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Building upon uncertainty reduction theory, this work aims to explore how four uncertainty reduction factors (i.e. online property review, online textual description, online visual description and online instant messenger) mitigate property quality uncertainty and property fit uncertainty, which further influence Airbnb use intention.

This work tests the proposed research model using a structural equation modeling approach with 335 Airbnb users.

The findings reveal that the online property review, online textual description, online visual description and online instant messenger can efficiently mitigate property quality uncertainty and property fit uncertainty, which ultimately influence Airbnb use intention.

This study provides useful insights on mitigating property uncertainty in the peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation platforms. Researchers are encouraged to investigate the boundary conditions that influence the effectiveness of uncertainty reduction strategies in alleviating property uncertainty.

P2P accommodation service providers are suggested to take actionable uncertainty reduction strategies to mitigate property uncertainty in online P2P accommodation platforms.

First, this study advances research on P2P accommodation by identifying two key types of property uncertainty, namely, property quality uncertainty and property fit uncertainty. Second, this study extends research on P2P accommodation by proposing contextualized passive, active and interactive uncertainty reduction strategies in mitigating property uncertainty. Third, this study extends uncertainty reduction theory to the P2P accommodation context. Fourth, this study enriches uncertainty reduction theory by verifying the mediating effects of property quality uncertainty and property fit uncertainty.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how quality dimensions in independently owned online brand communities influence purchase intentions via uncertainty reduction and the role of involvement.

This work validates the model and hypotheses through non-probabilistic sampling. The online questionnaire was made on the website of MySurvey and an invitation letter was posted to the forums. The respondents received the questionnaire items translated into Chinese. The final survey sample consisted of 235 respondents.

Empirical results confirm that as for independently owned online brand communities, their information quality and relationship quality are effective tools for influencing purchase intentions via uncertainty reduction. In addition, the authors demonstrate that involvement has a positively moderating influence on the relationship between uncertainty reduction and purchase intentions.

The current study moves beyond uncertainty reduction to demonstrate that information quality and relationship quality of forums influenced purchase intention via uncertainty reduction and the moderating variable such as involvement.

Although work engagement has become an important topic in management, relatively little attention has been given to newcomers’ work engagement in the socialization literature. The purpose of this paper is to explain how newcomers’ work engagement can fluctuate during the first year of organizational entry and the role of organizational socialization in developing and maintaining high levels of newcomers’ work engagement.

A review of the socialization literature indicates that uncertainty reduction theory has been the basis of research on socialization tactics and newcomer information-seeking both of which function by providing newcomers with information to reduce uncertainty. Socialization resources theory is used to develop a new pathway to newcomer socialization which focuses on providing newcomers with resources during the first year of organizational entry and socialization.

The uncertainty reduction pathway to newcomer socialization is narrow and limited because it primarily focuses on minimizing and reducing the negative effects of job demands rather than on providing newcomers with resources that are necessary to facilitate work engagement and socialization.

Organizations can use newcomers’ work engagement maintenance curves to map and track fluctuations in newcomers’ work engagement during the first year of organizational entry and they can conduct an audit of socialization resources to determine what resources are required to develop and maintain high levels of newcomers’ work engagement.

This paper describes newcomer work engagement maintenance curves and explains how socialization resources can be used to develop and maintain high levels of newcomers’ work engagement. A model of a new pathway to newcomer socialization is developed in which socialization resources, personal resources, and job demands influence newcomers’ work engagement and socialization outcomes.

The uncertainties, ambiguities and unknown issues that characterize the beginning of a new product development project have led practitioners and scholars to coin the term “fuzzy front end” to refer to this seminal stage. The causes of many product failures can be traced back to this fuzzy front end. Despite a growing realization of its importance, the meaning of the term “front-end fuzziness” itself remains vague. A theory-based framework is not available to guide thinking and research on this important topic. The purpose of this paper is to create a conceptual framework for fuzzy front end.

This paper applies Daft and Lengel’s (1986) theory of organizational information processing to create a framework for research on the fuzzy front end of product innovation. This framework is used to clarify the concept of front-end fuzziness and identify three sources of fuzziness in the project team’s task environment.

Contrary to the current literature, the authors argue that equivocality rather than uncertainty is the dominant cause of front-end fuzziness. This new conceptualization: appropriately broadens the concept of front-end fuzziness; identifies new problem areas; highlights the need for new solutions; and suggests the need to focus on team vision as a front-end deliverable.

The previous literature used a single uncertainty reduction rationale for integrative mechanisms. Thus, it did not consider that the implementation might change from front end to downstream. The dual theoretical rationale suggests that integrative mechanisms can be implemented differently to focus either on uncertainty or equivocality reduction. In the front end, equivocality is the dominant issue and mechanisms should be implemented in ways that create a rich channel to identify issues and share perspectives. In downstream activities where the dominant issue is uncertainty reduction, mechanisms might be implemented in ways that provide greater quantities of information on known issues.

This new conceptualization of front-end fuzziness provides a better theoretical rationale for how integrative mechanisms enable a project team to work through the fuzziness it faces, creating a clear team vision that guides its downstream efforts.

The purpose of the current study is to examine a social network site (SNS) users' overall satisfaction with SNS use in conjunction with their fan page visiting activities. We examined overall satisfaction with SNS usage from the lens of people's perceptions acquired from the use of sub-components of SNS.

The current study employed uncertainty reduction theory (URT) and general systems theory (GST) to examine antecedents affecting overall satisfaction with SNS use. Five constructs were adopted: interactive and passive uncertainty reduction strategies, perceived usefulness and continuance visiting behavior, satisfaction, and perceived functional benefits. Using a web-based survey, we analyzed 200 SNS users who follow at least one company's fan page, utilizing seemingly unrelated regression models to test hypotheses empirically.

Research findings reveal that uncertainty reduction strategies supported by URT are significantly associated with the perceived usefulness of a company's fan page. In turn, we found that perceived usefulness becomes a strong motivator to continuance visits to the fan page. The frequency of return visiting behaviors eventually accounts for overall satisfaction with SNS. Perceived functional benefits moderates the relationship between perceived usefulness and visiting behaviors significantly.

The current study contributes to information systems (IS), electronic communication, and their adjacent academic disciplines in providing evidence, including (1) the impact of uncertainty reduction strategies on continuance visiting behaviors in the SNS context, (2) SNS functionalities influencing the relationship between people's belief and behavior, and (3) theoretical significant perceptional link between a sub-component and a whole.

In this paper, we show that reducing supply chain uncertainty increases responsiveness and thereby benefits bottom line performance as assessed via total cycle time reduction. We term this effect as the uncertainty reduction principle. To enable uncertainty reduction we use the uncertainty circle to focus on the sources to be eliminated. We also show that these sources of uncertainty can react and magnify in a flywheel effect caused by poor supply chain management. A supply chain audit methodology is described for identifying and codifying uncertainty. The proposition advanced herein is that smooth material flow leads to and statistically correlates with uncertainty reduction. Examples are given of good real‐world supply chain practices thus identified and subsequently improved. Transferability of the uncertainty reduction principle is assured by establishing readily assimilated “best practice” guidelines via the study of “exemplar” operating characteristics.

We often know what comes next from the first few words of a conversation or interaction. If the interaction is in the context of a service encounter, whether for the customer or the service provider, those first few words may lead to satisfactory or unsatisfactory perceptions of service quality. This paper presents a communications perspective on the initial interaction of the service encounter in order to suggest a new way service quality issues may be addressed It examines the service encounter from the perspective of uncertainty reduction (UCR) theory. Interpersonal communication theories can inform service system designers and service managers with regard to the service encounter. Reducing uncertainty between customers and service workers in the service encounter should increase perceived service quality experiences. The twelve propositions presented represent the types of issues that might be addressed by future empirical studies.

Based on uncertainty reduction theory, this study explores how perceived information transparency mitigates users' perceived uncertainty, which in turn influences their actual purchase behavior. In addition, the moderating effects of cultural tightness on the relationship between perceived information transparency and perceived uncertainty are also considered.

Users with the shopping experience on Xiaohongshu are invited to participate in the survey. Finally, 355 valid longitudinal data are collected.

The results indicate that the three dimensions of perceived information transparency (i.e. perceived product transparency, perceived seller transparency and perceived transaction transparency) can reduce users' perceived uncertainty significantly. Besides, the negative impacts of perceived product and seller transparency on users' perceived uncertainty are stronger when cultural tightness is higher. However, cultural tightness does not moderate the relationship between perceived transaction transparency and users' perceived uncertainty.

First, the authors' research extends the uncertainty reduction theory to the context of social commerce. Second, the authors' research explores the boundary condition under which perceived information transparency varies by identifying cultural tightness as the moderator of the relationship between perceived information transparency and uncertainty. Third, the authors' research enriches the understanding of the cultural tightness of China.

Reports on research concerning the role and nature of communication during the innovation process of new financial services. A causal framework has been developed on the antecedent role of communication in financial service innovation and its impact on success. Project team communication is conceptualized by: intra‐project communication (communication between project team members); and extra‐project communication (boundary‐spanning communication). Examines the effectiveness of these communication flows from an information processing perspective and assesses the amount of uncertainty reduced about customers, competitors, technologies and resources. Also assesses the impact of the reduction of uncertainty on new financial service performance. In view of the context, i.e. financial service innovations, we included the specific characteristics of services (intangibility, inseparability of production and consumption, heterogeneity and perishability) into our theory and research design. Finally, the theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Both uncertainty reduction theory and uncertainty management theory suggest that uncertainty reduction during organizational change is imperative as it may influence positively employees’ attitudes and behaviors. By drawing on the theory of planned behavior that links individual’s beliefs and behavior, the study seeks to examine how employees’ self- and other-interest in change may reduce perceptions of change uncertainty and consequently, foster their behavioral change support (i.e. compliance, cooperation and championing).

The study hypothesizes that employees’ self- and other-interest in change mediate the relationship between perceptions of change uncertainty and behavioral change support. The research was conducted in two large IT companies co-located in a big science park in an EU country in South-eastern Europe. Data were collected from 105 employees and their supervisors in three sequential phases.

The research findings suggest that both self- and other-interest in change partially mediate the negative relationship between perceptions of change uncertainty and behavioral change support.

The findings indicate that change management practitioners will benefit considerably if they try to decrease employees’ perceived change uncertainty by increasing their self- and other-interest in change to provoke supportive behaviors. Relevant suggestions are made.

The findings provide new insights into how perceptions of change uncertainty and self- and other-interest in change can affect employees’ change participation. Further, the research findings add to the uncertainty reduction theory and uncertainty management theory as well as, other related notions.