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Article
Publication date: 28 February 2019

Bosul Yoo, Sotaro Katsumata and Takeyasu Ichikohji

The purpose of this paper is to examine the driving factors of user innovation behaviors using the case of smartphone applications to estimate the indirect and direct effects of…

1641

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the driving factors of user innovation behaviors using the case of smartphone applications to estimate the indirect and direct effects of consumers’ attitudes toward user-generated content (UGC).

Design/methodology/approach

This study proposes a structural model to examine the relationship between user innovation behaviors toward UGC and three attitude factors: involvement, consumer knowledge and customer orientation. The empirical analysis is based on a consumer survey that examines the commonalities and differences between Japan and China. In each country, two social media services are chosen as representative cases of the UGC business model to measure user innovation behaviors toward the quality and quantity aspects.

Findings

Customer orientation is the most significant driving factor of user innovation behaviors toward UGC. It positively affects both the number of followers and the frequency of information transmissions. In particular, for the quality dimension of user innovation, customer orientation has a more significant effect on the number of followers than does familiarity.

Originality/value

This study emphasizes the quality aspect of user innovation. Previous research has focused on the quantity of user innovation behaviors by measuring the amount of information. However, this research measures both the quality and the quantity aspects with the number of followers and the frequency of uploading content. The findings of this study suggest that companies should maintain relationships with highly customer-oriented users to manage content quality.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, vol. 31 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-5855

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 June 2010

Margam Madhusudhan and Poonam Singh

This paper is an outcome of the study made for designing the multimedia‐based orientation programme of the Dyal Singh College Library (DSCL), New Delhi, India. The purpose of this…

1432

Abstract

Purpose

This paper is an outcome of the study made for designing the multimedia‐based orientation programme of the Dyal Singh College Library (DSCL), New Delhi, India. The purpose of this paper is to enlighten the new students and to create insight into the operations of the DSCL.

Design/methodology/approach

Macromedia Flash software is used in designing and developing the multimedia‐based library orientation programme of the DSCL. In this study, the quality and usefulness of the information provided is evaluated through feedback. The structure of the programme is divided into 227 snapshots lasting for 20 min. A survey was conducted using structured feedback comprising of five questions.

Findings

Regarding the implementation of multimedia‐based library orientation programme and the responses received from the respondents regarding usefulness of information presented in the programme, except “library online public access catalogue & internet browsing”, all other features are found to be either excellent or very good. The quality features, such as, easy to understand (76.44 per cent), programme content (60.23 per cent), programme graphics, sound and special effects (46.76 per cent) are rated as excellent; and the length of the programme (72.28 per cent) and comprehensiveness (51.74 per cent) are rated as good. The overall evaluation of the programme is rated as very good (62.55 per cent).

Research limitations/implications

This paper is not conceived to replace live college library tours, but rather to supplement them. In its present non‐linear form, the programme allows the user to start at the beginning and run through to the end. However, users cannot interact with the video but they can stop, forward and backward the programme.

Practical implications

Highly useful for new students who face the constraints of inconvenient timings and format; reduces the burden of the library staff of imparting physical library orientation and improves the library image in this age of information; and helps the user in overcoming the geographical and language barriers.

Originality/value

The paper provides the advantages of multimedia‐based library orientation in college libraries. The multimedia‐based library orientation programme has been developed as an effective means of conveyance and makes information handy and accessible on the college site as “virtual tour”. The entire programme can be viewed at and develops creativity among college librarians in designing such programmes.

Details

Library Review, vol. 59 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0024-2535

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 May 2006

Isabel Maria Macedo and José Carlos Pinho

This article sets out to examine the market orientation construct within the context of the non‐profit sector. Given the specificity of non‐profit organisations and the…

8362

Abstract

Purpose

This article sets out to examine the market orientation construct within the context of the non‐profit sector. Given the specificity of non‐profit organisations and the increasingly demanding resource environments in which these organisations operate, the adoption of the concept of marketing is viewed as an adaptive strategy for ensuring that organisations receive the necessary resources for accomplishing their missions and carrying out their activities. In line with this, the present article aims to investigate the extent to which the type of revenue strategy is related to the organisation's market orientation, towards donors and/or users.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing from a resource dependence conceptual framework, the article reports findings from a quantitative study of a representative sample of Portuguese non‐profit organisations (NPOs). This approach was complemented by qualitative research methods. Combining these two approaches has given access to different levels of reality and provided a more holistic understanding of the phenomena under study.

Findings

The results from the present study demonstrate that Portuguese NPOs favour a market orientation towards users/beneficiaries, revealing a less proactive behaviour in relation to their donors. In the present study, the resource dependence theory has proved to be an important theoretical tool for understanding market orientation strategies within the non‐profit sector. The link between the type of resource strategy and the organisation's market orientation stands out as an important finding derived from the present study and is particularly visible in relation to donor market orientation. In addition, empirical data partially support the conclusion that diversification of revenue sources is likely to favour a higher degree of market orientation. Further refinement of the adequacy of the MARKOR scale within the context of the non‐profit sector stands out as an avenue for further research.

Research limitations/implications

As the sample used for analysis was drawn from Portugal, the generalisability of the results to other countries remains to be tested.

Practical implications

The findings of the present study may assist public policy‐makers in the design of more adequate policies in the allocation of resources to non‐profit organisations.

Originality/value

The study contributes to a better understanding of market orientation in the specific context of the non‐profit sector. Moreover, this is done through applying the market orientation scale to two different stakeholders (i.e. donors and users/beneficiaries) in the evaluation of market orientation and in its relationship with resource strategies.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 40 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 26 July 2019

Ahmad Beltagui, Thomas Schmidt, Marina Candi and Deborah Lynn Roberts

Online games based on a freemium business model face the monetization challenge. The purpose of this paper is to examine how players’ achievement orientation, social orientation

1854

Abstract

Purpose

Online games based on a freemium business model face the monetization challenge. The purpose of this paper is to examine how players’ achievement orientation, social orientation and sense of community contribute to willingness to pay (WtP).

Design/methodology/approach

A multi-method study of an online game community is used. Interviews and participant observation are used to develop an understanding of social and achievement orientations followed by the development of hypotheses that are tested using survey data.

Findings

The findings indicate that a sense of community is positively related to WtP, whereas satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the service provider is not. The authors examine the moderating role of players’ achievement orientation and social orientation and find that while a stronger connection to the community may encourage achievement-oriented players to pay, the opposite is indicated for socially oriented players.

Practical implications

Decision makers need to understand that not all players are potential payers; while socially oriented users can help to maintain and grow the community, achievement-oriented players are more likely to pay for the value they extract from the community.

Originality/value

While communities are held together by people with common interests, which intuitively suggests that WtP increases with the strength of connection to the community, the authors find this only applies in the case of players with an achievement orientation. For those with a social orientation, WtP may actually decrease as their connection to the community increases. These perhaps counter-intuitive findings constitute a novel contribution of value for both theory and practice.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. 119 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 1999

G. Tomas M. Hult and Ernest L. Nichols

Develops and tests a model of team orientation in the global purchasing process of a Fortune 500 multinational services organization. Based on a sample of 179 domestic and 167…

1893

Abstract

Develops and tests a model of team orientation in the global purchasing process of a Fortune 500 multinational services organization. Based on a sample of 179 domestic and 167 international strategic business units (SBUs), the results indicate that team orientation in a purchasing unit is influenced by transformational leadership behaviors and the SBU user’s flexibility in mental models, which, in turn, affects customer orientation, relationship commitment, and cycle time in the process. The results appear to be strategically robust across the domestic and international purchasing settings, while the tactical implications of the results differ somewhat depending on the purchasing scenarios.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 14 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1977

MALCOLM STEVENSON

For a field approaching a critical period of reappraisal and rethinking of methods, user education is well served by secondary material. A definitive history of training in the…

Abstract

For a field approaching a critical period of reappraisal and rethinking of methods, user education is well served by secondary material. A definitive history of training in the use of the library by Bonn in 1960 has been followed by a steady flow of review articles on the subject. Tidmarsh in 1968 concentrated on instruction in the use of academic libraries. After briefly tracing the historical background in Britain and America she went on to describe developments in Britain in theory and practice following the proposals of the Library Association University and Research Section in 1949 for a three‐stage user education programme. She concluded her review with a discussion of the three main problems that were then, and to a certain extent still are, hampering the spread of user education—inadequate finance, lack of timetabled time, and indifference of academic staff. Mews reviewing developments in teaching the use of books and libraries, again with reference to British academic libraries for the period 1966–70, examined courses reported during that period paying particular attention to instruction for new students and undergraduates. Trends she noted included a move to the use of audio‐visual aids and to the appointment of information officers, bringing new opportunities for person‐to‐person enquiries. Surveying current practice in 1970 Pugh noted many difficulties faced by library instruction programmes at the time. These problems were taken up by Scrivener in a significant article describing instruction in library use as a persisting problem. ‘The welter of writing shows clearly the extent of interest in the subject and equally clearly that it is a problem (or complex of problems) to which no generally accepted solutions have been found.’ In America the approaches to teaching library skills to college students have been studied by Dudley, a study which included descriptions of two accredited courses at the Berkeley and Los Angeles campuses of the University of California. More recently Givens after discussing the history of the role of the library in user education studied the educational developments of the ‘sixties and the libraries’ response. He discussed the componsnets of a user education programme and the rethinking and reorganization that would be required to achieve that programme.

Details

Journal of Documentation, vol. 33 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0022-0418

Article
Publication date: 4 April 2008

Robert Malouf and Tony Mullen

To evaluate and extend, existing natural language processing techniques into the domain of informal online political discussions.

3142

Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate and extend, existing natural language processing techniques into the domain of informal online political discussions.

Design/methodology/approach

A database of postings from a US political discussion site was collected, along with self‐reported political orientation data for the users. A variety of sentiment analysis, text classification, and social network analysis methods were applied to the postings and evaluated against the users' self‐descriptions.

Findings

Purely text‐based methods performed poorly, but could be improved using techniques which took into account the users' position in the online community.

Research limitations/implications

The techniques we applied here are fairly simple, and more sophisticated learning algorithms may yield better results for text‐based classification.

Practical implications

This work suggests that social network analysis is an important tool for performing natural language processing tasks with informal web texts.

Originality/value

This research extends sentiment analysis to a new subject domain (US politics) and a new text genre (informal online discusssions).

Details

Internet Research, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1066-2243

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 March 2021

Wencheng Su, Zhangping Lu, Yinglin Sun and Guifeng Liu

Wayfinding efficiency is an extremely influential factor to improve users' library interior experience. However, few research has studied the different functions of various…

1283

Abstract

Purpose

Wayfinding efficiency is an extremely influential factor to improve users' library interior experience. However, few research has studied the different functions of various wayfinding signages for university library users through mobile visual experiment. To fill this gap, the purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between university library signage system design and patrons' wayfinding behavior features.

Design/methodology/approach

In this article, an eye movement tracking method was introduced to record eye movement data during the wayfinding process of participants in the library interior, targeting the cognition and psychology of library users in the wayfinding signage system. The visual guiding usability of landmarks, informational signages and directional signages were quantitatively tested, and the fixation on the signage system between orientation strategy users and route strategy users was compared. This study also investigated the effects of library users' spatial anxiety and environmental familiarity on their fixation on the area of interest of the wayfinding signage system using the differential test and regression.

Findings

This paper observed that informational signage had the best visual navigating competence. The difference of fixation duration and searching duration between patrons used various wayfinding strategies was significant. The informational signage was most attended by the route strategy users, and the orientation strategy users rarely focused on the directional signage. And participants with high anxiety tended to ignore the visually auxiliary function of the landmarks but paid attention to the directional signage. The participants with low anxiety could capture the landmarks that could not be easily found by the route strategy users. And participants less familiar with the environment were more sensitive to the landmarks. Furthermore, this paper offers optimization measures for university library wayfinding signage system, from the perspectives of informational signage understandability improvement, directional signage physical specification design and wayfinding assistant system with automatic landmark technology.

Originality/value

This article adds to the relatively sparse literature on university library user wayfinding experimental study in China. The experimental findings of this paper also have important practical implications for academic libraries' wayfinding system evaluation. The whole process could be seen as a repeatable and standard framework and methodology to inspect university library's wayfinding signage system usability and user wayfinding behavior performance.

Details

Library Hi Tech, vol. 40 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0737-8831

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 July 1993

J. Eric Davies

Describes the development of a “novel” self‐guided tourexercise for user orientation at the Pilkington libraryLoughborough Universiy of Technology. Sketches thebackground to the…

4013

Abstract

Describes the development of a “novel” self‐guided tour exercise for user orientation at the Pilkington library Loughborough Universiy of Technology. Sketches the background to the project and considers the factors leading to a move away from “traditional” conducted library tours, including their perceived lack of effectiveness, and resource intensity at a time of pressure. Includes a consideration of the impact of library organization on orientation and users generally. Outlines the philosophical basis, and aims and objectives of the Loughborough approach to orientation before describing how the programme evolved in detail. This comprises a self‐guided tour, supported by printed material as its main component, together with a limited number of individually tailored extended tours for users with specialized needs. Describes the practical introduction of the programme within the university, including publicity and evaluation. Concludes with a description of the task force involved in the project.

Details

Library Management, vol. 14 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-5124

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 July 2023

Hind Mubarak Alzaabi, Mohamed Abdulla Alawadhi and Syed Zamberi Ahmad

This study aims to examine the impact of cultural values [power distance (PD), uncertainty avoidance (UC), individualism vs collectivism (IC) and time orientation] and users’…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine the impact of cultural values [power distance (PD), uncertainty avoidance (UC), individualism vs collectivism (IC) and time orientation] and users’ perceptions on the adoption of big data analytics (BDA) within the context of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) health-care sector. It uses the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model as its theoretical foundation.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional survey involving 256 health-care organization users in major hospitals across the UAE was conducted. Smart partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modeling was used to assess users’ behavioral intentions (BI) to use BDA in the health-care context.

Findings

Results indicate that performance expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions and perceived trust significantly predicted respondents’ BI to use BDA. However, effort expectancy, perceived security and time orientation were found to have insignificant impacts on BI. Interestingly, the remaining cultural values (PD, UC and IC) did not significantly affect the relationship between social influence and BI in the context of BDA adoption in health care.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature by examining the role of cultural dimensions in BDA adoption within health-care organizations, particularly in the underrepresented UAE health-care context. Moreover, it extends the application of the UTAUT model to the BDA adoption in health care, providing insights into the factors affecting users’ BIs to use the technology.

Details

Digital Policy, Regulation and Governance, vol. 25 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2398-5038

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 36000