Can users embed their user experience in user-generated images? Evidence from JD.com

Nowadays, massive user-generated images (UGIs) are posted online to convey users' experiences with specific brands or products. Thus, this visual information is precious, as it conveys users' actual and subjective feelings about brands and products. Because of the unprecedented quantity of images and the heterogeneity of their content, it is quite challenging for brand marketers and retailers to probe into subjective user experience in large-scale UGIs. To address this gap, this study aims to identify the connection between user experience and different image semantic features (i.e. centrality and richness) by using deep learning models. By employing objective data (8963 images) from JD.com and using deep learning algorithms (faster R-CNN), we found that users with positive user experience prefer to generate high-centrality and high-richness pictures. Our study enriches the relevant literature and provides valuable practical implications for brand marketers and e-commerce retailers. Based on findings of this work, relevant stakeholders can understand their users’ experience better from objective UGIs and devise corresponding recommendation and service strategies.     

Visual strategies of luxury and fast fashion brands on Instagram and their effects on user engagement

This study aims to examine what makes the image content of fashion brands successful on Instagram, while comparing between luxury and fast fashion brands. A quantitative analysis of a massive collection of fashion photos posted by notable luxury and fast fashion brands was therefore conducted to identify specific patterns in these images based on four important visual content variables: the use of a brand name, brand logo, text, and hashtag. This study also examined how user engagement levels vary depending on each visual content variable. This study made several interesting findings: (1) luxury brand images with logos and brand names had higher user engagement whereas fast fashion brand images did not show this same trend; (2) the size of the brand name and logo in an image was negatively related to the user engagement or had no effect, regardless of the brand category; and (3) the use of embedded text within an image positively influenced user engagement for luxury brands whereas it negatively influenced user engagement for fast fashion brands.     

Application of the Information Bottleneck method to discover user profiles in a Web store

ABSTRACT

The paper deals with the problem of discovering groups of Web users with similar behavioral patterns on an e-commerce site. We introduce a novel approach to the unsupervised classification of user sessions, based on session attributes related to the user click-stream behavior, to gain insight into characteristics of various user profiles. The approach uses the agglomerative Information Bottleneck (IB) algorithm. Based on log data for a real online store, efficiency of the approach in terms of its ability to differentiate between buying and non-buying sessions was validated, indicating some possible practical applications of the our method. Experiments performed for a number of session samples showed that the method is capable of separating both types of sessions to a large extent. A detailed analysis was performed for the number of clusters ranging from two to seven, and the results were compared to those achieved by applying the most common clustering algorithm, k-means. Increasing the number of clusters generally leads to better results for both algorithms. However, IB demonstrated much higher average efficiency than k-means for the corresponding number of clusters, and this superiority was especially clear for lower number of clusters. The IB-based division of user sessions into seven clusters gives the mean entropy value of 0.28, which means the 95% separation of sessions of both types. Furthermore, a big advantage of our approach is that it gives a possibility to analyze the probability distribution of session attributes in individual clusters, which allows one to discover hidden knowledge about common characteristics of various user profiles and use this knowledge to support managerial decisions.     

Public partnerships,governance and user involvement: a service user perspective

This paper explores public partnerships and governance from a service user perspective, drawing both on the author's own involvement in service user organizations and movements and on material associated with and produced by these organizations and movements. It addresses the ambivalent relationship between service user organizations and movements and the idea and practice of ‘partnerships’, and explores their preference for ideas of ‘alliance’. It charts the different approaches to and ideologies underpinning user involvement and their implications for partnership between state and service users and their organizations. It offers a set of components for improving such partnerships as well as highlighting the growing interest of service users' organizations and movements in developing and extending alliances.     

New insights in Peer-to-Peer carsharing and ridesharing participation intentions: Evidence from the “provider-user” perspective

Carsharing services (CS) and ridesharing are gaining popularity worldwide through Peer-to-Peer (P2P) platforms, which appear to gradually complement or replace conventional CS business.This empirical study investigates the participation intentions in P2P shared mobility services accounting for different statuses people may adopt: provider and/or user. The analysis of a large car owner survey in three major European capitals indicates that these participation decisions are driven by common latent preferences and, people who are more prone to become a peer provider are more likely to use the P2P shared mobility service (and vice versa). The results also reveal the role of individual values such as possession self-link, individualism, and environmentalism in the decision to join a P2P shared mobility platform. Furthermore, our study shows how provider/user status may affect the participation intentions process in the urban population.     

Lotus notes (groupware) in context

Reviewing Notes, or any groupware program, highlights the changing nature of software evaluation. Early reviews, for example, Press (1980), emphasized a program's features, efficiency (memory and storage requirements and speed), and user interface. These have all diminished in importance. With multiple revisions, the feature sets and efficiency of commercial programs for a given application have become relatively similar, and direct‐manipulation user interfaces like the Macintosh and Windows have reduced the differences among the user interfaces of programs.

Today, software (especially groupware) must be evaluated in context. It must be compatible with the skills and requirements of the users and the organization, and it must be well integrated with other software and systems. The stability, support, plans, business arrangements, and so on, of the vendor are also important. The program is the tip of an iceberg.

After describing Notes and its applications, I will discuss the question of its suitability in different organizations and integration with other software and vendors.     

Shared Vision in MNE Subsidiaries: The Role of Formal,Personal, and Social Control in Its Development and Its Impact on Subsidiary Learning

Given the strategic importance of achieving global integration and worldwide learning for most multinational enterprises (MNEs), this article focuses on “shared vision” as a critical mechanism for realizing both goals. Specifically, this paper investigates the impact of three types of control mechanisms—formal (headquarters imposed rules and decisions), personal (the presence of expatriates), and social (social interaction among subunits) control—on building shared vision in subsidiaries and examines the subsequent impact of having shared vision on subsidiary learning. Overall, data from 99 subsidiaries located in the United States and headquartered either in Europe or Japan show that personal and social mechanisms of control are effective in building shared vision whereas formal control mechanisms have no impact. Results also support a significant relationship between shared vision and subsidiary learning. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

共享单车预付押金的法律性质及其法律规制

共享单车预付押金收取模式的异变和返还期限的错配与分离，颠覆了“一物一押”的传统押金结构，异变为“一人一押、一物多押”“一辆单车、多份押金”的新型结构，并使共享单车预付押金朝金融化衍变而呈现出类金融色彩。在免押模式尚不足以全面施行的条件下，应采取特殊的规制方法，通过规范押金收取协议，对预付押金进行账户隔离和妥善保管，增强押金收取、存管和退还的信息透明度，合理利用押金孳息建立行业风险基金以及统一监管机构，有效保护共享经济预付押金的财产安全。     

Offshore Outsourcing and Non‐production Workers: Firm‐level Relationships Disaggregated by Skills and Suppliers

In analysing the impact of offshoring on the skill composition, previous empirical studies have established that offshoring firms employ more non‐production workers. However, not all non‐production workers are highly skilled. This paper disaggregates non‐production workers into the following three categories: (i) skilled non‐production workers, (ii) unskilled non‐production workers and (iii) non‐production workers with special skills for offshoring and other overseas business management. By linking our offshoring survey data with firm‐level data for Japanese manufacturing firms, this paper finds that the share of skilled non‐production workers tends to be significantly high in offshoring firms but that of unskilled non‐production workers is not. As offshoring has expanded from production to non‐production tasks, this result implies that the distinction between skilled versus unskilled workers becomes critical among non‐production workers. Using our unique data on supplier types in offshoring, this paper finds that the share of non‐production workers for the management of overseas activities tends to be high in foreign direct investment firms and in firms outsourcing to foreign independent suppliers, but not in Japanese firms outsourcing to offshore suppliers located abroad but owned by other Japanese firms. This difference indicates that coordination burdens are likely to be at least partly mitigated by common languages or shared business practices. These findings suggest that offshoring has different impacts on employment depending on suppliers and the worker’s skill. The principal results are confirmed robust even after various firm characteristics are controlled for in panel regressions, though we should not give any causal interpretations.     

Celebrity endorsement: How celebrity–brand–user personality congruence affects brand attitude and purchase intention

The present study provides and tests a conceptual framework aimed at comparing the relative effectiveness of celebrity–user, brand–celebrity, and user–brand personality congruence on brand attitude and brand purchase intention (BPI) thereafter. The data collection was done via an online survey of a representative group of consumers (n = 431) located across India. Hypotheses were tested using regression analysis with mediation approach. The results indicate that while user–brand and brand–celebrity personality congruence have a significant impact on brand attitude and purchase intention, celebrity–user congruence does not. Further, brand attitude is found to be a partial mediator on the relationship between the pair-wise personality congruence on BPI. The findings have major implications for marketers in understanding the significance of personality congruence among celebrity–brand–user in the formation of brand attitude and purchase intention that can be used in positioning and in increasing the advertising effectiveness of brands using celebrity endorsement. The present study is a pioneer in contributing to the celebrity endorsement literature by investigating the relative impact of three pairs of personality congruence: celebrity–brand, brand–user, and celebrity–user, on brand attitude and BPI, thereby supporting the applicability of McCracken's Meaning Transfer Model [McCracken (1989), The Journal of Consumer Research, 16 (3) 310–321) and the Hierarchy-of-effects model (Lavidge and Steiner (1961), Journal of Marketing, 25 (6) 59–62].     

Increasing Shopper Trust in Retailer Technological Interfaces via Auditory Confirmation

This research examines the effects of sounds made by retail technological interfaces – self-checkout kiosks, credit card readers, mobile apps, websites – at point-of-sale. We propose that such sounds, retail transaction auditory confirmation (RTAC), increase trust in technological interfaces by providing auditory confirmation that stages of the checkout process have been successfully executed. Increased trust in technological interfaces leads to positive downstream consequences in the form of satisfaction and purchase intention. Visual and auditory distraction in the retail environment reduces trust, even when visual confirmation is provided, but synchronously provided audio-visual confirmation attenuates the negative effects of environment distraction.     

基于智能手机的家居控制系统的设计

随着智能手机的出现,其应用与开发也日趋广泛。基于智能手机的蓝牙模块实现住宅门禁识别、室内温度自动调节和灯具的智能控制,通过智能手机嵌入式软件完成程序功能。用户只需通过手机便可随时对系统进行控制,而且软件易于移植。     

Focus group interviewing in China: Language, culture, and sensemaking

This paper explores the use of foreign languages in qualitative focus group research in China. I focus on language, culture, and sensemaking from a point of view, which presents language as being context and time specific. While this has been examined recently in the field of International Business, it has not been discussed within International Entrepreneurship and with regard to focus groups. My findings show that shared meaning can be constructed in focus groups across different languages and locations but depends on the use of cultural insiders and resources. This leads us to new levels of understanding within International Entrepreneurship. The author uses the definition of International Entrepreneurship (IE) as provided by Oviatt and McDougall (2005) who qualified IE research as falling into categories: research that provides comparisons of entrepreneurial behavior in multiple countries and cultures or research that examines organization behavior that extends across national borders and is entrepreneurial (Oviatt and McDougall 2005: 540).     

The Retailer's Perspective on the Link Between Logistical Resources and Perceived Customer Loyalty to Manufacturer Brands

The objective of this study was to investigate the relationships between logistics and brand‐related resources, and assess their impact on the retailer's perceptions of customer loyalty to manufacturer brands. On the basis of theoretical underpinnings of the resource‐based view, this study explores the relationships among four main variables: (1) variety of collaborative logistics technologies shared between retailers and manufacturers, (2) manufacturer's logistics operations quality provided to retailers, (3) retailer's brand differentiation orientation, and (4) retailer's perceptions of customers loyalty to manufacturer brands. An online survey was conducted on 313 senior marketing and supply chain managers from retailer firms. The results of the structural equation analysis support a mediated relationship between logistical resources and perceived loyalty to manufacturer brands. The retailers believe that shared logistics technologies enable manufacturers and retailers to offer higher levels of availability and visibility of preferred brands to their end‐user customers. In turn, the end‐users become more confident with their decisions to repurchase the same brand offerings.     

Public education in developing countries: Cost-effectiveness of education policies and endowments growth

The article analyses the general equilibrium effects of education as a user and producer of resources considering some features of the sector typical in developing countries, such as the presence of inefficiencies, in a model that nevertheless remains close to the Heckscher–Ohlin paradigm. Short- and long-term effects of education are considered and it is shown that the overall effects are linked to the efficiency with which endowments are produced. The analysis has implications for policymakers in developing countries with failing educational systems, as it suggests a relation between cost-effectiveness of policies and growth and not between enrolments and growth or between public expenditure in education and growth as it is usually tested in growth regressions.     

基于深度学习的毫米波系统波束成形

针对高移动用户在毫米波系统中用户与基站之间频繁切换增大延迟开销问题,提出了一种新颖的集成深度学习协调波束成形（Deep Learning Coordinated Beamforming,DLCBF）解决方案。该方案通过协调多个基站同时为一个移动用户服务,接收用户上行导频序列和预编码码本训练模型,进而预测最佳下行波束向量,克服了大型天线阵列毫米波系统中选取最佳波束成形向量需要的巨大训练开销。仿真结果表明,所提方案与传统的毫米波波束成形策略相比有更高的频谱有效率。     

Breaking Through Complexity: Visual and Conceptual Dimensions in Logo Evaluation across Exposures

This research investigates the effects of visual and conceptual complexity (VC and CC) on brand logo evaluations at single and multiple exposures. Building upon the theoretical distinction between visual and conceptual constructs and on a processing fluency account, it is proposed that the effects of VC and CC on attitude toward the logo change across exposures following opposite patterns, and are driven by the mechanisms of perceptual fluency and conceptual fluency, respectively. The results of a hybrid experimental study suggest that the initially positive effect of VC on attitude toward the logo becomes negative with multiple exposures, whereas the initially negative effect of CC on attitude toward the logo becomes positive as exposures increase. The findings contribute to research on consumer reactions to the visual elements of brands, and offer guidelines to brand managers and logo designers for leveraging on VC and CC, as well as on the number of exposures, in order to raise the attractiveness of logos.     

Institutional determinants of ownership stake in cross-border acquisitions in Africa: The moderating role of geographic distance

We look at how emerging markets' institutional features affect ownership stake in cross-border acquisitions (CBAs) within Africa. Particularly, we show that the presence of shared colonial history between the home and host country and the extent of fractionalization distance and formal institutional distance influence the acquiring firm's decision regarding its ownership stake in the target. Moreover, we show that geographic distance between the home and host country, by augmenting uncertainty faced by acquiring firms, moderates the relationship between these institutional features and ownership stake. We test our hypotheses in a sample of 341 intra-Africa CBAs from 2001 to 2016. Generally, we find that greater ex ante uncertainty and ex post costs increase ownership stake. Specifically, greater geographic distance strengthens the positive relationship between shared colonial history and ownership stake and reverses the negative relationship between formal institutional distance and ownership stake. As for fractionalization distance, the relationship is more nuanced and needs to be further studied. We contribute to advance research on south–south CBAs in general, particularly within Africa, as well as to extend hostage theory in foreign market entry strategies in and from emerging markets.     

The Impact of Shared IT on Efficiency and Learning

ABSTRACT

A growing percentage of enterprises around the world are implementing technologies and systems to support exchanges with suppliers. Through public and private networks, enterprises worldwide, particularly large enterprises, are increasingly connected to their suppliers. However, the role played by information systems and technologies in the context of exchanges with suppliers is not well known. Information technology (IT) has been presented as both a means for diminishing the importance of relationships with suppliers and as a means of enabling new forms of collaboration. We believe this apparent contradiction can be resolved by focusing on the impact of shared IT on firms' two key objectives: efficiency and learning. We hypothesize that shared IT increases both efficiency and learning, but through different mechanisms and under different conditions.