Earticle

Cyberbullying has become a social problem as malicious text messages and online comments among teenagers have increased in the late 2000s. Some serious reporting has attempted to impress on us the need to pay more attention to reducing malicious online content as a typical type of cyberbullying. Meanwhile, despite environmental changes that have made it easier to report perpetrators of such messages, it is often the case that the crime occurs in a public place and is tolerated. However, there is a growing tendency for people to exhibit the bystander effect, the problem of personal indifference to witnessing or knowing about crimes, but individuals do not offer any means of help to a victim when other people are present. This effect is rampant in the case of cybercrimes. This study aims to extract the motivations behind posting malicious comments through in-depth interviews and to suggest recommendations for relative issues by demonstrating how the bystander effect can be reduced using causal relationship diagrams of the system dynamics methodology. Hopefully, this work will contribute to a better understanding of factors that could cause a decrease in malicious online comments.

This study examines the adoption of subscription-based video on demand (SVOD) streaming services among consumers. Primarily, we explore the moderating effect of the two models of streaming services, standalone streaming services and bundled streaming services, on the users’ adoption. We employ the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT2) model in this study. We utilize the data collected from 337 Indian respondents and find that all constructs of the UTAUT2 model act as motivators of adoption. Gender, age, and experience of the respondent also play a moderating role in the adoption of streaming services. We also find that providing bundled streaming service positively moderates price-value and hedonic motivation of adoption. The study is perhaps the first of its kind that aims to understand the motivations for adoption of SVOD services, particularly in the Indian context, which has the fastest-growing base of internet users in the world.

Clearly, the smartphone is increasingly playing a greater role in everyday life, thus providing opportunities to evaluate how well the use of the smartphone meets the requirements of undergraduate students in independent learning outside of a classroom setting. This study used the task-technology fit (TTF) model to explore the effectiveness of smartphone usage to interact with learning materials in independent learning outside of classrooms, the need for smartphone support, and the fit of devices to tasks as well as performance. First, the study used interviews, observation, and survey data to identify what are the most important constructs of smartphones that stimulate students to interact with learning materials in independent learning outside of classrooms. Based on the findings from the exploratory study and Task Technology Fit theory, we postulated the Navigation design, Ergonomic design, Content support, and Capacity as the essential dimension of the smartphone construct. Then, we proposed a research model and empirically tested hypotheses with the structural model analysis. The results reveal a significant positive impact of task and technology on TTF for smartphone usage to interact with learning materials in independent learning outside of classrooms; it also confirmed the TTF and performance have a direct effect on actual use.

Digitalization and digital transformations have metamorphized the face of Financial Inclusion globally, more so, in cash obsessed economies like India. The purpose of our study is to empirically analyze the users’ intention to adopt digital payment systems, post Demonetisation, during the COVID-19 pandemic in India. The conceptual framework for the study is based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) adoption model with added operationalized constructs of Perceived Risk and Stickiness to use Cash. A total of 326 respondents were surveyed using a pre-tested questionnaire during the Nationwide Lockdown 3.0 in India. These responses were analyzed using Partial Least Squares – Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) technique. The findings of the study revealed that performance expectancy and facilitating conditions directly influence the intention of individuals to use digital payment systems, whereas the effect of perceived ease of use on digital payment systems is mediated through the attitude towards the digital payment systems during COVID-19 pandemic situation. Implications of the proposed adoption model are discussed. This will enable the other developing economies to formulate a digital ecosystem, that is here to stay even after the pandemic.

E-learning is a planned effort towards providing interactive and experiential learning having flexibility in terms of time, place, pace, participation and accessibility. Globalization has set the stage for a social transformation of the world economy driven by technological innovation, emphasizing knowledge-based processes. While the tertiary education enrolments in wealthy nations have gone up incrementally, the same cannot be said to be right about developing economies. E-Learning can streamline enrolments to higher education, in developing nations by being a cost-effective and flexible alternative. The objective of this paper is to draw attention to the similarities in the national culture of these two countries and compare students’ perception on e-learning in India and Sri Lanka along eight dimensions viz., viability, dependability, flexibility, inclusivity, power, pertinence, challenge and equitability. The results reveal that e-learning is equally popular among students from both countries, and they have a high perception score towards e-learning on each of the measured eight dimensions. Hence results are indicative of an opportunity of tapping the potential of e-learning in reaching out to a broader audience of underprivileged students and onboarding them into the knowledge economy.

The main purpose of this research is to understand the strongest predictors of wearable adoption among athletes with an emphasis on the perceived ethics of biometric data. We performed a word co-occurrence study of biometrics research to determine the ethical constructs of biometric data. A questionnaire incorporating the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT), Health Belief Model and Biometric Data Ethics was then designed to develop a neural network model to predict the adoption of wearable sensors among athletes. Our model shows that wearable adoption’s strongest predictors are perceived ethics, perceived profit, and perceived threat; which can be categorized as professional stressors. The key theoretical contribution of this paper is to extend the literature on UTAUT by developing a predictive modeling of factors affecting acceptance of wearables by athletes, and highlighting the ethical implications of athlete’s adoption of wearables.