The impact of mobile tablet devices on human information behaviour

2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 622-639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally Burford ◽  
Sora Park

Purpose – Mobile computing devices are a significant access point for information activities. Theories and models of human information behaviour have developed over several decades but have not considered the role of the user's computing device in digital information interactions. The purpose of this paper is to explore the information behaviours of young adults when they are given unlimited access to mobile tablet devices. Design/methodology/approach – As information tasks, behaviours and communities shift into digital environments, a researcher of these phenomena is required to mirror that movement with techniques that allow a full exploration of human behaviour and interaction in the online world. Following Kozinets (2009), “netnography” (ethnography in online communities) is applied in this study and all data are collected online from within a community of iPad users, established for the research purpose. Findings – This study reveals that access to mobile tablet devices creates significant shifts in the behaviours of young adults whose lives are immersed in digital information. Mobile tablet devices establish the potential for constant access to digital information and that opportunity is grasped by the participants in this research. Extensive use of mobile device applications or “apps” establishes a more selected and restricted view of information than that encountered in the open and expansive World Wide Web. Originality/value – This paper invites extension to human information behaviour theories and models to include a consideration of computing access device and of new mobility and constancy of access – all of which changes the circumstances and behaviour of the information actor.

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 509-534
Author(s):  
Yean Shan Beh ◽  
Laszlo Sajtos ◽  
Joanne T. Cao

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to consider whether consumers can recover from a service failure by utilizing internal and external energy resources that are available to them at the time of an online complaint. Based on the Conservation of Resources (COR) theory, this research conceptualizes the complainers' act of complaining through internal and external energy resources. By investing (direct utilization of resources) and mobilizing (utilizing resources to change the trajectory of a loss) these resources, this study aims to understand which resources (internal or external) and what strategies (investment or mobilization) are effective in the face of a resource loss.Design//methodology/approachStudy 1 aimed to test the impact of energy resources (motivation and affordance) on consumers' negative emotions and satisfaction with their complaints through an online panel survey. Study 2 was a between-subjects design experiment aimed to overcome the diversity of the circumstances around a service failure, complaint motivation and complaints that were captured in Study 1.FindingsThis study provides evidence of the negative and positive effects of internal and external energy resources, respectively, in altering the consumer's emotions and behavioral intentions. The findings of this study underline the role of affordances of features, specifically perceived conversationality of digital features, in improving consumers' relationship with the defaulting firm.Practical implicationsBased on the findings related to the perceived conversationality of digital features, managers are urged to explore the affordances of online features that consumers use for communications, in general, or for complaints, in particular.Originality/valueTo our understanding, this paper is the first study to employ COR theory as a conceptual background, and in turn, the first to conceptualize complaint motivations and online complaint features as internal and external resources, respectively. As such, this study is the first of its kind to examine complaint media systematically.


Author(s):  
Volkmar P Engerer

Abstract This article examines the impact of the digital humanities on information science and information scientists and how information scientists can contribute to digital collaborations in the digital humanities. This article uses three basic concepts—user-researcher, digital information system, and digital research object—as the framework for a description of the digital humanities shift and discusses the consequences of this shift for information science with reference to these concepts. The second part of the article investigates the two pillars of the digital humanities shift, acknowledgement of digital structure and the exploring mind, in more detail. In the case of correspondences, acknowledgement of digital structure involves respecting the ‘thing-like’ properties of letters that cannot be handled (searched, classified, etc.) unless they are translated into digitized metadata; this elevates metadata to genuine digital research objects. These theoretical issues are illustrated by the Prior archive, a collection of digitized letters, manuscript drafts, and other ‘grey’ material bequeathed from the New Zealand logician-philosopher Arthur Norman Prior. The concept of the ‘exploring mind’ is connected to a movement in information science, away from the needful user and information gap paradigm towards more open and exploratory information behaviour in the digital humanities. A concluding literature review examines selected works of information science that deals with non-standard, serendipitous information behaviour and identifies exploratory and serendipitous design features of information systems for the digital humanities. These features are represented in a taxonomy consisting of six design categories.


2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 548-560
Author(s):  
Dhananjay Madhukar Bapat

Purpose The profiling of young adult financial behavior can help financial service providers and financial advisors to target suitable marketing resources to specific customer segments. The purpose of this paper is to validate the scale for financial management behavior of young adults in an emerging market, segment these individuals and investigate the impact of demographic variables on key dimensions. Design/methodology/approach A structured questionnaire is used to validate a financial management behavior scale using data collected from 270 young adults in India. Based on dimensions obtained through factor analysis, cluster analysis is performed to identify young adult segments. Statistical techniques, such as the t-test and one-way analysis of variance, are used to examine the impact of demographic variables on financial management behavioral dimensions. Findings The factor analysis confirms three key financial management dimensions: cash management, credit management and savings management. Using cluster analysis, the young adults are segmented into three subgroups: responsible customers, credit-oriented customers and vulnerable customers. Young adults in these groups follow hierarchical patterns in terms of financial management behavior. Originality/value Since few studies are available from the standpoint of young adults in emerging markets, this study adds value to the literature by investigating the financial management behavior of young adults in India. Notably, it can serve as a reference for comparing similarities and differences on the basis of financial management behavior with other countries and customer segments.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rabeh Morrar ◽  
Mohamed Amara ◽  
Hélène Syed Zwick

Purpose This paper aims to study the impact of micro-level socio-economic, demographic and geographical factors on the likelihood of self-employment entry of young adults in Palestine and filling a gap in the analysis of determinants of self-employment for young adults in Palestine. Design/methodology/approach The research design is based on a multinomial logistic (MNL) model and on the testing of seven hypotheses deriving from the review of the theoretical and empirical literature, using a micro-level longitudinal data set from the Palestinian Labour Force Surveys (PLFS) between 2009 and 2016. In the analysis, the dependent variable (employment status) is a discrete variable that takes four unordered and independent outcomes: wage employee, self-employed, employer and unpaid family member. Findings This study has strong evidence that the likelihood of self-employment increases with age. However, results are inconsistent with the well-known curvilinear relationship between age and self-employment. Regarding the role of gender, results show that young men are more likely to become self-employed than young women. Results indicate that there is a significant and negative impact of an increasing level of education on self-employment entry for both youth and the whole population. On the opposite, training after graduation increases the likelihood of self-employment entry for youth with high education level. Besides, this paper finds that young workers living in urban areas have more likelihood to enter self-employment than those in rural areas and young workers in Gaza have more likelihood to enter self-employment than their counterparts in West Bank. Practical implications First, in both West Bank and Gaza, young women are less inclined to actively engage in self-employment, which confirms structural inequalities between men and women. Therefore, this study calls for social protection programmes and for national programmes that would promote and develop women’s self-employment. Second, because this paper finds that youth self-employment is more an opportunity-driven phenomenon than a necessity-driven one, this study calls for programmes that provide youth with small business grants and training on entrepreneurship and business models. Originality/value Insights are valuable as both government institutions and universities and entrepreneurial startups can benefit from knowing which factors contribute to the self-employment likelihood of youth in Palestine and use the policy recommendations to develop capacity-building programmes to provide the youth and women with skills and competencies which enable them to turn to self-employment.


2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 142-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine A. Quinn ◽  
Leanne Hides ◽  
Anna Harding ◽  
Dominique de Andrade ◽  
Hollie Wilson ◽  
...  

Purpose Significant alcohol use increases the risk of injuries and violence in young people. The purpose of this paper is to examine factors associated with receiving street service care for alcohol intoxication, alcohol-related injury or violence among young people in a night-time economy (NTE). Design/methodology/approach Participants included 217 young adults, 135 of whom required street service care on a Friday or Saturday evening in an Australian entertainment district. The remaining 88 young adults were a matched control sample. Participants were surveyed and provided a breathalyser sample. A multinomial logistic regression was conducted to examine the relationship between blood alcohol content (BAC) level, subjective intoxication, gender, illicit drug use, age, preloading, total drinks consumed, and the receipt of care for intoxication, injury, or violence. Findings Of those who received care, 70.4 per cent received it for intoxication, 19.3 per cent for injury, and 10.3 per cent following a violent incident. Male gender and high BAC level were associated with receiving support following a violent incident. High-subjective intoxication and female gender were associated with receiving support for injury. Practical implications Results demonstrate the factors associated with receiving street service care for young people in the NTE experiencing non-emergent health needs. Further research is required to examine the impact of such a service on crime, injuries, and frontline service resources. Originality/value This is the first study to examine factors associated with receiving street service care for alcohol intoxication, injury, or violence in a NTE. Results inform policy and practice relating to the provision of street service care in the NTE for non-emergent health problems, and how this interrelates with other frontline services.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Martin ◽  
Daniela Wetzelhütter ◽  
Birgit Grüb

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of external factors on the Facebook dialogue. As both weather and point in time substantially. As both weather and point in time substantially influence people’s lives, it can be assumed that both factors may also affect communication on Facebook. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study focusing on the impact of the external factors “weather” and “point in time” on a public utility’s Facebook communication. Design/methodology/approach The potential influence is explored through the case study of an Austrian public utility. The study focuses on 321 postings, published via the company’s official Facebook account between August 2016 and February 2018. Findings The empirical results confirm the influence of “weather” and “point in time” indicators on the stakeholder dialogue. The findings highlight how the relevant items affect the posting behavior of a utility, as well as stakeholders’ reactions, comments and shares. Originality/value By introducing both external factors to the social media literature, this paper broadens the understanding of Facebook communications beyond the sender and receiver of digital information. In this way, the research contributes to a more holistic view of Facebook dialogue. It provides practical advice on how social media managers of public utilities may use weather forecasts and “point in time” considerations to more strategically foster stakeholder dialogue in social media.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chi Hung Leung ◽  
Yan Mu

PurposeThe rates of emotional distress have risen in many countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study assessed the emotional distress of adolescents and young adults in Hong Kong and mainland China in the first year of the pandemic and tested whether spirituality was a protective factor against this emotional distress.Design/methodology/approachCross-sectional data were collected in two samples of students aged 17–25 in Hong Kong (N = 503) and 13–20 in mainland China (N = 649). Participants completed the Spiritual Health and Life Orientation Measure (SHALOM) to evaluate their spiritual health (personal-communal, environmental and transcendental domains) and the short form of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) to assess their emotional distress.FindingsBased on the DASS-21 scores, there was a high rate of adolescents and young adults categorized as showing extremely severe symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress in both Hong Kong and mainland China. Structural equation modeling showed that in both the Hong Kong and mainland China samples the personal and communal and environmental domains of spiritual health were significantly and negatively correlated with all three forms of emotional distress. However, transcendental spiritual health was uncorrelated with psychological distress in Hong Kong and positively correlated with psychological distress in mainland China.Research limitations/implicationsThe high rate of severe emotional distress in this sample of adolescents and young adults under COVID-19, and the fact that not all aspects of spiritual health protected again psychological distress are cause for concern, with implications for government, education systems and students.Originality/valueHealthy spirituality can be found among youths who are upbeat, self-confident, optimistic and constructive and have also been shown to have a higher quality of life in the form of mental, physical and psychological health. The present study is the first study to examine the spiritual and mental health of high school and university students under the impact of COVID-19 in mainland China and in Hong Kong.


2019 ◽  
Vol 71 (4) ◽  
pp. 480-499
Author(s):  
Marek Deja ◽  
Dorota Rak

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of metaliteracy on collaborative and individual information behaviour (IB) among academic staff. The goal is to observe the impact of these competencies on knowledge management (KM) and IB in research tasks connected with the humanities and social sciences. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents an implementation of two combined frameworks into a study on the IB of academics: metacompetencies described by Mackey and Jacobson in the metaliteracy model and Burke’s triple-A model. By using the Dervin’s micro-moment time-line interview framework, authors try to observe the state of development of information literacy and other supportive competencies among younger lecturers and researchers. Findings Scientists develop patterns of collaborative behaviour based on seven metaliteracy areas in KM. Research limitations/implications The study did not include students and other groups related to the academic environment. Their involvement in information processes is a very wide issue and should be the subject of a separate article. Originality/value The paper contributes to research development in the area of information literacy as a KM efficiency factor. IB in this paper is a broad concept, in which the development of metaliteracy is an important aspect of lecturers’ and researchers’ KM and collaboration skills.


2021 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Raine Wilén ◽  
Mika Holopainen

A serendipitious event in everyday life is common: it means unexpected information that yields some unintended information and potential value later on. Serendipity as a word has been around for hundreds of years. As a studied concept it is rather recent. Serendipity is not just the unexpected information or experience but rather the ability to recognize and do something with it. Serendipitious discovery of information is different from purposive or known item search as it is  more complicated and lasts  much longer. The discovery of information by chance or accident is still looking it’s explicit place in models and frameworks of information behaviour. It is still not clear what constitutes the core of the research area of serendipity in information behaviour. The qualities of interaction among people, information, and objects differ in physical vs. digital environments. The bisociation, a creative association between different peaces of information may be computer supported. This article presents an overview of the research study of serendipity in information seeking behaviour. We explore serendipity mainly in the digital information environment. As a setting for our study we use six main drivers of serendipity research relating to digital enviroments presented in McCay-Peet and Toms (2017). The drivers are: 1. Theoretical understanding of the phenomen of serendipity, 2) physical vs digital, 3) information overload, 4) filter bubbles, 5) user experience, and 6) user strategies. A new refined temporal model of information encountering by Erdelez and Makri (2020) is also presented in this article. The model presents a framework for better understanding of the temporal dimension of the information acqusition. At a macro level the model positions information encountering within contextual factors related for user, information, task and environment related characteristics.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 788-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Oluwadamilola Aguda

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the contributions of path-dependency and some contextual social capital drivers to housing tenure transitions in Britain. Different situations have continued to shape young adults’ housing tenure decisions. However, very little research has been done to investigate the impact of some social capital drivers, such as neighbourhood integration and strength of parental intimacy, on housing tenure decisions in Britain. Design/methodology/approach This paper is carried out by tracking a sample of young adults in the British Household Panel Survey from 1991 to 2015 until they make tenure transition. Multinomial fixed-effects logistic regression of time to tenure transition was useful for the models, incorporating established economic and demographic drivers and with the inclusion of contextual social capital variables. Findings The inclusion of the number of years of parental home ownership experience tends to improve on previous path-dependency indicators of tenure transition. With additional years of parental home ownership experience, British young adults are more likely to remain or return to parental housing. Also, individuals that exchange better with their neighbours are less likely to switch tenure. On the other hand, regularity of contact with parents showed a positive relationship with home ownership or parental housing transitions. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, no study has explored the impact of the duration of socialisation in parental housing and also the impact of some other social capital drivers, such as neighbourhood integration and strength of parental intimacy, on housing tenure decisions among young adults. Hence, it is believed that the findings will further assist policymakers in understanding the dimensions and drivers of tenure shifts.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document