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This paper aims to present an overview of the history of communication research and theory in reference services literature and to discuss the potential of one relatively recent-emerging theory of communication (anxiety-uncertainty management theory) to describe and mitigate breakdowns in reference communication.

An overview and discussion of existing literature and communication-based theories of library reference services is presented.

This paper identifies and describes anxiety-uncertainty management theory as a lens through which to view communication breakdowns during library reference transactions. The concepts behind the theory and articulated as well as its insights for reference librarians.

This is the first article to discuss the anxiety-uncertainty management theory to examine communication breakdowns in library reference transactions.

The purpose of this paper is to show that empirical analysis of consumption of a good, using the same empirical and econometric model as it is done in standard applied demand analysis, may be based on the underlying behavioral model other than the rational choice.

Reference point approach originally developed by psychologists and later translated into reference price approach by business scholars is used to demonstrate this point. Empirically, a model of consumption of broilers in the USA is estimated using regression analysis and its results and implications are discussed.

The same empirical model can be used to represent more than one underlying model of consumer behavior.

This paper raises the question of which underlying behavioral theory is valid, and under what circumstances might that validity change. The importance of accounting for reference prices appears to be validated, but the fact that both theories lead to the same or similar empirical formulation does little to secure either theory as right or wrong.

Research in consumer behavior and demand generally assumes the existence of one superior theoretical behavioral model. This paper suggests that such claims are unfounded since standard current empirical modeling of consumer behavior accommodates more than one underlying theory.

This paper aims to examine Patrick Wilson’s 1977 essay, Public Knowledge, Private Ignorance, which emphasizes practice rooted in theory. Modern reference work ought to look back to this 35-year-old essay to be reminded of the intent of reference practice by considering Wilson’s discussion.

This paper examines Wilson’s decades-old thesis and applies it to reference work and reference resources for today’s information professionals.

The crux of Wilson’s essay remains relevant today when applied to reference work and information-seeking.

This essay leaves readers with practical tips for reference work rooted in theory, and also expands on Wilson’s 1977 essay from a contemporary viewpoint, providing guidance for modern reference librarianship.

This research aims to integrate two theories of reference price formation and to test the resulting exemplar‐prototype hybrid (EPH) model's predictions. Study 1 tests the predictions of the EPH model regarding price attractiveness ratings. Study 2 helps to document the process by which the EPH model operates.

The investigation consists of a pair of laboratory experiments that manipulate the skew (positive, negative) of historic price data, and the frequency of the modal price (high, low) in the price history.

Both the skew of prices to which consumers are exposed and the frequency with which the modal price occurs affect recall of the modal price and evaluations of the attractiveness of subsequent prices.

Consumers rely on information about both the price range and individual price points to form reference prices. Common models of reference price effects may be improved by including a non‐linear estimate of the effect of modal price frequency.

Managers are advised to offer a consistent regular price from which occasional discounts of varying value are offered to create a strong memory trace in consumers' minds for the higher “regular” price and avoid such a trace for any one discounted price.

Prior studies detail aspects of the relationship between reference prices and the attractiveness of market prices. This is the first attempt to integrate, rather than contrast, the two predominant types of theories (range‐based, price‐point based) of reference price formation.

This chapter explores Prospect Theory — a descriptive model of modelling individual choice making under risk and uncertainty, and its applications to a range of travel behaviour contexts.

The chapter provides background on Prospect Theory, its basic assumptions and formulations, and summarises some of its theoretical developments, applications and evidence in the field of transport research.

A body of empirical evidence has accumulated showing that the principle of maximisation of expected utility provides limited explanation of travel choices under risk and uncertainty. Prospect Theory can be seen as an alternative and promising framework for travel choice modelling (although not without theoretical and practical controversy). These findings are supported by empirical observations reported in the literature reviewed in this chapter.

The chapter provides a detailed account of the design and results of accumulated research in travel behaviour research that is based on Prospect Theory’s observations, insights and formulations. The potential of Prospect Theory for particular decision-making in travel behaviour research is articulated, main findings are presented and discussed, and limitations are identified, leading to further research needs.

Online privacy research has seen a focus on user behavior over the last decade, partly to understand and explain user decision-making and seeming inconsistencies regarding users' stated preferences. This article investigates the level of modeling that contemporary approaches rely on to explain said inconsistencies and whether drawn conclusions are justified by the applied modeling methodology. Additionally, it provides resources for researchers interested in using computational modeling.

The article uses data from a pre-existing literature review on the privacy paradox (N = 179 articles) to identify three characteristics of prior research: (1) the frequency of references to computational-level theories of human decision-making and perception in the literature, (2) the frequency of interpretations of human decision-making based on computational-level theories, and (3) the frequency of actual computational-level modeling implementations.

After excluding unrelated articles, 44.1 percent of investigated articles reference at least one theory that has been traditionally interpreted on a computational level. 33.1 percent of all relevant articles make statements regarding computational properties of human cognition in online privacy scenarios. Meanwhile, 5.1 percent of all relevant articles apply formalized computational-level modeling to substantiate their claims.

The findings highlight the importance of formal, computational-level modeling in online privacy research, which has so far drawn computational-level conclusions without utilizing appropriate modeling techniques. Furthermore, this article provides an overview of said modeling techniques and their benefits to researchers, as well as references for model theories and resources for practical implementation.

In an increasingly competitive field of socially mediated information and knowledge available online, the public library's traditional services are increasingly questioned for relevancy. Drawing on the core premises of contemporary practice theory to ground the methodological and theoretical perspectives, the aim of this paper is to provide the initial “inside” view of traditional public library face‐to‐face reference work from a practice‐based perspective.

The paper includes an ethnographic case study of face‐to‐face reference service in four branches of one urban public library involving 170 hours of participant observation, 24 hours of unobtrusive observation, 480 reference interactions, and 28 participant interviews and analysis of policy documents.

This analysis highlights the structuring and mediating role of objects in the enactment of reference work. A practice‐based typology of reference interactions is introduced which characterizes the types of questions asked, knowledge processes in action, interpersonal communication style and mode of practice. The collective organizing actions of reference work are unpackaged in a non‐hierarchical or flattened plane that recognizes the key actors and dynamics of the practice as it endures across time and space.

Evidence and an approach are introduced to support re‐conceptualizing public library reference work as an epistemic practice.

The purpose of this paper is to explore, how organization theoretically diverse research on OCR is actually grounded, since insights into the organization theoretical foundations of OCR are completely lacking.

A selection of 85 articles on organizational change was made, published in top tier journals in 2010. The authors conducted a reference analysis based on 18 prominent organization theories and their main contributing authors.

The findings show firstly a very strong theoretical selectivity, focusing on cognitive, learning, and neo-institutional theories. Other theories are almost fully neglected. Secondly, this analysis suggests that current OCR struggles hard with transforming the cognitive frames of topical OT into fruitful accesses to the own object. The resulting theory application appears as a dissatisfying escape strategy, performed to cover theoretical antagonisms and to avoid a deeper confrontation with the underlying assumptions of OCR.

The authors are fully aware that the depth of their analysis is worth broadening. A more comparable scope in the amount of the theories, journals, articles, and of the covered time span would help to substantiate their results.

Pragmatic change approaches rely strongly on organizational change research. If OCR itself is not topical in terms of using available theoretical knowledge, pragmatic approaches fail to stand on solid ground. The paper therefore provides a background for the link between failing empirical change projects and the usage of available scientific knowledge.

An analysis of the organization theoretical topicality of organizational change research is completely missing. The paper therefore not only contributes to the discovery of a blind spot in organizational studies, it possibly helps to explore the reasons for the high percentage of failing change projects.

Those who use stakeholder theory as a reference are both underlining the correlation between facts and a certain conceptualization thereof, and trying to make the necessary shift from a “panoptic” analysis akin to a panoramic vision of texts and positions, to an “in‐depth” one geared towards an understanding of their foundations. As a “theory of organizations”, stakeholder theory helps to nourish a relational model of organizations by revisiting questions about “who” is actually working with (and in) the firm. Stakeholder theory is part of a comprehensive project that views the organization‐group relationship as both a foundation and a norm.