Brick-and-mortar retailer’s competitive strategy with consumer information under showrooming

2023 | Decision Support Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Hsieh, Chung-Chi; Lathifah, Artya

Abstract: We study a brick-and-mortar (B&M) retailer competing with an online retailer in ... Expand

Abstract: We study a brick-and-mortar (B&M) retailer competing with an online retailer in the same product category under showrooming conditions. Showrooming takes place when consumers visit the B&M retailer to resolve product fit uncertainty first and then buy the best-fit products at the online retailer. In terms of mitigating the showrooming effect, we examine a promotion strategy with which the B&M retailer acquires consumer information from data brokers and makes a promotional offering to a targeted segment of traceable consumers, and investigate how the B&M retailer can benefit from this promotion strategy via a two-stage game-theoretical framework. We show that there is a threshold for the number of traceable consumers above which the promotion strategy begins to benefit the B&M retailer. When in the B&M retailer’s best interest, there exist two equilibria: one in which some traceable consumers showroom and the other in which no traceable consumers showroom. Less showrooming always takes place in the former equilibrium but more showrooming could occur in the latter equilibrium, as compared to the non-promotion strategy. Furthermore, a higher level of product fit uncertainty increases the B&M retailer’s demand and profit while inducing more showrooming in the latter equilibrium. Thus, showrooming driven by product fit uncertainty could leave the B&M retailer better off under the promotion strategy. Collapse

Topics: electronic commerce price discrimination virtual private network price management consumer behavior

Methods: digital trace data survey

Theories: game theory

Reorganization and Participation in Decentralized Platform Ecosystems: Evidence from Blockchain Forking

2023 | HICSS | Citations: 0

Authors: Hsieh, Ying-Ying; Andersen, Jonas

Abstract: Like any organizational system, platform ecosystems reorganize to update its ali ... Expand

Abstract: Like any organizational system, platform ecosystems reorganize to update its alignment with the internal and external environments. However, unlike reorganizations of centrally managed platforms performed by the owners, reorganizations of decentralized platforms ecosystems do not rely on formal authority. Instead, the network self-reorganizes to renew the structure, rules, and information to evolve. Little is known about how self-reorganizations influence the participation of various types of networks. In this study, we investigate nine reorganization events on Ethereum, a blockchain-based decentralized smart contract platform, to unpack how self-reorganization related to hard forking influence participation in the development, validation, transaction, and complementor networks. We find that, while participation increases across all networks show a small increase after hard forking events, more complex dynamics are at play within each network that builds on delicate trade-offs between participation structure, configuration, and incentives. Our findings have implications for blockchain research as well as for start-ups building decentralized applications on top of decentralized smart contract platforms. Collapse

Topics: blockchain smart contract Ethereum digital ecosystem organizational change

Methods: paired t-test post analysis longitudinal research

Longitudinal analysis assessing swift guanxi on live streaming shopping

2023 | Americas Conference on Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Hsu, Chiung-Wen; Fu, JenRuei

Abstract: Longitudinal analysis assessing swift guanxi on live streaming shopping" (2023) ... Expand

Abstract: Longitudinal analysis assessing swift guanxi on live streaming shopping" (2023). AMCIS 2023 Proceedings. 2. https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2023/sig_globdev/sig_globdev/2 Abstract Given the cultural uniqueness of China, swift guanxi has been demonstrated as a substantial factor in directing purchase intention in social commerce. Although many studies examined swift guanxi in livestreaming shopping, the majority of the studies were conducted using a cross-sectional design, suffering from shortages in which no understanding of the long-term causal effect of swift guanxi and its antecedents. The purpose of this study is to examine how swift guanxi has a continuous long-term effect on purchase intention. In addition, how streamers' characteristics (i.e. attractiveness, expertise) and social interaction (i.e., WOM) affect swift guanxi over a period of time. A conceptual model is developed and empirically tested based on four waves of a longitudinal survey of viewers who have repeated watching experiences for the same live-streaming shopping program. This study contributes to increasing the validity of the research model concerning swift guanxi in the context of live-streaming shopping using the longitudinal design, where the relative effects on swift guanxi are empirically compared over time. Collapse

Topics: social commerce word of mouth

Methods: longitudinal research structural equation modeling survey design within subject experiment

Chatbot commerce—How contextual factors affect Chatbot effectiveness

2023 | Electronic Markets | Citations: 0

Authors: Hsu, Pei-Fang; Nguyen, Tuan (Kellan); Wang, Chen-Ya; Huang, Pei-Ju

Abstract: The emergence of Chatbots has attracted many firms to sell their merchandise via ... Expand

Abstract: The emergence of Chatbots has attracted many firms to sell their merchandise via chats and bots. Although Chatbots have received tremendous interest, little is understood about how different usage contexts affect Chatbots’ effectiveness in mobile commerce. Due to differences in their nature, not all shopping contexts are suitable for Chatbots. To address this research gap, this study examines how contextual factors (i.e., intrinsic task complexity that embraces shopping task attributes and group shopping environment, and extrinsic task complexity that entails information intensity) affect user perceptions and adoption intentions of Chatbots as recommendation agents in mobile commerce. Applying the lenses of cognitive load theory (CLT) and common ground theory (CGT), we perform an experiment and apply quantitative analytical approaches. The results show that Chatbots are more suitable in the context of one-attribute, information-light, and group-buying tasks, whereas traditional Apps are suitable for multi-attribute, information-intensive, and single-buying scenarios. These findings make important theoretical contributions to the IT adoption literature as well as to CLT and CGT theory by contextualizing the evolving state of Chatbot commerce and providing guidelines for designing better Chatbot user experiences, thereby enhancing user perceptions and adoption intentions. Collapse

Topics: mobile application task complexity electronic commerce technology adoption recommender system

Methods: chatbot experiment qualitative interview chi squared test survey

Theories: cognitive load theory

Fine-grained classification of drug trafficking based on Instagram hashtags

2023 | Decision Support Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Hu, Chuanbo; Liu, Bin; Ye, Yanfang; Li, Xin

Abstract: Social networks have become important platforms for the marketing and sale of il ... Expand

Abstract: Social networks have become important platforms for the marketing and sale of illicit drugs. Hashtags make it easier for users to engage in drug trafficking, further increasing the risk of drug abuse. However, there are significant challenges in the detection and management of drug trafficking activities. In addition, the rapid legalization of some drugs has required a fine-grained classification of drugs to distinguish them from those that are illegal. Motivated by these observations, in this paper, our aim is to develop a methodology using the latest advances in AI technology to classify hashtags from posts advertising illicit drugs for sale on social networks. We present a semi-supervised deep learning approach to classify hashtags from posts advertising illicit drugs. An elegant combination of Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers (BERT) with Graph Convolu­ tional Network (GCN) allows us to analyze the characteristics (e.g., shipping region and platform self-regulation) of illegal drug trafficking. Our BERT+GCN model achieved the best performance with more than 75% accuracy compared to the other three baseline models. Then, fine-grained hashtags identified are applied to explore the characteristics of drug trafficking. Finally, we report our results for further exploration of shipping regions and self-regulation of drug trafficking on the platform in two analysis scenarios. Our developed approach has shown its effectiveness in detecting hashtags for different types of drugs from illegal drug sellers. Based on hashtag classification, we also provide two case studies that indicate that (1) there are differences in self-regulation for different types of drugs on social media, (2) there are regional differences in the demand for different types of drugs. Collapse

Topics: Instagram social media Google+ artificial intelligence advertising management

Methods: BERT case study machine learning deep learning semi-supervised learning

HARKing and P-Hacking: A Call for More Transparent Reporting of Studies in the Information Systems Field

2023 | Communications of the Association for Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Hu, Han-fen; Moody, Gregory; Galletta, Dennis

Abstract: While researchers are expected to look for significant results to confirm their ... Expand

Abstract: While researchers are expected to look for significant results to confirm their hypotheses, some engage in intentional or unintentional HARKing (Hypothesizing After Results are Known) and p-hacking (repeated tinkering with data and retesting). If these practices are widespread, one possible result is field-wide exaggerated (inflated) results reported in Information Systems (IS) publications. In this paper, we summarize the literature on HARKing and p-hacking across different disciplines. We offer an illustrative example of how an IS study could involve HARKing and p-hacking in various stages of the project to generate a more "publishable" result. We also report on a survey targeted at IS researchers to explore their experiences and awareness of this issue. Finally, we provide recommendations and suggestions based on the review of practices in other fields and advocate for more transparency in reporting research projects, so that study results can be interpreted properly, and reproducibility and replicability can be increased. Collapse

Topics: website web page

Methods: p hacking descriptive statistic survey parametric test statistical hypothesis test

Theories: protection motivation theory

Effects of Intellectual and Social Alignment on Organizational Agility: A Configurational Theory Approach

2023 | Journal of the Association for Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Hu, Hao; Wang, Nianxin; Liang, Huigang

Abstract: Literature has shown that business-information technology (IT) alignment can exe ... Expand

Abstract: Literature has shown that business-information technology (IT) alignment can exert both positive and negative influences on organizational agility, giving rise to the IT alignment-agility paradox. To better understand this paradox at a more granular level, we conceptualize the sensing and responding dimensions of organizational agility as two independent constructs and suggest a nonlinear analytical approach. Based on configurational and contextual perspectives, this study investigates how intellectual and social alignment and organizational and environmental elements combine into multiple configurations to affect sensing and responding capabilities. Fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) is used to analyze the survey data from 135 dyads of business and IT executives from the Chinese shipbuilding industry. Results show that different equifinal pathways can be used to achieve high sensing and responding capabilities, in which intellectual and social alignment play heterogeneous roles depending on the specific contexts. This study extends the ITenabled agility literature by deepening our understanding of the effects of multidimensional IT alignment on multidimensional organizational agility and providing new insights into the IT alignment-agility paradox. Collapse

Topics: IT alignment IT manager strategic management fuzzy logic IT skill

Methods: survey data transformation chi squared test survey design confirmatory factor analysis

Theories: fuzzy set theory information systems theory

Examining the impacts of fitness app features on user well-being

2023 | Information & Management | Citations: 0

Authors: Hu, Jiang; He, Wei; Zhang, Jie; Song, Jaeki

Abstract: Drawing on the self-regulation theory, the current paper explores the impacts of ... Expand

Abstract: Drawing on the self-regulation theory, the current paper explores the impacts of two types of fitness app feature sets (i.e., personal-oriented and social-oriented features) on users’ health behavior and well-being. The results from fitness app users show that both personal-oriented features and social-oriented features of fitness apps can significantly improve exercise adherence and social engagement of users. Users’ exercise proficiency level negatively moderates the relationship between social-oriented features and (a) exercise adherence and (b) social engagement. High levels of social engagement promote users’ physical adherence to exercises. Exercise adher­ ence and social engagement both enhance users’ subjective well-being, but their impacts on different dimensions of well-being vary. Furthermore, regardless of specific features, sufficient use of fitness apps, in general, can significantly help users lead more positive and healthier lives by maintaining exercise adherence, reducing emotional exhaustion, and improving their satisfaction with the overall quality of life. Our findings offer important insights into the underlying mechanisms that help explain fitness app features on users’ well-being, and on a practical level, provide suggestions for mobile app developers in designing better fitness app prod­ ucts and for exercisers in optimizing the benefits of fitness technology adoption. Collapse

Topics: mobile application pandemic technology adoption covid 19 usage intention

Methods: survey cross sectional research survey design PLS tool statistical hypothesis test

CAN FIRMS IMPROVE PERFORMANCE THROUGH EXTERNAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THEIR OPEN-SOURCE SOFTWARE PROJECTS?

2023 | European Conference On Information Systems | Citations: 0

Authors: Hu, Jin; Hu, Daning; Yang, Xuan; Chau, Michael

Abstract: A growing number of firms are developing open-source software (OSS) projects to ... Expand

Abstract: A growing number of firms are developing open-source software (OSS) projects to get external contributions from developers unaffiliated with them. We investigate the impact of external contributions to a firm's OSS projects on its performance measured by Tobin's q and how the amount of comment activities within the firm's OSS projects moderates this effect. Using a panel of 536 publicly listed firms over 2011-2019, we find that external contributions to a firm's OSS projects have a positive impact on the Tobin's q value of the firm. Moreover, this performance effect is strengthened when there are more comment activities within the firm's OSS projects. Our study contributes to the literature and generates managerial implications for firms and OSS communities. Collapse

Topics: organizational productivity blog electronic mail website competitive advantage

Methods: Compustat instrumental variables estimation econometric modeling term frequency–inverse document frequency computational algorithm

Privacy Policy and Hosts’ Concerns on Accommodation Sharing Platforms

2023 | HICSS | Citations: 0

Authors: Hu, Jiang; Zhang, Jie; Liang, Huigang

Abstract: Accommodation-sharing services are gaining great popularity via online community ... Expand

Abstract: Accommodation-sharing services are gaining great popularity via online community platforms in recent years. Meanwhile, users’ privacy concerns over social interactions and online transactions on these platforms are escalating. This study investigates whether and how privacy policy can properly mitigate hosts’ privacy concerns, enhance perceived benefits, and subsequently encourage their information disclosure on the accommodation sharing platforms (ASPs). Through a scenario-based survey and a controlled experiment, we find that the hosts are more concerned about the other users’ misappropriating the private information that the hosts disclose on the platform than the platforms’ privacy invasion behaviors. However, this major concern is not significantly mitigated by the current privacy policy. Moreover, privacy policy engenders two types of perceived benefits, among which the perceived social benefit has a stronger effect than economic benefit on the hosts’ intentions to disclose information on ASPs. Collapse

Topics: information privacy concern privacy data breach decision making electronic commerce

Methods: experiment survey parametric test factorial experiment two-way ANOVA

Theories: privacy calculus theory