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The freemium pricing model is dominant in digital products such as mobile applications. While limited evaluation of a product such as when a consumer is under time pressure, has been found to increase consumer preference for the free version (“the zero price effect”), this paper aims to explore moderators that attenuate or reverse that effect.

Three experiments test the role of anchoring effects induced by time pressure in moderating the zero price effect.

The studies offer evidence that anchoring effects induced by time pressure can be directed to reduce preference for free versions of products. In addition, these effects are mediated by the perceived performance risk of a product and an upper boundary condition for monetary price level is found.

This research demonstrates exceptions to time pressure’s role in intensifying the zero price effect. Future research could focus on additional moderators of the effect such as the need for certainty and examine time pressure’s effect on in-app purchases.

These findings can be directly applied by marketers of digital products using a freemium pricing model who wants to use time pressure to create urgency with customers without pushing them toward the free version of a product.

This paper finds exceptions to the zero price effect where consumers exhibit a stronger preference for the paid (vs free) version of a product when under time pressure.

While few studies have examined business-to-business (B2B) mobile application (app) usage, none have examined the challenges in developing these technological assets. This study aims to examine B2B marketing executives’ perceptions regarding benefits, barriers and facilitators in app development.

A survey of 311 B2B marketing executives at selling firms in the USA was conducted to identify key themes related to the benefits, barriers and facilitators in developing B2B apps. The research featured “open-ended” questions exclusively, and advanced textual and thematic analysis of executives’ responses produced several key themes.

Results show that the perceived benefit of lowering customer servicing and costs drives development more so than trying to realize new revenue opportunities (e.g. “saving” vs. “making” money). Achieving internal buy-in/participation was perceived as a larger barrier than the commitment of financial resources. Additionally, training and education were viewed as the strongest facilitators of an app’s success over its design and functionality. Implications for B2B firms are discussed.

The open-ended format of this research captures a greater breadth of perspectives at the expense of more granular analysis of any particular issue.

The themes generated from the responses offer novel insights into the benefits sought in developing an app, as well as the technological, organizational and environmental factors that act as barriers and facilitators. The open-ended format of this research captures a greater breadth of perspectives at the expense of a more granular analysis of any particular issue.

This essay surveys and synthesizes the academic literature, archival sources and interviews with key policy makers regarding the emergence of community technology centers in the US. Community Technology Centers (CTCs) came to the fore in the late 1990s through an activist nonprofit sector combined with federal government and private sector funding. Federal data indicates that CTCs now represent the most important access points to information communications technology for the poor in the US. This essay reviews the latest arguments for and against continued investment in CTCs and public access in general. In addition to providing access, which is often used beneficially for employment and education related purposes, CTCs appear to contribute to social capital as they become social gathering points. This paper concludes, that both government and nonprofits play a vital role in ensuring public access for the poor and that continued investment in CTCs is warranted.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate that the teaching of Arabic language has had a distinctive and important history in Australian universities from the middle of the twentieth century through to the twenty-first century.

In this paper, the author draws on a range of sources, government reports and surveys (both general and specific to Arabic), newspaper articles and published literature to give a comprehensive picture of the teaching of Arabic language in Australian universities over the last 60 or so years.

This paper has demonstrated that Arabic language teaching has moved through a number of phases as a scholarly, migrant and trade language. However, although the Middle East has become strategically important for Australia in defence and foreign affairs, and many people from the Middle East have migrated to Australia, Arabic (the major language of the Middle East) has never been given high priority by governments in Australia.

This paper, in taking an historical perspective, has demonstrated how Arabic has never commanded the attention of governments for funding to the same extent as Asian languages have.

This paper explains the role, remit and mechanisms available to the Public Guardianship Office in relation to the administration of the financial affairs of adults unable to manage their affairs. A review of 51 cases suggests that in at least four per cent of those abuse may have occurred.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the debate surrounding quality of training as it has unfolded in Australia and how concerns about high non‐completion rates have entered the debate.

This paper bases its discussion of quality in VET training on analysis of qualitative data collected from focus groups and one‐on‐one interviews conducted with employers, Institutes of Tertiary and Further Education, registered training organisations, trade unions and local, State and Commonwealth government representatives located in the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia.

The paper shows that throughout many parts of the world a growing concern has emerged about the quality of training for apprentices and trainees in what has become an increasingly deregulated environment dominated by private interests. In Australia, where non‐completion rates can be as high as 50 percent of those who commence training, government leaders at both State and Federal levels are taking a renewed interested in understanding the relationship between quality of training and non‐completion rates. The paper finds that data suggesting training quality in Australia is being threatened by fully on‐the‐job training, the narrowing of training skills, the loss of transferable skills and a lack of training. It argues that these factors have contributed to high rates of non‐completions among apprentices and trainees and that poor regulation of quality standards, government subsidies to employers and training organisations and abuse are contributing to these quality problems.

The paper presents useful insights into the relationship between quality in training and attrition among apprentices and trainees in regional Australia.