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This paper aims to examine the impact of the COVID-19 infodemic on the public’s online information behaviour, offering insights critical for shaping effective informational responses in future public health emergencies.

This paper uses a structured online survey with 27 targeted questions using a five-point Likert scale to measure eight variables. Data analysis is conducted through structural equation modelling on 307 valid responses to rigorously test the research hypotheses.

This paper indicates that information quality significantly impacts the public’s capacity to select, share and use online information. Additionally, the comprehensibility of information plays a crucial role in shaping the public’s behaviours in terms of online information exchange and usage. The credibility of information sources emerges as a key determinant influencing the public’s online information selection, exchange and utilization behaviour. Moreover, social influence exerts a substantial effect on the public’s online information selection, acquisition, exchange and utilization behaviour. These findings highlight the presence of universality and sociality, mediation and guidance, as well as the purposefulness and selectivity performed by the public’s online information behaviour during an infodemic.

This paper introduces a novel research model for assessing the influence and identifies the patterns of the public’s online information behaviour during the COVID-19 infodemic. The findings have significant implications for developing strategies to tackle information dissemination challenges in future major public health emergencies.

This study aims to explore the use of a double diamond design method to engage the industry in a sector-wide response to the issues of food waste as constructed by consumers. This particular design method is achieved by an exploration of a collective intelligence-participatory design (CIPD) project to engage industry participants in understanding and responding to consumers’ perceptions of the role of packaging in reducing food waste.

Using the UK Design Council’s double diamond design method as a guiding conceptual principle, the project recruited industry participants from medium to large food businesses across various food categories. Two scoping workshops with industry were held prior to the initiation of a 12-stage project (n = 57), and then two industry workshops were held (n = 4 and 14). Eighty participants completed an online qualitative survey, and 23 industry participants took part in a Think Tank Sprint Series. The Think Tanks used participatory design approaches to understand barriers and opportunities for change within food industry sub-sectors and test the feasibility and acceptability of package designs to reduce consumer waste.

For CIPD to work for complex problems involving industry, it is vital that stakeholders across macro- and micro-subsystems are involved and that adequate time is allowed to address that complexity. Using both the right tools for engagement and the involvement of the right mix of representatives across various sectors of industry is critical to reducing blame shift. The process of divergence and convergence allowed clear insight into the long-term multi-pronged approach needed for the complex problem.

Participatory design has been useful within various behaviour change settings. This paper has demonstrated the application of the double diamond model in a social marketing setting, adding value to an industry-wide project that included government, peak bodies, manufacturing and production and retailers.

This paper's purpose is to explore the current interest and knowledge that UK consumers hold around agroforestry. Despite the many reported benefits of agroforestry systems, uptake in the UK, as well as other temperate nations, has been low. As the consumer has a role to play in the transition of agriculture to methods that are more environmentally friendly it is vital to have an understanding of their perceptions. Yet to date no work has looked at agroforestry from the perspective of the UK consumer.

An online survey was conducted using a convenience sample accessed by floating a link through social media and messaging apps. The survey was also shared to the members of a private Facebook group associated with an organic vegetable box service. A mix of multiple choice and open text boxes were used. The survey received 139 responses.

Non-parametric tests indicate that this sample of UK consumers would be mostly likely to buy, and willing to pay more for, agroforestry produce; and the sample showed a split group regarding familiarity. Inductive thematic analysis of the qualitative data highlighted some important barriers to the purchase as well as capturing a snapshot of this sample's perceptions.

This paper presents, to the authors knowledge, the first set of data regarding a sample of UK consumers' perspective of agroforestry produce. The findings could bolster producers' confidence in adopting agroforestry practices, but also highlight the need for policymakers to bolster consumer support through parallel means.

The purpose of the chapter was to examine the impact of customer care chatbots on customer satisfaction levels in the mobile telephony industry in Zimbabwe, with a special focus on the company Econet Wireless. This chapter shows the conceptual framework used. An online questionnaire was administered to a sample of 100 Econet Wireless subscribers who were selected using probability stratified random sampling from Zimbabwe’s 10 provinces. The research data were collected and analysed for correlation, and a multiple regression analysis was carried out to identify the relationship between customer satisfaction and the three customer service improvements brought in by the introduction of customer service chatbots. The study discovered that there is a positive relationship between customer satisfaction levels and each of the three customer service improvements brought in by customer service chatbots, namely customer service convenience, speed of response, and omnichannel strategies. This study thereby proves that the introduction of customer service chatbots in the mobile telephony industry in Zimbabwe can lead to an improvement in customer satisfaction levels. However, addressing service quality only as a determinant of customer satisfaction in isolation is not sufficient to fully improve customer satisfaction levels. Therefore, organisations that seek to improve their customer satisfaction should consider strategies that address all determinants of customer satisfaction, namely price, product quality, service quality, situational factors, and personal factors. This study contributes to the body of knowledge, particularly regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for customer service in developing economies.

This study aims to develop and test a multivariable psychosocial prediction model of subjective well-being in Ukrainian adults (n = 1,248) 1.5 years after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The research design followed the “Transparent reporting of a multivariable prediction model for individual prognosis or diagnosis” checklist. The online survey combined a questionnaire on sociodemographic characteristics and specifics of living in wartime, as well as validated self-reported inventories: The Modified BBC Subjective Well-being Scale, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire – Version 2 and Connor–Davidson Resilience Scale-10.

The initially developed model was tested through regression analysis, which revealed nine variables as predictors of the subjective well-being scores within the sample, explaining 49.3% of its variance. Among them, the strongest were living with a friend and receiving mental health care systematically. They were almost twice as influential as forced displacement abroad and trauma exposure, which predicted lower well-being, and living with a spouse, which forecasted higher well-being scores. Two resilience subscales – adjustment and restoring and resistance – as predictors of better well-being and perceived unsuccess in life and age as predictors of lower well-being were relatively weaker but statistically significant.

The obtained results support the previous evidence on the essential role of accessible mental health services and social support in times of war, as well as the deteriorative effect of trauma exposure and forcible taking refuge on subjective well-being.

Many believe that any social media harms kids because of frequent use. This study aims to examine these assumptions. It proposes and tests a model that considers two alternative pathways – one negative and one positive – through which social media affects teens’ self-reported subjective well-being.

This research used Preacher and Hayes process modeling to conduct path analysis on data collected on 585 teenagers from across the USA.

Results showed that along a negative pathway, frequent social media use leads to greater risky social media engagement that ultimately diminishes adolescent’s sense of well-being. Also, and perhaps simultaneously, frequent social media use leads to socially-connected social media use that enhances adolescent’s sense of well-being.

The research recommends ways parents, policymakers and platforms can encourage teens to use social media to connect with friends while guiding them away from pathways exposing them to risky behaviors.

Findings show more social media use is not necessarily harmful, but more of some types is bad, while more of others is good.

Cultivating loyal customers is a pressing concern for streamers. The present study investigates how to build interpersonal relationships with streamers and whether different interpersonal relationship factors lead to repurchase intention and WOM intention in live streaming commerce. The moderating effect of gender is also examined.

A self-administered questionnaire was completed by 429 live streaming commerce users in mainland China. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to test the research hypotheses.

The results indicate that all four streamer attributes (expertise, authenticity, attractiveness, and homophily) have a positive influence on swift guanxi, and swift guanxi is effective in predicting both calculative commitment and affective commitment. In addition, all interpersonal relationship factors (swift guanxi, calculative commitment, and affective commitment) significantly affect repurchase intentions, with only affective commitment being linked to WOM intention. Also, the moderating role of gender was confirmed in expertise – swift guanxi, attractiveness – swift guanxi, cognitive commitment – repurchase intention and affective commitment – repurchase intention linkages.

This paper contributes to the live streaming commerce literature by integrating swift guanxi, calculative commitment, and affective commitment to understand the repurchase intention and WOM intention from the relationship-building process perspective. In addition, this paper enriches the source credibility and source attractiveness models by identifying gender boundaries on the effectiveness of these models in predicting swift guanxi.

This study aims to investigate the factors associated with the intention to use information technology in audit (ITIA) in Iraq.

The study uses a quantitative approach based on a questionnaire survey of 186 respondents. The study population includes respondents who are board members, senior executives, internal auditors and information technology (IT) assistants in various Iraqi organizations from different sectors. Structural equation modeling has been used to estimate the results.

The findings exhibit that most auditors in Iraq use basic IT software. However, among several specialized and advanced IT audit software packages, only generalized audit software is used by about 20%. The results also indicate that social factors significantly and positively impact auditors’ and practitioners’ perceptions of ITIA use. Moreover, the results reveal that companies and auditors who use or audit complex accounting systems perceive higher benefits and intent to adopt ITIA. However, the results report that organizational support, professional support, competency and IT education have an insignificant effect on ITIA adoption.

The originality of the present research lies in several aspects. First, the research study focuses specifically on Iraq, which is an emerging and less developed country influenced by social and economic. This research context provides a unique perspective and contributes to the understanding of ITIA adoption in less developed countries. The study investigates how external factors, including social and external pressure and the support of government professional bodies, affect the adoption of ITIA. Further, it assesses the influence of firms’ specific factors such as management support, level of competency and complexity of accounting information systems. Second, the study uses a quantitative approach with a questionnaire survey from various Iraqi organizations and sectors. The specific sample composition adds originality by capturing insights from different levels of organizational hierarchy and diverse professional backgrounds. Third, the findings shed light on the current IT usage in auditing practices in Iraq, highlighting that most auditors use basic IT software and the limited adoption of specialized IT audit software packages. Finally, the study’s originality is also reflected in its contribution to expanding knowledge on the perceived benefits and challenges associated with ITIA adoption in less developed countries. By emphasizing the need for broader awareness of emerging technology-enabled auditing software and considering the unique characteristics of less developed countries, the research provides valuable insights and implications for practitioners, policymakers and researchers.

The purpose of this short communication is to shed light on the accuracy of quantification methods of household food waste (HFW).

Thirty-seven recently published studies in HFW were surveyed for this commentary. Exemplary methods and findings of these studies were compared.

It is challenging to draw conclusions on the amount of the HFW per person/town/country due to the inconsistent and heterogeneous methodologies used. We recommend using direct measurements or triangulation of methods to help ensure valid findings. Governments should incentivize consumers to deliver their food waste to designated locations where weights could accurately be assessed. Monetary or tax incentives could help stimulate an accurate accounting of waste and encourage reductions. Food waste measurements should be consistently reported as kg/person/week.

Food and water security must be provided for all. It is estimated that one-third of edible food for humans is currently lost or wasted globally. According to the World Food Program (WFP), this is about 1.3 billion tons of food per year and at the same time this wasted food could be sufficient to feed two billion people.

The aim of this paper is to fill a gap in the literature about the magnitude and significance of HFW and its impact on the environment and social welfare. Currently, there are no generally accepted uniform methods of food waste quantification at the household level. This original communication brings the importance and challenges of the quantification of HFW to light.

This paper investigates the ways digital media applications in rural areas have transformed the influence of social networks (SN) on farmers' adoption of various climate change mitigation measures (CCMM), and explores the key mechanisms behind this transformation.

The study analyzes data from 1,002 farmers’ surveys. First, a logit model is used to measure the impact of SN on the adoption of different types of CCMM. Then, the interaction term between digital media usage (DMU) and SN is introduced to analyze the moderating effect of digital media on the impact of SN. Finally, a conditional process model is used to explore the mediating mechanism of agricultural socialization services (ASS) and the validity of information acquisition (VIA).

The results reveal that: (1) SN significantly promotes the adoption of CCMM and the marginal effect of this impact varies with different kinds of technologies. (2) DMU reinforces the effectiveness of SN in promoting farmers' adoption of CCMM. (3) The key mechanisms of the process in (2) are the ASS and the VIA.

This study shows that in the context of DMU, SN’s promotion effect on farmers' adoption of CCMM is strengthened.