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Purpose: Cyberbullying is a globally pervasive problem and not novel in academia. Previous studies mainly focussed on the features, consequences and technological management of cyberbullying. However, most of the studies took cyberbullying examples in the West, and some issues still need to be addressed in the Chinese context. Thus, this study investigates how participants use cyberbullying words and why they use them in that particular way in China. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses content analysis to summarise the typical features of cyberbullying words, revealing a positive relationship between cyberbullying words and sentimental expressions. This paper also uses the questionnaire (N = 705) to explore the prevalence of cyberbullying among Chinese Internet users and to compare the gender differences in the cognition of cyberbullying words and involvement in cyberbullying, in line with the social cognitive theory. Findings: This study stated that people prefer repetitively using offensive words to achieve cyberbullying goals. Interestingly, this study does not find obvious gender differences in cyberbullying roles and cyberbullying language use. However, it explained the relationship between cognition and the use of cyberbullying words from a gender perspective. Practical implications: Theoretically, this study expands cyberbullying studies into a new cultural environment, pointing to a novel term, "imbalanced relation," for exploring cyberbullying behaviours. This study highlights the significance of technology and education in detecting and preventing cyberbullying, suggesting that educators and social media platforms can directly predict and prevent cyberbullying through textual perspectives and individuals' cognition of cyberbullying. Originality/value: This study aims to examine cyberbullying linguistic and emotional features and individual differences in cyberbullying behaviour in a high-context culture like China. Its values include comparing the differences between cyberbullying in China and cyberbullying in the West from the linguistic and cultural directions and reconsidering the "power imbalance" feature of cyberbullying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the factors influencing the behaviors of government officials during the implementation of open government data (OGD). By identifying and understanding the key factors that determine government officials' adoption of OGD in China, this study can create a valuable reference for other countries and their decision-making regarding government implementation of OGD. Design/methodology/approach: This research collected data by in-depth interviews with government officials in Chinese OGD departments. Through these interviews, the authors consulted 15 administrators from departments that are responsible for the information tasks in Beijing and other cities on their opinions about OGD. The authors also interviewed senior executives from information technology (IT) companies, as well as open data policy scholars from big data alliance and research institutions. Findings: This paper provides insights about how to promote government officials in OGD implementation, including (1) strengthen social supervision for the environment, through developing and publishing OGD technology roadmaps, then attracting the public to actively participate in the implementing of OGD; (2) establish an OGD assessment mechanism for government officials, with bonus motivations, position promotion incentives, as well as spiritual incentives via regional or sector rankings; (3) alleviate the risks of officials' OGD decisions in actual practice, using the institution construction of OGD to guide its direction and strengthen security protection. Originality/value: This paper fulfils an identified need to study how government officials' behavior can be motivated on OGD implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study is an attempt to evaluating the growth of scientific literature in the domain of coronavirus and Covid-19 pandemic research based on scientometric indicators: prolific countries and relative citation impact (RCI); influential institutions; author analysis and network, h-index and citation; DC (degree of collaboration), CC (collaboration coefficient), MCI (modified collaboration index) in the subject domain of coronavirus and Covid-19 research. Design/methodology/approach: The authors adopted approaches to obtain the literature data from Scopus database from 2000 to 2020 by conducting a systematic search using keywords related to the studied subject domain. In total, 15,297 numbers of records were considered for the literature analysis considering the real significant growth of this subject domain. This study presented the scientometric analysis of these publications. Furthermore, statistical correlations have been used to understand the collaboration pattern. Visualization tool VOSviewer is used to construct the co-author network. Findings: The present study found that 53.57% (8,195) of the research documents published on the open-access platform. Journal of Virology was found to be most preferred journal by the researcher producing around 839(5.48%) articles. USA and China dominate in the research output, and the University of Hong Kong has produced the highest number of research paper 547(3.58%). A significant portion of the research documents are published in the subject domain of medicine (49.70%), followed by immunology and microbiology (35.72%), and biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology subject domains (22.32%). There has been an unparalleled proliferation of publications on COVID-19 since January 2020 and also a significant distribution of research funds across the globe. Research limitations/implications: The study exclusively examines 15,297 research outputs which have been indexed in the Scopus database from 2000 to 2020 (till 01 April 2020). Thus, documents published in any other different channels and sources which are not covered in Scopus are excluded from the purview of research. Practical implications: It will be beneficial for researchers and practitioners worldwide for understanding the growth of scientific literature in the coronavirus and COVID-19 and identifying potential collaborator. Originality/value: Considering the global impact and social distress due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, this study is significant in the present scenario for identifying the growth of scientific literature in this field and evolving of this domain of research around the globe. The research results are useful to identify valuable research patterns from publications and of developments in the field of coronavirus and COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Mobile health service (MHS) can provide users with convenient health services and information to reduce their medical costs from aging or other health issues. Previous studies confirm the underdevelopment of the Chinese MHS. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the factors that affect the intention to use MHS. Design/methodology/approach: This paper develops a research model that integrates personal health differences with theory of planned behavior (TPB) and protection motivation theory (PMT). This model is empirically tested using data from 494 valid questionnaires. Structural equation modeling is used to test the hypotheses. Findings: Perceived vulnerability to disease, perceived severity of disease, response efficacy and self-efficacy positively affect attitude, thereby exerting a positive influence on the behavioral intention to use MHS. Subjective norms also influence users' behavioral intention. Personal health status and personal health value have quasi-moderating effects on the relationship between attitude and behavioral intention. Originality/value: This paper presents an early attempt to conceptualize and validate a research model of MHS acceptance by integrating TPB and PMT in a complementary manner. The integrated model provides a holistic view of people's intention to use MHS by considering health threat beliefs, individual role (i.e. attitude and self-efficacy) and social influences (i.e. subjective norms). Furthermore, this research highlights the role of two individual health characteristics (i.e. personal health status and personal health value) in MHS adoption. These new findings are beneficial toward an in-depth understanding of technology adoption in the MHS context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Food plays an important role in every culture around the world. Recently, cuisine preference analysis has become a popular research topic. However, most of these studies are conducted through questionnaires and interviews, which are highly limited by the time, cost and scope of data collection, especially when facing large-scale survey studies. Some researchers have, therefore, attempted to mine cuisine preferences based on online recipes, while this approach cannot reveal food preference from people's perspective. Today, people are sharing what they eat on social media platforms by posting reviews about the meal, reciting the names of appetizers or entrees, and photographing as well. Such large amount of user-generated contents (UGC) has potential to indicate people's preferences over different cuisines. Accordingly, the purpose of this paper is to explore Chinese cuisine preferences among online users of social media. Design/methodology/approach: Based on both UGC and online recipes, the authors first investigated the cuisine preference distribution in different regions. Then, dish preference similarity between regions was calculated and few geographic factors were identified, which might lead to such regional similarity appeared in our study. By applying hierarchical clustering, the authors clustered regions based on dish preference and ingredient usage separately. Findings: Experimental results show that, among 20 types of traditional Chinese cuisines, Sichuan cuisine is most favored across all regions in China. Geographical proximity is the more closely related to differences of regional dish preference than climate proximity. Originality/value: Different from traditional definitions of regions to which cuisine belong, the authors found new association between region and cuisine based on dish preference from social media and ingredient usage of dishes. Using social media may overcome problems with using traditional questionnaires, such as high costs and long cycle for questionnaire design and answering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to systematically unpack whether and how WeChat network size is correlated with perceived social capital and life satisfaction among Chinese overseas students in Germany. Design/methodology/approach: Based on a web-based survey data collected from 218 sojourners, zero-order correlation analyses and structural equation modeling were separately implemented to tackle the complicated research questions. Findings: Findings demonstrate that an individual's WeChat network size significantly and directly influences bridging, bonding and maintained social capital. Importantly, a path model demonstrates that these distinct dimensions of social capital are all significant predictors of life satisfaction. Furthermore, the empirical evidence reveals that bridging, bonding and maintained social capital can mediate the association between network size and well-being outcome. Research limitations/implications: Theoretically, the paper is an initial attempt contributing to the previous studies on estimating the influence of WeChat friendships on social capital and life satisfaction. Practically, these findings will contribute to a more nuanced understanding of effect of personal network characteristics derived from the dominant media interaction on social connectedness and life quality. Originality/value: Despite WeChat is immensely prevalent in Mainland China, only few studies have concentrated on the role of WeChat network size in fostering individuals' social and psychological development. The work provides unique evidence that number of friends on the emerging technology could indirectly benefit sojourners' satisfaction with life through processes involving diverse categories of social capital in a trans-cultural environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to explore how China uses a social credit system as part of its "data-driven authoritarianism" policy; and second, to investigate how datafication, which is a method to legitimize data collection, and dataveillance, which is continuous surveillance through the use of data, offer the Chinese state a legitimate method of monitoring, surveilling and controlling citizens, businesses and society. Taken together, China's social credit system is analyzed as an integrated tool for datafication, dataveillance and data-driven authoritarianism. Design/methodology/approach: This study combines the personal narratives of 22 Chinese citizens with policy analyses, online discussions and media reports. The stories were collected using a scenario-based story completion method to understand the participants' perceptions of the recently introduced social credit system in China. Findings: China's new social credit system, which turns both online and offline behaviors into a credit score through smartphone apps, creates a "new normal" way of life for Chinese citizens. This data-driven authoritarianism uses data and technology to enhance citizen surveillance. Interactions between individuals, technologies and information emerge from understanding the system as one that provides social goods, using technologies, and raising concerns of privacy, security and collectivity. An integrated critical perspective that incorporates the concepts of datafication and dataveillance enhances a general understanding of how data-driven authoritarianism develops through the social credit system. Originality/value: This study builds upon an ongoing debate and an emerging body of literature on datafication, dataveillance and digital sociology while filling empirical gaps in the study of the global South. The Chinese social credit system has growing recognition and importance as both a governing tool and a part of everyday datafication and dataveillance processes. Thus, these phenomena necessitate discussion of its consequences for, and applications by, the Chinese state and businesses, as well as affected individuals' efforts to adapt to the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the reasons that plagiarism in online literature is so hard to control in China, and it will conclude with a clear solution for the future. Design/methodology/approach: This paper begins its research with the statistics and analysis of plagiarism data and a review of expert interviews regarding online literature publishing. All of these data materials were collected from anti-plagiarism platforms, online literature websites, news report websites and judiciary office websites. Findings: The paper provides empirical insights into why the plagiarism is so rampant in the publishing of online literature in China. It suggests that the current task of controlling network literature plagiarism is arguably created by the literary production platform, which leads to the problem of the validity of the "self-monitoring model." In fact, controlling plagiarism must be emphasized by means of external monitoring, because strict supervision and various external punitive measurements for committing plagiarism can force literature-generating platforms to strengthen their own internal monitoring. Research limitations/implications: Online plagiarism occurs almost constantly, but it rarely results in court cases over copyright because of the lack of a robust copyright ecology in China. This paper considers large amounts of data and cases from self-publishing media platforms. Practical implications: The paper includes implications for the development of plagiarism management in online literature publishing from the publishing Association, media and government. Social implications: This paper suggests to online literature users that plagiarism will be controlled when certain active measures against it are taken. The authors hope that this view will promote the development of original online literature. Originality/value: This paper points out that China must strengthen supervision that comes from outside the online literature generate platforms to control the current rampant plagiarism that occurs on these platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In this study, specific measures adopted by the social media platforms in China supporting personal information management are investigated via surveys targeting such platforms. The purpose of this paper is to find out how social media platforms understand information management, and from which aspects and through what specific methods they provide support for information management, which contributes to understanding the issues and strategies associated with personal information management on social media. Design/methodology/approach: The dimensions and specific contents of the current platform support provided for information management are clearly defined by performing qualitative text analysis based on the content obtained from 11 platform policies published by five representative Chinese social media platforms. Findings: How social media platforms support personal information management on creation, collection, utilisation, sharing, storage, protection, removal and modification is identified. By analysing the status quo of support provided by the Chinese social media platform, some issues are proposed for discussion. Improved normative management is required to address the coexistence of multivalued information and management risks. However, the user rights are limited because the platform policies tend to be more focused on the perspective of the social media platform. Furthermore, the platform policy contents regarding information management are incomplete, and the applicability of these policies should be improved. Originality/value: This study seeks to contribute to personal information management on social media from the perspective of platform support. The perspective from the platforms as the service providers supporting information management also helps identify information management challenges and potential strategies. Furthermore, combining with the personal information management perspective, this study provides a background understanding of information management under a social collaborative framework for platforms, authorities, users and memory institutions. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-06-2020-0249 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The reviews submitted by users are the foundation of user-generated content (UGC) platforms. However, the rapid growth of users brings the problems of information overload and spotty content, which makes it necessary for UGC platforms to screen out reviews that are really helpful to users. The authors put forward in this paper the factors influencing review helpfulness voting from the perspective of review characteristics and reviewer characteristics. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses 8,953 reviews from 20 movies listed on Douban.com with variables focusing on review characteristics and reviewer characteristics that affect review helpfulness. To verify the six hypotheses proposed in the study, Stata 14 was used to perform tobit regression. Findings: Findings show that review helpfulness is significantly influenced by the length, valence, timeliness and deviation rating of the reviews. The results also underlie that a review submitted by a reviewer who has more followers and experience is more affected by review characteristics. Originality/value: Previous literature has discussed the factors that affect the helpfulness of reviews; however, the authors have established a new model that explores more comprehensive review characteristics and the moderating effect reviewer characteristics have on helpfulness. In this empirical research, the authors selected a UGC community in China as the research object. The UGC community may encourage users to write more helpful reviews by highlighting the characteristics of users. Users in return can use this to establish his/her image in the community. Future research can explore more variables related to users. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-05-2020-0186. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This study proposes integrating the perceived risk and social influence literatures on online group buying (OGB) intentions with the basic TAM variables (perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use). Design/methodology/approach – Based on an empirical survey of 304 online adopters of OGB in Taiwan, the paper uses structural equation modeling to confirm the research model. Findings – The results reveal that perceived critical mass had the largest total effect on intention to use group buying websites. The findings also indicate that perceived usefulness and a sense of virtual community (SOVC) have significant effect on OGB intention. In addition, both perceived ease of use and website quality influence perceived usefulness. As expected, perceived risk has negative effect on OGB intention. Research limitations/implications – This study only considered buying intention with regard to foodstuffs, and it is unclear whether these analytical results can be generalized to other items. Further research could apply this model to examine group coupons (such as discount vouchers for restaurants). Practical implications – To sustain a successful group buying website, attention must be paid to enhancing user's SOVC, enlarging the critical mass, and lowering the perceived risk. Practitioners can apply the findings of this study to focus on the determinants of success for their online shopping websites. Originality/value – Theoretically, while drawing upon TRA studies, this paper provides a model that is capable of lending an understanding of the determinants of OGB intention. From a managerial perspective, the findings indicate that webmasters can improve or manage website members' buying intentions by increasing the sense of virtual community and critical mass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The once failed paid-for social question and answer (SQA) service is in full swing in China. The traditional profit model, which typically relies on advertising, is abandoned in this case. Instead, users have to pay for content and service. The purpose of this paper is to explore why users are willing to pay in paid-for SQA sites. Design/methodology/approach: This study carried out 14 valid semi-structured interviews to investigate "why did they pay." The interviewees are users of three popular paid-for SQA sites. The qualitative data were obtained from valid interviews and processed through thematic analysis. Findings: The analysis revealed five overarching themes: paying for the answerer's heterogeneous resource, paying for more credible answer, the cognition of the question, the price is affordable and expecting potential revenue. The five themes and their sub-themes constitute the motivation for why users would pay in paid-for SQA. Practical implications: As a new business model for online information services, paid-for SQA sites are facing fierce competition from traditional ones. The findings not only indicate the importance of establishing a reciprocal network relationship among users, but also provide a better understanding of users' needs and demands for paid-for SQA services. The results are helpful for paid-for SQA sites to conduct a differential competitive strategy according to the user's paying motivation. Originality/value: To authors' knowledge, this is the first study, which provides primary-source data and valuable insights into users' paying motivation in the context of new paid-for SQA sites in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore online discussions about the 2014 World Cup on the Chinese social media platform Sina Weibo. Because China did not qualify for the World Cup, the study focusses on the role of online discussions surrounding a worldwide international event from an outsider perspective. Doing so will uncover not only the depth of dialogue surrounding issues of nation and sport, but – perhaps more importantly – also aid in uncovering the utility of online platforms in creating online communities even among presumed outsiders.Design/methodology/approach A content analysis of the discussions on Sina Weibo is used to identify differences between fanship comments and non-fanship comments in terms of the focus of the content and the degree of valence.Findings Overall, fans were more likely than non-fans to use positive valence in their comments to enhance the value of the World Cup. Moreover, fans were also more likely to discuss topics closely related to the event itself, such as teams, athletes, and factual information/news about the World Cup, establishing identification with in-group participants. Moreover, the findings also imply important insight regarding electronic commerce opportunities.Originality/value This paper is among the first to investigate the online discussions about World Cup in China. Theoretically, this paper provides a comprehensive framework to examine the online discussions of mega-sporting events in China based on theories of social identity theory and nationalism. Practically, it provides baseline data for the sports industry and public relation practitioners to promote a sports event when the direct nationalistic interests are absent. Moreover, it also aids in uncovering the substantial changes in sports-related communication, experiences, and mediated participation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to use Weibo as a window to examine the Chinese netizens' online attitudes and responses to two sets of population policy: the Selective Two-Child Policy (Phase 2) and the Universal Two-Child Policy. The population policy change from the rigid One-Child Policy to the Selective Two-Child Policy then to the Universal Two-Child Policy aroused great attention of the Chinese people. Design/methodology/approach: This research uses the crawler technique to extract data on the Sina Weibo platform. Through opinion mining of Weibo posts on two sets of population policy, the Weibo users' online opinions on the Two-Child Policy are analyzed from two perspectives: their attention intensity and sentiment tendency. The research also use the State Bureau of Statistics of China's national population data between 2011 and 2016 to examine the Chinese people's actual birth behaviors after implementing the two different sets of the Two-Child Policy. Findings: The research findings indicate that the Selective Two-Child Policy (Phase 2) and the Universal Two-Child Policy are good examples of thematic public sphere of Weibo. Weibo posts on the two sets of the Two-Child Policy have undergone different opinion cycles. People from economically developed regions and populous regions have paid more attention to both sets of Two-Child Policy than their counterparts in the less developed and less populated regions. Men pay more attention to the Two-Child Policy than women do. Despite people's huge attention to the new population policy, the population growth after the policy is not sustainable. Research limitations/implications: The new population policy alone is difficult to boost China's population within a short period of time. The Chinese Government must provide its people with enough incentives and supporting welfare to make the population growth happen. Originality/value: These findings have important implications for understanding the dynamics of online opinion formation and changing population policy in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the Chinese microblog users’ psychological motivations and the association between users’ motivations and their offline civic and political engagement. Specifically, this study examines what the psychological impetuses of Weibo use are and how they promote the young citizens’ civic and political involvement.Design/methodology/approach The data were collected through the web-based survey with a total sample of 426 people. Principal components factor analysis, correlation analysis, and hierarchical multiple regressions were sequentially carried out to address the research questions.Findings The findings reveal that there are four major motives for using Weibo: information, socializing, recognition seeking and entertainment. Interestingly, seeking social needs is positively and significantly related to increasing young people’s civic participation, but not political participation.Research limitations/implications Theoretically, the research demonstrates that the uses and gratifications is a suitable approach for analysis of psychological antecedents of Weibo use and subsequent outcomes. Practically, it will help understand the dynamics of how the new media technology may engender democratic development and change.Originality/value Although the growing significance of social media has drawn considerable attention, little research has been conducted to assess the political consequences of Weibo. The current study fills the void by investigating whether Weibo functions as an effective tool to facilitate democratic engagement in contemporary China. The obtained results may provide insight into the relationship between the gratification structures and engagement in other social settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to explore the information needs of Chinese parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and how these needs evolve as their children develop. Design/methodology/approach: This study collated 17,122 questions regarding raising children with ASD via the Yi Lin website until November 2021. Findings: The information needs of parents of children with ASD were classified into two categories: 1) Cognition-motivation: related to children with ASD; and 2) Affection-motivation: related to their parents. Child development causes the adaptation of information needs of these parents. Within the first three years, nine different topics of these parents' information needs were identified. Major information needs at this stage are as follows: intervention content, intervention methods and pre-diagnosis questions. During the ages of three to six years, there were 13 topics of information needs for parents, focusing on three areas: intervention content, intervention methods and diagnosis and examination. There are eight topics of information needs post six years. Parents are more concerned with the three topics of intervention content, life planning and intervention methods. Originality/value: This novel study indicates the complex and changing information needs of parents of children with ASD in China. It may enhance the understanding of the information needs of these parents at theoretical and practical levels, provide support for them to understand their own information needs and provide a reference for relevant government and social organisations to provide targeted information services for them. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-04-2022-0247 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Drawing upon the third-person effect (TPE) theory, this study focuses on two types of misinformation countering intentions (i.e. simple correction and correction with justification). Accordingly, it aims to (1) assess the tenability of the third-person perception (TPP) in the face of misinformation on social media, (2) explore the antecedents of TPP and its relationship with individual-level misinformation countering intentions and (3) examine whether the mediating process is contingent on different social media usage conditions. Design/methodology/approach: An online survey was conducted with 1,000 representative respondents recruited in Mainland China in January 2022 using quota sampling. Paired t-test, multiple linear regression and moderated mediation analysis were employed to examine the proposed hypotheses. Findings: Results bolster the fundamental proposition of TPP that individuals perceive others as more susceptible to social media misinformation than they are. The self-other perceptual bias served as a mediator between the perceived consequence of misinformation and misinformation countering (i.e. simple correction and correction with justification) intentions. Furthermore, intensive social media users were likely to be motivated to counter social media misinformation derived from the indirect mechanism. Originality/value: The findings provide further evidence for the role of TPE in explaining misinformation countering intention as prosocial and altruistic behavior rather than self-serving behavior. Practically, promising ways to combat rampant misinformation on social media include promoting the prosocial aspects and beneficial outcomes of misinformation countering efforts to others, as well as reconfiguring the strategies by impelling intensive social media users to participate in enacting countering actions Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-09-2022-0507. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to analyse whether internet experience, process quality, outcome quality, customer satisfaction, and post-use expectations affect the consistent use of health information online by Chinese internet users and how these factors are related to one another. Design/methodology/approach - Data were collected from 219 Chinese university students who are currently using, or have used, the health information services available on the internet. Tertiary students were selected because they are active internet users who frequently use the internet to search for information. Findings - Internet experience affects process quality, but it has no direct relation to outcome quality or customer satisfaction. Process quality determines customer satisfaction toward health information available on the internet and influences the outcome quality; however, the outcome quality is not related to customer satisfaction. The decision to reuse health information found on the internet is influenced by both customer satisfaction and post-use expectations. The customers' post-use expectations are primarily influenced by customer satisfaction. Practical implications - For a successful internet business, internet marketers should recognise that service quality includes both process quality and outcome quality and plan new campaigns that take this factor into consideration. Tracking post-use expectations can help predict, with reasonable accuracy, the relationship between customer satisfaction and retention of health information found on the internet. Originality/value - This study provides a better understanding about the users of health information found on the internet in China by taking into account the above-mentioned factors: internet experience, post-use expectation, process quality, and outcome quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the information needs and behaviors of Chinese first-time mothers from the perspective of information journey theory. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses the popular coding language Python to write a program to extract 366 posts published by first-time mothers in the Babytree community of China's largest maternal and infant platform. Content analysis is used to analyze and encode the collected data. Findings: This study summarizes the information needs of first-time mothers in China specifically, which includes six aspects of health, pregnancy care, postpartum parenting, socialization, self-actualization, and entertainment. Then, based on its hierarchical and stage characteristics, more flexible information needs matrix for Chinese first-time mothers has been developed to reflect their changing 15 types of information needs more fully. Finally, it constructs the information journey model of Chinese first-time mothers including five stages. Originality/value: This is the first time that information journey theory has been applied to the research on information needs and behaviors of first-time mothers. The authors have also further expanded the information seeking and acquisition phases and found new gaps in the phases to further refine the information journey model. This study can help us better understand the online information needs and behaviors of Chinese first-time mothers and provide support for organizations and online health community managers to develop new information services or improve the quality of existing services. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-10-2021-0538. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Academic social network site (ASNS) is a new form of academic service in the social media age, and the study of ASNS user behavior is of great significance to academic librarians due to its recent popularity. This research explores the influencing factors of the continuous usage intention of ASNSs. Design/methodology/approach: A survey of academics in China was conducted, and 361 responses were collected and analyzed with a structural equation model, which involves satisfaction, continuous usage intention, expectation confirmation, perceived usefulness (PU), social identity, referent network size and perceived interactivity (PI). Findings: Satisfaction, expectation confirmation, PU, referent network size, social identity and PI significantly impact continuous usage intention. Satisfaction is a mediating variable by which expectation confirmation, PU, referent network size, social identity and other influencing factors affect continuous usage intention. Expectation confirmation and referent network size are two endogenous variables that can explain and predict the continuous usage intention of ASNSs. Originality/value: Existing research does not consciously distinguish between adoption, use and continuous use, and only scant studies have conducted empirical research. Further, despite the widespread ASNS usage in China, Chinese scholars' studies are few, as existing studies have mainly focused on users of the UK, the US and India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Previous studies overemphasize the negative effects of social media usage (SMU) within organizations and underestimate its positive influences on employees' behavior. This study attempts to link employees' social media use at work to their creativity performance. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the bounded generalized reciprocity theory and unbounded indirect reciprocity (UIR) theory, the authors developed a research model. To test the model, the authors collected a set of 172 paired data of organizations and employees from 31 knowledge-intensive enterprises in China to test the hypothesis. Findings: This research found that the social, cognitive and hedonic uses of social media all directly affect employee creativity. Relational energy fully mediates the effects of the cognitive and hedonic usages on creativity. Moreover, job autonomy moderates the effects of the relationships among the social, cognitive and hedonic uses on employee creativity. Originality/value: The conclusions not only enriched authors' understanding of the effectiveness of interpersonal interaction but also extended the research boundary of the relationship between SMU and employee creativity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Although the use of online technology has generated excitement over its potential to increase access to education, most existing research has focused on comparing online and in-person student performance. This study provides empirical evidence that semiprivate space at the family level affects students' access to online education. Design/methodology/approach: Students from 1,565 low-income households in China were surveyed, and a multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted on the hypothesized factors that affect access to online education at home. Findings: The results show that the absence of computers, smartphones and broadband networks at home severely hinders children's access to online education, and even leads to their exclusion from it. Children with their fathers or paternal grandfathers as guardians have a lower probability of receiving online education at home. It was also found that the higher the education level of the head of the household, the more likely it is that children will receive online education at home. Originality/value: This study is one of the first to examine online accessibility at the family level. It also demonstrates that the semiprivate space at the family level may limit opportunities for students who would otherwise pursue online education at home. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which looks into the robustness and applicability of web co-link analysis for business intelligence of two different Chinese industries such as electronics and chemical. The study collects web co-link data from various search engines and uses multidimensional scaling (MDS) in mapping the co-link data. It discovers that webpages of the Chinese industries are very consumer-oriented. It also suggests that the co-link analysis method can be also applied to the non-business environment.

The article focuses on the integration of library resources and services as it relates to Shanghai Jiao Tong University Library in China. The move is supported by MetaLib, SFX and Web 2.0 technologies to meet portal requirements. It entails analysis on the methods to achieve cross searching, ways to enhance resource linking, and integration of library, subject and personalisation services. The research recommends the need for more work to be developed as the analysis is not based on an exhaustive list of portals and as technologies are developing rapidly.

The importance of electronic theses and dissertations and the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations has been widely realized by Chinese academic libraries in recent years. This paper introduces the China Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations project initiated by the China Academic Library and Information System and current research into related technologies, including metadata standards, OAI metadata harvesting protocol, standard document format and intellectual property protection. Research work on multilingual and cross-lingual searching, personalization and knowledge organization is also described. The goals of the China Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations are to establish electronic theses and dissertations collections for Chinese academic universities, to provide services to access them efficiently, and to ensure the seamless organization of distributed electronic theses and dissertations collections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Social media have become an increasingly important source for people to learn about politics and public affairs. The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of social media news sharing as a reasoning process of the O-S-R-O-R model and the moderation role of social media news performance on the association between news consumption and attitudinal changes. Design/methodology/approach: A national survey was conducted in the US. The researcher recruited participants in the Qualtrics national panel by following the census adult demographic breakdown. Findings: This study finds that social media news consumption on the US-China trade conflict is likely to lead Americans to change attitudes toward Chinese, and this relationship is mediated by social media news sharing. In addition, the indirect relationship via news sharing is found particularly strong among individuals who perceive social media news fair and balanced. Originality/value: This study extends the literature by examining social media news engagement on the ongoing trade conflict between the US and China. It reveals that the impact of social media news consumption on people's attitudinal and behavioral changes depends on people's perceived news quality on these platforms. Theoretical contribution to the O-S-R-O-R model and practical implications to social media news are discussed in terms of the role that social media platforms play in attitude change. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-05-2020-0178 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Despite the advantages of MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses), the adoption rate is still low, especially in less developed countries. The present study aims to investigate the drivers and barriers faced by adopters and non-adopters of MOOCs, and examine how these factors influence the intention of MOOC adoption. Design/methodology/approach: A survey questionnaire was developed to measure how the identified factors may impact adopters and non-adopters' intention of using MOOCs. Through both offline and online channels, 1018 valid questionnaires were collected in China. Multiple regression analysis was applied to test the influential factors for adopters and non-adopters of MOOCs. Findings: This study found that the drivers (i.e. perceived usefulness, performance-to-cost value, and self-regulation) have similar effects on both adopters and non-adopters on intention to adopt MOOCs. What differs between the two groups are the barriers to MOOC adoption. While adopters considered educational tradition and peers' impact as major barriers, non-adopters regarded lack of publicity and relevant information to be an obstacle. In addition, both adopters and non-adopters were hindered by the lack of accessibility and instructions. Research limitations/implications: As all the participants of this study were from one country in Asia, the findings may not be applicable to explain the situation of MOOC adoption in other countries with different social and cultural context. Originality/value: In addition to the perceptions of adopters, this study also reveals the perceptions of non-adopters of MOOCs, which has seldom been investigated. In addition, this study focuses on the context of economically disadvantaged regions which have been neglected in previous studies of MOOC adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of both information self-efficacy and information acquisition with regard to information channels on decision quality and also on satisfaction, which provides a new angle for online shopping satisfaction research and practice alike. Design/methodology/approach – This study develops a research model drawing upon customer satisfaction theory, information and decision making theory and self-efficacy theory and tests it using a questionnaire and partial least squares structural equation modelling. Findings – Data collected from 331 Chinese online shopping customers were used to test the model. It was found that self-efficacy in getting information (SEGI) strongly affects perceived decision quality (PDQ) and also satisfaction with online shopping. Meanwhile SEGI negatively moderates the impact of web advertising usage for getting information on PDQ and overrides the effect of consumer review usage for getting information on PDQ. Originality/value – The current research usefully contributes to the theoretical development of the structural model exploring the effects of information self-efficacy and information behaviour on decision quality and satisfaction with online shopping in the specific context of China and beyond more generally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to develop an evaluation criteria system for search engines using the Delphi method and the analytic hierarchy process, and to conduct an empirical study on Chinese search engines to verify it. This is because the evaluation criteria in current research rarely considers expert opinions and experience, and seldom calculates the weight of each criterion by quantitative methods. Design/methodology/approach – Expert investigation of the web-based Delphi method was employed to develop the evaluation criteria, and the analytic hierarchy process based on an exponential scale was adopted to calculate the weight of each criterion. An empirical study was designed to test the evaluation criteria system. A total of 12 study participants were invited to evaluate six popular Chinese search engines by means of e-mail questionnaires. All the calculation processes were executed automatically by Java programming. Findings – The indexing structure and search method were the core criteria for evaluating the search engines. Google (using simplified Chinese characters) achieved the best performance among the six typical Chinese search engines. Originality/value – The criteria for search engine evaluation were determined and weighted by the web-based Delphi method and the analytic hierarchy process based on an exponential scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to examine the critical success factors of mobile web site adoption. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the valid responses collected from a questionnaire survey, the structural equation modelling technique was employed to examine the research model. Findings – The results indicate that system quality is the main factor affecting perceived ease of use, whereas information quality is the main factor affecting perceived usefulness. Service quality has significant effects on trust and perceived ease of use. Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use and trust determine user satisfaction. Practical implications – Mobile service providers need to improve the system quality, information quality and service quality of mobile web sites to enhance user satisfaction. Originality/value – Previous research has mainly focused on e-commerce web site success and seldom examined the factors affecting mobile web site success. This research fills the gap. The research draws on information systems success theory, the technology acceptance model and trust theory as the theoretical bases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which examines the preferences of consumers on package tours to China, the differences among consumers' cognition on these tours and web travel advertisements, the similarities among travel web sites, and the cognitive structure that may help marketers on web content design. It compares the contents of travel sites and the search engine results using a means-end chain theory and travel web site content to identify similarities and differences, search results, and user cognition. It shows that greater variety of package tours provided by travel sites could mean higher possibility of offering discount incentives. It also suggests that knowledge on written web content preferred by consumers can help marketers in improving their web design.