The 2019 impact factor (announced end of June 2020) for ISJ is 4.188. This is the third best impact factor in the Basket of Eight IS Journals. See past ISJ impact factors and the Editor’s comment on impact factors here. The next impact factor (2020) will not be available until around mid June 2021.

Abstract

China is one of the largest and fastest-growing markets for live streaming, and the purchase of virtual gifts in live streaming is the core for streamers and live streaming platforms in China to survive and thrive. Compared to western countries, live streaming in China highlights the lively social atmosphere and heated social interactions among streamers and viewers. This study develops a cultural context-sensitive model that contextualises the purchase of virtual gifts in live streaming in China. Specifically, we focus on the viewer’s social experience and the social atmosphere in live streaming which have received limited attention yet. We introduce viewers’ social perceptions with regard to the streamer and other viewers (ie, perceived proximity to the streamer and sense of belonging to the viewer crowd) and show how such social perceptions contribute to the development of flow experience, which subsequently leads to purchase intention. This study also reveals how such social perceptions can be shaped by the contextual setting consisting of the IT-related factors of live streaming (ie, responsiveness, two-way communication, social presence, and self-presentation) and the cultural characteristics of China (ie, social orientation and harmony). Our research offers both theoretical guidance for practitioners into cultivating viewers’ purchase of virtual gifts in China’s live streaming.

Source

Information Systems Journal, EarlyView. Source

Abstract

Most information systems (IS) research takes for granted that consumers’ adoption and the use of mobile payment (MP) applications are motivated by generic factors such as perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. Challenging this assumption, we argue that the salient contextual characteristics of MP applications compel a reconsideration and problematization of research on MP adoption and use. Drawing on network effect theory, we examined how contextual network effects and contextual network types determine MP consumer loyalty. Using a mixed methods design, we find that direct network effects (i.e., network size, network centrality, network capability), indirect network effects (i.e., platform–application complementarity, application–service complementarity, service–strategy complementarity) and negative network effects (i.e., general institutional structure, general structural assurance, local institutional structure and local structural assurance) are key determinants of perceived benefits, which further promote MP consumer loyalty. Furthermore, except for general institutional structure and general structural assurance, all of the network effects are important predictors of switching costs, which influence MP consumer loyalty. Finally, the impacts of network effects on MP consumer loyalty differ between consumer- and service-oriented networks. Our study enriches the IS literature by problematizing the core assumption underlying the MP adoption and use research and offering a contextual explanation of MP consumer loyalty. Our work also provides practitioners with insights into how to better leverage network effects on MP consumer loyalty.

Source

Abstract

The opinions and behaviours of others are recognised as powerful mechanisms for social influence in the digital sphere. The former, often referred to as electronic word of mouth (eWOM), is a thoroughly researched topic in the Information Systems literature. Conversely, the digital display of users’ behaviours (e.g., number of past purchases) is less well understood despite the widespread adoption of this practice on digital platforms. Quantitative research has explored this interesting domain and found that observing others’ behaviours entice observers to follow suit, but has left unaddressed the question of what sensemaking users derive from behavioural information. This is problematic as behavioural information is more open to interpretation compared to eWOM. In this article, we adopt the concept of electronic word of behaviour (eWOB) to denote such behavioural information. Through the lens of basic psychological needs theory and the qualitative means-end chain approach, we expose how eWOB is interpreted and used by users of a digital platform, the music service Spotify. We find that eWOB leads to satisfaction of the basic psychological needs for relatedness and competence when observing others’ behaviours. We also show how exposure to one’s own past behaviours can yield a positive sense of self when presented in meaningful and private manners, but that it can also negatively impact users when their needs for autonomy and competence are not heeded by the digital platform. Finally, based on our empirical findings we offer a set of design implications for how digital platforms can optimise the use of eWOB.

Source

Abstract

Action research (AR) involves one or more researchers and a client organisation. Many guidelines for and reports of the research method have been published. However, the ethical issues associated with AR have been largely neglected. Our review of the AR literature found that ethical dilemmas and their resolution are rarely and inconsistently reported. Stimulated by this neglect and our personal experiences, we aim to raise awareness and understanding about the ethics of planning, conducting and reporting AR. We identify and discuss four issues of concern that merit specific ethical attention when conducting AR: collaboration, competence, persistence and consent. We draw on these four issues in an analysis that augments the principles and criteria for canonical AR (CAR), recently reified as Integrated Action Research (IAR). Our guidance includes an additional principle of AR and 10 associated criteria to address the ethics of AR participation.

Source

Information Systems Journal, EarlyView. Source

Abstract

Virtual teams face the unique challenge of coordinating their knowledge work across time, space, and people. Information technologies, and digital artefacts in particular, are essential to supporting coordination in highly dispersed teams, yet the extant literature is limited in explaining how such teams produce and reproduce digital artefacts for coordination. This paper describes a qualitative case study that examined the day-to-day practices of two highly dispersed virtual teams, with the initial conceptual lens informed by Carlile’s (2004) knowledge management framework. Our observations suggest that knowledge coordination in these highly dispersed virtual teams involves the continuous production and reproduction of digital artefacts (which we refer to as technology practices) through three paired modes: ‘presenting-accessing’ (related to knowledge transfer); ‘representing-adding’ (related to knowledge translation); and ‘moulding-challenging’ (related to knowledge transformation). We also observed an unexpected fourth pair of technology practices, ‘withholding-ignoring,’ that had the effect of delaying certain knowledge coordination processes. Our findings contribute to both the knowledge coordination literature and the practical use of digital artefacts in virtual teams. Future research directions are discussed.

Source

Abstract

Digital creativity (DC) stands for employee’s generation of useful and fresh ideas through the use of digital technologies, which is one of the prominent consequences of effective digital technology use. Drawing insights from the tripartite view of technology use (ie, technology, individual and task elements) and the social role lens, our study proposes and tests an integrative theoretical framework to understand how female and male employees progress from ambidextrous learning in digital technology use to DC. We first interviewed five frontline employees and then surveyed 221 employees that were different from the interview sample from eight organisations. All participants utilised a similar version of internet-of-things (IoT) in their daily work. We find that (a) exploitative use has a stronger influence on DC for women than for men, while explorative use displays a higher impact on DC for men than for women, and (b) technology digital affordance (TDA), digital knowledge (DK), and task variety (TV) exhibit significant influences on both exploitative and explorative uses to varying extents. The post-hoc analysis reveals that exploitative use mediates the influences of TDA and DK on DC only for women; explorative use mediates the impacts of TDA and TV on DC only for men. Our study advances the understandings of the downstream impact of technology use in the digital context.

Source

Abstract

In software platform ecosystems, the technological and structural peculiarities vest the platform owner with an extremely powerful position that puts any complementor at the mercy of the platform owner’s actions. Paradoxically, it is the self-determination and proactivity of the complementors that determine the ecosystem’s success through their surprising outside innovations. This study addresses this power paradox by unpacking the power dynamics between platform owners and complementors. Based on an exploratory multiple-case study of six platform partnerships, we find that power in platform ecosystems unfolds as a reciprocal process of three interlocking cycles, in which both the platform owner and the complementors take an active role. The modus operandi of power in platform ecosystems is a “central power cycle” in which the complementors repeatedly evaluate whether to accept or reject the platform owner’s domination power. Thriving partnerships sustain this central power cycle over time, which requires that the platform owner and the complementors dynamically adapt their wielding of power to the changing needs of the partnership (partnership adaptation cycle) or the ecosystem (ecosystem redefinition cycle). For the platform owner, this entails the occasional use of manipulation to favour a particular partnership or redefining the ecosystem’s framework and sporadically wielding coercion in favour of the broader ecosystem. For the complementor, this entails over-subjectification to entice the platform owner to wield its power in favour of their partnership. Our findings have important implications for platform ecosystem and power theory, as well as managerial practice.

Source

Information Systems Journal, EarlyView. Source