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E-ISSN : 2383-9449
Vol.13 No.2
Abstract
Online communities are an important source of electronic-word-of-mouth (eWOM), however few studies have examined these types of messages within the Middle Eastern context. This study focuses on Kuwaiti women as members of an online beauty forum; previous work has suggested a mediating effect of gender with women being more likely to trust and follow-up word-of-mouth with a purchase. A conceptual model, based on existing theoretical contributions, provides the basis of a coding framework for the message characteristics that influence members' eWOM adoption. A sub-set of the analysis is presented: 218 threads (1820 messages, coded into 6702 units) illustrating cases where eWOM was adopted and thereby demonstrating continuance intention with members returning to the forum. Content analysis revealed the prevalence of emotional aspects in messages, coded into a new category of 'community bonding'. Findings show that emotion expressed in messages is as influential and important as cognitive aspects of argument quality.
Abstract
This research conducted a before/after naturalistic field experiment, with the early Arab Spring as the treatment. Compared to before the early Arab Spring, after the observation period the associations became stronger among the Web terms: 'Jihad, Sharia, innovation, democracy and civil society.' The Western concept of civil society transformed into a central Islamist ideological component. At another level, the inter-nation network based on Jihad-weighted Web hyperlinks between pairs of 46 Muslim Majority (MM) nations found Iran in one of the top two positions of flow betweenness centrality, a measure of network power, both before and after early Arab Spring. In contrast, Somalia, UAE, Egypt, Libya, and Sudan increased most in network flow betweenness centrality. The MM 'Jihad'-centric word co-occurrence network more than tripled in size, and the semantic structure more became entropic. This media "cloud" perhaps billowed as Islamist groups changed their material-level relationships and the corresponding media representations of Jihad among them changed after early Arab Spring. Future research could investigate various rival explanations for this naturalistic field experiment's findings.
Abstract
This research paper advances our understanding of complex interdependence among countries. Existing research has found that total factor productivity (TFP), the residual from the economic growth function, is hindered in the absence of a country's strong political and legal institutions or if a country does not already have a sufficiently high level of TFP. We also know that regional efforts to eliminate pollution are complex. Bridging these two areas while focusing on a high polluting yet high innovating region, the following research questions are posed: Are Northeast Asian countries key collaborators in pursuit of green R&D? Are Northeast Asian countries collaborating extensively with each other? What are the implications for other regions' attempts to establish these kinds of relations? To answer the above questions, biofuels-related technology as defined in the International Patent Classification's "green inventory" of environmentally sound technologies is examined. Patent data is drawn from the USPTO and inventors' country origin as the unit of analysis. For the 1990-2013 period, the Northeast Asian countries are in the core of a small set of collaborating countries. There is evidence that their centrality has increased in recent years. Most importantly, East Asia is becoming a singular research hub in terms of biofuels-related R&D, offering a counter in the foreseeable future to the dominance of the American and European research network hubs.
Abstract
How do party organizations respond to newly evolving social groups? Research on Indian party organizations reveals that in multiethnic societies with uneven modernization between social groups, internally competitive parties respond better to newly evolving groups. Moreover, it is claimed: the same dynamic works vis-<TEX>$\grave{a}$</TEX>-vis homogenous societies with cleavages based on economic differences; and, the pattern holds regardless of differences in electoral institutions. This study examines these claims by testing whether factional competition correlated with recruitment into Japan's Liberal Democratic Party in 1972 and 1983. Japan had a single-nontransferable-vote system with multi-member districts, while the research on India assumes a first-past-the-post system with single-member districts. This study conducts a difference of means test on the population of new and old politicians in the LDP in 1972 and 1983 with a pooled variance adjustment to account for differences in populations' size. The findings show that intra-party competition and recruitment are not correlated in Japan, thus tentatively rejecting both claims.
Abstract
This paper explores the convergence process by focusing on the massively multiplayer online game(MMOG) industry and the online broadcasting industry in South Korea. In doing so, the paper seeks to establish the concept of Hidden catalysts for the integration process between the two industries and explore the roles of the Hidden catalysts in triggering the industry's transition. Further, the modified multi-level socio-technical model we applied in our research allows us both to understand each industry's development towards convergence in various dimensions and also to focus on the activities of the Hidden catalysts. In assessing the role of Hidden catalysts in industry convergence, we found that Hidden catalysts depend on two essential features: first, appropriate technology leading to the new industry dominance; and second, managerial capabilities to deal with conflicts among other new interest groups, to harmonise with government initiatives for industry development and to create new value in the integrated market to please the demand of mixed customers.