Mobile shoppers' response to Covid-19 phobia, pessimism and smartphone addiction: Does social influence matter?

The relationship between mobile phone addiction and depression, anxiety, and sleep quality in medical students

This study investigates the prevalence of mobile phone addiction among medical students and its relationship with depression, anxiety, and sleep quality. The study was conducted at Mashhad University of Medical Sciences from 2019 to 2021, and it included medical students at four different levels of training. Participants were selected using a stratified random sampling method. All subjects completed the Mobile Phone Addiction Scale, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Beck Depression Inventory, and Beck Anxiety Inventory through online electronic self-report questionnaires. Overall, 355 medical students were included in the study, with 203 (57.2%) being female. Mild and severe mobile phone addiction was reported by 83.7 and 2.5% of the students, respectively. Furthermore, the study's findings revealed significantly higher sleep quality disorder, depression, and anxiety scores among students with severe mobile phone addiction compared to other participants ( P  < 0.001, P  = 0.007, and P  < 0.001, respectively). Although mobile phone addiction was prevalent, severe addiction was rare among medical students. Nevertheless, severe addiction was associated with an increased prevalence of mental health problems and sleep disturbances, emphasizing the importance of interventions aimed at reducing mobile phone addiction and improving mental health.

Achieving resilience through knowledge management practices and risk management culture in agri-food supply chains

The problems with the current food distribution system are laid forth in this study. Getting high-quality agricultural and food products to consumers is the goal of what is known as the "agri-food supply chain." Agri-food supply chain knowledge exchange and risk management culture are being studied, as is the effect of supply chain management methods on business success. We are seeing an increase in the regularity of supply chain interruptions. The recent supply chain interruptions and their associated consequences highlight the necessity for robust supply systems. The primary goal of this research is to examine the interplay between critical antecedents of the agri-food supply chain; supply chain resilience (including risk management culture); supply chain connectivity, visibility, collaboration, and agility; and the effect these factors have on supply chain resilience and, ultimately, firm performance. With the same foundational elements and backing from the literature, an empirical model has been suggested. From September 2020 to June 2021, 245 random samples were collected throughout Indonesia for this investigation. The suggested model and the interdependencies among the crucial antecedents have been verified using partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Findings from this study support the notion that agri-food supply chains benefit from increased emphasis on traceability, transparency, information sharing, and a culture of risk management. One major takeaway from this study is that by adopting the suggested methodology, businesses may build and strengthen their supply chain resilience capabilities by institutionalizing a risk management culture, raising employee risk awareness, and holding regular risk assessment drills. The study also suggests that businesses that want to strengthen their supply chains can do so by adopting information and communications technologies and visibility tools to improve their supply chain connectivity and visibility, allowing them to respond to and recover from disruptions in the supply chain more quickly. The model is validated using data from Indonesia's industrial sector. In order to establish supply chain resilience, the suggested model provides a comprehensive perspective that defines the interconnections between key antecedents. We conclude with some thoughts and suggestions for further study.

Smartphone Addiction Among University Students' During the Post-COVID-19 Era: The Role of Emotional Intelligence and Future Anxiety

OBJECTIVE

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic-related psychological symptoms can lead to smartphone addiction (SPA) risk and other behavioral disorders, thus impacting individuals' mental health and well-being. The present study aims to propose a mediation model to investigate the association between emotional intelligence (EI) and SPA, and the mediating role of future anxiety (FA) during the post-COVID-19 era.

METHODS

An online questionnaire including the Emotional Intelligence Scale, the Dark Future Scale, and the Smartphone Addiction Scale among university students from China, was conducted between September 14 and November 22, 2022. Finally, 1,154 valid questionnaires were collected. The reliability and confirmatory factor analysis results showed that all three scales had good reliability and validity.

RESULTS

Structural Equation Model demonstrated that EI significantly and negatively influenced SPA (β=0.211, p<0.001), university students' FA significantly and positively effected SPA (β=0.315, p<0.001), EI significantly predicted SPA in university students, and FA partially mediated the association between EI and SPA. The mediation effect of FA was 0.110, which accounted for 34.27% of the total effect. Bootstrap results furthermore tested the rigor of the mediating effect.

CONCLUSION

These findings broaden our understanding regarding the relationship between EI and SPA and the mediating role of FA, providing new sights for educators on how to reduce the risk of SPA when confronting the ongoing and possible future pandemics.

Effect of ABC Theory Model on Negative Emotion of Young Patients with Breast Cancer During Treatment

Objective

To evaluate the effect of emotional ABC theory on anxiety and depression in young patients with breast cancer.

Methods

A total of 200 eligible young patients with breast cancer were randomly divided into control group (N = 100) and experimental group (N = 100). The control group received routine treatment, while the experimental group received emotional ABC theory intervention at the same time.

Results

The Self Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Self Rating Depression Scale (SDS) scores of the two groups were observed before and after nursing. There was no significant difference between the two groups before nursing (P > 0.05), but there was significant difference between the two groups after nursing, the control group was significantly higher than the experimental group (P < 0.05). The satisfaction degree of the control group was significantly lower than that of the experimental group (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Young patients with breast cancer using emotional ABC theory can effectively improve negative emotions, clinical can promote the nursing program.

How to increase consumer intention to use Chatbots? An empirical analysis of hedonic and utilitarian motivations on social presence and the moderating effects of fear across generations

As chatbots become more advanced and popular, marketing research has paid enormous attention to the antecedents of consumer adoption of chatbots. This has become increasingly relevant because chatbots can help mitigate the fear and loneliness caused by the global pandemic. Therefore, unlike previous work that focused on design factors, we theorize that social presence serves a mediating role between consumer motivations (i.e., hedonic and utilitarian) and intention to use a chatbot service based on self-determination theory. Our results from a structural equation model (n  = 377) indicate that hedonic (but not utilitarian) motivation significantly affects chatbots’ social presence, ultimately influencing intention to use the chatbot service. We also found that fear of COVID-19 amplifies the effect of social presence on intention to use the chatbot service. In this dynamic, we found an additional moderated moderation effect of generational cohorts (i.e., baby boomers and Generations X, Y, and Z) in experiencing different levels of fear of COVID-19. Overall, our findings emphasize the importance of motivation-matching features for consumer adoption of chatbot services. Our findings also indicate that marketers may utilize the fear element to increase adoption of chatbot services, especially when targeting the young generations (e.g., Generation Z).

The effect of perceived organizational support on the prohibitive voice behavior of knowledgeable talents during the COVID-19 pandemic: Exploring moderating role of the digitalization level

This study focuses on the effect of perceived organizational support on the prohibitive voice of knowledgeable talents and on the factors influencing that voice during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Grounding our research in social exchange theory and the Chinese sociocultural background, we collected data from 714 questionnaires from universities in Zhejiang Province and analysize by linear regression and found, first, that perceived organizational support significantly increased the prohibitive voice of knowledgeable talents and, second, that in the relationship between perceived organizational support and the prohibitive voice of those talents, the level of digitalization level of an organization has a positive the effect of perceived organizational support on prohibitive voice behavior. This study enriches the theory of voice behavior, helps universities understand the behavioral patterns of knowledgeable talents and guides the cultivation of an atmosphere with prohibitive voice behavior.

How do aesthetics and tourist involvement influence cultural identity in heritage tourism? The mediating role of mental experience

As heritage is the precious treasure of human society, heritage also carries the genes of culture. It is of vital importance to effectively develop heritage tourism resources and explore the mechanisms that influence tourists' cultural identity. This study has integrated the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) framework with the attitude-behavior-context (ABC) theory to construct a hypothetical model of heritage tourism aesthetics, tourist involvement, mental experience, and cultural identity so as to figure out their relationships. The questionnaires were collected to investigate the impact paths and mechanisms between heritage aesthetics, tourist involvement, mental experience, and cultural identity. The structural equation model was used to examine the relationship between heritage tourism aesthetics, tourist involvement, mental experience, and cultural identity. The main findings include: (1) the positive impact of aesthetics driving mental experience and cultural identity is significant; (2) the impact of tourist involvement on mental experience and cultural identity is also significant; (3) the impact of aesthetics on cultural identity is not significant, but mental experience mediates the relationship between aesthetics and cultural identity in heritage tourism. This study provides a new research framework and perspective for the aesthetics, tourist involvement, mental experience, and cultural identity of tourists in heritage tourism. This study also provides practical implications for government culture sectors to propagandize culture and for heritage destination managers to better manage heritage sites.

Macroeconomic lockdown effects of COVID-19 on small business in China: empirical insights from SEM technique

The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in the China has exposed small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to a variety of challenges, some of which are potentially life-threatening to their sustainability. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the macroeconomic lockdown effects of COVID-19 on small business in China. A survey questionnaire with 313 participants was used to collect the data. In this study, the SEM technique was used to analyse model. The data have been gathered for the study from the managers and employees of Chinese SMEs. The findings of the study show that COVID-19 has a significant negative impact on financial performance, operational performance, profitability, access to finance, and customer satisfaction. According to the study's findings, external support aids have a greater impact on SMEs' ability to survive and thrive through innovation than on their actual performance. The findings of this study have a number of important practical consequences for small- and medium-sized business owners, governments, and policymakers.

Smartphone addiction risk, technology-related behaviors and attitudes, and psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic-related perceived risk of infection, illness fears, acute stress, emotional anxiety, exhaustion, and fatigue, psychological trauma and depressive symptoms, and sustained psychological distress can cause smartphone addiction risk and lead to technology-related cognitive, emotional, and behavioral disorders, thus impacting psychological well-being. Behavioral addiction of smartphone users can result in anxiety symptom severity, psychiatric symptoms, and depressive stress. We carried out a quantitative literature review of the Web of Science, Scopus, and ProQuest throughout June 2022, with search terms including “smartphone addiction + COVID-19” + “stress,” “anxiety,” “depression,” “psychological distress,” “screen time,” and “fear.” As we analyzed only articles published between 2020 and 2022, 288 papers met the eligibility criteria. By excluding sources with similar titles, having unclear findings or unsupported by replication, or displaying inconsistent content, we selected 64, mainly empirical, sources. We used layout algorithms (VOSviewer) and bibliometric mapping (Dimensions) as data visualization tools. Assessing the Methodological Quality of Systematic Reviews (AMSTAR), a systematic review and literature review software (Distiller SR), Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT), and Systematic Review Data Repository (SRDR) were employed as methodological quality assessment tools. As limitations, we analyzed only articles published between 2020 and 2022 in scholarly outlets indexed in the Web of Science, Scopus, and ProQuest databases. The scope of our study also does not advance the inspection of sources covering vulnerable individuals suffering from certain diseases or specific generations. Subsequent analyses should develop on smartphone use and addiction among children and adolescents. Future research should thus investigate problematic smartphone use and addiction across generations Z and Alpha. Attention should be directed to their personality traits and psychopathological symptoms.

Impact of COVID-19 Lock-Downs on Nature Connection in Southern and Eastern Africa

The response of African countries immediately after the COVID-19 pandemic declaration was rapid and appropriate, with low infections and mortality rates until June 2020. Severe lock-down measures were effective in Africa; however, the reduction in the amount of natural experience influences the quality of life in modern society. This study is conducted as an international comparative study in five African countries on changes in the perception of health recovery and outdoor activities in urban forests during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey was conducted with 430 respondents to investigate the relationships between COVID-19 stress, indoor activity, appreciation of greenspaces, perception of health recovery, and use of greenspaces. A structural equation model was used for analysis. The visit frequency and staying time in urban forests after lock-down dramatically decreased, raising concerns about nature-deficit disorder across the target countries after the end of the pandemic. This study confirmed urban dwellers’ desire for natural experiences and health recovery during the pandemic and predicts an explosive increase in urban forest utilization after the pandemic has ended.

What Do We Know and What Do We Need to Know about COVID-19’s Implications on Business Economics? From Bibliometric Analysis to a Conceptual Framework

This paper presents a bibliometric analysis of COVID-19-related research in business economics. The current status of research on economic management in COVID-19 is shown through descriptive statistics. The corresponding knowledge maps are obtained based on keyword clustering analysis, and research topics of interest to Chinese and foreign readers are identified. This paper finds that the impact of COVID-19 on business economics is mainly manifested in six major themes, namely COVID-19 and crisis management, COVID-19 and supply chain, COVID-19 and digitalization, COVID-19 and economic development, COVID-19 and organizational management, and COVID-19 and sustainable development. Based on these research foundations, this paper proposes a research framework for economic management under the influence of COVID-19. It describes the current research status, research directions, and future topics of six key research themes from macro, meso, and micro perspectives, to provide a knowledge base for research and practice in the field of economic management in the post-pandemic era.

Assessing the Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on M-Commerce Adoption: An Adapted UTAUT2 Approach

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted consumers’ lives and their shopping patterns, leading them towards mobile commerce. To address current shopping circumstances, an adapted UTAUT2 model aims to integrate trust and perceptions of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumers’ behavioral intention to rely on m-commerce during this period. The study proposes a research model which is investigated with the help of structural equation modelling in AMOS. Using the framework of a cross-sectional study, data were collected from an emerging market in Romania, where internet speed ranks 4th worldwide and where the yearly increase in internet and social media users is approximately 10%. By using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling, the research validates the applicability of UTAUT2 in examining consumers’ behavioral intent of using m-commerce during a pandemic. Hedonic motivation is the strongest predictor of consumers’ behavioral intentions to continue using m-commerce. The findings contribute to understandings of consumers’ behavior with m-commerce in an emerging market, extending knowledge based on the adapted UTAUT2 model and allowing for comprehension of the key role of trust and social influences in affecting consumers’ perceptions of the COVID-19 outbreak in relation to shopping patterns.

Accelerating the Nature Deficit or Enhancing the Nature-Based Human Health during the Pandemic Era: An International Study in Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, and Myanmar, following the Start of the COVID-19 Pandemic

In modern society, the opportunity to experience nature is separate from everyday life, requiring time and effort. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, restrictions on freedom of activity and communication around the world have become a crisis, causing a nature deficit by accelerating the process of separation from nature. At the same time, the pandemic has increased people’s motivation to return to nature, providing an opportunity to seek experiences and health recovery in nature. The authors conducted an international cross-sectional study in five Asian countries, investigating changes in the perception of recreational activities and health restoration in the natural environment, one of the many effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on human society. An online survey, completed by 524 respondents, has confirmed the efficacy of the SEM model, which includes COVID-19 stress, increased indoor activity, a preference for the natural environment, and the perception of health recovery. Although the five countries had different response values for each theme, the stress caused by restricted activities and communication during the pandemic was linked to a preference for natural experiences and the motivation to visit natural environments in all five countries, ultimately affecting perceptions of health recovery in nature. This study has shown that the COVID-19 pandemic, a disaster afflicting all human civilization, has changed people’s perceptions by enhancing their preference for natural recreational activities and health. It has accelerated people’s return to nature and fostered a positive perception of nature’s ability to promote good health.