Search results

This study aims at a longitudinal understanding of the user–system interactions from the context of science and technology at a query level.

The authors quantitatively analyzed log data sets culled from more than 24,820,416 queries submitted by users of a national scientific and technical information system, collected in 2008-2011.

In the fields of science and technology, the user search behaviors and patterns have remained stable. User queries are short and simple. In all, 80 per cent of the queries are made up of one-three terms. The length of query on a scholarly information system in the fields of science and technology is different from that of Web search. The former is longer than the latter. Search topics have shifted fast. “FUEL BATTERY”, “NANO”, “OLED”, “CAR”, “ROBOT” and “SMARTPHONE” were high-ranked queries from 2008 to 2011. It was found that the time to determine whether the users will stay on the site took about 10 seconds on average from the time of visit. If the users viewed the results of a list generated by the search query and took any action, such as detailed view, export or full-text download, most of them stayed more than 10 minutes on average.

Longitudinal user research using a query analysis helps to understand the information needs and behavioral patterns of users on information systems related to a specific field and those based on the Web. It also brings insights into the past, present and future events of a field. In other words, it plays a role as a mirror that reflects the flow of time. In the long run, it will be an historic asset. In the future, user studies using a query analysis need to be carried out from various (e.g. social, cultural or other academic disciplines) long-term perspectives on a continuous basis.

This chapter investigates the impact of the euro crisis on Asia’s short-term economic outlook. This chapter tries to answer this question by examining both the trade and financial channels of crisis transmission. More specifically, it looks at the effect of euro crisis on Asian exports and growth, contagion from EU financial markets to Asian financial markets, and influence of EU bank lending on credit growth in Asia. The chapter also touches upon Asia’s policy space to assess how well the region is positioned to weather another major external shock. This chapter finds that the impact of euro crisis on developing Asia points to a sizable but manageable short-term impact. Furthermore, our analysis points to a significant effect on the region’s financial systems, especially its banking sector. This chapter informs policymakers of the impact of the euro crisis and advice to continue to keep a close eye on eurozone developments and their ramifications for their economies.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate factors affecting consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) a premium for organics.

A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data at five retail stores in metropolitan Bangkok. Exploratory factor analysis and the double-bound contingent valuation method were used for analysis.

Results indicate WTP premiums of 88, 51 and 51 per cent for kale, jasmine rice and pork, respectively. Analysis indicates that respondents are willing to pay a premium if they have already purchased organic products, have good health, strong ethical and environmental concerns, think that organic products provide greater quality and health benefits, and reside in the city. Respondents with children, however, are less likely to pay a premium for organic products. Analysis also indicates that the price premium hinders purchase.

Efforts should be made by policymakers, together with marketers and producers, to lower the price of organic products to attract more consumers.

To enlarge the organic market, one must understand consumers’ preferences for organic products and the premium they will pay for them. This is not well-researched. Though several studies have investigated consumers’ behaviour towards environmentally friendly products in Thailand, there is little research on WTP. This lack is a major impediment to the growth of organic consumption and the development of organic product markets.

Building energy benchmarking is required for adopting an energy certification scheme, promoting energy efficiency and reducing energy consumption. It demonstrates the current level of energy consumption, the value of potential energy improvement and the prospects for additional savings. This paper aims to create a new data envelopment analysis (DEA) model that overcomes the limitations of existing models for building energy benchmarking.

Data preparation: the findings of the literature search and subject matter experts’ inputs are used to construct the DEA model. Particularly, it is ensured that the included variables would not violate the fundamental assumption of DEA modeling, DEA convexity axiom. New DEA formulation: controllable and non-controllable variables, e.g. weather conditions, are differentiated in the new formulation. A new approach is used to identify outliers to avoid skewing the efficiency scores for the rest of the buildings under consideration. Efficiency analysis: three distinct efficiencies are computed and analyzed in benchmarking building energy: overall, pure technical, and scale efficiency.

The proposed DEA approach is successfully applied to a data set provided by a utility management and energy services company that is active in the multifamily housing industry. Building characteristics and energy consumption of 124 multifamily properties in 15 different states in the USA are found in the data set. Buildings in this data set are benchmarked using the new DEA energy benchmarking formulation. Building energy benchmarking is also conducted in a time series manner showing how a particular building performs across the period of 12 months compared with its peers.

The proposed research contributes to the body of knowledge in building energy benchmarking through developing a new outlier detection method to mitigate the impact of super-efficient and super-inefficient buildings on skewing the efficiency scores of the other buildings; avoiding ratio variables in the DEA formulation to adhere to the convexity assumption that existing DEA methods do not follow; and distinguishing between controllable and non-controllable variables in the DEA formulation. This research contributes to the state of practice through providing a new energy benchmarking tool for facility managers and building owners that strive to relatively rank the energy-efficiency of their properties and identify low-performing properties as investment targets to enhance energy efficiency.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the aims of IPTV‐based public services in Korea.

This is a case study written based on the results of a government research project that the authors participated in.

Korea's IPTV promotion policies are driven with a strong force. Focusing on public as well as industrial benefits, the Korean government decided to provide public services through IPTV. For example, the Korean government introduced a plan called “tailored IPTV education services” to expand education services through IPTV. The study of this case is expected to provide implications about new public services under the ubiquitous environment that combines broadcasting and communication.

IPTV‐based public services are currently in trial phase. Therefore, additional research is necessary to analyze the effectiveness of services after a commercial launch.

This case serves as a reference for other countries that are pursuing public interests through the new media.

This is the first study that looks into the effects of IPTV‐based public services.

Studies have explored expectations of corporate social responsibility (CSR) among cultures, but findings are mixed. A more nuanced view of cultural dimensions rather than using Hofstede’s aggregate country scores can offer a stronger empirical foundation for studying the effects of culture. Based on two cultural dimensions and Carroll’s four-dimensional model of CSR, the purpose of this paper is to test the relationship between individualistic/collectivistic values and individuals’ expectations of different types of responsibilities (economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic), the relationship between long-term values and individuals’ expectations of different types of responsibilities and the degree of skepticism about CSR related to these values.

This study surveyed panel participants in two countries, South Korea (collectivistic and long term) and the USA (individualistic and short term), chosen because they are at extreme ends of the cultural values continuum. Multi-dimensional aspects of the cultural variables were tested in the samples rather than using national scores as proxy variables for culture. Data were quantitative and various statistical tests including structural equation modeling were used for analysis.

The findings show that horizontal collectivism and the planning dimension of long-term orientation are positively associated with CSR expectations, whereas the tradition dimension of long-term orientation is negatively associated with CSR expectations. In addition, vertical individualism is positively associated with skepticism toward CSR activities.

The differences in types of individual-collectivism (horizontal and vertical) as well as the different aspects of long-term orientation had an effect on the results, pointing to the importance of exploring the nuances of the dimensions as well as the importance of testing them within the sample rather than using aggregated national scores.

Previous studies that used a proxy variable for culture assumed that collectivistic cultures have higher expectations for CSR. While empirically supporting the assumption of the relationship between cultural factors and CSR expectations at the individual level, the study found that people who view themselves as autonomous within a group but accept inequality within the group (vertical individualism) are more likely to be skeptical of CSR activities and suggests that skepticism about CSR may be more closely related to individual viewpoints or to particular contexts or particular corporations rather than to cultural factors, which has implications for international corporate communication.

The growth of telecommunications spending is the single most vital factor for continuity of the virtuous circle in the overall information communications technology (ICT) industry. This article aims to attempt to gauge the future telecommunications expenditure potential of Korean households by adopting the Kuznets curve which considers the income turning point.

This study begins by examining the structural pattern of household telecommunications expenditures, and then analyzes them using the fully modified least squares estimation method. Household survey raw data collected on a quarterly basis between 1982 and 2005 were used.

The paper finds that the Korean telecommunication market has grown at a high pace and adopted new technologies quickly. Most previous studies on the Korean telecommunication market have predicted that growth will continue on the basis of the past trend of continuous growth in consumer communications service expenditure, and the technological innovations which have rapidly taken place in the industry over recent years. However, the research paper finds various interesting points that contradict the prediction.

The main research limitation is the range of telecommunication expenditures. The main idea was to examine the relationship between household income and communications expenditure based on the concept of Kuznets hypotheses and to calculate an income turning point to measure spending potential.

The case of Korea offers implications for other countries that are putting in special efforts to manage the telecommunications service market.

The Kuznets hypotheses have never before been utilized in gauging consumers' expenditure potential in the ICT industry, and therefore the process and results discussed in this paper can be classed as pioneering.

This study seeks to provide insight into user interaction with a web‐based information system of science and technology, as extending the large‐scale research of search queries. Ultimately, this study aims to gain knowledge of user behavior in order to improve the IR system for the users.

The paper quantitatively analyzed queries submitted to a web‐based IR system in science and technology. The data were collected in a full one‐year period beginning on Friday, 1 January 2010 through on Friday, 31 December 2010. More than 7,240,000 queries and 20,700,000 records were quantitatively analyzed in this period for this study.

In general, queries themselves tend to be short and simple (1.4 terms) for the web‐based IR system in science and technology. This indicates that users tend to invest a minimum of effort (cognitive and physical) and time in structuring their information needs to look for information on the system. However, user sessions on the IR system are longer (8.2 queries) than on web search engines. Most search sessions last less than 30 minutes with a mean of 24 minutes and 15 seconds, a minimum of one second, a maximum of ten hours, and a mode of ten seconds. Regarding the topic trends in science and technology, Life Science ranked first in 2010. Environment ranked first and Life Science, 11th in 2009.

The authors have presented a study which has characterized users' searching behaviors of an information system in science and technology over a full one‐year period, and suggested improvement issues in user interface and search functionality for the system. From this recent exploratory analysis, the authors believe that the user behavioral characteristics are valuable in monitoring the patterns and trends in use of an information system in the field of science and technology.