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Building upon uncertainty reduction theory, this work aims to explore how four uncertainty reduction factors (i.e. online property review, online textual description, online visual description and online instant messenger) mitigate property quality uncertainty and property fit uncertainty, which further influence Airbnb use intention.

This work tests the proposed research model using a structural equation modeling approach with 335 Airbnb users.

The findings reveal that the online property review, online textual description, online visual description and online instant messenger can efficiently mitigate property quality uncertainty and property fit uncertainty, which ultimately influence Airbnb use intention.

This study provides useful insights on mitigating property uncertainty in the peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation platforms. Researchers are encouraged to investigate the boundary conditions that influence the effectiveness of uncertainty reduction strategies in alleviating property uncertainty.

P2P accommodation service providers are suggested to take actionable uncertainty reduction strategies to mitigate property uncertainty in online P2P accommodation platforms.

First, this study advances research on P2P accommodation by identifying two key types of property uncertainty, namely, property quality uncertainty and property fit uncertainty. Second, this study extends research on P2P accommodation by proposing contextualized passive, active and interactive uncertainty reduction strategies in mitigating property uncertainty. Third, this study extends uncertainty reduction theory to the P2P accommodation context. Fourth, this study enriches uncertainty reduction theory by verifying the mediating effects of property quality uncertainty and property fit uncertainty.

To identify controls that can harness the power and capabilities of instant messengers (IM) while minimizing potential security risks.

A risk analysis method and (CIS)² model are used.

IM is a great tool for enterprise productivity. However, it has so many risks, but one could identify and control these risks with technical and managerial countermeasures.

This paper fails to provide detailed and specific risks of commercial IMs, and the case study provided in this paper focuses on the technical rather than managerial issues.

A very helpful case study which provides general risks and controls of recent IMs for the security officers of various organizations.

This paper outlined the risks of IM and potential controls for securing public IM in the workplace.

This article analyzes survey results of university students who used Morris Messenger, the instant messaging (IM) reference service at Southern Illinois University Carbondale’s Morris Library. It focuses on the complete results of two surveys, including a comparison of IM reference and traditional reference desk experiences. An overview of the IM reference system and usage data are also discussed. Survey respondents indicated overall enthusiasm for the IM reference service and provided useful suggestions for improvements, which are also listed.

Recent years have documented the growing interest in using WhatsApp in higher education. However, the determinants of students’ satisfaction and loyalty towards WhatsApp groups have received less attention. This study aims to extend the Delone and McLean information system success model by incorporating social and emotional factors to investigate the drivers of satisfaction.

Data were collected through questionnaires completed by 308 undergraduate students. The partial least squares technique was used for data analysis.

The findings reveal that information quality, trust in members and social usefulness play crucial roles in shaping students’ satisfaction and loyalty to WhatsApp groups. System quality has no significant effect on satisfaction. Furthermore, emotional connection negatively moderates the relationship between social usefulness and satisfaction.

The findings of this study will be useful for educators and practitioners seeking to integrate WhatsApp into their pedagogical repertoire. The results demonstrate the importance of considering the social and emotional needs of students in addition to the quality of the information provided.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first attempt to integrate system characteristics, particularly with social and emotional factors. Furthermore, this study extends the literature on WhatsApp use in higher education by testing the drivers of students’ satisfaction and loyalty.

During the digital media era with an explosion of messages, the prevalence of what is known as “message fatigue” has grown. However, there is a lack of understanding toward message fatigue in using instant messengers. Based on the stressor-strain-outcome framework, this study provides a theoretical model to explore possible predictors and consequences of instant messaging fatigue.

The hypothesized model includes communication overload, social overload, instant messaging fatigue, technology and behavioral intention to use instant messaging. Three hundred and eleven responses are collected using an online survey. The authors conduct structural equation modeling to evaluate the hypothesized model and test the hypotheses.

This study reveals that (1) communication overload and social overload are positively associated with instant messaging fatigue and technostress; (2) higher levels of instant messaging fatigue and technostress are also related to a higher level of intention to discontinue usage; (3) technostress significantly mediates the relationship between instant messaging fatigue and intention to discontinue usage of instant messaging.

This study is limited to collect data from one university in the United States with a cross-sectional design. Future research should include other countries, different age groups and longitudinal methods to examine instant messaging fatigue.

This study extends existing findings on fatigue in using mobile communication by applying the stressor-strain-outcome framework to IM fatigue and improves the understanding of the potential negative aspects of instant messaging.

Drawing on transaction cost economics (TCE) and social exchange theory (SET), the purpose of this paper is to explain why and how external environment, governance structures and interpersonal relationships influence information and communication technology (ICT)-enabled information sharing in supply chains (SCs) of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from developing economies.

The authors adopt a theory-building approach using a multiple case study design, including four SMEs operating in SCs from two developing economies (i.e. Republic of North Macedonia and People’s Republic of China), in which the authors conduct both within-case and cross-case analyses.

Social bonds (known as vrski in Macedonian and guanxi in Chinese) were found to govern buyer–supplier exchanges by supporting the establishment of personal trust and the reduction of distrust. These social bonds compensate for the institutional deficiencies in developing economies and thus encourage ICT-enabled information sharing by SMEs in their SCs.

By applying the theoretical perspectives of TCE and SET to the cross-case analysis, the authors develop nine propositions to explain ICT-enabled information sharing and its interdependencies with external environment, governance structures and interpersonal relationships in developing economies. Further research is recommended to refine and test the generalizability of the theoretical model.

Firms have to develop and nurture social bonds with their suppliers from developing economies to reduce risks related to the environmental uncertainty and institutional voids. This can increase trust and decrease distrust associated with ICT-enabled information sharing.

The study examines why and how external environment (environmental uncertainty and institutional environment), social bonds (vrski and guanxi) and interpersonal mechanisms (trust and distrust) influence ICT-enabled information sharing of SMEs operating in developing economies.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Mobile instant messaging is a potential avenue for customer service and marketing departments to explore. Yet there are significant issues with the wholesale adoption of MIM apps.

The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

The key purposes of the paper are: firstly, to identify what kind of new media tools are used by managers in communication with foreign business partners for professional purposes and which, in their opinion, are the most effective, secondly, to identify the relationships between the usage of new media tools and factors that can impact such communication.

The method used in the research was IDI (Individual Depth Interview). Interviews were conducted in 334 companies that operate on the Polish market and which are active internationally (e.g. Asia, Europe, Africa, North and South America), the managers responsible for international relations were the main respondents.

The most popular and most used new media tools are Skype and instant messengers, which were evaluated as good devices for international personal communication. Additionally the results of the research emphasize the significance of cultural and economic factors when taking into account the usage of new media tools in personal communication between business partners from different companies and countries.

The results of the research can be useful for managers doing business internationally and communicating with business partners from different markets and cultures.

The research presented in the paper covers the gap in the literature because it relates to the environmental factors that impact upon the use of new media tools in personal business communication between partners in the international marketplace.

This study aims to empirically examine the factors that affect mobile loyalty (m-loyalty) and its influence on customer reuse intention towards mobile instant messaging services. This study identified measurement items to assess the business users and individual users reuse intention towards mobile instant messaging services and test the relationship in the conceptual model. This study bridges a literature gap focusing on m-loyalty and its impact on customer reuse intention, which has not received attention previously.

To evaluate the influence of the factors, this study identified and extracted the items from past literature to develop the survey instrument. This study surveyed 600 respondents including business users and individual users from the Delhi-National Capital Region of India and applied the structural equation modelling to test the conceptual model.

The results revealed that satisfaction and m-loyalty have a direct effect on the business users and individual users’ reuse intention of mobile instant messaging services. This study found that satisfaction, usability, perceived value, commitment, trust and m-loyalty influence on business users reuse intention. This study indicate that enjoyment has an insignificant relationship on m-loyalty for business users followed by usability and enjoyment has an insignificant relationship on m-loyalty for individual users. Further, female gender does not moderate the relationship between satisfaction and business users reuse intention. The cognitive absorption and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) theories supported evaluating the association between the factors in the context of business and individual users reuse intention of mobile instant messaging service.

The empirical findings imply that all the factors except enjoyment have directly influenced the business users reuse intention of mobile instant messaging. The significant influence of usability factor on the business users reuse intention towards mobile instant messaging is the major variation between the validated models of business and individual samples. The results of influencing factors of m-loyalty and its impact on customer reuse intention are associated with cognitive absorption and the UTAUT theories.

Focus on these factors can be beneficial for the business users, managers, mobile instant messaging service providers and application developers to increase customer loyalty and reuse intention for the mobile instant messaging services. This research will facilitate mobile instant messaging service providers to keep their services market relevant and focus on user satisfaction in building applications for loyalty.

This research identified measurement items from earlier literature to identify, analyze and verify the relevance of these factors in m-loyalty and customer reuse intention of mobile instant messaging services and fill the gap in customer reuse intention of mobile instant messaging services literature.