Digital Commons Network^™

The Mediating Role Of Gratifications In Gamified Ai Chatbot Engagement: Astimulus-Organism-Response Approach, Deukmook Bae

Theses and Dissertations

Recent technological advancements and evolving consumer preferences have prompted a substantial shift from live sport attendance to mediated sport consumption, particularly among younger audiences. In response, enhancing the quality of mediated sport experiences has become a strategic priority for sport marketers seeking to maintain consumer engagement and market relevance. Although second-screen usage has been introduced to support this transition, its effectiveness remains uncertain due to limited interactivity, lack of personalization, and the potential for user distraction.

To address these limitations, AI chatbots have emerged as a compelling alternative, offering adaptive, user-centered interactions that promote deeper engagement and enrich the mediated …

Mindfulness And Entrepreneurship: Looking Back And Moving Forward, Eva Katharina Peters

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This dissertation spans three chapters covering the topics of mindfulness and entrepreneurship. The first chapter is a literature review summarizing the existing literature on mindfulness in entrepreneurship. The review provides an organizing framework for structuring the knowledge of mindfulness in entrepreneurship, along with an integrative framework and a detailed agenda for future research. Building on the insights generated through the literature review, the following two chapters provide empirical evidence for the role of mindfulness in entrepreneurship. The second chapter is an empirical study exploring how mindfulness relates to entrepreneurial well-being via its relation to co-founding team relationship quality and team …

Socio-Economic Dynamics Of Engagement And Incentivization In Emerging Digital Platforms, Danyang Song

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

The rapid advancement of digital technology—particularly mobile and blockchain technologies—has fueled the unprecedented growth of online platforms. Among these, live commerce and blockchain-based social media have emerged as two distinct business models that profoundly shape both commercial and social aspects of people’s lives. E-commerce livestreaming integrates live video streaming with e-commerce, offering consumers real-time product information and interactive shopping experiences. Different from traditional social media platforms that rely on either voluntary contributions or ad revenue sharing to incentivize user participation, blockchain-based social media platforms often use cryptocurrency or tokens to reward users for creating and curating content. This dissertation investigates …

Information Production By Institutions And Information Extraction By Underwriters In Hybrid Ipo Auctions, Thomas J. Chemmanur, Pengfei Ma, Qianqian Yu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

We analyze the informational properties of hybrid IPO auctions using a large and unique database of institutional bids from Chinese IPO auctions. We find strong evidence of information production by institutions about the intrinsic values of IPO firms and of underwriters extracting and using this information in IPO pricing. The IPO offer price is more sensitive to bids from institutions able to produce more precise information. In particular, the offer price is more sensitive to bids from domestic institutions, compared to bids from foreign institutions who likely have less knowledge or experience about the Chinese firms and financial market due …

The Impact Of Artificial Intelligence On The Sport Industry: Trademark Challenges And Legal Issues For Sport Brands, Suji Kim

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and trademark law, focusing on the implications of AI-driven brand management in the sport industry. As AI technologies increasingly shape marketing strategies, particularly through fan engagement and content creation, they present new legal challenges, especially concerning trademark infringement, false endorsement, and the protection of athletes’ Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) rights. The study analyzes key legal issues arising from AI’s role as both a tool and a potential legal actor in brand management, emphasizing the evolving definitions of “use in commerce” and the liability of sport organizations and third-party platforms.

Through …

Navigating Survival: Trans Adults’ Information Practice In South Carolina, Rhys R. Dreeszen Bowman

Theses and Dissertations

This community-based action research dissertation has two parts. First, through interviews with 25 trans adults in South Carolina, I asked how trans people use information to survive. The findings indicate that while trans people face significant financial, medical, legal, and social barriers, they are generally well-equipped to navigate them. I identified the following themes from the interviews: Identity practices shaped information outcomes. Participants' understanding of themselves as trans impacted how they evaluated and used information. 2) Participants preferred to find information from within trans communities. The internet was a popular place to seek information because it was a way for …

Strategic Pricing In A Disrupted Hospitality Landscape: Asset Valuation, Competitive Behavior, And Consumer Preferences, Badr Badraoui

Theses and Dissertations

The lodging industry is experiencing profound disruption as short-term vacation rentals (STVRs) such as Airbnb increasingly compete with traditional hotels, reshaping competitive structures, consumer expectations, and pricing strategies. While prior research has examined the impact of STVRs on hotel performance metrics, significant gaps remain regarding how pricing resilience, competitive behaviors, and consumer perceptions evolve under these new conditions. In particular, little is known about how ADR-based valuation models withstand competitive pressure, how STVR hosts respond strategically to hotel pricing signals, and how consumers evaluate partitioned pricing structures across accommodation types. This dissertation addresses these gaps through three interconnected studies designed …

The Other Side Of Trusting: The Implications Of Vulnerability As A Core Component Of Organizational Relationships, Sam Dylan Strizver

Theses and Dissertations

Trusting behavior—discretionary risk-taking with another party—is the primary means of facilitating productive workplace relationships (Zand, 1979; Mayer, Davis, & Schoorman, 1995). Yet, little empirical evidence exists to explain what happens after employees engage in trusting behavior, but before outcomes materialize—otherwise termed the “vulnerability phase” (Ballinger, Schoorman, & Sharma, 2024: 2). To address this neglect, I develop a theoretical framework that positions vulnerability as a core psychological state within the trust process, shaped by trustors’ cognitive appraisals of risk severity and uncertainty. Drawing from research on stress and well-being, the framework also identifies coping as a key response to vulnerability, moderated …

Beyond Entertainment: Unveiling Digital Platform Strategic Implications For International Business Growth Of Individual Entrepreneurs, Hoik Kim

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examines how digital identity, comprising visual, psychological, and strategic components, impacts entrepreneurial success on global digital platforms. Rather than treating identity as a static or aesthetic trait, this study conceptualizes it as a dynamic and strategic construct shaped by audience perception, algorithmic systems, and institutional environments. The research is structured into three empirical studies. The first explores how facial visibility and social media engagement affect monetization on YouTube, considering the international context. The second study empirically investigates how a biometric cue influences entrepreneurial performance on digital platforms and interprets the results through the lens of social psychological perspectives. …

Artificial Intelligence In Sport Management: A Systematic Review, Scale Development And Validation, And Implications, Kemardo Tyrell

Theses and Dissertations

The democratization of intelligent systems and their ubiquitous presence across the sport industry have created an urgent need to understand the current environment and how stakeholders perceive artificial intelligence (AI) as it reshapes decision-making, engagement, and organizational design. This three-manuscript dissertation conceptualizes artificial intelligence as a contested domain shaped by stakeholder meaning-making, consumer perception, and shifts in organizational practice. The first manuscript provides a systematic review of AI in sport management using the PRISMA framework, mapping how AI has been conceptualized as a methodological tool or contextual innovation across the sport industry segmentation (performance, production, and promotion). The second manuscript …

Capability Building And Quality Management In Higher Education: An Empirical Investigation, Kanwal Nasim, Xiaowen Tian

Journal of Global Education and Research

This paper proposes a resource-capability-based framework of quality management in Higher Education (HE) and empirically tests it against the experience of HE institutes in Pakistan. The paper posits that HE institutions face intensifying global education competition in a world of accelerated globalization, fast pace of technology development, and rapidly growing knowledge. To enhance quality and performance, they need to build higher-order dynamic capabilities of knowledge creation and transfer (KCT) undergirded by orchestrating three sets of resources they own or control: Staff, students, and facilities. The paper hypothesizes how HE institutions can orchestrate the resources to build up dynamic KCT capabilities …

The Impact Of Consumer Complaints On Corporate Digital Transformation, Yingchao Lu, Hailing Chang, Yadan Zhou

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

This paper examines the impact of consumer complaints on corporate digital transformation and its underlying mechanisms. Using quarterly data from China's Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listed companies from 2018 to 2023, the empirical results show that an increase in consumer complaints significantly hinders corporate digital transformation. Mechanism analysis reveals that consumer complaints raise legal risks and non-productive costs for firms, leading them to allocate more resources toward short-term crisis management rather than long-term digital development. Heterogeneity analysis indicates that this inhibitory effect is more pronounced in firms with weaker cybersecurity governance, firms whose executives lack a digital background, and firms …

Misinformation Regulations: Early Evidence On Corporate Social Media Strategy, Richard M. Crowley, Yun Lou, Samuel T. Tan, Liandong Zhang

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

Against the backdrop of an increasing threat of misinformation on social media, several countries have enacted regulations to curb the spread of misinformation. This study examines how corporate social media strategy responds to misinformation regulations. Using a large cross-country dataset of corporate tweets and a stacked regression analysis, we show that misinformation regulations lead to less corporate social media disclosure. This result suggests that by deterring misinformation, these regulations reduce firms’ need to use social media to counteract its adverse effects. Additional analyses show that the effect is more pronounced among countries with higher social media usage and countries with …

Extubation Decisions With Predictive Information For Mechanically Ventilated Patients In Icu, Guang Cheng, Jingui Xie, Zhichao Zheng, Haidong Luo, Oon Cheong Ooi

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Weaning patients from mechanical ventilators is a crucial decision in intensive care units (ICUs), significantly affecting patient outcomes and the throughput of ICUs. This study aims to improve the current extubation protocols by incorporating predictive information on patient health conditions. We develop a discrete-time, finite-horizon Markov decision process with predictions of future state to support extubation decisions. We characterize the structure of the optimal policy and provide important insights into how predictive information can lead to different decision protocols. We demonstrate that adding predictive information is always beneficial, even if physicians place excessive trust in the predictions, as long as …

Can Lower(Ed) Expert Opinions Lead To Better Consumer Ratings?: The Case Of Michelin Stars, Xingyi Li, Yiting Deng, Puneet Manchanda, Bert De Reyck

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Expert opinion exerts tremendous influence on the purchase journey, but its effect on overall consumer experience is ambiguous because it can give rise to both “expectation” and “reputation” effects. This paper explores the effect of expert opinions on consumer experience via the lens of consumer reviews in the restaurant industry, where the expert opinions are conveyed by Michelin stars. The paper uses a unique data set based on the Michelin Guide for Great Britain & Ireland from 2010 to 2020. The data include consumer reviews on TripAdvisor for all restaurants that were awarded Michelin stars during this period and a …

Multi-Period Portfolio Allocation: A One-Shot Stochastic Optimization Approach, Peng Liu, Chyng Wen Tee, Xiaofei Xu

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Multi-period portfolio optimization is a central problem in finance, yet it is computationally intractable for traditional dynamic programming methods due to the curse of dimensionality. This paper develops a tractable and theoretically grounded 'one-shot' stochastic optimization framework that recasts the sequential decision problem into a single, high-dimensional optimization task. Our approach models the predictive distribution of factor returns using Gaussian Processes (GPs), allowing it to capture complex, non-linear market dynamics. We make three primary contributions. First, for the special case of a linear GP kernel, we derive an analytical solution for the optimal portfolio path, providing a clear economic interpretation …

Play, Guide, Aspire: How Game Type And Trainer Involvement Shape Orientation Training Outcomes, Damla Sonmez

Theses and Dissertations

The use of gamification in orientation training has gained attention in organizational settings, yet questions remain regarding how different gamified training designs influence new employees’ emotional commitment, willingness to participate in future training, and long-term aspirations. Drawing on Stimulus–Organism–Response (SO-R) theory, Achievement Goal Theory, and Ecological Systems Theory, this dissertation investigates how game type (individual vs. team) and trainer involvement (active vs. passive) shape these outcomes.

Two experimental studies using vignette-based scenarios were conducted. Study 1 tested the direct effects of game type on emotional commitment and willingness to participate. Study 2 employed a 2 (game type) × 2 (trainer …

Do Supplier Ceo's National Cultural Origins Affect Supplier-Customer Relationships?, Peng Liang, Hasan Cavusoglu, Nan Hu

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

This study investigates how the national cultural origins of supplier chief executive officers (CEOs), as characterized by Hofstede’s cross-cultural dimensions, influence the duration of supplier–customer relationships. By analyzing the cultural origins of supplier CEOs from 20 countries over a 25-year period, we find that supplier CEOs with high long-term orientation (LTO) and high uncertainty avoidance (UNA) are associated with longer lasting supplier–customer relationships, while those with high individualism (IND) are associated with shorter relationship durations. These findings are robust to several alternative explanations of customer and supplier CEO variables. To address potential endogeneity—specifically, the concern that CEOs with certain cultural …

Do Search Costs Explain Persistent Investment In Active Mutual Funds?, Aljoscha Janssen, Jurre Thiel

Research Collection School Of Economics

Active funds, though losing market share since the 1990s, make up nearly half of all mutual funds but charge more without better performance. We analyze fund data and a search model, highlighting the impact of search costs and active fund preferences. From 1993 to 2018, reduced search costs expanded the market and heightened competition, while a preference shift from active to passive funds increased the latter's market share. However, investors who choose active funds, facing higher search costs, and continue to show a strong preference for them, allow these funds to keep charging higher fees.

The Aggregate Welfare And Trade Implications Of Contracting Frictions In Global Sourcing, Davin Chor, Lin Ma

Research Collection School Of Economics

How much do contracting frictions between global firms and their suppliers impact country welfare and trade? We answer this by developing a model of global sourcing under partial contractibility, where firm-supplier relationships are exposed to a bilateral holdup problem. Sourcing decisions aggregate into a gravity equation for trade flows by organizational mode (intrafirm vs. arm’s length), which we take to structural estimation. We can then evaluate welfare changes with an extended Arkolakis, Costinot and Rodriguez-Clare (2012) formula that incorporates these contracting frictions. Our counterfactual analysis reveals a sizeable average country welfare gain of 9.2% from eliminating contracting frictions in global …

Relational History: Correcting Temporal Myopia In Social Network Research, Julia Brennecke, Gianluca Carnabuci, Gokhan Ertug

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Scholars have used network concepts and methods to explain a wide range of organizational phenomena. Despite this broad interest, prevalent approaches tend to neglect a critical constitutive dimension of network ties: their history. We invoke the concept of relational history to signify the temporal path and biography of a network tie. We argue that a network tie’s history shapes what the relationship means to the parties involved, what can be accomplished in and through the relationship, and how the relationship might further evolve. In directing the attention of organizational network researchers to the relational history of network ties, we aim …

K Means Clustering Analysis For Chinese Tourists' Segmentation On Duty-Free Personal Luxury Goods Purchasing Intentions In The Asia-Pacific Region, Feng Hui, Piang-Or Loahavilai, Nopasit Chakpitak, Tirapot Chandarasupsang

Asia Marketing Journal

This study explores Chinese tourists' purchase intentions for personal luxury goods in Asia-Pacific duty-free shops using an integrated Affect Behavior Cognition (ABC) model of attitude, incorporating subjective norms. Factor analysis and K-means clustering were employed to segment the market based on demographics and purchasing behavior. Three distinct customer segments emerged: the ``All-Participation Group'' highly involved in all purchasing decision factors, focusing on product performance, price, and shopping convenience; the ``Product-Oriented Group'' prioritizing product performance and cost-effectiveness, with a preference for convenient search channels; and the ``Perceived Control & Promotion Group'' influenced by promotions, cautious about product damage, and favoring easy …

Are Digital And Social Media Marketing Matters For Tajikistan’S Youth Travelers?, Namozov Jamshed, Gita Gayatri

ASEAN Marketing Journal

This research examines the influence of social media and online marketing on the travel behaviours of youth -domestic - tourists in a capital city of Tajikistan, Dushanbe, as the main destination. With the development of new technologies in the modern digital age, digital tools could significantly change the preferences of travellers to choose tourism destinations. In this regard, social media, with its wide audience through Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and others, became not only an effective tool for tourism marketing but also for affecting tourism decision-making processes. That's why the study examines the impact of tourists’ attitudes towards online tourism information, …

Fun At Work Dari Sudut Pandang Aparatur Sipil Negara (Asn): Studi Kualitatif Pada Instansi Pemerintahan Di Indonesia, Febrian Wibawa, Nayunda Andhika Sari

Jurnal Manajemen dan Usahawan Indonesia

The concept of fun at work is often discussed in various studies as an activity that supports a positive work climate and provides a variety of positive experiences for employees. However, there is debate in seeing the impact of implementing fun at work in the workplace, especially in the context of public services. To date, research related to fun at work in the context of public services or government institutions is still very limited. By focusing on the civil servants or ASNs in Indonesia, this study aims to explore the perceptions and experiences of fun at work for ASNs.

This …

Do Poverty Traps Exist In Uganda? Household Level Evidence From Panel Data, Alex Aliga, Susan Kavuma, Oryema John Bosco

Tanzanian Economic Review

This study aimed at providing new evidence on the existence of poverty trap among Uganda’s households using Uganda National Panel data. Evidence of the existence of a poverty trap is fundamental in guiding the development of sound policies and interventions targeted to assist in pulling households out of poverty trap. Analysis was based on two sets of panel data comprising 8,122 households from 3 waves (2009/2010-2011/2012) and 12,199 households from 4 waves (2013/2014-2019/2020). Using the PCA constructed asset index approach based on a parametric regression model, we show that a poverty trap exists. This is revealed by the negative quartic …

Disinformation Attacks And Nonprofit Communication Strategies, Elise Lael Kieffer, Kevin M. Carr

Journal of Nonprofit Innovation

This study explores how disinformation attacks on social media can affect nonprofit organizations, a topic that has received limited scholarly attention compared to similar impacts in the for-profit sector. Through a review of existing literature and two in-depth case studies—Save the Children and the American Red Cross—this research analyzes how nonprofit organizations are uniquely vulnerable to reputational damage in the face of disinformation. The case studies highlight different motivations behind disinformation campaigns, including political agendas and deliberate efforts to harm brand credibility, and assess the effectiveness of various response strategies, including denial, debunking, attacking the source, and public education. Findings …

Sustainable Advertising And Brand Engagement: The Role Of Consumer Minimalism And Scepticism, Hesham O. Dinana, Donato Masi, Reza Marvi, Farbod Fakhreddin

Faculty Journal Articles

Recognizing the significance of sustainable advertising practices and their influence on consumer behaviour, this study explores their capacity to not only enhance consumer engagement with the brand but also strengthen brand reputation. Additionally, it examines how these practices can promote more conscious consumption patterns, contributing to broader sustainability goals. In this line, we propose a theoretical conceptual model highlighting how customers perceive sustainability-related activities and how these perceptions can influence brand engagement, ultimately enhancing brand reputation and fostering mindful consumption. Furthermore, we also investigated the moderating roles of consumer minimalism, scepticism towards advertising, and brand value congruence in relation to …

Living Heritage, Resilience And Ethically Informed Infrastructures In Malawi, Martha B. Lerski, Frank Puluputu Mwale

Publications and Research

Rooted in a rural community’s needs, this paper explores how historically, and ethically informed infrastructures can support community engagement towards identification, documentation, and dissemination of local, traditional, and indigenous knowledge relating to climate change. The paper examines climate adaptation and sustainability issues through the lenses of community organizing and Library & Information Science best practices. It draws on a growing body of literature identifying a role for expanded epistemological and subject discipline perspectives. While the impacts of climate on material culture are increasingly recognized, intangible, and biocultural heritage have not received as much attention. Living heritage traditions and knowledge systems …

United States: Rhode Island Limited Bank Holiday, 1991, Ayodeji George, Sophia Alden

Journal of Financial Crises

In 1990, the Rhode Island Share and Deposit Indemnity Corporation (RISDIC) was a private mutual deposit insurance corporation funded by member institutions. Late that year, after the failures of two of its insured institutions in July and October, other RISDIC member institutions faced large depositor withdrawals, as concerns began to focus on the financial health of RISDIC itself. RISDIC had maintained inadequate reserves, and on December 31, 1990, it found itself lacking the resources to cover depositor withdrawals from member institutions. RISDIC leadership requested a state-appointed conservator, which meant that all its member institutions no longer had the deposit insurance …

Cyprus: National Bank Holiday, 2013, Stella Schaefer-Brown

Journal of Financial Crises

The Greek government debt crisis was especially hard on the two largest Cypriot banks. Bank of Cyprus (BoC) and Laiki Bank lost EUR 1.8 billion and EUR 2.3 billion, respectively, on their Greek government bonds after the European Union (EU) decision in October 2011 to haircut the bonds. Over the next year, Laiki Bank faced severe liquidity problems from depositor withdrawals, the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) extended to it significant emergency liquidity assistance, and the government owned 84% of the bank after injecting EUR 1.8 billion. The Cypriot economy also suffered negative effects and in March 2013, authorities negotiated …