Search results

This paper aims to determine the impact of perceived virtuality on team dynamics and outcomes by adopting the Input-Mediators-Outcome (IMO) framework. Further, it also investigates the mediating role of team processes and emergent states.

The authors collected survey data from 315 individuals working in virtual teams (VTs) in the information technology sector in India using both offline and online questionnaires. They performed the analysis using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM).

The authors investigated two sets of hypotheses – both direct and indirect (or mediation interactions). Results show that psychological empowerment and conflict management are significant in managing VTs. Also, perceived virtuality impacts team outcomes, i.e. perceived team performance, team satisfaction and subjective well-being.

The interplay between the behavioural team process (conflict management) and the emergent state (psychological empowerment) was examined. The study also helps broaden our understanding of the various psychological variables associated with teamwork in the context of VTs.

Findings from this study will aid in assessing the consequences of virtual teamwork at both individual and organisational levels, such as guiding the design and sustainability of VT arrangements, achieving higher productivity in VTs, and designing effective and interactive solutions in the virtual space.

The study examined the interplay between behavioural team processes (such as conflict management) and emergent states (such as psychological empowerment). The study also theorises and empirically tests the relationships between perceived virtuality and team outcomes (i.e. both affective and effectiveness). It may serve as a guide to understanding team dynamics in VTs better.

This exploratory study attempts to enhance the current understanding of the research and practice of VTs within a developing economy.

The purpose of this study is to map the intellectual structure of the research concerning conflict and conflict management in virtual teams (VT), to contribute to the further integration of knowledge among different streams of research and to develop an interpretative framework to stimulate future research.

A data set of 107 relevant papers on the topic was retrieved using the Web of Science Core Collection database covering a period ranging from 2001 to 2019. A comparative bibliometric analysis consisting of the integration of results from the citation, co-citation and bibliographic coupling was performed to identify the most influential papers. The systematic literature review complemented the bibliometric results by clustering the most influential papers.

The results revealed different intellectual structures across several types of analyses. Despite such differences, 41 papers resulted as the most impactful and provided evidence of the emergence of five thematic clusters: trust, performance, cultural diversity, knowledge management and team management.

Based on the bibliometric analyses an interpretative research agenda has been developed that unveils the main future research avenues. The paper also offers important theoretical contributions by systematizing knowledge on conflict in identifying VTs. Managerial contributions in the form of the identification of best practices are also developed to guide conflict management in VTs.

The uniqueness of this paper is related to its effort in studying, mapping and systematizing the knowledge concerning the topic of handling conflicts in VTs. Considering the current contingencies, this research is particularly timely.

The purpose of this paper is to define the Internet as a virtual space supported by technologies and presented in the form of socioeconomic relations from the perspective of political economy. The Internet space is a unique virtual commodity different from ordinary commodities and has the following effect characteristics: super replicability, space- and time-transcendence, open-source shareability and reality–virtuality transformation.

Internet space can also be imagined as a piece of virtual land. Internet space can be deemed as a piece of virtual land and its value can be divided into labor value and virtual value. The pricing model of virtual value is mainly determined by the gain and discount rate and this value comes from the transfer and markup of social value. In the context of the Internet Plus era, Internet space has become an essential economic factor that influences human economic activities.

Therefore, it is of practical significance and theoretical value to introduce Internet space as an economic variable into the framework of economic theory. The realistic logic of Internet space is to influence human economic behaviors with the combination of information binding.

The theoretical mechanism is to have an impact on the micro-market price by changing market relations from two-dimensional to three-dimensional. Its path to functioning at the macro level is to influence economic behaviors by changing the expectations of investment and consumption, resulting in new economic trends.

Metaverse, that is extended reality (XR)-based technologies such as augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), are increasingly believed to facilitate fundamental human practice in the future. One of the vanguards of this development has been the consumption domain, where the multi-modal and multi-sensory technology-mediated immersion is expected to enrich consumers' experience. However, it remains unclear whether these expectations have been warranted in reality and whether, rather than enhancing the experience, metaverse technologies inhibit the functioning and experience, such as cognitive functioning and experience.

This study utilizes a 2 (VR: yes vs no) × 2 (AR: yes vs no) between-subjects laboratory experiment. A total of 159 student participants are randomly assigned to one condition — a brick-and-mortar store, a VR store, an AR store and an augmented virtuality (AV) store — to complete a typical shopping task. Four spatial attention indicators — visit shift, duration shift, visit variation and duration variation — are compared based on attention allocation data converted from head movements extracted from recorded videos during the experiments.

This study identifies three essential effects of XR technologies on consumers' spatial attention allocation: the inattention effect, acceleration effect and imbalance effect. Specifically, the inattention effect (the attentional visit shift from showcased products to the environmental periphery) appears when VR or AR technology is applied to virtualize the store and disappears when AR and VR are used together. The acceleration effect (the attentional duration shift from showcased products to the environmental periphery) exists in the VR store. Additionally, AR causes an imbalance effect (the attentional duration variation increases horizontally among the showcased products).

This study provides valuable empirical evidence of how VR and AR influence consumers' spatial bias in attention allocation, filling the research gap on cognitive function in the metaverse. This study also provides practical guidelines for retailers and XR designers and developers.

This paper aims to review the existing literature about consumers’ evaluation of products in virtual reality (VR), provide an accurate overview of this field, systematise the knowledge developed so far, identify the research gaps and propose a future research agenda.

A systematic literature review was performed on Scopus and Web of Science, resulting in a final pool of 31 articles.

Four main themes were identified, and a detailed research agenda is proposed based on the findings and following the theory, context, characteristics, methodology framework.

The provision of formal inclusion and exclusion criteria may have resulted in additional potentially relevant articles not indexed in the data set under consideration.

The paper highlights how products are perceived in VR, the consumers’ responses, the peculiarities of VR compared to other conditions and VR as a product test environment. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper seems to represent the first systemic review that focusses solely on how consumers assess products in VR. The results lead to a broad proposal of directions for future research that can expand knowledge on VR in marketing. Practical implications concern the use of VR to design product strategies and as a testing and prototyping environment.

Este artículo revisa la literatura existente sobre la evaluación de los consumidores de productos en Realidad Virtual, proporciona una visión precisa de este campo, sistematiza el conocimiento desarrollado hasta el momento, identifica las lagunas en la investigación y propone una agenda de investigación futura.

Se realizó una revisión sistemática de la literatura en Scopus y Web of Science, que dio como resultado un conjunto final de 31 artículos.

Se identificaron cuatro temas principales y se propone una agenda de investigación detallada basada en las conclusiones y siguiendo el marco Teoría, Contexto, Características, Metodología.

La provisión de criterios formales de inclusión y exclusión puede haber dado lugar a artículos adicionales potencialmente relevantes no indexados en el conjunto de datos considerado.

El artículo destaca cómo se perciben los productos en la Realidad Virtual, las respuestas de los consumidores, las peculiaridades de la Realidad Virtual en comparación con otras condiciones y la Realidad Virtual como entorno de prueba de productos. Esta parece representar la primera revisión sistémica que se centra exclusivamente en cómo los consumidores evalúan los productos en la Realidad Virtual. Los resultados conducen a una amplia propuesta de direcciones para futuras investigaciones que puedan ampliar los conocimientos sobre la Realidad Virtual en el marketing. Las implicaciones prácticas se refieren al uso de la Realidad Virtual para diseñar estrategias de producto y como entorno de prueba y creación de prototipos.

本文回顾了现有的关于消费者对虚拟现实产品评价的文献, 提供了这个领域的准确概述, 系统化了迄今为止的知识, 确定了研究差距, 并提出了一个未来的研究议程。

在Scopus和Web of Science上进行了系统的文献综述, 最终形成了31篇文章的资料库。

确定了四个主要的主题, 并根据研究结果, 按照理论、背景、特征、方法框架提出了详细的研究议程。

提供正式的纳入和排除标准可能会导致更多潜在的相关文章没有被收录到所考虑的数据集中。

文章强调了产品在虚拟现实中是如何被感知的, 消费者的反应, 与其他条件相比虚拟现实的特殊性, 以及虚拟现实作为产品测试环境。这似乎代表了第一个只关注消费者如何在虚拟现实中评估产品的系统性评论。研究结果为未来的研究方向提出了一个广泛的建议, 可以扩展营销中的虚拟现实知识。实际意义在于使用虚拟现实技术来设计产品策略, 并作为测试和原型设计环境。

The evolving visitors' expectations and the unfolding digital transformation compel rethinking on the service offering of museums and cultural institutions. Although digitalization and people-centeredness are widely exploited to enhance the visiting experience, there is limited evidence of their implications on organizational attractiveness. The article investigates this issue, examining the service attributes that entice visitors.

The study collected secondary data from the latest census study by the Italian Institute of Statistics on museums and cultural institutions. Two hierarchical regression models have been run on a sample of large publicly owned organizations (n = 312) to identify the service factors that were most effective in attracting Italian and foreign visitors.

Museums and cultural institutions undergoing a digital transformation were more effective in attracting visitors. The delivery of virtual tours and online events captivated the Italian audience. Foreigners appreciated the opportunity to use applications augmenting the on-site visit.

Digitalization and people-centeredness improve the attractiveness of museums and cultural institutions. Using digital channels to engage visitors fosters their desire to interact with cultural heritage. Furthermore, digitalization enriches the on-site visit, expanding conventional services with virtuality. However, the adverse effects on cultural heritage should be carefully handled.

This study highlights the service attributes that add to the attractiveness of museums and cultural institutions, enabling them to engage visitors and improve the visiting experience.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the leadership behaviors of managers of virtual teams (VTs), particularly in the areas of trust building and conflict management. This study aims to expand the research of VT performance by offering first-person accounts from VT leaders on the strategies implemented to drive VT performance.

This study used a grounded theory approach to examine the leadership behaviors through in-depth interviews with eight field managers of VTs employed by different technology companies. Interview questions focused on trust-building and conflict management techniques. This structured qualitative study incorporates elements of narrative inquiry interwoven in the findings.

Building a high-trust environment was found to be critical to VT performance. VT managers indicated that effective conflict resolution skills were also important.

Although the sample size is within the suggested range for a valid phenomenological study, the results may lack generalizability. Participants were limited to the technology industry; leaders of high-performing VTs in other industries could offer differing results.

This study’s contribution is the exploration and identification of innovative techniques that VT managers implemented to build trust and resolve conflict. A lack of holistic training programs for the VT leader is also considered along with suggestions for future research and implications for the VT managers.

This study’s contribution is the exploration and identification of innovative techniques that VT managers implemented that drive VT performance, particularly related to building high levels of trust and managing conflict effectively. Practices are suggested whereby both the VT leader and the organization take an active role in ensuring that the VT has the opportunity to perform optimally.

The purpose of this paper is to widen the understanding of the shifts the tourism industry experienced as it went though the Covid-19 pandemic. To contribute to this question, an empirical comparison is made between the supply of guided tours and sights at an urban destination in the pre- and postpandemic eras, thus gauging the changes in the guiding tours industry after the pandemic.

By conducting a convenience data gathering and a double-level analysis (tours analysis and sights analysis) on the tours and attractions supply at an urban destination, underlying trends come to light, related to the changes in the postpandemic era. This empirical comparison (2019 vs 2022) allows the authors to assess what has and has not changed in the postpandemic context.

Guided tours and attractions supply are evolving in the researched destination, but at a slow pace. Therefore, we conclude that long-term processes in destinations prevail over short-term disruptions, no matter how strong these disturbances are.

The results are of interest to practitioners as they facilitate a better assessment of the impacts of a crisis and greater awareness of the evolution of attractions in urban tourism. While the “staple tours” in a destination are always there, practitioners should keep an eye on new spaces in the city which the sector is opening up and also new touring trends.

This study is one of the few to empirically compare a pre- and postpandemic situation, as far as city-guided tours are concerned. It helps practitioners and authorities in urban destinations to assess the new trends that have emerged in the postpandemic era, and offers a two-level tool for tour analysis that could be applied to any urban destination.

Adaptability is an inherent quality in building circularity, as adaptability can physically facilitate the reversibility of materials in a closed-reversible chain, also called “loops”. Nevertheless, positioning adaptability in circularity-oriented models could overlook some of the contextual considerations that contribute to the utility for the built environment. This paper reconceptualises building adaptability to incorporate circularity, in order to facilitate for the resource loops whilst preserving the long-lasting functionality in buildings.

An integrative literature review on adaptability and circularity of buildings was conducted using systematic search approach. From the initial database of 4631 publications, 104 publications were included for the final analysis. A comparative analysis of definitions and determinants of both concepts was conducted to reconceptualise circular building adaptability.

The findings of the literature study show that incorporating circularity and adaptability is possible through 10 design and operation determinants, namely configuration flexibility, product dismantlability, asset multi-usability, design regularity, functional convertibility, material reversibility, building maintainability, resource recovery, volume scalability, and asset refit-ability. The study concludes that considering the defined determinants in a holistic manner could simultaneously facilitate: building resilience to contextual changes, creation of asset value, and elimination of waste generation.

This paper expands the relevant bodies of literature by providing a novel way of perceiving building adaptability, incorporating circularity. The practical value of this paper lies in the discussion of potential strategies that can be proactively or reactively employed to operationalise circular building adaptability.

In recent years, there has been significant interest in adopting XR (extended reality) technologies such as VR (virtual reality) and AR (augmented reality), particularly in retail. However, extending activities through reality-mediation is still mostly believed to offer an inferior experience due to their shortcomings in usability, wearability, graphical fidelity, etc. This study aims to address the research gap by experimentally examining the acceptance of metaverse shopping.

This study conducts a 2 (VR: with vs. without) × 2 (AR: with vs. without) between-subjects laboratory experiment involving 157 participants in simulated daily shopping environments. This study builds a physical brick-and-mortar store at the campus and stocked it with approximately 600 products with accompanying product information and pricing. The XR devices and a 3D laser scanner were used in constructing the three XR shopping conditions.

Results indicate that XR can offer an experience comparable to, or even surpassing, traditional shopping in terms of its instrumental and hedonic aspects, regardless of a slightly reduced perception of usability. AR negatively affected perceived ease of use, while VR significantly increased perceived enjoyment. It is surprising that the lower perceived ease of use appeared to be disconnected from the attitude toward metaverse shopping.

This study provides important experimental evidence on the acceptance of XR shopping, and the finding that low perceived ease of use may not always be detrimental adds to the theory of technology adoption as a whole. Additionally, it provides an important reference point for future randomized controlled studies exploring the effects of technology on adoption.