Technology in Society最新文献

Local environmental constraints are capable of regulating market and affecting dual value chain (DVC), digital technology, such as information technology, big data, Internet of Things, cloud computing, blockchain and artificial intelligence, can optimize the policy effectiveness. Based on a dataset of 278 Chinese cities during 2011–2019, this article explores the non-linear effects of local environmental constraints on city's position in DVC, and then captures the role of digital technology in this process. Results confirm an inverted U-shaped effect of direct environmental constraint on DVC, while indirect environmental constraint shows positive U-shaped curve and needs more than 0.2864 to generate promotion effect. Besides, carbon control policies significantly increase the promotion effect of indirect environmental constraint on DVC. Digital technology in interval [8.6972, 9.8902] can most effectively amplify the policy effectiveness of local environmental constraints, which makes a gentler inverted U-shaped curve of direct environmental constraint, and reverses the indirect environmental constraint to an inverted U-shaped effect. This article provides new perspectives for a balanced development between local environmental constraints and DVC in the digital era.

The new retail mode in the digital era has forced firms to engage in omnichannel management. Although many companies have realized the importance of omnichannel operations, not all firms implementing omnichannel operations have achieved the expected returns. To explain why this is the case, we draw on signaling theory and use the automotive aftermarket as our research context to explore consumer reactions to various omnichannel strategies. We design two scenario-based experiments involving a total of 630 Chinese consumers. The results show that while implementing omnichannel operations is necessary, a wider scope of omnichannel operations (i.e., the breadth strategy) does not have a significant effect on consumers' service usage intentions. By contrast, increasing the density of omnichannel operations (i.e., the depth strategy) can significantly enhance consumers’ service usage intentions. More interestingly, we find that signal costs and perceived service quality are two key mediators in linking the depth strategy–service usage intention association. Our study contributes to existing omnichannel management research by highlighting the mechanisms behind the successful implementation of omnichannel operations. The findings also assist firms in effectively merging their online and offline channels.

Digitalization and globalization have stimulated the emergence of digital nomadism as a lifestyle that combines work with constant travel. To address the shortage of skilled employees, a growing number of organizations has to consider to work with digital nomads as external service providers. However, little is known yet about why individuals choose to become constant travelers in the first place. We address this research gap and aim to identify the motives for choosing a digital nomad lifestyle. To this end, we conduct a netnography study on 3,000 online posts from digital nomad communities. Using the Gioia method, we find several repelling and attracting work-related and leisure/travel-related motives and a combination of both. We discuss the implications of these findings for organizations as well as future research opportunities.

Artificial intelligence capabilities (AIC) can influence supply chain management (SCM) in multiple ways. This study explores how generative artificial intelligence capabilities (GAIC) could affect digital supply chain performance (DSCP) through ambidexterity innovation (AMI), which includes both elements, exploratory and exploitative innovations in the manufacturing firms (MFs) in Jordan as a developing and emerging economy. This study adopted a quantitative methodology for the data collection process applying a cross-sectional approach through testing deductive-hypotheses techniques. 263 valid surveys were used for analysis using hybrid analysis measurements (i.e., PLS-SEM, and CB-SEM). Further, it was applied data reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity tests. Additionally, examined the mediating effect of exploratory innovation (EXPI), and exploitative innovation (EXTI) on DSCP. The study findings assured that the proposed direct and indirect causal associations illustrated in the study model were accepted due to that all associations between the dimensions s were statistically significant. The findings of the GAIC supported a positive relationship between GAIC and the DSCP, GAIC on EXPI and EXTI, and EXPI and EXTI on DSCP respectively. Furthermore, the mediating effect of EXPI and EXTI is statistically significant, which was confirmed. This study developed a conceptual model to merge GAIC, AMI, and DSCP. This study provides new outcomes that bridge the existing research gap in the literature by testing the mediation model with a focus on the MF benefits of GAIC to improve levels of EXPI, EXTI, and DSCP in Jordan as a developing and emerging economy. Furthermore, this study is considered unique, as it was the first study in Jordan, and through applying hybrid analysis measurements using both PLS-SEM and CB-SEM methods.

This paper responds to previous calls for a deeper sociotechnical understanding of Internet of Things (IoT) adoption within healthcare. Through a systematic literature review, it synthesizes existing empirical research on the factors influencing IoT adoption, identifying 94 distinct factors grouped into 24 themes. By leveraging sociotechnical systems theory, the paper thoroughly analyzes these factors and proposes a specialized sociotechnical systems framework tailored specifically to IoT adoption in healthcare settings. This study underscores the current dearth of empirical research in this area and emphasizes the need for more studies, particularly those focused on the actual adoption processes of IoT solutions in healthcare contexts. By addressing these gaps, the review aims to significantly contribute to the literature, offering a novel sociotechnical perspective on IoT adoption that complements and enriches prior reviews that have predominantly focused on technical aspects.

Standardized evaluation has been applied in the research and development (R&D) activities of Chinese universities for a long time, which ignores the technological heterogeneity between these activities. Standardized evaluation has thus been difficult to meet the evaluation needs of the Chinese government, and classified evaluation is imperative for the diversified development of R&D activities in Chinese universities. Therefore, this paper introduces directional distance function (DDF) model with endogenous technique into meta-frontier data envelopment analysis framework to construct a new theoretical tool of classified evaluation, and this new method is applied to evaluate the efficiency of R&D activities of 939 Chinese universities. The theoretical contribution is to unify the endogenous directions relative to different frontiers, and then a new meta-frontier DDF framework is constructed; while the practical contribution is to provide the following conclusions and implications: (1) classified evaluation and standardized evaluation have different applicability to different categories of Chinese universities; (2) the homogeneity of the improvement direction is serious in Chinese universities; (3) different categories of Chinese universities have different improvement needs in different inputs and outputs, and the distances between most universities and their two frontiers are not far; (4) the selections of both improvement direction and indicator are important factors affecting the evaluation results. Finally, some useful suggestions are provided to improve the efficiency of R&D activities in Chinese universities.

Externality is the power source of the spillover effect of digital economy development in China's central cities. Based on panel data of 200 prefecture-level cities in 19 urban agglomerations in China from 2011 to 2020, this research constructs a theoretical model with income output, labor, and capital input and adopts the panel fixed effect model to empirically test the impact of central cities' digital economy development on peripheral cities' urban agglomerations. The results are as follows. First, digital economy development in central cities significantly improves the level of such development in peripheral cities. Second, the spillover effect of this development in central cities is affected by their own geographical location, economic development level, and city size. Third, the spillover effect of digital economy development in central cities mainly arises through the learning mechanism.

The paper presents research on the topic of asymmetric virtual reality (VR) games. These types of applications are in the development phase when it comes to their presence on the market, range, amount, and popularity. This research discusses the original topic, as it is still a niche compared to video games and even to VR applications on the market. The article presents a quantitative analysis of asymmetric VR applications available in the international market. One of the popular gaming platforms, Steam, was chosen as a subject for the case study in this investigation. The objectives of the conducted research include, first, a quantitative analysis and presentation of up-to-date data on asymmetric VR games available on Steam; then, providing and systematizing new knowledge about the asymmetric VR term, identifying the nature of asymmetric VR games, and finally, recognition of the current situation and the latest trends within the concept of asymmetric VR. Based on the results, it was concluded that the dominating genre of asymmetric VR was action (49.4 %), indie (46.0 %) and casual (45.4 %), followed by simulation (37.4 %). Most of the games were available in English (96.6 %), and far behind English, there were French and German languages (30.5 %), and then Spanish – Spain (28.2 %), Russian (27 %), Japanese (25.9 %), simplified Chinese (25.3 %) and others. The analysis of user re-views on Steam that asymmetric VR receive favorable feedback, with ‘very positive’ as the most prevalent label, representing 35.0 % of analyzed games. Notably, only four games achieved the ‘overwhelmingly positive’ label, including ‘Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes’ in the basic version and in the version with soundtrack (97 % positive reviews), ‘Rock Life: The Rock Simulator’ (95 % positive reviews), and ‘IronWolf VR’ (95 % positive reviews). Last but not least, the paper describes the features of the analyzed asymmetric VR application. The results of the research make a contribution to the field and provide new knowledge on the following: the new subarea of VR, the nature of asymmetric VR (author's concept), human behavior and interaction in asymmetric virtual gameplay, and communication in asymmetric VR.

This paper addresses a critical research gap in the field of university-industry knowledge transfer, with a particular focus on the often-neglected initiation stage from a failure analysis perspective. A workshop and follow-up interviews were conducted to systematically explore the motivations and abilities of both the knowledge senders and the recipients for initiating knowledge transfer processes in the field of intelligent mobility. In contrast to conventional approaches, our study does not presuppose successful knowledge transfer initiation; instead, it offers a unique opportunity to investigate the phenomenon of its omission. The intricate interplay among actors and their differing perceptions of research applicability, which leads to specific tasks for intermediaries in initiating knowledge transfer processes, is analyzed. The findings of this study indicate that both internal and external intermediaries encounter challenges in fulfilling their roles, particularly in initiating the utilization of public research. The key challenges identified include a flawed understanding of scientific research, a lack of initiative spirit, and a disregard for actual responsibilities. This study offers valuable insights that can inform the development of evidence-based policies aimed at initiating the utilization of public research.

As the digital economy expands, understanding the integration of elderly consumers into this paradigm becomes crucial. This study presents a nuanced exploration of the factors that influence elderly consumers' adoption of fintech services and elucidates the pivotal role of daily digital experiences in fostering the elderly's acceptance of such services. Employing an integrative approach, this study examines demographic, personal, socioenvironmental, and digital usage characteristics, through South Korean panel data (N = 3465) from 2019 to 2020. The findings uniquely identify the 50–64 age group and those cohabitating with younger generations as being more inclined toward fintech usage. This study introduces a novel perspective by demonstrating that elderly individuals' enjoyment of digital media and their engagement with younger generations significantly drive their involvement with fintech services. The elderly exhibits substantial potential as proactive fintech users, navigating perceived risks with discernment. This study contributes to the academic discourse by offering comprehensive insights into elderly consumers' fintech adoption, highlighting the importance of understanding this demographic's unique preferences and interactions with the digital economy. It also underscores the potential for targeted strategies to enhance fintech service adoption among the elderly and foster a more inclusive digital finance landscape.