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As a frequently observed business phenomenon, the use of product scarcity to improve a product’s market performance has received increasing attention from both academics and practitioners. The resulting literature has covered a wide variety of issues based on various theories, using different research methods, in a diverse range of settings. However, this diversity also makes it difficult to grasp the core themes and findings, and to see the outstanding knowledge gaps. This paper aims to review previous studies on the use of product scarcity in marketing and identifies new directions for future research.

A systematic review was conducted to identify and analyse 66 research papers published in business and management journals between 1970 and 2017.

The authors examined the underlying theories of scarcity-based marketing, and developed a conceptual framework that describes the key factors of product scarcity and how they influence both consumers and the market. They also highlighted some key achievements in modelling the processes involved in using product scarcity in marketing.

This analysis of the identified papers suggests that there are substantial gaps in our knowledge of this field, which opens up new paths for future research. For future research, the authors identified three directions aimed at: addressing the practical needs of firms in understanding product scarcity; guiding the implementation of scarcity-based strategies; and measuring, monitoring and predicting the level of product scarcity and its impacts during implementation.

This paper aims to develop a diffusion model that can be used to understand and forecast the market growth of service products in a competitive environment. Despite the fast growth of the service sector, the existing literature has dedicated little effort to modeling the market growth of service products.

The authors propose a choice-type diffusion model that links the issues of service product utility, customers’ choice preference, customer switching behavior and the market growth of service products. The authors use the market data of one online product and assess the performance of the proposed model using this case.

The results demonstrate the model’s good fitting and forecasting performance. Specifically, the proposed model has better performance than the benchmarks the authors choose from the existing literature.

This study shows that market growth of service products can have different diffusion patterns with that of durable goods, which is evidence of the needs for specific models for service diffusion. Further, this study demonstrates the important role of customer switching in service diffusion. Also for marketing practitioners, this study provides an explanation and forecasting tool for the market growth of service products, which can be used for marketing planning in the service industry.

This study aims to identify the critical factors affecting the perception of adolescent students toward interactive online mental health information available on health-related websites.

The primary data was collected with the help of an online self–structured questionnaire. The questionnaire includes the identified variables extracted from previous literature related to the mental health information websites using the Likert scale. The respondents include the adolescent school students belonging to the northern region of India: semi-urban/rural locations of Uttar Pradesh (Agra and Mathura) and urban cities (Faridabad, Gaziabad, Delhi and NCR). The criteria for selecting respondents were that students must have visited any online health information-related websites at least once. Exploratory factor analysis was used to explore the factors with the help of SPSS.20.

The identified factors that include information delivery medium/mode, websites’ navigation structure, customized information or content, ability to form a virtual relationship and supplementary features of the websites may benefit the health communication system of any country and the health-care industry.

There are some limitations such as a limited number of respondents and even on that sample was taken for teenagers; thereby creating fewer generalizations related to the present context. Further, only exploratory factor analysis is applied in the study to identify the factors but future researchers may proceed to develop the conceptual model of perception toward online information with the help of confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling techniques.

The results of this study are useful for government officials especially those related to the ministry of health care and public health organizations of various countries, who usually invest in co-designing authentic, reliable and high interactive online information-sharing websites.

The results of the study will facilitate the various social child welfare associations and non-governmental organizations that are usually involved in the holistic development of adolescents. The identified factors can be seriously taken into considerations by these associations while they are formulating any on line websites for sharing health-related information to adolescents.

The study is unique as it provides insight into the opinion of the adolescent students, primarily upon encountering the online mental health information concerning the Indian perspective. Future researchers, health-care policymakers and health-care professionals may use the study to capture a complete picture of a relevant phenomenon in their work.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate Chinese and American financial companies’ distinct brand personality indicators shown through culturally based linguistic features online. The potential correlation between culturally oriented brand personalities and companies’ financial performance is also examined.

This study employs computerized content analyses to examine the cross-cultural differences among 28 American and Chinese financial companies’ online communication based on Aaker’s brand personality framework.

The findings reveal that despite some similarities, there are significant differences between the frequencies and patterns of brand personality indicators on American and Chinese websites, which demonstrate the connection between the companies’ linguistic preferences with their different cultural backgrounds. It also proves that there could be significant relationship between financial companies’ corporate brand (CB) personality expressions and their financial performance, and US financial companies’ revenues are more closely correlated with brand personality dimensions than Chinese companies’.

The necessity for cross-cultural adaptation of CB personality is verified in this study. Chinese international companies may have a big room to improve their online corporate communication. Similarly, foreign companies who intend to enter into Chinese market may think about laying emphasis on their personality indicators of competence in their online corporate communication.

This research is among the first to utilize a corpus-based analytical tool to conduct content analyses of financial companies’ online brand personalities, in addition to empirically validate the correlations between companies’ brand personality indicators and financial performance. The study enriches the literature on online marketing communication, draws attention to the connection between cultural differences and linguistic preferences in CB personality construction and emphasizes the importance of making appropriate cross-cultural adaptation in online corporate communication.

Drawing on the cognitive-functional model of emotions and emotional contagion, the authors aim to examine the role of negative emotions in the diffusion of cancer tweets.

Using an integrated approach of social network and text analytics, the authors analyzed 142,883 cancer tweets from February to March 2018. The roles of negative emotions, emotional contagion, cancer themes and user influence on the diffusion of cancer tweets were examined.

Results indicated that cancer tweets expressing negativity and anger diffused more widely, while those expressing sadness or fear were less likely to diffuse. However, contrary to the authors’ expectation, cancer tweets expressing negative emotions (i.e. negativity, anger and fear) were less likely to arouse similar emotions among retweets, thus suggesting that emotions in cancer tweets were not as contagious as they seemed. Finally, user influence was the most important factor explaining the diffusion of cancer tweets, although cancer-related themes (i.e. affective, informative and social) had marginal effects on likelihood of diffusion.

Using a novel integrated social network–text analytics approach, the authors found that to understand cancer tweets' diffusion, it is critical to go beyond examining the content of tweets about cancer and the influence of messengers – the virality of cancer tweets is inextricable from the negative emotions.

This study aims to offer a comprehensive exploration of the potential and challenges associated with sensor fusion-based virtual reality (VR) applications in the context of enhanced physical training. The main objective is to identify key advancements in sensor fusion technology, evaluate its application in VR systems and understand its impact on physical training.

The research initiates by providing context to the physical training environment in today’s technology-driven world, followed by an in-depth overview of VR. This overview includes a concise discussion on the advancements in sensor fusion technology and its application in VR systems for physical training. A systematic review of literature then follows, examining VR’s application in various facets of physical training: from exercise, skill development and technique enhancement to injury prevention, rehabilitation and psychological preparation.

Sensor fusion-based VR presents tangible advantages in the sphere of physical training, offering immersive experiences that could redefine traditional training methodologies. While the advantages are evident in domains such as exercise optimization, skill acquisition and mental preparation, challenges persist. The current research suggests there is a need for further studies to address these limitations to fully harness VR’s potential in physical training.

The integration of sensor fusion technology with VR in the domain of physical training remains a rapidly evolving field. Highlighting the advancements and challenges, this review makes a significant contribution by addressing gaps in knowledge and offering directions for future research.

This study aims to unveil the generation mechanism of the thrust force in a tubular flux-switching permanent magnet (PM) linear (TFSPML) machine; the operation principle of the TFSPML machine is analyzed.

First, the air-gap flux density harmonic characteristics excited by PMs and armature windings are investigated and summarized based on a simple magnetomotive force (MMF)-permeance model. Then, the air-gap field modulation theory is applied in analyzing the air-gap flux density harmonics that contribute to the electromagnetic force. In addition, a simple method for separating the end force of the TFSPML machine is proposed, which is a significant foundation for the comprehensive analysis of this type of machine. As a result, the operation principle of the TFSPML machine is thoroughly revealed.

The analysis shows that the average electromagnetic force is mainly contributed by the air-gap dominant harmonics, and the thrust force ripple is mainly caused by the end force.

In this paper, the operation principle of the TFSPML machine is analyzed from the perspective of air-gap field modulation.

Drawing on the self-cognitive theory, this study aims to propose a conceptual model that links customer mistreatment with different types of helping behaviors through the self-efficacy mechanism.

The empirical analysis made use of the original data of three hotels located in southern China. The authors tested the hypotheses with a three-wave survey of a sample of 430 frontline workers in 95 groups.

Customer mistreatment may reduce employees’ self-efficacy, which has both positive and negative effects depending on the type of helping. Moreover, the coworkers’ supporting climate buffered the influence of self-efficacy on autonomous and dependent helping.

The authors resolve the ambiguity surrounding customer mistreatment-helping and self-efficacy-helping relations. Thus, the authors extend the knowledge on the influence of customer mistreatment and self-efficacy on helping behaviors by establishing that both positive and negative effects may exist depending on the type of helping. Moreover, this study identifies the predictive role of self-efficacy in autonomous and dependent helping.

This paper aims to comment upon the governance systems of state‐owned enterprises in Shanghai and to consider the adequacy or otherwise of those governance structures.

The paper presents a study of existing governance arrangements and structures and considers areas for possible reform.

A sound corporate governance system is of great significance not only to the healthy development of enterprises but also for the enterprises to survive when they face the economic crisis. With the continuous spread of the world economic crisis, how to improve the corporate governance of state‐owned enterprises in Shanghai so that they can pass the financial crisis period safely has become one urgent and critical issue.

The study presents detail and reform areas for further reflection.