Search results

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of smartphones and computers as web survey entry response devices on the quality of responses in different question formats and across different survey invitations delivery modes. The respondents’ preference of device and the response immediacy were also compared.

Two field experiments were conducted with a cluster sampling and a census of all students in a public university in the USA.

Device effect on response quality was only found when using computer-aided self-interviews, but not in e-mail delivered web surveys. Even though the computer was the preferred device, but the smartphone’s immediate response was significantly higher than the computer.

The sample was restricted to college students who are more proficient users of smartphones and have high access to computers. But the direct comparison in the two studies using the same population increases the internal validity of the study comparing different web survey delivery modes.

Because of the minor differences in device on response quality, researchers can consider using more smartphones for field work such as computer-aided self-interviews to complement e-mail delivered surveys.

This is the first study that compares the response device effects of computer-aided self-interviews and e-mailed delivered web surveys. Because web surveys are increasingly used and various devices are being used to collect data, how respondents behave in different devices and the strengths and weaknesses of different methods of delivery survey help researchers to improve data quality and develop effective web survey delivery and participant recruitment.

Technology was once believed to be a barrier to international students in using library services in the USA. This paper seeks to investigate mobile device ownership among international students as many academic libraries are rapidly introducing mobile library services.

An online survey was created to invite international students enrolled at the College of Business at the University of Illinois. In total, 101 valid responses were gathered. The survey asked ownership of three specific mobile devices among international students: smartphones, tablet PCs, and e‐readers.

A surprisingly high percentage of international students (82 percent) owned smartphones. While ownership of tablet PCs was also high, international students did not seem too interested in e‐readers. While communication was their favorite activity using mobile devices, international students also frequently used mobile devices to access social networking sites and search for information.

The results imply that international students may actually be more prepared than domestic students in terms of mobile device ownership. It is important for libraries to acknowledge this high ownership of mobile devices among international students and evaluate their mobile strategies accordingly.

The paper examines an important student population that has often exhibited different information seeking behavior from that of domestic students.

The purpose of this paper is to get an insight in users’ opinion on library resources/services on small screen mobile devices. Objectives were to establish which types of small screen mobile devices are used and to find out is there a tendency for using academic and educational contents on such devices. Furthermore, aim was to identify whether the users need mobile friendly library web site and services at all. Also, what library resources/services and to what extent respondents consider as the important ones for mobile friendly customization. Finally the results would serve as an orientation in building mobile friendly library web site and services. The author believed that the users were still unaware of the possibility of accessing library web sites and services through mobile devices in general; therefore, this survey also had a role of raising awareness and stimulating their interest.

The survey was focussed on small screen mobile devices with screen size up to seven inches (17.1 cm). Data collection was performed through a questionnaire containing ten questions. The questionnaire was created by LimeSurvey tool, and for mobile optimized version SurveyMonkey.com service was used too. The authors received 295 questionnaires, out of which 285 were taken into account.

The survey found that the largest number of respondents own smartphone/tablet/phablet. The results show that small screen devices are, to some extent, used for educational, academic and informational purposes (reading of e-books and e-journals, education, data checking, internet searching and searching of handy information), but non-academic purposes still predominate (texting, reading e-mails, phone calls, taking pictures). Overall 64 percent of the respondents has expressed need for small screen mobile devices customized library resources/services, but there are 30 percent of undecided respondents. Croatian Scientific Bibliography, e-journals database (EZB), online databases, contact information and lecture halls reservations, has been resources/services requested by respondents to be available in a mobile friendly mode.

The survey examines users’ opinion on a new library service before its implementation. Besides giving us a precise insight into the Rudjer Bošković Institute library users’ interest and needs for mobile friendly customization of existing library resource/service, survey gives a unique insight into the correlation of age and gender of the respondents and their answers to the question about having a small screen mobile device and opinion about the customization of library resources and services. To the author’s knowledge, this is the first users’ survey on this topic in Croatia.

A rising trend has been observed to minimize extraneous cognitive load when reading by enhancing secondary knowledge through technology. For the readers to comprehend information more efficiently in their cognitive architecture, instructional procedures, which are secondary knowledge, should be aligned with the modern technology environment. With continual, rapid technological advances in modern society, people have changed their news reading habits after using mobile devices such as smartphones, tablets and e-readers.

This research employed a quantitative survey to compare the changes in the news reading habits of the undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) students in the Library and Information Management program of a university in Hong Kong after using mobile devices to read electronic news. A total of 102 responses were collected, which comprised 51 UGs and 51 PGs, respectively (the student population for the program was around 100 UGs and 100 PGs).

Survey results showed that mobile devices had changed the respondents’ habit of reading news to read more content on phones, with a variation on news categories. Such changes included the duration and location of news discussion among the respondents that shorter periods were used to read and that more people read while traveling and in restaurants. Notably, reading the news helped respondents in their learning. Most respondents preferred to read electronic news by using mobile devices. The convenience of reading and discussing news may also cause a potential threat that intensifies disputes, arguments or even bullying on controversial issues.

This study confirmed that the usage of the mobile devices changed the respondents’ habit of reading news. This user group constitutes the future generation of information specialists in various disciplines. This study fills the research gap of finding students’ reading habits when using mobile devices, especially in East Asia. Educators are encouraged to recommend relevant news content to students to improve their general knowledge base and arouse their interest in reading and discussing related news topics.

In emerging devices (smartphones, tablets, and notebooks) markets, increasing brand loyalty is critical for suppliers. Generation Y (Gen Y) is the first global target group and the best customer segment for emerging devices. The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework that assesses the brand value of emerging devices as perceived by Gen Y-ers, identify the components that contribute to its formulation, and investigate its relative influence on the development of brand relationships, represented by satisfaction and brand trust, and on brand loyalty.

A mall-intercept survey of a sample of 1,109 Gen Y consumers was implemented using a structured questionnaire with established scales. Data were analyzed with PLS-PM, a SEM methodology.

Results show that brand satisfaction and reliability are the main drivers of Gen Y-ers’ brand loyalty followed by brand intentions, while both trust dimensions (reliability and intentions) and satisfaction partially mediate the relationship between brand value and brand loyalty. Brand value is also directly related to brand loyalty irrespective of consumer-brand relationship quality. Also, functional value-quality and emotional value are shown to be the most important components for brand value formulation followed by functional value-price and brand reputation (BRP) whereas symbolic value is the least important.

The sample is country specific and this may affect generalizability of findings. Also, the cross-sectional design adopted does not reflect temporal changes.

Emerging devices should provide customers both functional (e.g. advanced features, attractive style, quality, durability) and emotional (entertainment, communication) benefits in order to increase brand loyalty. Furthermore, firms should manage their BRP since it can affect significantly brand value, customer-brand relationship quality, and brand loyalty.

The model developed provides a useful guideline for marketers in identifying the most important brand benefits for Gen Y-ers for developing relationships and stay loyal to a brand.

Digital media platforms in Uganda experimented with subscription-based models as an alternative to the traditional advertising model and as a recovery plan from the effects of COVID-19. Drawing from the theory of the political economy of the media, this study focusses on the critical success factors for subscription-based models in digital media platforms, audience consumption habits vis-á-vis payment for content, the effect of paywalls on the company financials and finally, establish the barriers to subscription uptake in Uganda. Media started charging users subscription fees for content in the 1990s (Chyi, 2005). Technological advances changed audience consumption habits from consuming hardcopy newspapers to accessing content on the go through their smartphones, tablets, and computers (Berger, Matt, Steininger, & Hess, 2015). Whilst some consumers pay for content, several audience surveys in East Africa indicated a lack of consistency among the paying audiences (KARF, 2019). Most consumers never purchased subscription and were avert to paywalls. The study used a mixed-method approach to find that the increase in internet penetration in Uganda and smartphone usage were the most significant enablers of paid-content consumption in Uganda. The quality of content, poor packaging, and unfair prices by publishers were the biggest barriers to consumption of paid news content.

Low response rates in web surveys and the use of different devices in entering web survey responses are the two main challenges to response quality of web surveys. The purpose of this study is to compare the effects of using interviewers to recruit participants in computer-assisted self-administered interviews (CASI) vs computer-assisted personal interviews (CAPI) and smartphones vs computers on participation rate and web survey response quality.

Two field experiments using two similar media use studies on US college students were conducted to compare response quality in different survey modes and response devices.

Response quality of computer entry was better than smartphone entry in both studies for open-ended and closed-ended question formats. Device effect was only significant on overall completion rate when interviewers were present.

Survey researchers are given guidance how to conduct online surveys using different devices and choice of question format to maximize survey response quality. The benefits and limitations of using an interviewer to recruit participants and smartphones as web survey response devices are discussed.

It shows how computer-assisted self-interviews and smartphones can improve response quality and participation for underprivileged groups.

This is the first study to compare response quality in different question formats between CASI, e-mailed delivered online surveys and CAPI. It demonstrates the importance of human factor in creating sense of obligation to improve response quality.

Energy production and distribution is undergoing a revolutionary transition with the advent of disruptive technologies such as the Internet of Energy (IoE), 5G and artificial intelligence (AI). IoE essentially involves automating and enhancing the energy infrastructure: the power grid from grid operators to energy generators and distribution utilities. The IoE also relies on powerful connectivity networks such as 5G, big data analytics and AI to optimise its operation. By incorporating the technology that employs ubiquitous devices such as smartphones, tablets or smart electric vehicles, it will be possible to fully exploit the potential of IoE using 5G networks. 5G networks will provide high speed connections between devices such as drones, tractors and cloud networks, to transfer huge amounts of sensor data. Additionally, there are many sources of isolated data across the main energy production units (generation, transmission and distribution), and the data is increasing at phenomenal rates. By applying AI to these data, major improvements can be brought at each stage of the energy production chain. Tying renewable energy to the telecommunications sector and leveraging on the potential of data analytics is something which is gaining major attention among researchers and industry experts. This chapter therefore explores the combination of three of the most promising technologies i.e. IoE, 5G and AI for achieving affordable and clean energy, which is SDG 7 in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

There has been a massive, revolutionary change over the past two decades in the travel and tourism industry. Mobile technology offers privileges to consumers in order to identify, customize and purchase tourism products and support the globalization of the industry by providing tools for developing, managing and distributing beneficiaries worldwide. These diligent advancements in mobile technology have made it extremely easy for everyone to know instantly as much about the world as they want. The use of smartphones, tablets and mobile devices has empowered global tourists with more flexibility, options and freedom to explore places than ever before. For that reason, mobile technology is a perfect fit for travel and tourism that plays an important role in massive cultural shift of consumer behaviour. All over the world, businesses are struggling to adapt to that incredible spread and impact of mobile technology and in the future, the technology will go on developing and adapting, as well. As mobile technology has been evolving rapidly and spreading across multiple tourism sectors, it is pivotal to take into account its role in creating innovative experiences for consumers and fostering a sustainable competitive advantage for suppliers in the tourism industry. Though mobile evolution has contributed to enhancing the travel factor at large, not much is known about how it has affected the tourism development. Finding this information is crucial for a deeper understanding of how consumers are using tourism-related mobile technology before, during and after their trip. It could provide meaningful perceptions to meet their expectations and to enhance their travel experiences. Therefore, this chapter aims to identify the potential of mobile technology in several businesses in the tourism sector providing guidance to understanding its role to enhance value creation in the future.