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Article
Publication date: 14 November 2016

Mark A. Harris and Amita G. Chin

This paper aims to investigate Google’s top developers’ apps with trust badges to see if they warrant an additional level of trust and confidence from consumers, as stated by…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate Google’s top developers’ apps with trust badges to see if they warrant an additional level of trust and confidence from consumers, as stated by Google.

Design/methodology/approach

Risky app permissions and in-app purchases (IAP) from Google’s top developers and traditional developers were investigated in several Google Play top app categories, including Editor’s Choice apps. Analysis was performed between categories and developer types.

Findings

Overall, Google’s top developers’ apps request more risky permissions and IAP than do traditional developers. Other results indicate that free apps are more dangerous than paid apps and star ratings do not signify safe apps.

Research limitations/implications

Because of a limited number of Google’s top developers and Editor’s Choice apps, conclusions are drawn from a small sample of apps and not the entire market.

Practical implications

Google’s top developers’ apps are suited well for increasing revenue for Google and developers at the consumer’s expense. Consumers should be wary of top developer trust badges.

Social implications

As the lure for “top free” and “top developer” software is strong among consumers, this research contributes to societal welfare in that it makes consumers aware that Google top developer app trust badges and free apps are more dangerous than traditional developer and paid apps, as they request risky permissions at a much higher frequency. Therefore, consumers should be very careful when downloading apps that are advertised as “top free” or “top developer”.

Originality/value

Google’s top developers’ apps and Editors’ Choice apps have not been investigated from the perspective of permissions and IAP before.

Details

Information & Computer Security, vol. 24 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4961

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 June 2016

Essam Mansour

The purpose of this study is to investigate the use patterns and ownership of smartphone apps among students at the Department of Library and Information Science (DLIS) at the…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate the use patterns and ownership of smartphone apps among students at the Department of Library and Information Science (DLIS) at the South Valley University (SVU), Egypt. This study may help faculty members and students, as well as DLISs in general and SVU’s DLIS, in particular, to understand the nature and purpose of such use.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used quantitative research methodology in the form of a survey, which was undertaken from February to March 2015. The survey instrument was a self-administrated questionnaire, with a response rate 82.7 per cent (441/533).

Findings

The findings of this study showed that smartphone users (82.7 per cent) at SVU’s DLIS tended to be junior females. Smartphone non-users (17.3 per cent) tended to be also young females but primarily sophomores. The highest percentage of smartphone users had been using smartphones for four to five years, and the largest number of students was described to be advanced users who heard first about these mobile devices through friends and the Web. Most users had 21 to 25 apps. Social apps were the most popular and included Facebook, e-mail and Twitter. For professional purposes, students used smartphones more for communication purposes than learning purposes. Apps related to educational purposes included Google Mobile, Facebook, e-mail, Twitter, YouTube and Wikipedia Mobile. Students perceived most apps to be easy to use and useful to them. There were a number of uses for socializing including messaging, following the news and playing games. Students had mainly positive attitudes towards apps with a few negative concerns. Almost all students confirmed that they trust most apps. Barriers related to the use of apps included training and lack of awareness. Further research may be needed to specify the relationship between the students’ use of these apps and their academic performance. The main tasks done on smartphone devices were mainly for socializing. Students indicated that popular tasks and activities, such as sending and receiving messages, following the news, making communications, making chat, making friends, finding specific information, finding general information, making discussion groups, playing games, completing class assignments, checking materials related to courses, doing business, seeking jobs, watching movies, listening to music and accessing library services are important tasks accomplished by them through the use of these devices. The current study indicated very positive attitudes towards the use of these apps. Student at least agree with the statement that smartphone apps allow for easy dissemination of information, provide too much information, increase the speed of finding information, help communication, convenient, secure, build confident and reduce paper use. However, a large number of students also at least agree with the statement that these apps are time consuming, intimidating, addictive, violate privacy, require high language and technical skills, harmful and frustrating. Almost all students confirmed that they are at least trustful in some apps, such as WhatsApp, e-mail, YouTube, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter and Viber. A large number of smartphone users surveyed in this study have been described to make excessive usage of social apps, such as communication apps, messaging/texting apps and social networking sites, which were at the forefront of use. Additionally, a large number of them adopted these devices, especially for communication purposes. The most used apps were Facebook, e-mail, Twitter, WhatsApp, YouTube and Viber. For professional purposes, students used smartphones more for communication purposes than learning purposes. However, some of the students were using some of apps related to educational purposes, such as Google mobile, Facebook, e-mail, Twitter, YouTube and Wikipedia mobile but not on a regular basis. Students perceived the use of e-mail app, Google mobile, Facebook app WhatsApp, Kik, Twitter, YouTube, Google maps, Viber, Line, Skype, Tango, Instagram, Flickr and Wikipedia mobile as at least fairly easy to them. Additionally, they perceived the use of e-mail app Google mobile, WhatsApp, Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Viber, Instagram, Wikipedia mobile, Google maps, Kik, Skype, Line, Tango and Flickr as at least fairly useful to them, especially for the purpose socialization more than learning.

Research limitations/implications

This study focuses only on undergraduate library and information science students belonging to SVU’s DLIS, Egypt. Any findings and conclusions resulting from this study are limited in scope to only SVU’s DLIS’s undergraduate students. The study does not contain a significantly large sample of a population from across Egypt to draw meaningful widespread conclusions indicative of such a larger population.

Practical implications

This study provides valuable insight into the use pattern of smartphones among a very important client group. It may serve as useful input to researchers who are interested in the study of mobile internet technologies (MITs), particularly in the education society.

Originality/value

Being the first study of its kind about university students in Egypt, it is considered a pioneering and a unique study among studies conducted in the field of ICTs and MITs, especially with this category of information users.

Article
Publication date: 5 November 2021

Raphael Lissillour and Jean-Michel Sahut

Technological firms increasingly depend on open innovation to compete in hypercompetitive markets. To openly engage the creativity of a multitude of private actors, firms can rely…

Abstract

Purpose

Technological firms increasingly depend on open innovation to compete in hypercompetitive markets. To openly engage the creativity of a multitude of private actors, firms can rely on crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing challenges global companies as they span organizational boundaries to attract multiple local partners. Global companies must engage in boundary spanning to successfully communicate and create a sense of community with smaller local partners despite status and cultural differences. The collaboration between Google and developers in China deserves to be studied in particular, because it operates within a restricted market.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper argues that crowdsourcing for innovation on a global scale requires effective boundary spanning capabilities. These boundary-spanning practices ensure smooth cooperation with the crowd and solve problems relating to differences in status and organizational contexts. This study applies Bourdieu's theory of practice including the concept of capital (economic, intellectual, social and symbolic) to understand the social relationships between Google and a growing community of Chinese developers. It also draws on a case study including ten semistructured interviews, which have been triangulated with internal documents and data from selected websites.

Findings

Four types of capital (symbolic, intellectual, social and economic) have been identified as important devices to understand the sources of power and the stakes of Googlers and developers in the joint field. These types of capital contribute to structure the social fields in which developers and Google cooperate and their practice. The success of the collaboration between Google and Chinese developers can arguably be attributed to Google's ability to create boundary-spanning activities in order to reduce the endowment differential in the four types of capital and improve their communication. Therefore, this research provides a deep and conceptualized description of boundary-spanning practices, as well as providing a useful contribution for managers involved in crowdsourcing via platform in culturally different markets.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation of this study is methodological in nature, relating to the absence of interviews with board members of Google China who are reluctant to speak about Google activities in China for political raisons. This restriction is partly counterbalanced by the analysis of publicly available secondary data such as news and communications.

Practical implications

This research has generated practical recommendations for managers of organizations, which require optimal boundary spanning for crowdsourcing. Managers must understand the different sources of social boundaries between their organization and the crowd. The crowd should be segmented into smaller groups with distinctive identities, and organizations should systematically design boundary-spanning activities to address each boundary of each segment. The boundary-spanning activities involve a specific set of tools, programs and platforms to address the target group. Efficient boundary spanning depends on the necessity to select boundary spanners with high cultural intelligence and communication skills.

Social implications

This paper draws on Bourdieu's theory of practice to investigate the role of boundary spanning in crowdsourcing for innovation, specifically in the joint field between Google and Chinese developers. This research reveals how boundary objects such as developer documents, websites, programs and events are essential for developers to be able to participate on Google's platform. Companies should be prepared to invest in the design and delivery of boundary-spanning activities and objects, knowing that these are also a locus for negotiation with local partners.

Originality/value

This research contributes to the literature by applying the boundary-spanner theory to Google crowdsourcing practices within a restricted market. Bourdieu's theory of practice has proven to be a potent perspective with which to better understand the positive role of boundary spanners in the joint field between Google and Chinese developers. Moreover, this practice perspective has not been used in prior research to highlight power relations in crowdsourcing for innovation. This study has shown that, in addition to boundary objects, boundary spanners can also contribute in the transfer of intellectual capital, which is the pivotal resource for boundary spanning in this field.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 35 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 8 February 2021

Suzanne Maas, Mark Bugeja and Maria Attard

Malta has long been a tourist destination with visitors totaling 2.6 million in 2018. A 2013 survey by the Malta Tourism Authority found that 22% of tourists opted for a rental

Abstract

Malta has long been a tourist destination with visitors totaling 2.6 million in 2018. A 2013 survey by the Malta Tourism Authority found that 22% of tourists opted for a rental car during their stay, whereas 76% chose public transport to meet their travel needs. In recent years, the modernization of the bus fleet, improved information provision, and the introduction of a ferry service in the Valletta harbors, have contributed to the increased appeal of public transport. However, the increase in independent tourists might give rise to an increase in the rentals of individual cars. This is a concern given Malta’s high car ownership, and its ever-increasing congestion problem. As part of the CIVITAS DESTINATIONS Project, focused on tourist sustainable mobility, the University of Malta developed a Tourist Mobility smartphone application: MyMaltaPlan. The app enables tourists to plan trips and schedule itineraries between touristic sites. The app, which was launched in the summer of 2019, aims to encourage a shift toward greener travel behavior. A survey was conducted with tourists to understand current tourist travel behavior, and tourists’ use of smartphone or web applications for trip planning. The vast majority of visitors own a smartphone and use it on holiday to plan, access, or book transport. To test the app’s functionalities, a focus group was held with a group of volunteers who shared their experiences in a group discussion. Participants appreciated the automatically created itinerary but noted that to truly promote sustainable mobility, the app should be able to provide the full picture of available alternatives.

Details

Sustainable Transport and Tourism Destinations
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83909-128-5

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 April 2020

Marcus Renatus Johannes Wolkenfelt and Frederik Bungaran Ishak Situmeang

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the marketing literature and practice by examining the effect of product pricing on consumer behaviours with regard to the…

1042

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the marketing literature and practice by examining the effect of product pricing on consumer behaviours with regard to the assertiveness and the sentiments expressed in their product reviews. In addition, the paper uses new data collection and machine learning tools that can also be extended for other research of online consumer reviewing behaviours.

Design/methodology/approach

Using web crawling techniques, a large data set was extracted from the Google Play Store. Following this, the authors created machine learning algorithms to identify topics from product reviews and to quantify assertiveness and sentiments from the review texts.

Findings

The results indicate that product pricing models affect consumer review sentiment, assertiveness and topics. Removing upfront payment obligations positively impacts the overall and pricing specific consumer sentiment and reduces assertiveness.

Research limitations/implications

The results reveal new effects of pricing models on the nature of consumer reviews of products and form a basis for future research. The study was conducted in the gaming category of the Google Play Store and the generalisability of the findings for other app segments or marketplaces should be further tested.

Originality/value

The findings can help companies that create digital products in choosing a pricing strategy for their apps. The paper is the first to investigate how pricing modes affect the nature of online reviews written by consumers.

Details

Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, vol. 14 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7122

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 November 2022

Phoebe Yueng-Hee Sia, Siti Salina Saidin and Yulita Hanum P. Iskandar

Mobile travel apps (MTA) smart features were identified based on recent travel application (app) trends and a literature review of MTA smart features. Subsequently, the MTA…

Abstract

Purpose

Mobile travel apps (MTA) smart features were identified based on recent travel application (app) trends and a literature review of MTA smart features. Subsequently, the MTA features that could be prioritised to increase user interest in MTA were determined. The MTA smart feature development challenges that should be mitigated were also identified.

Design/methodology/approach

The app identification and selection were based on the one-stop solution characteristics containing the common function of travel apps and eight MTA smart features. A total of 193 Apple apps and 250 Google apps were identified, where 36 apps that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses flowchart were selected for evaluation.

Findings

The high user ratings for apps from both app stores revealed the acceptance of smart technology in the tourism industry. Geolocation tracking services, travel itinerary generators, and real-time personalisation and recommendation were the three major features available in the included MTA. The challenges of MTA with smart features were highlighted from the tourism organisation, app developer and user perspectives.

Practical implications

The findings can guide tourism organisations and app developers on the smart features that MTA should offer for user engagement. Technological organisations could optimise their technology stack by considering the identified smart features. The findings are valuable for scholars in terms of MTA aesthetics and usability to gain acceptability. The development challenges included significant investment in technology, location accuracy and privacy concerns when implementing MTA smart features.

Originality/value

The previous literature mainly focused on evaluating app quality, assessing app functionality, and user ratings using the Mobile Application Rating Scale, and scoping reviews of MTA articles. Contrastingly, this study is among the first in which MTA smart features were examined from a developer-centric perspective. Moreover, it is suggested that MTA includes integrated smart features for better tourism services and market penetration in the tourism industry.

Details

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, vol. 6 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9792

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 April 2015

– The purpose of this paper is to highlight some of the apps currently available that can assist library personnel in reference and information services.

1343

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to highlight some of the apps currently available that can assist library personnel in reference and information services.

Design/methodology/approach

Initially, 101 apps were identified as possible options for reference and information services. Through various evaluation methods, the list was reduced to 25 apps. Apps were excluded due to cost, function, reviews, currency and usability. Other apps were merely excluded due to time and length concerns of the publication.

Findings

Overall, the apps included could be utilized by library staff in reference and information service, though not all are ideal in all library settings due to the requirement of subscriptions and user audiences.

Originality/value

While there have been in recent years quite a few articles and books published on apps for librarians, there is very little published on how exactly librarians can use apps to answer reference questions and assist patrons. This article does not attempt to answer the greater question of app application in reference services, but does attempt to identify and evaluate apps that could be used in those instances. With more research and tablet and app training, librarians can begin to more effectively utilize apps at the service desk.

Details

Reference Reviews, vol. 29 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0950-4125

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 3 November 2021

Anteneh Ayanso, Mingshan Han and Morteza Zihayat

This paper aims to propose an automated mobile app labeling framework based on a novel app classification scheme that is aligned with users’ primary motivations for using…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to propose an automated mobile app labeling framework based on a novel app classification scheme that is aligned with users’ primary motivations for using smartphones. The study addresses the gaps in incorporating the needs of users and other context information in app classification as well as recommendation systems.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on a corpus of mobile app descriptions collected from Google Play store, this study applies extensive text analytics and topic modeling procedures to profile mobile apps within the categories of the classification scheme. Sufficient number of representative and labeled app descriptions are then used to train a classifier using machine learning algorithms, such as rule-based, decision tree and artificial neural network.

Findings

Experimental results of the classifiers show high accuracy in automatically labeling new apps based on their descriptions. The accuracy of the classification results suggests a feasible direction in facilitating app searching and retrieval in different Web-based usage environments.

Research limitations/implications

As a common challenge in textual data projects, the problem of data size and data quality issues exists throughout the multiple phases of experiments. Future research will extend the data collection scope in many aspects to address the issues that constrained the current experiments.

Practical implications

These empirical experiments demonstrate the feasibility of textual data analysis in profiling apps and user context information. This study also benefits app developers by improving app descriptions through a better understanding of user needs and context information. Finally, the classification framework can also guide practitioners in customizing products and services beyond mobile apps where context information and user needs play an important role.

Social implications

Given the widespread usage and applications of smartphones today, the proposed app classification framework will have broader implications to different Web-based application environments.

Originality/value

While there have been other classification approaches in the literature, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this framework is the first study on building an automated app labeling framework based on primary motivations of smartphone usage.

Article
Publication date: 3 June 2014

Jim Hahn

The purpose of this paper is to report results of a formative usability study that investigated first-year student use of an optical character recognition (OCR) mobile application…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report results of a formative usability study that investigated first-year student use of an optical character recognition (OCR) mobile application (app) designed to help students find resources for course assignments. The app uses textual content from the assignment sheet to suggest relevant library resources of which students may not be aware.

Design/methodology/approach

Formative evaluation data are collected to inform the production level version of the mobile application and to understand student use models and requirements for OCR software in mobile applications.

Findings

Mobile OCR apps are helpful for undergraduate students searching known titles of books, general subject areas or searching for help guide content developed by the library. The results section details how student feedback shaped the next iteration of the app for integration as a Minrva module.

Research limitations/implications

This usability paper is not a large-scale quantitative study, but seeks to provide deep qualitative research data for the specific mobile interface studied, the Text-shot prototype.

Practical implications

The OCR application is designed to help students learn about availability of library resources based on scanning (e.g. taking a picture, or “Text-shot”) of an assignment sheet, a course syllabus or other course-related handouts.

Originality/value

This study contributes a new area of application development for libraries, with research methods that are useful for other mobile development studies.

Details

Reference Services Review, vol. 42 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0090-7324

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 5 June 2017

Liang Guo, Ruchi Sharma, Lei Yin, Ruodan Lu and Ke Rong

Competitor analysis is a key component in operations management. Most business decisions are rooted in the analysis of rival products inferred from market structure. Relative to…

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Abstract

Purpose

Competitor analysis is a key component in operations management. Most business decisions are rooted in the analysis of rival products inferred from market structure. Relative to more traditional competitor analysis methods, the purpose of this paper is to provide operations managers with an innovative tool to monitor a firm’s market position and competitors in real time at higher resolution and lower cost than more traditional competitor analysis methods.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors combine the techniques of Web Crawler, Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning algorithms with data visualization to develop a big data competitor-analysis system that informs operations managers about competitors and meaningful relationships among them. The authors illustrate the approach using the fitness mobile app business.

Findings

The study shows that the system supports operational decision making both descriptively and prescriptively. In particular, the innovative probabilistic topic modeling algorithm combined with conventional multidimensional scaling, product feature comparison and market structure analyses reveal an app’s position in relation to its peers. The authors also develop a user segment overlapping index based on user’s social media data. The authors combine this new index with the product functionality similarity index to map indirect and direct competitors with and without user lock-in.

Originality/value

The approach improves on previous approaches by fully automating information extraction from multiple online sources. The authors believe this is the first system of its kind. With limited human intervention, the methodology can easily be adapted to different settings, giving quicker, more reliable real-time results. The approach is also cost effective for market analysis projects covering different data sources.

Details

Business Process Management Journal, vol. 23 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-7154

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 6000