Search results

Prior studies have shown that terminology support can improve health information retrieval but have not taken into account the characteristics of the user performing the search. In this chapter, the impact of translating queries’ terms between lay and medico-scientific terminology, in users with different levels of health literacy and topic familiarity, is evaluated. Findings demonstrate that medico-scientific queries demand more from the users and are mostly aimed at health professionals. In addition, these queries retrieve documents that are less readable and less well understood by users. Despite this, medico-scientific queries are associated with higher precision in the top-10 retrieved documents results and tend slightly to generate knowledge with less incorrect contents, the researchers concluded that search engines should provide query suggestions with medico-scientific terminology, whenever the user is able to digest it, that is, in users above the lowest levels of health literacy and topic familiarity. On the other hand, retrieval systems should provide lay alternative queries in users with inadequate health literacy or in those unfamiliar with a topic. In fact, the quantity of incorrect contents in the knowledge that emerges from a medico-scientific session tends to decrease with topic familiarity and health literacy. In terms of topic familiarity, the opposite happens with Graded Average Precision. Moreover, users most familiar with a topic tend to have higher motivational relevance with medico-scientific queries than with lay queries. This work is the first to consider user context features while studying the impact of a query processing technique in several aspects of the retrieval process, including the medical accuracy of the acquired knowledge.

In this chapter we examine various human resource management (HRM) implications involved in the leadership of fluid teams. Leadership of fluid teams, which are distinguished by their dynamic composition, requires consideration of issues that may not be as pertinent for stable teams. In particular, we focus on the concept of familiarity. Composing and leading teams with members exhibiting varying degrees of familiarity with one another creates obstacles to effective and efficient functioning and may ultimately lead to poor performance. With this in mind, leaders must pay particular attention to issues of coordination, and composition such that a broad range of generalizable teamwork skills exists within the team. Within this chapter, we explain the concepts of fluid teams, team leadership within fluid teams, and other relevant concepts related to the formation of familiarity. Next, we thoroughly review extant empirical and theoretical research within these areas. We identify areas of correspondence among the various concepts and findings of the reviewed studies and generate an integrated model of fluid team leadership. To conclude, we highlight the distinct HRM implications associated with the use, and leadership, of fluid teams.

Nonfinancial information is becoming more readily available to investors, and thus, relative to annual financial reports, is having an increasing influence on investors' stock pricing decisions. Using Hogarth and Einhorn's (1992) belief-adjustment model, we examine how task familiarity (high, medium, and low) influences nonprofessional investor stock price decisions when these investors are presented with a stream of both positive and negative nonfinancial news. We find that task familiarity negatively correlates with reaction size for both positive and negative information, which creates arbitrage opportunities for those with more task familiarity. However, we find that assurance mitigates this effect, leveling the playing field for less task-familiar investors in most cases. These findings are important as the volume and variety of information types increase, and as more nonfinancial information enters the marketplace in discrete sound bites (e.g., social media, press releases, daily reports). Findings suggest that assurance is one way to lessen the biases exhibited by investors with less task familiarity. These results enhance our understanding of nonprofessional investor behavior through the lens of belief revision.

This study investigates the role of source familiarity in moderating the effect of service adaptive behavior (SAB) on customer satisfaction. Applying the accessibility–diagnosticity framework and situated cognition theory as the theoretical basis, this research hypothesizes that when customers are familiar with the source that provides the service (i.e. brand familiarity for Study 1 and personal familiarity for Study 2), customer satisfaction responses to SAB would be more moderate than when customers are not familiar with the source. Two studies were conducted to test the hypotheses.

Two experiments manipulating SAB and the brand name familiarity (Study 1) and personal familiarity with the service staff (Study 2) as the source familiarity were conducted. Customer satisfaction as a function of source familiarity was measured to test the hypothesis that source familiarity moderates the relationship between SAB and customer satisfaction.

Compared to unfamiliar sources, familiar sources generated a more moderate response in customer satisfaction as a function of SAB. High familiarity with the brand and service staff induced top-down, memory-based processing that overrides external stimuli as the basis of satisfaction judgment; bottom-up, stimulus-based processing relying on SAB for judgment kicked in only when the source familiarity is low.

From a practical point of view, this study indicates the importance of SAB, especially for brands with low awareness, and alludes to the comparative importance of relationship building in service delivery processes.

This study contributes to the literature by validating the role of contextual factors in influencing the impact of SAB on customer satisfaction.

This research aims to compare consumer responses to pro-environmental communication and appeals to recycle packaging when these messages come from a high-familiarity versus a low-familiarity brand.

Two online between-subjects experimental studies evaluate consumer perceptions and the willingness to comply with recycling appeals in response to pro-environmental communications from a high-familiarity versus a low-familiarity brand. To test the hypotheses, the studies examine the moderating role of sustainability habits and the mediating role of shared environmental responsibility.

Findings show that communicating a brand’s adoption of sustainable packaging is more salient to consumers when the appeal comes from a low-familiarity rather than a high-familiarity brand, especially when sustainability habits are weaker. The mediating role of shared environmental responsibility partly explains consumers’ commitment to act pro-environmentally.

Sustainability officials and policymakers should consider the impact of pro-environmental interventions that encourage collective recycling between brands and consumers. Practitioners are encouraged to examine revised waste management schemes such as extended producer responsibility programs to elicit the collaboration of consumers in initiatives that boost recycling and stimulate pro-environmental behaviors.

Using the diagnosticity–accessibility framework and habit theory, to the best of the author’s knowledge, this research is among the first to empirically examine the role of sustainability habits in consumer responses to pro-environmental brand communications. It also highlights consumers’ willingness to comply with brands’ take-back programs in a shared effort to reduce plastic waste and encourage a circular economy.

This research delves into the dynamic realm of app design by examining the impact of app icon familiarity and authority on image fit, influencing users' app usage intention. Focusing on the distinctive circumstances of Chinese and Korean customers, the study aims to provide insightful information about how application user behavior changes.

Utilizing structural equation modeling, the study employs data from 293 Korean and Chinese consumers. The research design incorporates a thoughtful approach, including parallel translation methods, focus group interviews, and pre-experimental testing to ensure survey accuracy and validity. The study strategically selects stimuli from the Apple App Store rankings, emphasizing icon features and type considerations.

The results provide important new information about the connections between usage intention, image fit, authority, and familiarity with app icons. Notably, app icon familiarity and authority positively influence image fit. Furthermore, app icon image fit emerges as a positive predictor of usage intention, mediating the complex interplay between familiarity, authority, and intention. The study also identifies moderating effects, shedding light on the nuanced role of app icon features and types.

Originating from a comprehensive exploration of icons, this study significantly contributes to the field by exploring icon differences and uncovering the intricate mechanisms guiding users' decisions. The findings offer valuable insights for app designers, marketers, and researchers seeking a deeper understanding of user behavior in diverse cultural contexts, thereby enhancing the theoretical and practical foundations in app usability and consumer behavior.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the moderating effects of brand familiarity on satisfaction evaluations and behavioral intentions.

A longitudinal survey involving pre‐purchase measures and post‐purchase measures was conducted with consumers in a restaurant setting. The hypotheses were assessed through LISREL methodology.

The results showed that there are some similarities and differences among customers with different levels of brand familiarity regarding satisfaction formation and behavioral intentions.

A self‐reported item was used to measure brand familiarity. Although there was some evidence to support that the measure captured what it was intended to measure, it would be desirable to develop a multi‐item scale for this construct. There is also a need to extend the findings to other service industries.

Marketers should familiarize customers with a service while capturing opportunities to create a positive experience to gain customers' future purchases.

The study offers some insights into the effects of brand familiarity on satisfaction evaluations and behavioral intentions. It is particularly relevant for marketing services that are high in experience qualities.

This study aims to investigate the influence of image and reputation of imported fresh fruits on consumer satisfaction and purchase intentions. The moderating role of familiarity with imported fruits was also assessed.

A total of 332 Taiwanese consumers who had purchased imported Korean pears participated using an online survey and were grouped based on their familiarity to Korean pears. Multi-group analysis with structural equation modeling was used to test the hypotheses.

Image and reputation of imported Korean pears were identified as predictors of the satisfaction and purchase intention. Multi-group analysis results found the moderating effect of familiarity between image and satisfaction. Images were identified as predictors of the satisfaction and purchase intention of imported Korean pears for consumers with low familiarity, whereas image did not show any influence on satisfaction for consumers with high familiarity.

This study can contribute to the limited understanding of imported fresh fruit markets and provides insights into familiarity for consuming imported fresh fruits.

This study aims to examine the impact of green atmospheric and communicative servicescape dimensions on customers’ emotional and behavioral outcomes and explores the moderating effect of customer familiarity.

Data were collected from coffee shop customers in the USA. Structural equation modeling and a multigroup analysis were used for analysis.

The findings indicated that the atmospheric dimensions of green coffee shops have a greater impact than communicative dimensions on customers’ green place attachment and loyalty. However, the effects of green servicescape depend on customer familiarity. The impact of the communicative servicescape on customers’ attachment and loyalty is significantly greater in a high-familiarity group than in a low-familiarity group.

The findings provide coffee shop managers with insights into effective design of a green service environment. Although managers focus on both dimensions, they may use customer familiarity as a segmenting or targeting tool in designing the green service environment and developing a sustained relationship with customers with different levels of familiarity.

This study extends the existing servicescape models by incorporating green place attachment as a construct to comprehend customers’ inner evaluations. It also contributes to the literature on attachment by demonstrating the clear linkage between both green servicescape dimensions and place attachment. This study highlights customer familiarity construct that should be a critical issue in advancing the understanding of customer behavior in the green servicescape context.

The purpose of this paper is to use a familiarity and psychological distance framework to investigate the effects of psychological distance (responsibility distance and temporal distance) and destination familiarity on electronic-word-of-mouth (eWOM) consumption in the tourism context. The performance of eWOM is compared with that of traditional-word-of-mouth (tWOM) and the web site of the destination marketing organisation (DMO).

An experiment approach was used to collect the relevant data. For each of the eight scenarios generated by varying psychological distance dimensions and destination familiarity levels, 200 participants rated the extent that they would use eWOM, tWOM and the DMO web site to search for attraction and local transport information. The data were analysed using 2×2×2 within-subject ANOVA and t-test.

The analysis highlighted the versatility of eWOM in different psychological distances and familiarity levels. By and large, eWOM performs better than the DMO web site but is on par with tWOM. The advantages of eWOM over tWOM are meaningful under certain circumstances. Despite sharing a common psychological basis, psychological distance dimensions affect information search differently, and the effects are shaped by the types of tourism products being searched. When psychological distance, destination familiarity, tourism products and information sources are considered in totality, a complex picture of their relationship with intensity of information search is shown.

This study bridged the research gap by increasing our understanding of the performance of eWOM under different psychological distances and familiarity levels. The study also provides some suggestions for DMOs to leverage on eWOM and to improve the standing of DMO web site as a tourism information source.