Understanding extended information seeking

Trends and challenges of digital divide and digital inclusion: A bibliometric analysis

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are of great importance in today’s society and have permeated different aspects of human life. In fact, access to them is now considered a fundamental right. There exists, however, a gap between individuals and populations who have access to these technologies and those who do not, which has led to social exclusion. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the effects of this disparity. In this regard, digital inclusion, through ICTs, becomes a strategy to close not only technical but also social gaps, thereby bringing well-being to vulnerable groups and favouring compliance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Given the importance and topicality of this matter, we conducted a bibliometric analysis, which aims to answer what are the main trends in digital inclusion and digital divide studies and what are the challenges facing digital inclusion initiatives in the social context? For this purpose, we applied a search equation in Scopus and used VOSviewer. With this analysis, we were able to identify the evolution of publications over time and the main authors, countries and topics in the field, and the trends and challenges in digital inclusion initiatives. Finally, we conclude that this study can be used to address other research topics, such as the role of ICTs in the promotion of the SDGs through digital inclusion initiatives, the psychosocial aspects of technology adoption and the need for public policies that serve as a platform for digital and social inclusion.

Investigating users' sustained information seeking on academic social networking sites

Purpose

This study aims to investigate motivators, mediator and moderator of users' sustained information seeking on academic social networking sites (ASNSs).

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing upon the expectancy–value theory and related information-seeking literature, the study developed a theoretical model to explain why and how users intend to continue seeking information on ASNSs. Thereafter, a field survey with 385 participants was conducted to test the model. Finally, a content analysis of participants' post-survey feedback was performed to complement the model test results by showing more fine-grained findings.

Findings

Results suggest that information usefulness and information adoption (IA) are significant to users' sustained information seeking on ASNSs, while users' satisfaction with ASNSs may play a mediating role in the relationship between information usefulness and sustained information seeking. Additionally, self-efficacy for critical thinking (SCT) weakens the impact of IA on users' satisfaction with ASNSs. The post-survey feedback analysis indicates that information usefulness is more critical to sustained information seeking for users with high SCT, whereas IA becomes more crucial to users' satisfaction with ASNSs and sustained information seeking for users with low SCT.

Originality/value

Although the extant literature has distinguished between information seeking and sustained information seeking, empirical research into users' sustained information seeking on ASNSs is limited. The study fills this gap by proposing and validating relevant factors and the boundary condition of users' sustained information seeking.

Can WeChat really foster young people's civic engagement? Unraveling an underlying mechanism from the social capital theoretical perspective

Purpose

Building upon social capital theoretical foundation, the principal purpose of present research is to construct a conceptual research model and uncover the intricate relationships between WeChat usage, social capital and civic participation behaviors among young people.

Design/methodology/approach

A large cross-sectional valid data from 1,238 young people in mainland China were gathered to examine the hypothesized research model. Descriptive analyses, correlation analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) were sequentially undertaken to determine dynamic interrelationships among main constructs.

Findings

The empirical findings demonstrate that WeChat usage positively impacts young people's social interaction ties, the guanxi network and shared goals. Moreover, social interaction ties and shared goals are positively associated with their online civic engagement. Furthermore, the guanxi network is positively associated with both online and offline civic engagement.

Research limitations/implications

Theoretically, this research is the first to explicitly explore the influence mechanism of WeChat use intensity on different dimensions of individual-level social capital and civic engagement. Practically, these obtained results can be beneficial to the comprehending of whether and how WeChat is a resource for social capital and civic involvement.

Originality/value

Despite mobile social media, especially WeChat, has achieved immense popularity in contemporary mainland China, the potential influence of this emerging technology use on individuals' differential dimensions of social capital and civic engagement has not been systematically investigated. The study may not only offer fresh insight into innovative features of WeChat but also contribute to broader controversies regarding the impact of mobile-mediated communication on individuals' daily civic lives.

Negative effects of enterprise social networks (ESNs) and technostress: empirical evidence from R&D centres operating in India

Purpose

Nowadays, technostress is a common problem for many organisations. The purpose of this research is to investigate the underlying mechanisms under which enterprise social networks (ESNs) leads to technostress and their consequences.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors collected data from 242 employees working in research and development (R&D) centres in India and analysed the data using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

Findings

The findings of the study contribute to the growing body of knowledge in “dark side of social media research” by researching the phenomenon of higher use of ESNs in organisations and the consequences while theoretically delineating the effect of social, hedonic and cognitive use of ESNs in organisations on technostress, thus extending prior research on adverse impact of social media and technostress research. The results revealed that both ESNs’ need and technostress is adversely related to mental health, performance and greater turnover intention, and perceived organisation support (POS) played a moderating role in this relationship such that with higher POS, employee turnover intention reduces. By uncovering the role of POS as a potential moderator, the findings provide empirical evidence for POS and technostress in organisations, thus offering practical implications for the ESNs strategists, managers and practitioners to develop ESNs’ usage policies to avoid adverse outcomes of technostress in organisations.

Research limitations/implications

This research advances theoretical understanding of the relationship between ESNs, technostress, mental health, performance and turnover” intention while contributing extensively to the technostress literature and to the scholarship of ESNs. In addition, by uncovering the role of perceived organisational support as a potential moderator, this study contributes to the existing literature on POS.

Practical implications

The empirically tested model delivered by this research will enable organisations to understand different excessive usage patterns of ESNs at work, which contribute to negative outcomes for organisations and employees. The findings support the maintenance of social life at work affecting better employee mental health, and the application of cognitive use of ESNs can reduce technostress. Hence, organisational strategies should implement employee policies and interventions that facilitate better work–social life and well-being, simultaneously encouraging usage of ESNs largely for work-related information transmission and sharing within the organisations.

Originality/value

This study constructed a moderated-mediation model by introducing the potential mediating effect of technostress, mental health and performance and the moderating effect of POS to reveal the mechanism through which ESNs related to technostress, mental health, performance and turnover intention in the Indian context.

A mixed-method approach to assess users' intention to use mobile health (mHealth) using PLS-SEM and fsQCA

Purpose

Despite the enormous potential of mobile health (mHealth), identifying the asymmetric relationship among the predictors towards intention to use (ITU) of mHealth tends to remain unresolved. This study aims to investigate the predictors and their asymmetric effects on ITU of mHealth through patients and healthcare professionals.

Design/methodology/approach

An integrated information systems (IS) model with four additional constructs has been developed to analyze symmetric and asymmetric effects on ITU of mHealth. An exploratory survey on 452 mHealth users with prior experience was conducted to evaluate the model using a mixed-method approach including partial least squares-based structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) technique.

Findings

The findings show that facilitating conditions, personal awareness building, perceived enjoyment, effort expectancy and perceived usefulness have predictive power for ITU of mHealth. In contrast, fsQCA reveals four more alternative solutions, including the main drivers explored by PLS-SEM. The results indicate that various conditions that were not crucial in PLS-SEM analysis are shown to be sufficient conditions in fsQCA.

Research limitations/implications

This study contributes to theory by integrating self-actualization factors (i.e. personal awareness building, patients as decision support unit) into the IS model. And practically, this study makes an essential contribution to users' ITU of mHealth, enabling relevant stakeholders to build strategies to implement mHealth successfully.

Originality/value

While mHealth has revolutionized healthcare and the prior literature only showed linear relationships, this empirical study revealed asymmetrical relationships among the determinants of ITU of mHealth. Thus, this study extends to the growing body of literature on the use of mHealth technology in the least developing nation.

An Empirical Study on Drivers’ Willingness to Use Automatic Features of Intelligent Vehicles: A Psychological Empowerment Perspective

With the advancement in AI and related technologies, we are witnessing more remarkable use of intelligent vehicles. Intelligent vehicles use smart automatic features that make travel happier, safer, and efficient. However, not many studies examine their adoption or the influence of intelligent vehicles on user behavior. In this study, we specifically examine how intelligent vehicles’ sensing and acting abilities drive their adoption from the lens of psychological empowerment theory. We identify three dimensions of users’ perceived empowerment (perceived cognitive empowerment, perceived emotional empowerment, and perceived behavioral empowerment). Based on this theory, we argue that product features (sensing and acting in intelligent vehicles) empower users to use the product. Our proposed model is validated by an online survey of 312 car owners who are familiar with driving conditions, the results of this study reveal that driver’s perceived empowerment is vital for using automatic features of intelligent vehicles. Theoretically, this study combines the concept of empowerment with the intelligent-driving scenario and reasonably explains the mechanism of the intelligence of vehicles on users’ behavior intention.