The ability to detect and accurately estimate the strength of interaction effects are critical issues that are fundamental to social science research in general and IS research in particular. Within the IS discipline, a significant percentage of research has been devoted to examining the conditions and contexts under which relationships may vary, often under the general umbrella of contingency theory (cf. McKeen et al. 1994, Weill and Olson 1989). In our survey of such studies, the majority failed to either detect or provide an estimate of the effect size. In cases where effect sizes are estimated, the numbers are generally small. These results have led some researchers to question both the usefulness of contingency theory and the need to detect interaction effects (e.g., Weill and Olson 1989). This paper addresses this issue by providing a new latent variable modeling approach that can give more accurate estimates of interaction effects by accounting for the measurement error that attenuates the estimated relationships. The capacity of this approach at recovering true effects in comparison to summated regression is demonstrated in a Monte Carlo study that creates a simulated data set in which the underlying true effects are known. Analysis of a second, empirical data set is included to demonstrate the technique's use within IS theory. In this second analysis, substantial direct and interaction effects of enjoyment on electronic-mail adoption are shown to exist.

/pdf/a-partial-least-squares-latent-variable-modeling-approach-20dk7tba26.pdf

A Partial Least Squares Latent Variable Modeling Approach for Measuring Interaction Effects: Results from a Monte Carlo Simulation Study and an Electronic-Mail Emotion/Adoption Study

The 2008 crash has left all the established economic doctrines - equilibrium models, real business cycles, disequilibria models - in disarray. Part of the problem is due to Smith’s "veil of ignorance": individuals unknowingly pursue society’s interest and, as a result, have no clue as to the macroeconomic effects of their actions: witness the Keynes and Leontief multipliers, the concept of value added, fiat money, Engel’s law and technical progress, to name but a few of the macrofoundations of microeconomics. A good viewpoint to take bearings anew lies in comparing the post-Great Depression institutions with those emerging from Thatcher and Reagan’s economic policies: deregulation, exogenous vs. endoge- nous money, shadow banking vs. Volcker’s Rule. Very simply, the banks, whose lending determined deposits after Roosevelt, and were a public service became private enterprises whose deposits determine lending. These underlay the great moderation preceding 2006, and the subsequent crash.

The Economic Institutions of Capitalism

The biggest challenge in fostering a virtual community is the supply of knowledge, namely the willingness to snare Knowledge with other members. This paper integrates the Social Cognitive Theory and the Social Capital Theory to construct a model for investigating the motivations behind people's knowledge sharing in virtual communities. The study holds that the facets of social capital -- social interaction ties, trust, norm of reciprocity, identification, shared vision and shared language -- will influence individuals' knowledge sharing in virtual communities. We also argue that outcome expectations -- community-related outcome expectations and personal outcome expectations -- can engender knowledge sharing in virtual communities. Data collected from 310 members of one professional virtual community provide support for the proposed model. The results help in identifying the motivation underlying individuals' knowledge sharing behavior in professional virtual communities. The implications for theory and practice and future research directions are discussed.

http://idea-space.eu:19001/up/515486f5131ebee688cdd8b0d435af0f.pdf

Understanding knowledge sharing in virtual communities: an integration of social capital and social cognitive theories

Between Facts and Norms: Contributions to a Discourse Theory of Law and Democracy

The authors examine the implications of electronic shopping for consumers, retailers, and manufacturers. They assume that near-term technological developments will offer consumers unparalleled opportunities to locate and compare product offerings. They examine these advantages as a function of typical consumer goals and the types of products and services being sought and offer conclusions regarding consumer incentives and disincentives to purchase through interactive home shopping vis-à-vis traditional retail formats. The authors discuss implications for industry structure as they pertain to competition among retailers, competition among manufacturers, and retailer-manufacturer relationships.

Interactive home shopping: Consumer, retailer, and manufacturer incentives to participate in

As competition in business-to-consumer e-commerce becomes fiercer, Web-based stores are attempting to attract consumers' attention by exploiting state-of-the-art technologies. Virtual reality (VR) on the Internet has been gaining prominence recently because it enables consumers to experience products realistically over the Internet, there by mitigating the problems associated with consumers' lack of physical contact with products. However, while the employment of VR has increased in B2C e-commerce, its impact has not been explored extensively by research in the IS field.

This study investigates whether and under what circumstances VR enhances consumer learning about products. In general, VR enables consumers to learn about products thoroughly by providing high-quality three-dimensional images of products, interactivity with the products, and increased telepresence. In addition, congruent with the theory of cognitive fit, the effects of VR are more pronounced when it exhibits products whose salient attributes are completely apparent through visual and auditory cues (because most VR on desktop computers uses only those two sensory modalities to deliver information). Based on these attributes, we distinguish between two types of products-namely, virtually high experiential (VHE) and virtually low experiential (VLE) products-in terms of the sensory modalities that are used and required for product inspection. Hypotheses arising from the distinctions expressed by these terms were tested via a laboratory experiment. The results support the predictions that VR interfaces increase overall consumer learning about products and that these effects extend to VHE products more significantly than to VLE products.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/info/25148705

The effects of virtual reality on consumer learning: an empirical investigation

Impact of communication medium on task performance and satisfaction: an examination of media-richness theory

As competition in B2C e-commerce becomes more fierce, online stores have made efforts to attract consumer attention by adopting state-of-the-art technologies. Specifically, virtual reality (VR) has recently been gaining prominence on the Internet because it enables consumers to experience products over the web, an activity that plays a key role in obviating consumers' lack of real physical contact with products. VR simulates direct experiences in mediated environments, and it can generate a compelling sense of telepresence.The present study proposes a research model to analyse and evaluate the impact of telepresence on consumer perception, based on existing theories of telepresence and consumer learning. A laboratory experiment with three user interfaces - multiple pictures, video clips and VR - has been conducted to test the model. The VR interface produced the highest level of telepresence, as expected. Telepresence in turn generally augments consumers' product knowledge, attitudes and purchase intentio...

User interfaces and consumer perceptions of online stores: The role of telepresence

As broadband Internet access and virtual reality technology rapidly expand, virtual worlds and three-dimensional avatars will become more pervasive and widely adopted. In virtual worlds, people assume an identity as an avatar and interact with each other. The objective of this study is to theorize how users form attitudes and intentions regarding avatars in realistic, task-focused virtual world settings. To investigate these effects, this study proposes a conceptual framework based on dual-congruity perspectives (self-congruity and functional congruity). The results show that the more closely an avatar resembles its user, the more the user is likely to have positive attitudes (e.g., affection, connection, and passion) toward the avatar, and the better able to evaluate the quality and performance of apparel products. In the end, these positive attitudes toward an avatar and its usefulness positively affect users' intentions to use the avatar. Based on this study, we propose that avatars representing users' actual appearance may be helpful in experiencing and evaluating some business areas related to users' lives in the real world (e.g., virtual apparel shopping, matchmaking, plastic surgery, fitness clubs, etc.); utilization of such avatars may be a new business opportunity likely to thrive in virtual worlds.

What if your avatar looks like you? dual congruity perspectives for avatar use

The purpose of this study is to find the factors that enhance member participation in virtual communities. Although there are many factors influencing member participation, this study limits its independent variables to those of managing strategy and information system quality. In addition to finding their direct impacts, this study identifies indirect effects through two mediating variables such as member visit and sense of community. The result of this study revealed that there was no significant direct path from managing strategy to participation. However, the path from sense of community to participation was strongly supported by the results. This then implies that a manager of a community has to emphasize the sense of community, membership in particular, in order to enhance participation. In addition, the results showed that sense of community could be enhanced by an appropriate managing strategy, while the number of visits could be increased by the information systems quality.

Kil-Soo Suh

Papers

The effects of virtual reality on consumer learning: an empirical investigation

Impact of communication medium on task performance and satisfaction: an examination of media-richness theory

User interfaces and consumer perceptions of online stores: The role of telepresence

What if your avatar looks like you? dual congruity perspectives for avatar use

Exploring the Factors Enhancing Member Participation in Virtual Communities.