Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis in consumer research: A systematic literature review

The traditional symmetrical methods may not be sufficient for effectively examining the asymmetries that are evident in the real-world complex consumption context in the form of pandemic, and other technological, sociocultural, environmental, and geo-political factors. As a result, the use of innovative and asymmetrical methods such as fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA), which draws from the complexity theory could help better predict and explain consumer decisions in the age of disruptions. Through a comprehensive method-based systematic literature review of 129 research articles published in the consumer behavior research literature, this study helps to identify the key trends, leading publication sources and contributors, and the current knowledge structure of consumer research using fsQCA. In doing so, this review also sheds light on the state of diversity within this particular area of research. The findings help identify the key future avenues for utilizing fsQCA within consumer research. This review is a useful resource for practitioners to gain a direct access to key consumer research scholars for identifying the constructs (e.g., antecedents, mediators, moderators, enablers, inhibitors) shaping consumer behaviors to inform strategic decisions.     

Towards factories of the future: migration of industrial legacy automation systems in the cloud computing and Internet-of-things context

ABSTRACT

The vision of factories-of-the-future is motivating many industrial companies to modernise their existing portfolio of systems and services to maintain market share and improve business agility. For long-lived industrial systems, it is challenging to adapt legacy assets to a service-oriented stream in cloud computing and Internet-of-things contexts. For this reason, many research studies have proposed techniques and methodologies to migrate legacy industrial functions and systems at different hierarchy levels of automation control. This paper presents an overview of these techniques and methodologies, as well as industry practices to achieve the vision of factories of the future. Better understanding the challenges encountered in legacy migration processes will help researchers and practitioners in their further efforts.     

Cycling Assemblages,Self-Tracking Digital Technologies and Negotiating Gendered Subjectivities of Road Cyclists On-the-Move

Abstract

Self-tracking technologies are now a taken-for-granted part of the road cyclist’s kit. We are interested in the gendered dynamics of one particular self-tracking platform: Strava. This article offers the concept of the cycling assemblage to explore how gendered subjectivities are felt and gain legitimacy on-the-move through the ongoing negotiated relationship between cycling bodies and technology. Our account draws on a cycling ethnography conducted with 27 Australian participants. Four vignettes demonstrate how Strava’s incorporation within road cycling assemblages functions as a mechanism of gendered inclusion and exclusion. We point toward the tensions of Strava as site of excess, where the pleasures and pains of the “quantified cycling self” may reinforce or challenge bodily and spatial boundaries associated with sporting masculine subjectivities and alternative femininities. A focus on cycling assemblages enhances our understanding of the spatiality, fragility, vitality, and multiplicity of gender-on-the-move.     

Bringing them alive

Abstract

This paper continues an ongoing reflection on the ways we do the history of economic thought, marked some decades ago by Mark Blaug. It offers a non-canonical typology comprising three alternative approaches, distinguished on the basis of the way they conceive of the link between statements, old and contemporary: the extensive, the retrospective, and the intensive approaches. It shows that the latter potentially challenges contemporary knowledge by introducing statements which do not belong to it. Despite its being a heuristic, it appears as a privileged route by which the history of economic thought can begin to engage with economic theory.     

我国民营快递的市场机会分析

由于我国快递市场规模庞大,利润丰厚,已经成为各快递企业争相追逐的竞技场。文章对我国快递市场的发展变化进行一定的定性和定量预测,有助于各类企业了解市场情况和社会需求的变化,及时调整经营活动,增强竞争力。     

Exploratory study in tourism: designing an initial,qualitative phase of sequenced,mixed methods research

Exploratory studies in the social sciences are being increasingly advocated, particularly in relation to new research themes or when addressing an existing issue from a new perspective. Although exploration is usually the starting point, it is frequently part of a sequence of research stages. However, until recently the actual process of conducting such exploratory research within the leisure and tourism field has received little attention. This is due not just to perceptions that exploration is merely the initial step in a longer research process, but significantly, because there is a lack of guidance on how to conduct such research. This paper argues that when the overall tourism research study involves the use of mixed methods, an initial exploratory stage conducted as part of a sequential research process, requires a systematic approach to achieve a reliable platform for further investigation. The paper shows how and why a systematic research design process in the exploratory stage can enhance the value of studies, when the initial qualitative stage is to be followed by a quantitative phase. Three phases of an exploratory qualitative research design process are identified: preparation, development and refinement. Criteria for assessing the suitability of qualitative data collection techniques are proposed. It is argued that careful attention to the process of designing the initial exploratory qualitative stage constitutes the necessary condition for achieving results that will form a sound basis for the next quantitative sequence of research. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Examining transformative processes in volunteer tourism

This study adopts a multidisciplinary perspective on the process of transformational change in volunteer tourism. Transformational change is understood as an individualized process which can lead to a critical awareness of the self, leading to a new self-definition. It involves four specific elements, a reflection upon the content of their knowledge, the process of knowing, the premise of what they know and the relational elements of their knowledge. Adopting a qualitative semi-structured interview approach, volunteer tourists provide an account of their volunteer tourism experiences in relation to these four transformational process elements. The results indicate that transformational change does occur through tourism, but that this is an individualized process, not an end outcome. Transformation may be strong at an internal level but it may or may not manifest in behaviour that the individual tourist him or herself is even aware of, let alone observable behaviour that researchers can quantify. It is therefore best understood as a process with distinct steps, of which a change in behaviour is just one element. Facilitators of change can be identified but only partially explain why transformation does and does not occur.     

Identification of determinants for rescheduling travel mode choice and transportation policies to reduce car use in urban areas

This paper presents a qualitative analysis about the determinants related to rescheduling travel mode decisions during the activity scheduling process. Notably, we were interested to study changes between intention and behavior. Data used came from an in-depth Computer Assisted Telephone Interview (CATI) follow up survey to habitual drivers carried out during the implementation of a panel survey. An interpretative qualitative method based on Analytic Induction was used to cope with the complex nature of rescheduling decisions and the characteristics of the data. The Theory of Planned Behavior has been used to gain a better understanding of the reasons associated with rescheduling travel mode decisions and to obtain a possible explanation of the phenomena studied. In our sample, 12 codes were identified as the main determinants of travel mode changing. Main reasons for rescheduling a travel mode are different considering gender, age, and the type of travel mode change. Main reasons for changing a nonprivate preplanned travel mode to a private travel mode are different considering the type of travel mode preplanned. New determinants of rescheduling decisions different from those associated with other activity scheduling decisions previously identified emerge when analyzing travel mode changes. A number of important sustainable transportation policies to reduce car use in urban areas are derived from the results of this study.     

Aftermarket vehicle hybridization: Potential market penetration and environmental benefits of a hybrid-solar kit

The possibility of upgrading conventional vehicles to hybrid electric vehicles has recently gained considerable interest. Among the diverse options for hybridization, researchers of the Energy and Propulsion Laboratory at the University of Salerno (Italy) have patented a system based on the electrification of the rear wheels in front-wheel-drive vehicles by adopting in-wheel motors and adding a lithium-ion battery, which is rechargeable via plug-in and solar mode. The technology integrates various components, in-vehicle Intelligent Transportation Systems and advanced on-line management algorithms. With respect to the proposed technological context, this paper uses a real case study to investigate the potential market penetration, the achievable environmental benefits and relevant policy issues. To this aim, the paper first analyses the main behavioral determinants that may affect users' perception of this new technology, then specifies and calibrates an installation choice model, and finally develops bottom-up methodology to estimate the environmental benefits to be obtained from different commercialization scenarios. The proposed methodology was applied to the city of Salerno and the achievable benefits were compared to those obtainable through the implementation of traditional transport policies.     

中国农村金融问题研究的演进:一个理论方法述评

中国农村金融问题的理论研究已经取得较为丰富的成果,也积累了大量的研究文献.将从方法论角度对相关文献加以梳理,旨在对中国农村金融问题研究的发展状况作一个透彻的了解,以期对农村金融问题研究的方法论作出恰当的评价,为中国农村金融问题的更深入研究提供方法论上的准备.