Effects of augmented reality technology characteristics on customer citizenship behavior

In recent years, augmented reality (AR) technology has received considerable attention from academics and practitioners. Although AR technology has a bright side, its dark side has been relatively overlooked. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of AR technology characteristics on customer citizenship behavior via two conflicting mechanisms: customer immersion and customer fatigue. The study also explored the boundary conditions of customer experience. A total of 247 questionnaires were collected from customers who had prior experience of using IKEA's AR mobile shopping application. A structured model was analyzed using SmartPLS 3 and PROCESS Macro for mediation and moderated mediation effects. The study enriches the current knowledge on AR technology by demonstrating that AR technology can lead to customer citizenship behavior in relation to a brand's AR technology. Interestingly, customer immersion was found to positively mediate the relationship, but customer fatigue was found to negatively mediate it. Furthermore, customer experience was found to strengthen the positive mediation effect of customer immersion and weaken the negative mediation effect of customer fatigue.     

Becoming a tree when I will be dead? Why not! Generation X,Y and Z,and innovative green death practices

Within the theoretical field of ethical consumption, the study focuses on consumer behavior and innovative green death practices. While scarcely investigated in the marketing and consumer behavior research domains, at least four main reasons spur to consider the funeral industry as an interesting subject of enquiry: i) the sector boasts of a significant economic relevance; ii) it is extremely impactful from an environmental and social point of view; iii) it is witnessing interesting innovative processes in the direction of social and environmental sustainability; iv) consumer movements are rising all over the world asking for more sustainable death practices. Thus, adopting an augmented version of the theory of planned behavior (TPB), which includes individuals’ environmentally responsible consumption, and egoistic and altruistic environmental concern, the study investigates behavioral intention to adopt innovative green death practices (a green funeral) of people belonging to three different generations: X, Y, and Z. A purposive sample of 627 Italian people participated in an online the survey. Collected data were analyzed adopting an ordinal logit model. The results confirm the TPB predictive power also in the field of green funeral behavioral intention. Furthermore, environmentally responsible consumption and environmental concern – even though only in its altruistic component – positively influence behavioral intention, and generation exerts a moderating effect among the examined constructs. Overall, the research attempts to enrich the literature on ethical consumption by exploring the underinvestigated phenomenon of buying behavior of unsought and end-of-life products, that of green funerals, and provide managerial recommendations to funeral service sellers.     

The role of satisfaction in labor diaspora dynamics: An analysis of BREXIT effects

In diaspora research, people's international mobility is often understood as a response to pull-push forces on an economic macro-level or as part of diasporic waves. However, labor diaspora formations are also influenced by micro-level (i.e., individual perceptions) drivers related to work per se, such as satisfaction. This explorative qualitative study takes a novel angle and focuses on the role of Portuguese nurses’ satisfaction with the evaluation of the Brexit scenario and its effects on this labor diaspora's mobility and stability. The findings illustrate that satisfaction, although affected by uncertainty, mainly relates to perceived working conditions and legislation and the possibilities to communicate with locals and other diasporans. This paper provides suggestions for future research and contributes to the development of theory on staying and human stickiness, explaining the dynamics of exit and entry in (re-)migration decision making.     

Stuck at the bottom: Role of tacit and explicit knowledge on innovation of developing-country suppliers in global value chains

We take a social exchange theoretical perspective of innovation to develop and test a model of the intervening role of tacit and explicit knowledge exchange in explaining innovation of developing-country suppliers in non-equity-based global value chains (NEGVCs). Results of structural equation modelling for a sample of Bangladeshi suppliers embedded in apparel NEGVCs show that tacit and explicit knowledge fully mediate the associations between network competence and both low value-added and high value-added innovation contingent on the quality of network relationships. We also found that both tacit and explicit knowledge contribute more to low value-added innovation than to high value-added innovation. The managerial and policy implications of our findings as to why developing-country suppliers in NEGVCs are stuck in low value-added activities are fully discussed.     

Health shocks and mortgage debt payoff among American homeowners over age 50: A survival analysis

Mortgage debt is financially burdensome for many older homeowners in the United States. As people age, declining health can bring about increased healthcare costs. Focusing on homeowners aged 50 and older in the U.S., we investigate two research questions: (1) To what extent does a heath shock affect the likelihood of paying off a mortgage voluntarily or involuntarily? and (2) how long does a health shock delay the time it takes to pay off a mortgage? We used eight biannual waves (2004–2018) of the Health and Retirement Study containing 11,772 borrowers to build survival regression models. Results showed that a health shock reduced the likelihood of voluntary payoff by 12%, while it increased the probability of involuntary payoff by 18%. A health shock delayed voluntary and involuntary payoffs for 30 and 21 months, respectively. We discuss tax deduction and HELOCs as strategies to reduce older homeowners' mortgage strain.     

The medical expense deduction and income levels: Progressive or regressive?

The medical expense deduction (MED) allows taxpayers to deduct from taxable income a proportion of their out-of-pocket medical insurance and health care expenses. Because the rate of subsidy is equal to the marginal tax rate previous studies have found MED to be a regressive tax mechanism biased toward benefiting higher-income taxpayers. The authors demonstrate, using GINI coefficients, that MED makes the tax structure more progressive than it would otherwise be and increases equality of after-tax incomes.     

小型足球运动在高校足球选项课中的运用

小型足球运动与11人制足球运动相比有其自身的特点和优势。运用其特点和优势可以对高校足球选项课程内容及练习方法、手段进行教学改革,以达到培养学生运动兴趣,快速增进学生足球技战术水平的目的,并最终完成《全国普通高等学校体育课程教学指导纲要》中关于课程的各项要求。     

不同生计模式下六盘山区易地扶贫搬迁移民生计资本耦合协调研究——以甘肃省古浪县为例

[目的]探究易地扶贫搬迁移民的生计耦合协调有助于全面了解移民的生计问题,对提高移民可持续生计能力及后续发展提供参考。[方法]文章以甘肃省古浪县易地扶贫搬迁家庭为研究对象,通过2019—2021年实地访谈和问卷调查等方法对移民家庭的生计状况进行调查,选取测度指标并计算各类移民的生计资本值,根据移民收入来源对生计模式进行分类,运用耦合协调度模型分析各生计模式下移民5项生计资本间的关系。[结果]（1）生计资本内部耦合水平总体较低,处于低度耦合和失调衰退等级;（2）非农型的生计资本耦合度和协调度最高,分别为0.299和0.230,是最为接近中度耦合和过渡协调阶段的生计模式;（3）两类兼业户的次之,处在（0.15,0.3）的区间内,属于低度耦合和衰退协调的中高级阶段;（4）纯农户的较低,为0.172和0.223,处于低度耦合和协调衰退的中阶段;（5）补贴户的最低,耦合度、协调度均在（0,1）的区间,处在低度弱耦合和恶性失调等级。[结论]古浪县不同生计模式下易地扶贫搬迁移民的生计资本存量和差距,导致其耦合协调性较差、差异较大。     

The out-of-sample forecasting performance of nonlinear models of regional housing prices in the US

This article provides out-of-sample forecasts of linear and nonlinear models of US and four Census subregions’ housing prices. The forecasts include the traditional point forecasts, but also include interval and density forecasts, of the housing price distributions. The nonlinear smooth-transition autoregressive model outperforms the linear autoregressive model in point forecasts at longer horizons, but the linear autoregressive and nonlinear smooth-transition autoregressive models perform equally at short horizons. In addition, we generally do not find major differences in performance for the interval and density forecasts between the linear and nonlinear models. Finally, in a dynamic 25-step ex-ante and interval forecasting design, we, once again, do not find major differences between the linear and nonlinear models. In sum, we conclude that when forecasting regional housing prices in the United States, generally the additional costs associated with nonlinear forecasts outweigh the benefits for forecasts only a few months into the future.     

中水源热泵地板供暖运行策略分析

为研究中水源热泵地板供暖系统的节能策略,以石家庄市某实际运行小区的中水源热泵地板辐射供暖系统为对象,引入室外综合温度的概念,综合考虑室外气温、太阳辐射热与风速等环境因子的影响,推导得出了地板辐射供暖系统质调节情况下,保证热用户舒适度的二次网供、回水温度调节公式。经实际运行测试,由该调节公式计算得出的二次网供、回水温度作为地板辐射供暖系统分时段质调节的依据,可以在满足热用户舒适度要求的情况下,取得良好的节能效果。中水源热泵系统与地板辐射供暖系统的结合及推广为城市集中供热提供了新思路。