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Article
Publication date: 9 November 2021

Imam Salehudin and Frank Alpert

Worldwide In-app Purchase (IAP) revenues reached almost US$37 billion in 2017 and doubled that in 2020. Although the revenue from IAPs exceeds those from paid apps, only 5% of…

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Abstract

Purpose

Worldwide In-app Purchase (IAP) revenues reached almost US$37 billion in 2017 and doubled that in 2020. Although the revenue from IAPs exceeds those from paid apps, only 5% of total app users make any IAPs. This paper investigates why some users will not make IAPs and develop a novel concept of users' Perceived Aggressive Monetization of IAPs as an alternative framework to explain IAP behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

Given the newness of IAPs, this study uses qualitative research to understand the phenomenon and develop a model to explain the decision to spend on IAPs. In total, this study collected 4,092 unique user-generated comments from app user review sites and social media webpages where users discuss in-app purchasing.

Findings

The analysis reveals recurring themes that explain user unwillingness to make in-app purchases, such as conflicting meanings of free-to-play, perceived unfairness and aggressive monetization of IAP by app publishers, and self-control issues. Subsequent user interviews support the themes and suggest that IAP spending might be more impulsive.

Originality/value

The paper develops a new concept of perceived aggressive monetization. Additionally, it proposes a novel theoretical framework that future researchers can use to understand why some mobile game users are unwilling to pay for IAPs.

Details

Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, vol. 16 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7122

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 January 2019

Aina Ravoniarison and Cédric Benito

This paper aims to offer a comprehensive perspective into Free-to-Play gamers’ attitudes, feelings toward and perceived value of in-app purchases (IAPs).

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to offer a comprehensive perspective into Free-to-Play gamers’ attitudes, feelings toward and perceived value of in-app purchases (IAPs).

Design/methodology/approach

The study is based on a twofold qualitative methodology using an inductive approach: user-generated YouTube videos and gamers’ online reviews posted on Play stores.

Findings

Eight topics have emerged out from the qualitative data related to the characteristics of a good/bad IAP, the IAPs as downsides, the ambiguity with traditional Pay-to-Play games, the financial-risk issues, the resistance behaviors, the worries about over-spending and addiction and the frustration mechanism.

Research limitations/implications

By focusing on IAPs, this research contributes to build an integrative overview to better understand how players deal with IAPs and how this interaction should be analyzed in the light of multiple frameworks. Emphasis is placed on a continuum of player responses from tolerant metacognition to high degree of subversion.

Originality/value

A twofold netnographic approach offers a novel contribution to the field of mobile games by bringing together two materials increasingly connected to the video game universe. It also brought to the fore an experiential context by providing insight into the underlying dynamics of Player/IAP interactions.

Details

Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7122

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 June 2010

Asmund W. Born and Per H. Jensen

The so‐called individual action plan (IAP) has become a major policy instrument in providing active welfare for social benefit claimants, and as such it has attracted quite a…

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Abstract

Purpose

The so‐called individual action plan (IAP) has become a major policy instrument in providing active welfare for social benefit claimants, and as such it has attracted quite a research interest. The purpose of this paper is to maintain that research hitherto has been founded in a too narrow notion of the IAP, arguing instead that IAP represents a new societal rationality, in relation to which the scope of research questions should be broadened.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper explores the basic dynamics and internal features of the IAP dialogue theoretically and ideal typically. It is furthermore argued that IAP‐like arrangements have extended far beyond the domain of social policy; IAP‐like dialogues are practiced in all corners of society in the form of HRM conversations, supervision, coaching etc. Relating to Foucault it is therefore argued that IAP represents a new dispositif.

Findings

The paper states that the emerging dispositif demands that the individual constitutes herself as a creative and self‐expressive subject in dynamic dialogue. Accordingly the microphysics of the interaction change for the clientele as well as for the case worker. Purpose and procedures turn singular, which undermines collective endeavours and general criteria for success in social policy.

Originality/value

The paper employs a theoretical and sociological perspective on the IAP as a new technology in the organisation of social policy, and its contribution lies in its displacement of the perspective on IAP and its consequences on research questions.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 30 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 31 July 2007

Tomáš Sirovátka, Pavel Horák and Markéta Horáková

The paper deals with the question to what extent implementation conditions influence the profile of activation policies in the Czech Republic. In this way, it helps to clarify…

Abstract

Purpose

The paper deals with the question to what extent implementation conditions influence the profile of activation policies in the Czech Republic. In this way, it helps to clarify more general questions: how are broader objectives of these policies specified at the bottom level of implementation and why activation policies differ among countries, although guided by similar general objectives and principles.

Design/methodology/approach

The findings are based on implementation case studies carried out at several local labour offices during the pilot stage and later during the routine stage of implementation of Individual Action Plans (IAPs).

Findings

The paper shows that in the pilot stage of IAPs, the employability approach of enforced activation originated from the top‐down and was adopted at the local level; however, in a fragmented way due to unfavourable implementation conditions (above all poor staffing and a lack of activation programmes). It follows from these very conditions that, in the routine stage, the programme has been dying away, despite being supported by legislation and programme documents. On the other hand, processes of institutional learning have been initiated owing to IAPs and, with the availability of new policy opportunities at the local level (brought about with projects funded from the ESF), policy coalitions and activation policies emerge from the bottom‐up, giving rise to another model: capability approach of inclusion through participation.

Practical implications

The findings are signalling to policy makers the necessity to control the implementation conditions at the national, as well as local level and to take the bottom‐up processes of policy re‐formulation into consideration.

Originality/value

The analysis of the contradictions between the levels of policy‐making and of the volatility of implemented policies emerging from specific implementation conditions represents the original contribution of the study.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 27 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 May 2022

Keshav Gupta, Yiran Su, Thilo Kunkel and Daniel Funk

Online services are increasingly utilizing gamification techniques to encourage consumer loyalty and engagement. However, the majority of the gamified services fail to be…

Abstract

Purpose

Online services are increasingly utilizing gamification techniques to encourage consumer loyalty and engagement. However, the majority of the gamified services fail to be financially sustainable. Existing freemium and gamified services literature provides scant knowledge on behavioral predictors of in-app purchases in freemium gamified services. The research examines highly interactive consumers' in-app behaviors using competition-based motivational affordances, daily usage behavior and social competition motivation that convert them into super engagers.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors applied a multimethod approach by using Multivariate Logistic Regression (n = 685) to analyze in-app behavioral data and Qualitative Comparative Analysis (n = 94) to examine survey and in-app behavioral data of highly interactive consumers of a freemium gamified service to explain paying behaviors.

Findings

Results reveal highly interactive consumers that elicit heavy daily usage of the application or excel at in-app challenges are less likely to convert to super engagers. Among super engagers, some are socially competitive, and their inability to advance in the leaderboard corresponds to in-app purchases, while non-socially competitive consumers make purchases to collect extrinsic rewards. Additionally, highly interactive consumers who possess more knowledge about the gamified service become super engagers to increase their chances to be socially competitive.

Originality/value

This research examines in-app behaviors of highly interactive consumers of a freemium gamified service that lead to in-app purchases following varying levels of daily usage behavior and social competition motivation. The authors contribute to the previous literature by defining and examining a new consumer segment – super engagers – that is financially beneficial for freemium services because of their in-app purchases. The authors provide insight on in-app behaviors that convert highly interactive consumers to super engagers and demonstrate that the reason for highly interactive consumers to make in-app purchases is a function of acquiring specific internal and external rewards based on their level of social competition.

Article
Publication date: 6 May 2020

Rajeshwari S. Patil and Nagashettappa Biradar

Breast cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in women, which badly have an effect on women's physical and psychological health and even danger to life. Nowadays…

Abstract

Purpose

Breast cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in women, which badly have an effect on women's physical and psychological health and even danger to life. Nowadays, mammography is considered as a fundamental criterion for medical practitioners to recognize breast cancer. Though, due to the intricate formation of mammogram images, it is reasonably hard for practitioners to spot breast cancer features.

Design/methodology/approach

Breast cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors in women, which badly have an effect on women's physical and psychological health and even danger to life. Nowadays, mammography is considered as a fundamental criterion for medical practitioners to recognize breast cancer. Though, due to the intricate formation of mammogram images, it is reasonably hard for practitioners to spot breast cancer features.

Findings

The performance analysis was done for both segmentation and classification. From the analysis, the accuracy of the proposed IAP-CSA-based fuzzy was 41.9% improved than the fuzzy classifier, 2.80% improved than PSO, WOA, and CSA, and 2.32% improved than GWO-based fuzzy classifiers. Additionally, the accuracy of the developed IAP-CSA-fuzzy was 9.54% better than NN, 35.8% better than SVM, and 41.9% better than the existing fuzzy classifier. Hence, it is concluded that the implemented breast cancer detection model was efficient in determining the normal, benign and malignant images.

Originality/value

This paper adopts the latest Improved Awareness Probability-based Crow Search Algorithm (IAP-CSA)-based Region growing and fuzzy classifier for enhancing the breast cancer detection of mammogram images, and this is the first work that utilizes this method.

Details

International Journal of Intelligent Computing and Cybernetics, vol. 13 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-378X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 October 2015

Pedro Marques-Quinteiro, Pedro J. Ramos-Villagrasa, Ana Margarida Passos and Luís Curral

While scales were developed to measure individual adaptive performance (IAP), fewer contributions have been done to assess the construct at the team level of analysis. This issue…

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Abstract

Purpose

While scales were developed to measure individual adaptive performance (IAP), fewer contributions have been done to assess the construct at the team level of analysis. This issue is addressed through two related studies: Study 1 builds on Pulakos et al. (2000) to develop a measure of IAP. Study 2 follows from the results in Study 1 and tests a measure of team adaptive performance (Chan, 1998).

Design/methodology/approach

Scale development was done adopting a single level (Study 1) and multi-level (Study 2) structural equations modeling approach.

Findings

Results suggest that both measures of individual and team adaptive performance are reliable and show evidence supporting the adequacy of adopting referent-shift methodologies to the measurement and aggregation of team members’ rating of team adaptive performance.

Originality/value

The study offers a reliable, parsimonious and easy to apply measure of individual and team adaptive performance in organizational work environments.

Details

Team Performance Management, vol. 21 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1352-7592

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 1981

George McMurdo

The scope and activities of the library of the International Airports Projects (IAP) office of the Ministry of Defence and Aviation, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, are described. The IAP

Abstract

The scope and activities of the library of the International Airports Projects (IAP) office of the Ministry of Defence and Aviation, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, are described. The IAP Library has favoured the application of technology‐intensive techniques, including the development of a computerised Library Administration System (LAS), which makes use of UK and LC MARC tapes. Future developments may include interfacing with a computer‐indexed automated microfiche retrieval system. It is suggested that library and information provision in Saudi Arabia may be entering a period of rapid expansion.

Details

Aslib Proceedings, vol. 33 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0001-253X

Article
Publication date: 14 June 2019

David Streatfield and Sharon Markless

The purpose of this paper is to describe the evolving IFLA approach to impact evaluation through three of its international programmes: Freedom of Access to Information, Building…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe the evolving IFLA approach to impact evaluation through three of its international programmes: Freedom of Access to Information, Building Strong Library Associations (BSLA) and the International Advocacy Programme (IAP). This review positions these three programmes within the wider discourse of the international evaluation community.

Design/methodology/approach

Each of the three programmes is considered in turn to show what they were trying to achieve and how thinking about impact evaluation at IFLA is evolving.

Findings

This paper reports key evaluation findings for relevant phases of the BSLA and IAP programmes in general terms.

Research limitations/implications

The views presented are those of the evaluation consultants who advised each of these programmes (and in the cases of BSLA and the IAP conducted the programme evaluations).

Practical implications

The processes described and the conclusions drawn should be of interest to anyone involved in international or national library evaluation, especially of public libraries, library associations and national libraries.

Social implications

The paper suggests that more systematic impact evaluation of public libraries, library associations and national libraries is necessary to ensure their future survival.

Originality/value

The authors were uniquely placed to see and participate in IFLA impact evaluation discussions over the past decade.

Details

Performance Measurement and Metrics, vol. 20 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1467-8047

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2015

Hülya Turgut and Emel Cantürk

Although the design studio has formally been the locus for design education, informal education approach has gained more and more acceptance in the world. Informal education…

Abstract

Although the design studio has formally been the locus for design education, informal education approach has gained more and more acceptance in the world. Informal education, which is the education outside the confines of curricula, includes the acquisition of knowledge and skills through experience, reading, social contact, etc. Workshops cover the essential weight of this informal education. Although the role of the design workshops in architectural design education has been very limited through overall design education’s past, many schools of architecture have taken steps to consider workshops as the part of informal learning and education.

“Culture and Space in the Build environment” (CSBE) Network of IAPS have been organizing “culture and design workshop series” for graduate and post graduate students in Turkey since 2001. In these workshops, a design teaching approach based on the conceptual framework of culture and space interactions is applied. The conceptual framework developed for the architectural design education, takes three fundamental starting points for workshops as the part of informal design education: as a tool for informal design education (method), as a tool for learning & understanding culture-environment relations (content), and as a tool for awareness of different environments/contexts (scale/place). The foundation of the conceptual framework is based on the general approach that discusses the “architectural design process” with regards to environmental context and content.

Within this context the aim of the paper is to discuss and evaluate the importance and the contribution of workshops as tool for informal architectural design education. These discussions will be held on the case of IAPS-CBSE Network’s last workshop “Istanbul as a Palimpsest City and Imperfection”. In the paper, the process, the method, the content and the results of workshop studies will be discussed and evaluated.

Details

Open House International, vol. 40 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0168-2601

Keywords

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