Determinants of SME’s Social Media Marketing Adoption: Competitive Industry as a Moderator

In light of the growing role of social media marketing in the success of businesses and its low adoption rate among small and medium enterprises (SMEs), this study aims to identify determinants of SMEs’ social media marketing adoption by considering the competitive industry as a moderator. Data were collected from 214 SMEs in Malaysia. Unlike extant literature, this study proposed a dual-stage analysis involving partial least squares (PLS) technique and artificial intelligence named deep artificial neural network (ANN). The application of deep ANN architecture is used to predict 91% of accuracy for the proposed model. The results showed that perceived relative advantage, perceived cost, top management support, perceived competitor pressure, and perceived vendor pressure have a significant impact on social media marketing adoption. Furthermore, the competitive industry moderates the effects of competitive pressure and customer pressure on social media marketing adoption. The results of the study extend the literature on social media marketing by illustrating the influence of technological, organizational, and environmental (TOE) factors on social media marketing adoption among SMEs concerning the extent of industry competition. The results of the study enable policymakers and managers of SMEs to understand the factors that influence social media marketing adoption in both competitive and non-competitive industries and invest effectively in digital marketing.

Evaluation of Efficiency and Its Determinants in Croatian Hotel Industry

The main objective of this research was to evaluate the efficiency of Croatian hotels and provide insights into the sources of their efficiency. In order to obtain set goals, a two-stage analysis was performed on a sample of 69 large and medium-size hotels that were operating in Croatia in 2019. In the first stage of analysis, the efficiency scores of hotels were obtained by using Data envelopment analysis (DEA), whereas in the second stage of analysis, achieved efficiency coefficients were served as dependent variable in a truncated regression model in which hotel’s ownership, age, location, size and star rating were applied as independent variables. As this is the first time that efficiency of Croatian hotel industry is investigated with the application of truncated regression analysis, this research contributes to the existing literature by shading new lights on the sources of hotels’ efficiency from the perspective of a country heavily relaying on seasonal seaside tourism. Results of the research showed that all analysed variables (except age) play significant and important role in determining the achieved level of efficiency.

Information Diffusion Model in Twitter: A Systematic Literature Review

Information diffusion, information spread, and influencers are important concepts in many studies on social media, especially Twitter analytics. However, literature overviews on the information diffusion of Twitter analytics are sparse, especially on the use of continuous time Markov chain (CTMC). This paper examines the following topics: (1) the purposes of studies about information diffusion on Twitter, (2) the methods adopted to model information diffusion on Twitter, (3) the metrics applied, and (4) measures used to determine influencer rankings. We employed a systematic literature review (SLR) to explore the studies related to information diffusion on Twitter extracted from four digital libraries. In this paper, a two-stage analysis was conducted. First, we implemented a bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer and R-bibliometrix software. This approach was applied to select 204 papers after conducting a duplication check and assessing the inclusion–exclusion criteria. At this stage, we mapped the authors’ collaborative networks/collaborators and the evolution of research themes. Second, we analyzed the gap in research themes on the application of CTMC information diffusion on Twitter. Further filtering criteria were applied, and 34 papers were analyzed to identify the research objectives, methods, metrics, and measures used by each researcher. Nonhomogeneous CTMC has never been used in Twitter information diffusion modeling. This finding motivates us to further study nonhomogeneous CTMC as a modeling approach for Twitter information diffusion.

Know Where to Invest: Platform Risk Evaluation in Online Lending

Practice- and policy-oriented abstract for “Research Spotlights” Although enjoying rapid development, online lending also endures some unusual risk, that is, platform risk. We address a new problem at the macro platform level, platform risk evaluation, and explore types of information and methods that are effective in predicting platform risk. We identify four types of information, that is, platform characteristic, risk management, commercial competition, and online word of mouth, and examine their utilities, separately and jointly, in predicting platform risk. We also propose the use of survival analysis, especially the mixture survival model, in predicting whether and when a platform will default. We carry out a cross-stage analysis using data crawled from two leading web portals for online lending in China with the two stages separated by the recent dramatic policy intervention. The results reveal the differences among the four identified factors in terms of predictive utility, the heterogeneity between the two types of default platforms, and differences between the start-up and stable periods of platform development. Based on the results, we derive some insights and examine the cross-stage changes and commonalities. We provide both lessons learned from the past and practical implications for market managers and lenders in the current online lending market.

Information Preference and Information Supply Efficiency Evaluation before, during, and after an Earthquake: Evidence from Songyuan, China

Efficient risk communication is aimed at improving the supply of risk information to meet the information needs of individuals, thus reducing their vulnerability when facing the risk of emergency. There is little information available in the literature regarding information preference from an individual’s need perspective, and there is a lack of differentiation in evaluation between information need and supply. Under the guidance of the crisis stage analysis theory, using multiple response analysis and weighted analysis methods, this study explores earthquake disaster information content and communication channel preferences, and develops an information deviation index (IDI) to evaluate the efficiency of risk communication before, during, and after an earthquake. A questionnaire-based survey of 918 valid respondents in Songyuan, China, which had been hit by a small earthquake swarm, was conducted to provide practical evidence for this study. The results indicated the following. Firstly, the information needs of individuals are highly differentiated in the different stages of an earthquake. From pre-disaster to post-disaster, individuals show a shift in information need from “preparedness and response knowledge” to “disaster information”, then to “disaster information and disaster relief information” in parallel, to “reconstruction and reflection information”. Based on the above analysis, a composition of the main earthquake disaster information is proposed for different stages. Secondly, by measuring the values of the IDI, we found that most individuals’ information needs were met for the earthquake. Thirdly, the TV and the internet were the two preferred commutation channels for acquiring disaster information from among all the effective channels in all the stages.

The Social Context of 4QInstruction Reconsidered

The nature and the social context of Instruction were often discussed in the scholarship. Its relatively high number of copies that have been found in Qumran, and a series of shared literary, linguistic and ideological similarities to compositions often closely associated with the Qumran movement led scholars to debate the attribution of Instruction to this group of texts. This paper argues that the pericope in 4Q418 frg. 81, which uses extensively priestly language and metaphors, reflects similar social context and structure as the Community Rule, and therefore Instruction should be placed among the writings of the community. I will use two-stage analysis of the pericope, which will offer insight on the identity of the addressee, and try to bring some fresh insights on the literary unity of the composition.

Development of socio-economic systems in the context of Ivan Vernadsky's creative work

The article examines the scientific views of Ivan Vernadsky on the historical development of socio-economic systems in the context of his consideration of the views of representatives of the main scientific schools of the XIX century. The subject of the study is methodological approaches to assessing the periodization of the development of socio-economic systems on the basis of historical, logical, institutional and stage analysis. The purpose of the article is to study the scientific heritage of Ivan Vernadsky on the states of economic organization of society and their formulation in the views of representatives of various scientific schools. The objectives of the article include determining stages of the historical development of socio-economic systems on the basis of system-structural and institutional-gradualist approaches. The author investigates Ivan Vernadsky's scientific approaches to the analysis of societal development in social and economic aspects in accordance with the established scientific views of that time. The scientist's emphasis is based on the conclusions on the need for a certain combination of methodological approaches of the classical school of economic science and the German historical school. In the modern sense this can be assessed as the establishment of a proto-institutional approach in the Ukrainian economic science in the study of dynamics, mechanisms of functioning and features of the development of national socio-economic systems. The author substantiates the idea of the necessity for synthetic combination in economic and theoretical analysis of classical and institutional approaches for a comprehensive study of the peculiarities of socio-economic development of national economic systems. Revealed the creative potential of Ivan Vernadsky's ideas, which had a significant impact on the development of Ukrainian economic science and received further development in the research of domestic scientists of both the 19th and 20th centuries, and has its continuation in modern scientific achievements. The article shows possible guidelines of scientific approaches to the systemic assessment of the state of development of socio-economic systems in the XXI century, as well as ways and options for stimulating national economic dynamics in the conditions of current global turbulence.

The disparities in health insurance ownership of hospital-based birth deliveries in eastern Indonesia

Background Development in Eastern Indonesia tends to be left behind compared to other Indonesian regions, including development in the health sector. The study aimed at analyzing the health insurance ownership disparities in hospital delivery in Eastern Indonesia. Methods The study draws on secondary data from the 2017 Indonesia Demographic and Health Survey. The study population was women aged 15–49 years who had given birth in the last five years in Eastern Indonesia. The study analyzes a weighted sample size of 2299 respondents. The study employed hospital-based birth delivery as a dependent variable. Apart from health insurance ownership, other variables analyzed as independent variables are province, residence type, age group, marital status, education level, employment status, parity, and wealth status. The final stage analysis used binary logistic regression. Results The results showed that insured women were 1.426 times more likely than uninsured women to undergo hospital delivery (AOR 1.426; 95% CI 1.426–1.427). This analysis indicates that having health insurance is a protective factor for women in Eastern Indonesia for hospital delivery. There is still a disparity between insured and uninsured women in hospital-based birth deliveries in eastern Indonesia. Insured women are nearly one and a half times more likely than uninsured women to give birth in a hospital. Conclusion The study concludes that there are health insurance ownership disparities for hospital delivery in eastern Indonesia. Insured women have a better chance than uninsured women for hospital delivery.

Cross-Boundary Information Sharing By Knowledge Brokers During A Disaster

<p>This thesis explores and investigates the process of cross-boundary information sharing by knowledge brokers (KB) during a disaster using lenses of knowledge management and naturalistic decision making. The study integrated interpretivist and positivist stances, conducted using qualitative methods. It used a multiple case embedded research design and in-depth face-to-face interviews as the method of inquiry and an inductive process of theory generation. The cases were in the context of disasters that occurred in New Zealand. The unit of analysis was the scenarios that KB experienced during disasters. Based on a four stage analysis of the data, there were two phases that KB went through in assessing the veracity of the information they received and deciding to whom the information is relevant. In each phase, KB were relying on different cognitive resources to filter and to match the information. It was also found that there were different types of boundary, information and disasters. Interestingly, it was found that KB used different tactics to make the decision on the information’s veracity and to whom it is relevant. The primary contribution of this thesis is the generation and explanation of the theoretical model of cross-boundary information sharing by KB during a disaster. This theory can also be used by practitioners as a guide to improve disaster management training and for the community to prepare stronger resilience plans.</p>