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Consumer choice deferral contributes to the low conversion rate in online retailing. This article investigates the impact of visual product frames on consumers' decisions regarding choice deferral. The authors show that using visual frames to separate options in a product assortment increases consumers' relative use of the by-alternative (vs. by-attribute) approach for option comparisons, which induces greater perception of assortment variety and subsequently decreases choice-deferral rate. Through seven preregistered studies (including an eye-tracking study and a field experiment), the authors obtain convergent empirical evidence for these proposed effects and suggest actionable guidelines for online retailers regarding how to best design their product displays to encourage sales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality certification is a common tool to enhance trust in marketplaces. Should the certification be based on consumer reports, such as ratings, or administrative data on seller behavior, such as the number of seller-initiated cancellations? In theory, incorporating consumer reports makes the quality certificate more relevant for consumer experience but may discourage seller effort, because consumer reports can be driven by factors not entirely within sellers' control. Alternatively, using administrative data makes the certification more controllable by sellers, but these data track only a subset of seller behavior and may not be fully aligned with consumer experience. To answer the preceding question, the authors study a major redesign of eBay's quality certification that removed most consumer reports from its criteria and added administrative data. This change motivates seller effort in dimensions highlighted by the new criteria, as well as enabling sellers to more precisely target their effort at the threshold. Buyers place a higher value on the quality certificate and are more likely to purchase again on the platform in markets where administrative data are more correlated with consumer reports. Last, the proportion of certified sellers becomes more homogenized across markets, and sales seem to become more concentrated toward large sellers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Metaverse has emerged as a prominent topic of discussion within the technology industry, presenting a wide array of opportunities for value creation across various businesses. Nevertheless, its value potential remains uncertain due to its early development stage. Our research analyzes 29 cases to address this gap and identify key value drivers for business models of complementors in Metaverse ecosystems. We identified five primary Metaverse-enabled value drivers for complementors (immersive customer engagement, massively scaled user innovation, virtual business efficiency, digital exclusivity, and extended ecosystem collaboration.). We illustrate how these drivers enhance those of ebusiness models, exploring their broader implications for business model innovation and value creation. Our findings provide valuable insights into value-creation opportunities that companies can leverage in the Metaverse, contributing to a better understanding of fundamental value drivers and enabling businesses to navigate this emerging landscape more effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the optimal homing policy of a manufacturer who sells products through two competing platforms: a traditional online platform and a social commerce platform. The social platform can choose to operate with reselling or agency selling format. Through analysis, we first find that the manufacturer's optimal decision regarding whether to single- or multi-home and the social platform's optimal decision regarding whether to adopt reselling or agency selling format depend mainly on the intensity of the downstream competition and the platforms' market sizes. Specifically, the manufacturer prefers single-homing if the competition intensity is relatively low and the traditional platform's market size is relatively large. When the competition intensity increases (decreases), the agency selling (reselling) format is always the social platform's preferred choice. Next, we find that the manufacturer is less likely to choose multi-homing (single-homing) and the social platform is more likely to select agency selling (reselling) format when the traditional platform serves as a marketplace rather than a reseller. Finally, numerical studies show that the manufacturer's and the platforms' preferences for selling modes are always misaligned. However, an all-win situation is achieved with the pure agency selling mode when the competition intensity is relatively high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the labor market in Germany. It raises concerns about job displacement and wealth disparities, comparing the situation to the historical "Engels' pause" during the Industrial Revolution. While Germany has not yet seen significant wealth inequalities due to AI, there is evidence of an AI-induced Engels' pause, with digital skills becoming increasingly important and AI adoption in the workplace increasing. The article also discusses the challenges faced by migrant workers, power imbalances, and Germany's regulatory approach to AI in the workplace. It highlights the upcoming EU Platform Work Directive and the differing interests of employers' organizations and trade unions in governing AI-driven tools. The potential impacts of AI on labor markets, including inequality and precarious work, are also explored. The article concludes by emphasizing the need for strong policy interventions to address socioeconomic challenges and promote fairness and inclusion in the digitalized world of work. [Extracted from the article]

South Korea is a technologically advanced country with a strong digital infrastructure and manufacturing sector. The government prioritizes promoting AI technology over regulating it, while workers have concerns about AI-related issues. The Korean business system is hierarchical, with the government and families playing significant roles. The country has active labor unions that have been growing recently. The government supports AI development through investments, but the effectiveness of these initiatives is debated. The regulatory framework on AI in Korea is similar to the EU's but more business-friendly in certain aspects. The text discusses the relationship between AI governance and worker mobilization, highlighting incidents that led to updates in AI regulations. It explores the unionization of knowledge workers and precarious workers subject to algorithmic control, as well as resistance against job-replacing AI-assisted manufacturing technologies. The challenges faced by labor movements and the role of social partnership are also discussed. The Korean government invests in AI technologies, while workers organize to address the challenges of the AI-driven economy. The expansion of data subjects' rights may provide gig workers with opportunities to resist algorithmic control, but the long-term impact on Korean industrial relations is uncertain. [Extracted from the article]

Consumers' growing awareness of environmental protection and carbon regulations enacted by the government based on strengthened environmental pressure are forcing manufacturers to curb carbon emissions. This paper considers a manufacturer investing in green technology to reduce carbon emissions under the cap-and-trade regulation, selling products to consumers through a direct channel and an online retail platform. The platform could choose to operate either in an agency mode or a reselling mode. A three-stage game is constructed to examine the interactions between the manufacturer's investment and the platform's operation mode under the cap-and-trade regulation, as well as the influences of the regulation on the interactions, and the supply chain coordination. The findings suggest that green technology investment in either operation mode leads to Pareto improvement in profits of both the platform and the manufacturer, and the investment induces the platform to prefer the reselling mode. Besides, the cap-and-trade regulation encourages the platform to opt for the agency mode, while the investment could mitigate the influence of the regulation on the platform's mode choice, with greater investment efficiency resulting in better mitigation. Furthermore, the investment could induce supply chain coordination under two modes through two different contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers' dramatic demand has a pernicious effect throughout the supply chain. It exacerbates inventory distortion because of significant revenue loss caused by stock-level issues. Despite the availability of several forecasting techniques, large organisations, manufacturing firms, and e-commerce websites collectively lose around $1.8 trillion annually to inventory distortion. If this problem is solved, sales may increase by 10.3 percent. The businesses are concerned about mitigating this loss. Artificial intelligence (AI) can play a significant role in building resilient supply chains. However, developing AI models consumes time and cost. In this paper, we propose a No Code Artificial Intelligence (NCAI) enabling non-technical companies to build machine learning models based on production quantity and inventory replenishment. The development of the NCAI model is fast and inexpensive. However, little research deals with applying NCAI to operations and supply chain problems. Addressing the existing gap, we show the application of NCAI in the retail industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new trend in influencer marketing is livestream commerce, which combines influencers' live video streaming with e-commerce. Little is known, though, about how firms should develop their influencer strategies to maximize product sales. Given a budget constraint, marketers may choose to employ a single, "big" influencer with a large number of followers or several small influencers. They may also employ a combination of both big and small influencers when their budget is adequate. Analyzing data from 1.3 million livestreams on TikTok, the authors find a negative interaction effect between big and small influencers when employed together due to decreased trust in big influencers and substitution effects. Further analysis reveals that livestream sales generated by a big influencer are adversely affected by small influencers who promoted the same product previously, but not the other way around. In addition, big influencers can reach a much larger audience, whereas small influencers are more effective at increasing the audience's conversion rates. Big and small influencers are also different in terms of how product and campaign characteristics moderate their sales effectiveness. Finally, the scenario analysis explores how the profitability of influencer strategies hinges on the influencer mix and their costs. This research is one of the first to investigate the sales effectiveness of influencer marketing and to provide general guidelines for developing influencer mix strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As online shopping nears its third decade, it is clear that its impacts on urban goods flow are profound. Increased freight traffic and related negative externalities such as greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution can impede sustainability goals. In response, e-retailers are exploring innovative distribution strategies to enhance last-mile delivery sustainability and efficiency. They use urban consolidation centers with light-duty vehicles like electric vans and cargo bikes, establish alternative customer pickup points, and deploy crowdsourced delivery networks. Advanced technologies that may streamline deliveries, such as autonomous delivery robots and unmanned aerial vehicles, are being tested. University of California Davis and Irvine researchers have investigated these strategies under economic viability, environmental efficiency, and social equity frameworks. Different modeling approaches were implemented to evaluate last-mile network designs and the potential for decarbonizing delivery fleets by switching to electric vehicles. Key findings suggest that while these innovative strategies offer substantial environmental benefits and reduce operational costs, they also present challenges like higher initial investments and operational hurdles. The study emphasizes the need for ongoing innovation and careful strategy implementation to balance sustainability with urban delivery systems’ economic and service reliability demands.

This document is a special issue of the International Journal of Production Research focused on service-oriented manufacturing supply chain management in the context of Industry 4.0. Service-oriented manufacturing (SOM) is an emerging paradigm where manufacturers transform their products into platforms using Industry 4.0 technologies, allowing for communication between customers and manufacturers. This shift enhances the flow of information through the supply chain and creates new operational challenges. The special issue includes 16 articles covering various sub-areas such as mechanism design, supply chain contracts, behavioural modelling, emerging business models, optimisation techniques, product design, and smart manufacturing. The papers provide insights and practical applications to advance service-oriented manufacturing supply chain management in the Industry 4.0 era. [Extracted from the article]

With the fierce competition in e-commerce, e-tailers are required to rapid responses to a variety of customised orders with multiple frequencies and strict delivery times. The delay or insufficient supply caused by disruptions might result in lost sales during long-term processes. To address this problem, a two-stage stochastic programming model considering profits, consumer service level (CSL) as well as market priorities is developed to manage long-term disruptions. We analyse multi-period consumer transaction data and formulate geographical relevance (GR) to link each marketplace with historical data in related regions and then prioritise market segments. A GR-based two-stage stochastic programming with multi-period is proposed, which (1) considers both proactive mitigation decisions before disruption and reactive recovery plans after disruption; (2) collaborates three resilience strategies; (3) optimises the e-tailer's profits considering market priorities during long-term disruptions. Using a real case of Chinese e-commerce under the COVID-19 pandemic, it is illustrated (1) the applicability and performance of the proposed GR-based model for multi-period resilience optimisation improving both the CSL and the total profit; (2) the efficiency and robustness of the developed sequential particle swarm optimisation with social structures algorithm. The proposed method could optimise e-tailers' response strategies for managing long-term disruptions in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along with the rapid growth of online purchasing, more and more e-retailers tend to adopt the front warehouse mode to improve the performance of customer service by locating multiple front warehouses with limited space and storage capacity closer to consumers. In this context, order splitting and distribution become increasingly crucial decisions that might impact the efficiency of order fulfillment. These two issues are investigated in the related works commonly as two independent problems, although they are inherently coupled with each other. This study established an integrated optimization model for order splitting and distribution routing for the front warehouse mode e-retailing. The model considers practical features, including order splitting constraints based on product type and quantity, finite inventory, heterogeneous vehicle routing constraints, and time windows. A branch-price-and-cut algorithm is proposed to solve the problem. Two logic-based Benders cuts are designed to deal with the infeasible distribution routes. The efficiency of the proposed algorithm is verified in an experimental study by considering CPLEX and two heuristic algorithms as benchmark methods. The dominance of our proposed algorithm is observed, especially for large-scale cases. The impacts of overlapping inventory levels, the combination of heterogeneous vehicles, and the width of time windows are also examined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers' perception of product value when purchasing is a critical issue relative to online platform commerce. This is especially true when the brand manufacturer authorises only a third-party reseller to sell through the platform, a practice that may provide opportunities to counterfeiters. To address this issue, we establish a theoretical model in which one brand manufacturer wholesales its products to a third-party reseller who then sells through an online platform. The platform acts as a marketplace, while multiple counterfeiters also exist on the platform, which may deceive consumers. In particular, we consider that the manufacturer can encroach with a direct channel and that the platform can adopt blockchain technology to help consumers identify authenticity. The results show that the platform could induce the brand manufacturer to encroach by deploying blockchain technology. Furthermore, an interesting result indicates that although either manufacturer encroachment or blockchain technology used alone can effectively boycott counterfeits, the coexistence of two strategies can raise the demand for counterfeit products. Finally, we find that when the brand manufacturer encroaches on the platform and the platform adopts blockchain technology, the brand manufacturer, platform, reseller and social welfare can achieve Pareto improvement, while the consumer surplus may be worse off. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the early months of the pandemic, stay-at-home orders and concerns about infection catalyzed a shift toward online activities, such as remote work and e-shopping, resulting in a significant decrease in conventional travel. However, as the effects of the pandemic diminished, the pandemic-induced online activities began to subside, and conventional travel started to rebound. The challenge among transportation planners and policymakers is to determine the lasting effects of the pandemic and adjust the policies accordingly. In the same efforts to understand the evolving travel-related activities and inform policymaking, the 3 Revolutions Future Mobility Program at the University of California, Davis, conducted four waves of mobility surveys between Spring 2020 and Fall 2023. Key findings from the analysis of these data reveal that remote work and a combination of remote work and physical commuting (i.e., hybrid work) emerge as an enduring outcome of the pandemic. The pandemic accelerated the rise of e-shopping, both for grocery and non-grocery purchases, with findings demonstrating the critical influence of socio-demographic factors, including age, gender, and income, on e-shopping adoption and frequency. The findings show that socio-demographic factors such as work status, income level, and work arrangements are associated with household vehicle ownership changes and individual vehicle miles traveled (VMT). In particular, an increase in commute frequency reduces the likelihood of vehicle shedding, while amplifying the likelihood of vehicle acquisition. In the meantime, remote workers exhibit lower commuting VMT but higher non-commuting VMT compared to hybrid workers. The findings demonstrate a similarity between the percentage of respondents who used public transit, bikes, e-bikes, and e-scooters for commuting and non-commuting trips to some degree between 2019 and 2023. These insights underscore that adapting to shifting activity and transportation patterns is crucial for policymakers and planners to build a sustainable and inclusive post-pandemic future.

A key challenge in e-commerce retail is identifying a shipping fee policy that will incentivize more online orders and sales. To achieve this, retailers occasionally alter their shipping policies. While information systems research has extensively examined e-commerce channel strategies and their interplay with offline channels, it has yet to explore the online and offline implications of changes in e-commerce shipping policies. Against this backdrop, we studied a shipping policy change designed to incentivize higher-dollar orders, specifically, a large multichannel retailer's shift from a tiered online shipping policy to a flat-rate policy. Using rich customer-level panel data and a regression discontinuity in time approach, we demonstrate that a flat-fee online shipping policy, counterintuitively, shifts sales away from the online channel and toward the offline channel—generating 23% more offline sales across 21,028 customers in five states. Evidence from additional analyses corroborated an account based on two mechanisms: an online order aggregation effect, wherein flat-fee shipping encouraged shipping fee-sensitive shoppers to aggregate purchases into larger orders, and an offline store interpurchase effect, wherein order aggregation generated longer interpurchase periods, during which customers met their needs for smaller purchases by visiting offline stores. Thus, a flatrate shipping policy can serve as an unexpected lever for driving multichannel behavior. These findings contribute to the e-commerce channel interplay literature within information systems research and have important implications for legacy retailers seeking to leverage their brick-and-mortar investments to fend off competition from online-native retailers such as Amazon.com. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Robust digital experimentation platforms have become increasingly pervasive at major technology and e-commerce firms worldwide. They allow product managers to use data-driven decision-making through online controlled experiments that estimate the average treatment effect (ATE) relative to a status quo control setting and make associated inferences. As demand for experiments continues to grow, orthogonal test planes (OTPs) have become the industry standard for managing the assignment of users to multiple concurrent experimental treatments in companies using large-scale digital experimentation platforms. In recent years, firms have begun to recognize that test planes might be confounding experimental results, but nevertheless, the practical benefits outweigh the costs. However, the uptick in practitioner-led digital experiments has coincided with an increase in academic-industry research partnerships, where largescale digital experiments are being used to scientifically answer research questions, validate design choices, and/or derive computational social science-based empirical insights. In such contexts, confounding and biased estimation may have much more pronounced implications for the validity of scientific findings, contributions to theory, building a cumulative literature, and ultimately practice. The purpose of this Issues and Opinions article is to shed light on OTPs—in our experience, most researchers are unaware of how such test planes can lead to incorrect inferences. We used a case study conducted at a major e-commerce company to illustrate the extent to which interactions in concurrent experiments can bias ATEs, often making them appear more positive than they actually are. We discuss implications for research, including the distinction between practical industry experiments and academic research, methodological best practices for mitigating such concerns, and transparency and reproducibility considerations stemming from the complexity and opacity of large-scale experimentation platforms. More broadly, we worry that confounding in scientific research due to reliance on large-scale digital experiments meant to serve a different purpose is a microcosm of a larger epistemological confounding regarding what constitutes a contribution to scientific knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The emergence of new technology provides fashion retailers with innovative ways to deliver the shopping experience and engage with customers. One innovation is smart mirror fashion technology (SMFT) which enables customers to virtually try-on products and have a more pleasing experience within physical retail stores. This kind of technology is considered a powerful decision tool for online customers because it enables them to more readily experience clothing merchandise and as a result engage with the brand in a unique way. Previous research on SMFT in retail settings have been limited to online retail formats, and seemingly ignore the relationship between SMFT and customer brand engagement. Drawing from three case studies, featuring interview data, we explore how SMFT could enhance customer brand engagement in-store. We discuss the impact of SMFT on customer brand engagement and advance a new conceptualisation for managing SMFT in physical retail stores. We synthesise these findings into three actionable points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internet has taken the world as a storm, and to cater the netizens, marketers are making every possible effort to reach out and deliver their products and services via internet platform. Several researchers have studied the consumer attitude toward e-retailing, websites, online services, etc., but very few have focused on online food delivery (OFD) services that too in the developing economies like India. It has been suggested that, to attract customers, you ought to offer distinct user experience. The primary aim of the present study was to propose a scale comprising factors that stimulate consumers to opt OFD services. For this purpose, the data were generated from young internet users. Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) have been used in this study to assess the data employing SPSS and AMOS. The findings of the study imply an OFD Service Scale comprising 15-items and three factors (Hedonism, Trust and Price Saving Orientation) appropriate for the Indian setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Micro-enterprises (MEs) are important players in job creation and global economic development. However, in developing countries, most fail to realise their growth potential due to challenges that include informality and a lack of quality human capital. The internet, by increasing information flows and reducing transaction costs, can help MEs to develop. This study assesses the effect of the internet on MEs' performance in the service sector in Togo, using a large sample of 23,542 observations from the latest General Census of Businesses (RGE, 2017–2018), and exposes related channels and mechanisms. We find that MEs that adopt and use the internet are more productive than those that do not. This result remains robust to different regression methods such as instrumental variables and treatment-effects estimations. Complementary analyses show the positive effect of internet channels through applications such as e-mail, websites and e-business. We also find evidence that MEs with a Fixed internet connection perform better than those with a Mobile internet connection. Our investigations also yield interesting results regarding Togolese regions, service sub-sectors, managers' characteristics and MEs' status. This article thus highlights the need to promote digital development to enhance MEs' performance in Togo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a research study to improve the benefits realization of a company's knowledge management system. We conducted the research from a social theory research perspective to uncover how to work towards convincing users to use the system willingly and appropriately, i.e., as intended, to maximise its benefits realization. We used critical social heuristics to plan and reflect upon potential improvement actions. It enabled critical thinking to develop, and reflect upon, guidelines to enhance stakeholder engagement and persuade users to adopt the system and use it as intended. Knowledge management enables organizations to effectively manage the organizational knowledge as a corporate asset. When implemented appropriately, it gives organizations a competitive edge. However, it is often not used as intended and can, accordingly, become expensive file storage systems, rather than valuable knowledge management systems. In the company where we conducted this study, a knowledge management system was used as intended by some employees. On the other hand, some employees resisted using it and/or used simply to store documents. It was thus not used as intended by all employees, so the full benefits of knowledge management did not realize. By exploring the system's dimensions of motivation, control, knowledge, and legitimacy (as per critical social heuristics) from the perspectives of end-users, guidelines for improvement of knowledge management system adoption were derived—the guidelines can be used to increase stakeholder engagement and, accordingly, suitable use, along with benefits realization, of these systems in similar organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines non-fungible token (NFT) applications and their users through a qualitative textual analysis of NFT-based video game Axie Infinity's Discord server. It considers NFT applications' dual purposes as entertainment media and financial instruments and posits that the interests of capital inform users' engagement. In an environment defined by distrust and uncertainty, predominantly Filipino digital laborers' ("Scholars") experiences and interactions with the game's ownership class ("Managers") reflect pre-existing patterns of exploitation made inexpensive by differences in currency valuations, accessible by access to digital devices, available by global financial uncertainty, possible by a lack of user protection and governance, and permissible by light government regulation. To navigate an interplay of designed systems and human behavior, users share gameplay and marketplace knowledge. The blurring of gaming, gambling, and finance discussed here risks fostering an increasingly gamified approach to work and finance and facilitates exploitation of global, stratified labor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we investigate the influence of streaming platforms, with their relatively new industrial arrangements and relations with the media regulatory structure, on the cultural production of dramas in China. We focus on women-centered net dramas to demonstrate how feminist discourses found a place on streaming platforms, thereby opening up creative yet vulnerable textual possibilities for reflection on gender politics. We situate the production of these net dramas within the political economy and technological conditions of the streaming industry and further consider the implications of such mediated feminism for the pursuit of gender equality in China. Our examination of feminist discourses in streaming culture also resonates with the ongoing global transformation of cultural productions in the television industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to examine the influence of gameful experience (GAMEX) on customer brand engagement in the context of e-tailing. Drawing on the self-determination and social learning theories, the authors have developed a comprehensive model incorporating cognitive, emotional and behavioral factors leading to brand advocacy and re-visit intention for the retail website. Design/methodology/approach: The data for this study were obtained from 715 customers across various e-tailing websites. This research uses both quantitative method (partial least squares structural equation modeling − PLS-SEM) and qualitative method (fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis − fsQCA) to investigate the relationship between GAMEX and customer brand engagement in the e-tailing context, with a focus on the long-term outcomes of brand advocacy and re-visit intention. Findings: The PLS-SEM results indicate a significant impact of GAMEX on customer brand engagement. In addition, the findings reveal the moderating role of fear of missing out, internet self-efficacy and technoeustress in the association among GAMEX, customer brand engagement, brand advocacy and re-visit intention. The findings from fsQCA support the results obtained from PLS-SEM and reveal four configurations for brand advocacy and five configurations for re-visit intentions. Originality/value: This research evaluates the impact of GAMEX on customer brand engagement using a mixed-method approach involving qualitative and quantitative procedures. This study offers valuable insights into the design of gamified marketing activities and current practices for fostering greater engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of MedR Medizinrecht is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of MedR Medizinrecht is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of MedR Medizinrecht is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: With the development of e-commerce network platforms, platform enterprises have mostly completed the first stage of user accumulation during the start-up period. How to enhance users' stickiness and stimulate their continual participation in platform business activities through innovation and platform design has become a decisive factor for platform enterprises. To increase the motivation of e-commerce platform users, this paper explores the positive impact of gamified rewards on platform user stickiness by dividing the gamified rewards design into social and functional rewards, and studies the mediating role of self-identification and the moderating role of perceived goal progress and information disclosure. Design/methodology/approach: This study applies the "S-O-R" (stimulus–organism–response) model as the theoretical basis for constructing a model of user stickiness for e-commerce platforms and subdivides gamified reward design into social rewards and functional rewards to explore how they affect platform user stickiness and the boundaries of the influencing mechanism. Findings: It turns out both types of gamified rewards promote users' perception of self-identification, which in turn affects the intention to continue using the platform. In addition, platforms with designs about users' quantified self-behavior – perceived goal progress in the gaming experience can effectively enhance the effectiveness of users' gamification rewards. Information disclosure moderates the relationship between the two types of gamification design and self-identification. For functional reward designs and social reward designs, information disclosure can improve users' self-identification and therefore enhance users' stickiness. Originality/value: This study verifies the impact of gamification design on platform user stickiness, confirming the mediating role of self-identification and the moderating role of perceived goal progress and information disclosure, which has theoretical and practical implications for how platform enterprise can maintain user activity in the digital context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate the importance and status of conditional accounting conservatism indicators and financial flexibility for the management of legal claims of the company during the outbreak of Corona. Design/methodology/approach: The research method was implemented using statistical analysis in the SPSS environment. The participants of this research can be experts and specialists working in companies admitted to the stock exchange and expert professors in accounting fields; auditing; economy; financial engineering and financial management, categorized. The data related to the localization tool of research variables were collected by snowball sampling method in the summer of 2022. Findings: One of the main results of the research is that based on the opinions and professional experience of experts and professionals working in companies admitted to the stock exchange and academic experts, within a range of seven, "The number of legal claims of the company with electronic businesses" under the title of the main indicator in the legal claims of the company in the outbreak of Corona from the importance dimension; "Exchange rate fluctuations in financial resilience" under the title of the main indicator in financial resilience in the Corona outbreak from the functional dimension; "The number of legal claims of the company with government institutions" under the title of the main indicator in the company's legal claims in the Corona outbreak from the functional dimension; "The company's conservatism score" under the title of the main indicator in the conditional conservatism of accounting in the Corona outbreak from the functional dimension; "oil price fluctuations in financial resilience" under the title of the main indicator in financial resilience in the Corona outbreak from the importance dimension; and "type of industry based on total assets" under the title of the main indicator in the conditional conservatism of accounting in the Corona outbreak was calculated from the importance dimension. Originality/value: Although the previous literature has studied the direct correlation between accounting conservatism and financial flexibility, this work focuses on examining the direct association between accounting conservatism and financial flexibility in the post-Corona era and is carried out to resolve legal claims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of e-commerce, the order batching optimization problem in e-commerce warehousing centers has been addressed by establishing a model aimed at minimizing the order picking time, order delay costs, and picking costs, as well as achieving workload balance. An improved NSGA-II algorithm has been designed, which enhances the search capability and solution diversity by introducing new selection mechanisms and crossover mutation strategies. This approach more effectively balances multiple optimization objectives and validates the effectiveness of the model and algorithm with case studies, while also conducting sensitivity analysis on model parameters. The research results indicate that the established model and the designed algorithm are effective, providing a theoretical basis and practical significance for the optimization of order picking efficiency in e-commerce distribution centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quick commerce (Q-commerce) is an emerging online retail model that demands near-instant order fulfillment and adapts to delivering goods with varying environmental requirements, including temperature-sensitive items. Addressing the complex optimization challenges in distribution, a gap in effective delivery route planning and tool utilization has been identified. This study introduces three innovations: (1) a formulation that reduces drone sub-route path computations for real-time decision-making, (2) a multi-objective instant delivery model employing both vehicles and drones, and (3) a multi-objective memetic algorithm that accounts for time windows and temperature variations. Computational experiments demonstrate that this approach outperforms traditional models, significantly enhancing delivery time satisfaction, product quality, and overall service efficiency. The model scales effectively to large order quantities while maintaining a high customer satisfaction rate of 97%. This research contributes to the industrial engineering literature by presenting a novel Q-commerce logistics model and offering insights into multi-objective optimization for last-mile delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue explores how power relations are shaping the digital economy. Rather than simply identifying areas needing regulation, we aim to understand the digital economy’s underlying dynamics and potential pathways towards transformation. A political economy analysis, focused on the dialectical interaction between actors with contradictory interests, can reveal the winners and losers in the digital economy and expose the underlying power structures that shape its development. The papers in this Special Issue explore how these power dynamics manifest across various spheres. The papers in the issue argue that the digital economy, far from being a neutral space, reinforces existing power imbalances, particularly between capital and labor, requiring a critical examination of its financial flows, regulatory frameworks, and distributional outcomes to understand its transformative potential. Ultimately, the special issue aims to inform strategies for building resistance that links struggles from below and regulation from above. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The highly anticipated global Metaverse market presents a burgeoning arena, particularly in shopping and retail. While physical retail environments have long emphasized the details of exterior and interior servicescape design, the shift to online shopping raises questions about applying these traditional retail principles to the Metaverse setting. This research adopts conjoint analysis to delve into the potential of localized Metaverse retail design by merging consumer emotions, market segmentation, and innovative retail technologies. Using the Pleasure, Arousal, Dominance (PAD) model, we examine Metaverse servicescape attributes, based on real-world counterparts, application in segmenting store design based on consumer preferences. Like in physical retailing cases, music, crowding, and noise are the most influential Metaverse attributes affecting consumer emotion. However, three different clusters emerged according to their emotional responses. Our experiment reveals that Metaverse servicescape attributes may evoke emotional responses akin to their physical counterparts while offering a valuable opportunity for customization that better satisfies market segments. Insights are offered for retailers navigating the dynamic Metaverse landscape, where personalization and localization are now more affordable and where multiple store designs can coexist in digital form—reaching larger markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The digitization of healthcare, through electronic medical records (EMRs), is recognized globally as a transformative initiative. Indonesia mandated all healthcare facilities to adopt EMRs by December 31, 2023. However, this transition is complicated by diverse technological, cultural, and infrastructural challenges, with little research addressing the recordkeeping culture's impact on EMR adoption. This study investigates the electronic recordkeeping culture in Indonesian hospitals following a government mandate to adopt Electronic Medical Records (EMRs). It aims to understand the readiness and challenges in implementing EMRs across hospitals on Java and Sulawesi islands, focusing on infrastructure, staff digital skills, and varied adoption approaches. Methods: A qualitative case study approach was utilized, involving focus groups and semi-structured interviews with 150 staff from 12 hospitals. Conducted between November 2023 and June 2024, the study applied thematic analysis based on Oliver and Foscarini's (2020) recordkeeping culture framework to explore organizational readiness, technological infrastructure, and healthcare professionals' skills in managing electronic records. Results: The findings reveal significant differences in EMR adoption between the islands. Hospitals on Java exhibited proactive engagement, supported by better technological infrastructure and staff training programs, while Sulawesi hospitals adopted EMRs primarily to meet regulatory requirements. Challenges included inconsistent internet connectivity, low digital literacy among staff, and ongoing reliance on paper records during the transition. Some Java hospitals have begun fostering a culture conducive to electronic recordkeeping by focusing on developing staff skills in EMR management. Conclusions: The effectiveness of EMR adoption in Indonesia relies on addressing technological infrastructure issues and enhancing staff digital literacy. While progress has been made, particularly in more developed regions, a cohesive national strategy emphasizing technological support and targeted training is essential to fully realize the benefits of EMRs in improving healthcare and recordkeeping standards across Indonesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Venture capital (VC) firms in Silicon Valley have long enabled digital enterprises from Meta to Google. This article investigates SoftBank, a Japanese conglomerate whose Softbank Vision Fund (SVF1) is the world's largest tech investment fund since its initiation in 2017. Led by Masayoshi Son, SoftBank has profoundly shaped AI-powered platform economies the world over, especially ‘unicorns’ such as Uber and Alibaba. With capital from East Asia and Middle East, SoftBank has disrupted the high-tech VC business globally. How to understand Softbank as a peculiar instance of Asian platform capitalism and a new form of Japan's keiretsu system? What are the patterns of expansion and contraction, business alliances and competition, corporate discourse, and evolving power relations therein? Drawing from news archives, corporate documents, and primary materials, this study examines and historicises SoftBank through a critical political economy perspective. After reviewing the contemporary trajectories of SoftBank's empire-building, we trace back to Japan's mobile internet boom around the turn of the century, to the developmental state model of the 1950–80s, and to Japanese settler colonialism and war-economy ‘planning’ in the 1930s Manchukuo, to deepen our analysis concerning the varieties of digital empire-building and their historical origins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how the social relations of platform work shape workers’ acts of resistance. We critically discuss the broad spectrum of resistance approaches employed by platform workers, bringing attention to how the heterogeneity and novelty of some practices stem from the dynamic and complex social relations of platform work. Accounting for resistance practices at both individual and collective levels, as well as across different types of platform work, enables one to consider the extent to which worker resistance has evolved from its more traditional association with the presence of a ‘shopfloor’ and established organisational structures and processes for social relations with supervisors and co-workers. We elucidate how worker resistance has emerged despite the considerable efforts by platform firms to marginalise the potential for resistance through their business models and conclude with an agenda to guide future research efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]