance of supporting physical and mental-health).

Conclusions: While this study provides useful insight regarding ideas-engagement, further work is needed. In particular, future studies will require a larger sample, so as to ascertain the impact of these approaches on “ideas refusers”. Also required is the inclusion of a control group to provide a definitive counter factual. Furthermore, since positive changes in attitudes towards ideas-engagement also ideally leads to changes in behaviours, questions are also needed to examine the sources of ideas respondents subsequently engage with (or not) as a result of these interventions.

The digital transformation is dramatically changing the business-to-business (B2B) sales environment, challenging long-standing views regarding the critical competencies required of salespeople. This paper aims to explore the personal traits associated with sales performance in a digital selling environment.

Using template analysis, the researchers captured and coded over 21 h of in-depth, semi-structured interviews with senior sales leaders from various industry sectors, exploring their perceptions of the personal traits now required of B2B salespeople in the digital landscape.

The research identifies three high-level trait types critical to sales success within a digital selling environment: “analytical curiosity” – the natural motivation and ability to gather and synthesize sales-related knowledge, “empathetic citizenship” – the ability to establish initial rapport while building long-term trust and “disciplined drive” – the exertion of selling effort in a highly focused and methodical manner across all stages of the sales process.

The present data came from interviews with sales leaders in Canada. A more global sample may lead to additional insights. Moreover, the sample was drawn from long-cycle B2B sales environments; conclusions may differ for short-cycle or business-to-consumer markets.

This paper presents a framework for hiring and developing salespeople in the digital sales environment, identifying personal trait types that sales leaders should look for when hiring: analytical curiosity, empathetic citizenship and disciplined drive. The paper identifies how these trait types influence sales success, suggesting that sales leaders could coach and educate their teams to make the best use of them.

This paper presents a conceptual framework for hiring in the digital sales environment and introduces the trait of analytical curiosity not previously discussed in the literature.

In the context of libraries adopting artificial intelligence (AI) technology, this paper aims to demonstrate the synergy between two different yet complimentary frameworks, need-based experimentation (NBE) and curiosity-based experimentation (CBE). It looks at how these frameworks interact and operate together to promote technological innovation and innovation in libraries.

The authors’ extensive professional experience in the AI adoption and innovation of libraries is drew upon in this paper. The methodology encompasses empirical observations of various libraries engaging in digital innovations through experimentations with AI technology adoption practices. Using the frameworks of NBE and CB), these observations are examined to find patterns, relationships and mutual reinforcement between the two methods. The analysis of this study is built on the authors’ observations and real-world case studies.

The research reveals that NBE and CBE work together to provide libraries with all-encompassing adoption methods for AI technology. This study indicates a dynamic interaction between NBE and CBE that boosts libraries’ methods for adopting AI technology. NBE acts as a catalyst for CBE by raising awareness of specific library needs, prompting librarians to explore AI technologies aligned with those needs. This synergy empowers librarians to creatively experiment with technology solutions that directly address pressing library challenges. Conversely, CBE fuels NBE by promoting group learning among diverse team members and fostering individual motivation to tackle library needs collaboratively. As they explore AI technology out of personal curiosity, librarians make important contributions that enhance NBE.

The novel aspect of this study is the recognition of the complementarity between NBE and CBE frameworks, which suggests that libraries should view them as intertwined rather than two separate approaches. Focusing on both methodologies increases the culture of experimentation and improves the problem-solving abilities of librarians. Innovation is fueled by controlled experimentation and innate curiosity in an atmosphere that is fostered by the mutual influence of NBE and CBE. This synthesis offers libraries a comprehensive strategy for adopting AI technology, empowering them to manage the shifting environment and realize the revolutionary promise of AI technologies.

Digitalization is revolutionizing the retail sector as today's consumers prefer a seamlessly integrated, fluid and irritation-free shopping experience enhanced with artificial intelligence (AI)-powered technologies. Literature highlights gaps in the understanding of the shopping experience in an omnichannel context, involving aesthetic, cognitive and affective experience dimensions. This research highlights the direct effects and the mechanism triggered in the presence of such device.

A sample of 259 consumers was interviewed at the point of sale. Data have been collected after a shopping experience in two concept stores belonging to the same fashion brand: (1) not equipped with AI-powered technology and (2) equipped with these tools. The measurement scales were validated through ANCOVA analysis and causal relationship analysis with structural equation modeling.

The results show that the presence of an in-store AI-powered technologies in a connected store generates a higher aesthetic reaction when visiting the store, a higher absorption when shopping through the flow and a higher intent to purchase. The authors further investigate the underlying mechanism triggered by the presence of this technology, which enables the authors to outline their consequences regarding purchase intention.

The study, conducted within an actual connected store in France, explores the impact of AI technology in connected retail environments on consumer responses. It is an early research in this field, shedding light on a rarely explored area. The authors’ research addresses a significant gap, providing insights into AI-driven retail experiences.

Given the increasing organizational need for having a thriving workforce due to the fast-growing and competitive knowledge-based service economy and growing demand to explore new factors that may benefit individuals to excel at work. Drawing upon the intrinsic motivation perspective, with a Chinese sample (N = 309), the authors aimed to investigate whether work-related curiosity (WRC) may create conditions that indirectly promote employees' workplace thriving via task focus and whether this mediation was moderated by an individual's personality difference, i.e. core-self evaluations.

A time-lagged study among full-time employees who happen to be part-time students in the executive development program was used to test the hypothesized model by employing a structural equation modeling approach.

WRC showed a significant positive association with task focus which in turn was positively related to workplace thriving. Furthermore, as predicted, the positive association between WRC and workplace thriving via task focus was stronger for employees with high core self-evaluations compared to those with low core-self evaluations.

The results of this study suggest that an individual's WRC can be instrumental in augmenting workplace thriving by providing a scientific explanation for the underlying psychological process of task focus and identifying the factors associated with the process, such as core-self evaluations. This study contributes to extending the literature on significant employee outcomes, i.e. thriving at work, by offering new empirical and theoretical insights that WRC may play a critical role in the process and identifying a boundary condition of personality factor, i.e. core-self evaluations.