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This study develops a comprehensive research model and investigates the significant factors affecting positive marketing outcomes in the Metaverse through perceived social benefits and trust.

The authors propose a new research model based on social exchange theory (SET) and examine the impact of cost and reward factors. Using 327 survey samples collected from current Metaverse users in South Korea, dual-stage analysis using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) and an artificial neural network (ANN) were employed to test the study’s hypotheses.

The results showed that perceived social benefit and trust had significant mediating effects on marketing outcomes, such as loyalty to the seller, product/service attitude, and purchase intention. All antecedents, except perceived performance risk, had a crucial impact on the two mediators. The most interesting finding of this study is the positive influence of knowledge-seeking efforts on perceived social benefits.

This study is the first empirical research to examine the effectiveness of marketing in the Metaverse. It also proposes a new theoretical model based on SET to investigate users’ behavioral intentions regarding marketing in the Metaverse, and confirms its explanatory power. Moreover, the results of this study also offer suggestions to brands on how to market to consumers in the Metaverse.

In the tourism industry, immersive technologies become increasingly vital, amplifying traveler experiences and industry growth. By studying “e-booking” applications prevalent in hotels, this study aims to analyze the impact of integrating an anthropomorphic virtual agent (AVA) on user perceptions of humanness and service usage intent.

Two experiments were conducted to examine the effects of using an AVA and explain the psychological mechanism of how AVA’s attributes increase intention to use “e-booking” application.

The results highlight the positive influence of AVA on the intention to use. They illustrate the psychological mechanism of how AVA’s attributes (agency and emotionality) influence perceived humanness and intention to use. More specifically, the results indicate that perceived humanness mediated the effect of an AVA on intention to use.

Further research should delve into additional capabilities related to humanness.

This study provides useful insights for hotels’ managers about incorporating AVAs in digital services to enhance the perceived humanness of AVAs. The findings suggest that such efforts could yield benefits, especially when they involve conveying that AVAs possess agency and emotionality.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first to investigate how AVA impacts hotel human–computer interaction. It examines agency and emotionality features on humanness perception and behavioral intent. It also guides successful digitalized hotel service development and design, expanding existing research on human–virtual agent digital services, which mainly focuses on superficial traits like face and gender.

Public health experts and advocates have long raised concerns about the pandemic preparedness of prison systems worldwide – an issue that became increasingly salient at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. People in prison experience poorer health outcomes compared to the general population, making timely access to adequate health services in prison critical for their health and wellbeing. This study aims to identify the extent of the literature on initial changes in mental health and substance use services for people in prison during the COVID-19 pandemic, summarize and synthesize the findings and identify areas in need of further study.

The authors conducted a review of the academic literature published internationally in English between 2019 and December 1, 2020 to describe the disruptions and adaptations to mental health and substance use services in prisons during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The authors found that mental health and substance use services in prisons around the world were widely disrupted due to the COVID-19 pandemic – predominantly consisting of the complete suspension of services, discontinuation of transfers to off-site treatment sites and limitations on service capacity. Adaptations ranged from virtual service delivery and changes to treatment dispensation processes to information sessions on overdose prevention.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first review to examine the nature and extent of the literature on delivery of mental health and substance use services in prisons during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Considering the pervasiveness of technology, this article offers an understanding of how the metaverse can impact digital entrepreneurship. The objective will be to gather professional evidence on how the revival of this new technology can bring entrepreneurial development.

Through a qualitative study approach based on applying the metaverse in digital business contexts and analysing 533 practitioner sources from the Nexis Uni database, it will be possible to identify the concepts and application techniques of this emerging technology. The research adopts a qualitative methodology based on a mixed thematic and content review using tools such as ATLAS.ti and Leximancer.

This study finds three relevant macro-topics for metaverse and digital entrepreneurship (technology, immersive and design) and eight concepts (private solutions, digital twins, gamification, public solutions, new business worlds, co-design, collaborative spaces and stakeholders' participation). The uncovered elements demonstrate professionals' interest in a new mode of digital entrepreneurship using the metaverse. This interest highlights the commitment of companies and entrepreneurs toward discovering new services delivered in virtual and parallel worlds that find the creation of digital twins as their essence. Therefore, the study explores ongoing relationships for developing increasingly technically complex metaverse platforms and customer service offerings.

The study has some limitations as the selection of the database and the way the cases are focused on, which may be a stimulus for future studies. The analysis has innumerable theoretical and practical implications. In the first case, this research will shed light on an empirical case concerning the conceptual difference between innovation or greater transformation of business models through the metaverse. This work will directly contribute to the global discussion by identifying a model for applying emerging technology to digital entrepreneurs. Finally, from a practical point of view, the authors will provide new insights to digital entrepreneurs by showing them applications, best practices, and platforms they can use for their businesses.

On a practical level, the authors show practical opportunities coming from the metaverse for digital entrepreneurs. This study may inspire CEOs, managers, and future entrepreneurs to use the metaverse to expand their businesses by diversifying their services into numerous sectors.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this study represents one of the first efforts to study the metaverse by framing it from theoretical and practical perspectives of digital entrepreneurship. Additionally, future research implications may guide researchers in this brilliant research field.

The “metaverse” is the new buzzword. With the phenomenal growth of the metaverse comes accounting, taxation and jurisdictional challenges, which business and governments have yet to fully address. This paper aims to highlight and rationalise the lack of regulatory framework and multiplicity of jurisdictions on metaverse transactions. This paper addresses some of the complications with respect to accounting and taxation in virtual environments.

This study relies on secondary data and emerging literature to understand the multiplicity of jurisdiction and complexity of the accounting transactions. The concept of the metaverse is rapidly evolving, and this study uses extant literature to provide the foundation for understanding the key challenges relating to accounting and taxation.

Concepts of revenue recognition and deferment are challenged by the transactions in the metaverse. There are novel applications, underpinned by emerging technologies and blockchain supporting new crypto assets, such as non-fungible tokens and other decentralised finance (DeFi) tools; however, the caveats of anonymity and jurisdictional issues persist. The paper suggests that the industry must adapt to the unique reporting requirements of these assets and develop new standards for evaluating their value for financial reporting purposes. The paper emphasises the need for a case-based approach in the absence of standardised regulations for the accounting industry in the metaverse.

This paper adds original contributions to extant literature of the metaverse and advances ongoing debates into the accounting and taxation issues pertinent to the metaverse and DeFi.

The study analyzed how the service-learning (SL) methodology can become a university social responsibility (USR) strategy that generates shared value for the university and its stakeholders.

This qualitative and exploratory–descriptive research had a nonexperimental field and cross-sectional design that used field techniques such as focus groups and in-depth interviews with the participants of the USR program “MIPyME vs COVID-19” in two Latin American countries.

This study revealed the perceptions of students who participated in the USR program on how a virtual service-learning (vSL) strategy related to the use of technology generates a positive impact on the development of shared learning between students and micro-entrepreneurs from a global and Latin American perspective, as well as for the internationalization of their study plans.

The field study was conducted in only two Latin American countries; however, the USR program has been implemented in eight universities from eight Latin American countries with very similar social, political and health contexts.

It is one of the first studies on SL used in a strategic and articulated way in universities with a USR approach. It analyzed traditional evaluations of this methodology, incorporating others such as virtuality (produced by the effects of the COVID-19), which led the authors to generate methodological innovations based on new ways of connecting, linking and generating shared learning and value for all.

Virtual spaces, commonly referred to as the Metaverse, are predicted to disrupt consumption patterns in tourism, hospitality and events (THE) by shifting some user experiences to a virtual world. Scholarly investigations are necessitated to aid in an understanding of virtual spaces and the implications of their consumption for THE industries. This viewpoint outlines a provisional research agenda on virtual spaces.

To inform its arguments, this viewpoint draws upon academic and grey literature surrounding the emerging topic of the Metaverse in THE industries.

The research agenda should consider four perspectives representing different actors of THE value chain, i.e. developers/suppliers, THE business professionals, customers and policymakers. The research agenda should also incorporate the wider spillover effects of consumption of virtual spaces which may stretch well beyond THE industries.

This viewpoint outlines some research directions which may aid different actors of THE value chain alongside academics in better understanding the emerging phenomenon of virtual spaces and comprehend the opportunities and challenges associated with their uptake by THE industries.

This paper aims to investigate the effects of virtual reality experiences (VREs) and emotions on holiday destination visit intentions by applying the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework. It also examined the role of amateur photography as a moderator in the relationship between VREs, emotions and visit intentions.

Primary data were collected through a structured survey questionnaire administered in India, and structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to examine relationships among variables. The formal survey was preceded by a pilot study. The partial least squares-SEM product indicator technique was applied to measure the moderation effect of amateur photography.

When people have high levels of positive emotions in the pre-travel stage with VRE participation, their intentions to visit destinations are stronger. Amateur photography moderated the relationships between user interactivity, memorable experiences, mental imagery and visit intentions. No significant moderating effect was found between emotional experiences and visit intentions.

The results indicate that creators of virtual reality (VR) communications should concentrate on producing interactive and visually striking VR content, as the research found that VR experiences with tourism-related activities have a significant impact on potential visitor emotions. Therefore, VR producers should incorporate authentic and distinctive elements into contents, giving viewers realistic and trustworthy VR tourism experiences. Destination marketers should evoke emotions in people to increase motivations to visit the VR-presented places. Destination marketers should create VR content with hedonic elements, fostering a connection and desire to visit the destination presented in the VR. For example, destination marketers can enhance the sensory aspects of VR content with audio, video, haptics and artificial intelligence, encouraging people to be emotionally captivated and fully immersed. The findings indicate that amateur photography has a significant moderating effect on prospective tourists’ intentions to visit a place presented in VR. Thus, destination marketers are advised to provide photogenic and relevant content to users. By using amateur photography, destinations can market their attractions to potential visitors in a more interactive and relatable manner. Showcasing images taken by amateur photographers presents a genuine perspective of the offerings, thereby increasing visit intentions among prospective visitors. Additionally, amateur photography helps promote the destination in a positive light, emphasizing the attractions and other offerings, and this encourages potential visitors to consider the destination as a travel option, thereby increasing visit intentions. Encouraging amateur photographers to take and share images also increases their engagement with the destination, creating a sense of community and connection and ultimately driving visit intentions. Destination marketers should embrace VR tourism content as a means of promoting their destinations to potential customers by considering the three crucial elements of memorable experiences, emotional experiences and mental imagery. In essence, destination management organizations and other decision makers should develop complete VR communication plans that incorporate interactive and visually striking activities. This can be done by creating VR experiences for prospective tourists, which will enable them to pick their preferred destinations at the pre-travel stage. Through this approach, an effective destination marketing strategy can be established.

This research has value in making several potential contributions to the tourism applications of VR. It is the first study to use and test the S-O-R framework to analyse tourist behaviour from the perspective of emotions generated by VR applications. The analysis focuses on India’s tourism market, which has not been explored much in the context of VR and from the perspective of a developing country. The research emphasizes the use of VR as a tool to understand tourist behaviour rather than just focusing on visit intentions. The findings provide valuable insights into the importance of VR in tourism. The knowledge generated will contribute to the understanding of the impact of VR experiences on emotions and visit intentions and the moderating effect of amateur photography. It has practical implications for destination marketers in developing effective marketing strategies that enhance tourists’ emotions and motivate visit intentions.

本研究运用刺激-机体-反应(S-O-R)框架, 探讨虚拟现实体验（VREs）和情绪对度假目的地旅游意向的影响。还研究了业余摄影在VREs、情感和访问意图之间的关系中的调节作用。

通过在印度进行的结构化调查问卷收集原始数据, 并使用结构方程模型(SEM)来检查变量之间的关系。在正式调查之前进行了一项试点研究。采用PLS-SEM结果指标方法测量业余摄影的调节效果。

当人们在旅行前的VRE参与阶段拥有高水平的积极情绪时, 他们访问目的地的意愿会更强。业余摄影调节了用户交互性、纪念体验、心理意象和访问意图之间的关系。情绪体验与访问意向之间无显著调节作用。

本研究对虚拟现实的旅游应用有几个可能的贡献。这是第一个使用并测试刺激-生物-反应(S-O-R)框架的研究, 从VR应用产生的情感角度分析游客行为。分析集中于印度的旅游市场, 而在VR的背景下和从一个发展中国家的角度来看, 印度的旅游市场还没有得到太多的探索。该研究强调将VR作为一种了解游客行为的工具, 而不仅仅是关注游客的意图。这些发现为VR在旅游业中的重要性提供了有价值的见解。所产生的知识将有助于理解VR体验对情绪和访问意图的影响以及业余摄影的调节作用。这对目的地营销人员制定有效的营销策略, 增强游客的情绪和激发旅游意图具有实际启示。

Esta investigación analizó los efectos de las experiencias de realidad virtual (VREs) y las emociones en las intenciones de visita a destinos vacacionales aplicando el modelo estímulo-organismo-respuesta (S-O-R). También examinó el papel de la fotografía amateur como moderador en la relación entre las VREs, las emociones y las intenciones de visita.

Los datos primarios se recogieron mediante una encuesta con cuestionario estructurado administrado en la India, y se utilizó la modelización de ecuaciones estructurales (SEM) para examinar las relaciones entre las variables. La encuesta principal fue precedida de un estudio piloto. Se aplicó la técnica PLS-SEM para medir el efecto moderador de la fotografía amateur.

Cuando las personas poseen un alto nivel de emociones positivas en la etapa previa al viaje con participación en VRE, sus intenciones de visitar destinos son más fuertes. La fotografía amateur moderó las relaciones entre la interactividad del usuario, las experiencias memorables, las imágenes mentales y las intenciones de visita. No se encontró ningún efecto moderador significativo entre las experiencias emocionales y las intenciones de visita.

Esta investigación tiene el valor de hacer varias contribuciones potenciales a las aplicaciones turísticas de la realidad virtual. Es el primer estudio que utiliza y pone a prueba el marco estímulo-organismo-respuesta (S-O-R) para analizar el comportamiento de los turistas desde la perspectiva de las emociones generadas por las aplicaciones de RV. El análisis se centra en el mercado turístico de la India, poco explorado en el contexto de la RV y desde la perspectiva de un país en desarrollo. La investigación hace hincapié en el uso de la RV como herramienta para comprender el comportamiento de los turistas, en lugar de centrarse únicamente en las intenciones de visita. Las conclusiones aportan valiosas ideas sobre la importancia de la RV en el turismo. Los conocimientos generados contribuirán a comprender el impacto de las experiencias de RV en las emociones y las intenciones de visita, así como el efecto moderador de la fotografía amateur. Se presentan implicaciones prácticas para los responsables de marketing de los destinos turísticos a la hora de desarrollar estrategias de marketing eficaces que potencien las emociones de los turistas y motiven las intenciones de visita.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight current utilizations of advanced technology within the digital mental health platform Keel Mind.

Keel Mind, based out of Ontario, Canada is a therapeutic delivery platform that dually functions to train clinicians and deliver virtual therapy to clients.

From personalizing client and therapist matching to using natural language processing (NLP) and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven features Keel Mind supports clinician decision-making to meet the growing mental health needs of the population. Keel Mind functions to provide accessible service, efficiently train high-quality clinicians and enhance clinical outcomes for clients. In a preliminary study within post-secondary students from Ontario, Canada, 90.1% of clients reported liking the platform, and 83.4% reported that they experienced positive mental health outcomes as a result of using Keel Mind.

Keel Mind is a leader within the rapidly developing field of telepsychology and aims to promote positive mental health outcomes worldwide.

This digital showcase is the first published piece of work highlighting the technological capabilities of Keel Mind as a digital therapeutic platform. The intention of this work is to highlight current uses of digital technology within the field of therapeutic practice and to promote technological growth within the field.

For the provision of smart library services to end users, tools of the Internet of Things (IoT) play a significant role. The study aims to discover the factors influencing the adoption of IoT in university libraries, investigate the impact of IoT on university library services and identify challenges to adopt IoT applications in university libraries.

A systematic literature review was carried out to address the objectives of the study. The 40 most relevant research papers published in the world’s leading digital databases were selected to conduct the study.

The findings illustrated that rapid growth in technology, perceived benefits, the networked world and the changing landscape of librarianship positively influenced the adoption of IoT in university libraries. The study also displayed that IoT supported library professionals to initiate smart library services, assisted in service efficiency, offered context-based library services, provided tracking facilities and delivered effective management of library systems. Results also revealed that a lack of technical infrastructure, security and privacy concerns, a lack of technological skills and unavailability of policy and strategic planning caused barriers to the successful adoption of IoT applications in university libraries.

The study has provided theoretical implications through a valuable addition to the current literature. It has also offered managerial implications for policymakers to construct productive policies for the implementation of IoT applications in university libraries for the attainment of fruitful outcomes. Finally, the study provides a baseline for understanding the adoption of IoT in academic libraries.