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Modern text-to-speech voices can convey social cues ideal for narrating multimedia learning materials. Amazon Alexa has a unique feature among modern text-to-speech vocalizers as she can infuse enthusiasm cues into her synthetic voice. In this first study examining modern text-to-speech voice enthusiasm effects in a multimedia learning environment, a between-subjects online experiment was conducted where learners from a large Asian university (n = 244) listened to either Alexa's: (1) neutral voice, (2) low-enthusiastic voice, (3) medium-enthusiastic voice, or (4) high-enthusiastic voice, narrating a multimedia lesson on distributed denial-of-service attack. While Alexa's enthusiastic voices did not enhance persona ratings compared to Alexa's neutral voice, learners could infer more enthusiasm expressed by Alexa's medium-and high-enthusiastic voices than Alexa's neutral voice. Regarding cognitive load, Alexa's low-and high-enthusiastic voices decreased intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load ratings compared to Alexa's neutral voice. While Alexa's enthusiastic voices did not impact affective-motivational ratings differently from Alexa's neutral voice, learners reported a significant increase of positive emotions from their baseline positive emotions after listening to Alexa's medium-enthusiastic voice. Finally, Alexa's enthusiastic voices did not enhance the learning performance on immediate retention and transfer tests compared to Alexa's neutral voice. This study demonstrates that a modern text-to-speech voice enthusiasm can positively affect learners' emotions and cognitive load during multimedia learning. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed through the lens of the Cognitive Affective Model of E-learning, Integrated-Cognitive Affective Model of Learning with Multimedia, and Cognitive Load Theory. We further outline this study's limitations and recommendations for extending and widening the text-to-speech voice emotions research.

This study attempts to assess individuals' Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin literacy, and then identifies different profiles based on the literacy levels of these cryptocurrencies, and further investigates whether financial literacy explains Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin literacy. Using a sample from higher learning institutions in Malaysia, the results indicate that individuals exhibit higher knowledge on Bitcoin compared to Ethereum and Litecoin. Cluster analysis revealed two clusters, where the high-cryptocurrency-literacy cluster (high in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin literacy) has a distinct demographic profile and higher financial literacy than the low-cryptocurrency-literacy cluster (low in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin literacy). Financial literacy is shown to explain Bitcoin and Ethereum literacy, but not Litecoin literacy.

This study attempts to assess individuals' Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin literacy, and then identifies different profiles based on the literacy levels of these cryptocurrencies, and further investigates whether financial literacy explains Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin literacy. Using a sample from higher learning institutions in Malaysia, the results indicate that individuals exhibit higher knowledge on Bitcoin compared to Ethereum and Litecoin. Cluster analysis revealed two clusters, where the high-cryptocurrency-literacy cluster (high in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin literacy) has a distinct demographic profile and higher financial literacy than the low-cryptocurrency-literacy cluster (low in Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin literacy). Financial literacy is shown to explain Bitcoin and Ethereum literacy, but not Litecoin literacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leadership is vital for all organizations, including higher education institutions (HEIs). Based on this, this study aimed to examine department heads' leadership styles concerning employee performance as well as nurturing the culture of justice. For this purpose, the leadership styles (transformational and transactional leadership) relationship is examined with employee performance through the mediating role of organizational justice. Data were collected from academicians working in the HEIs located in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan using a convenience sampling approach to obtain the targeted sample. Data were analyzed through a symmetric approach and after conducting confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) using AMOS, mediation models were assessed by following the Hayes process model procedure. The results indicate that organizational justice partially mediates the direct relationship between transformational and transactional leadership with employee performance in the HEIs sector of Pakistan. It is recommended that institutions need to take action to ensure that just and fair transformational leadership behavior is practiced to attain the desired employee performance in the HEIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID‐19 crisis that resulted in diminished close contact interaction and increased financial volatility could influence consumer's perception toward online automated financial robo‐advisor, in order to manage their financial planning. Based on the data collected (i.e., between February [9 reported cases] and March [36 reported cases] 2020) within the developed urban cities in Malaysia just before the nationwide lockdown, the present study examines the antecedents of financial robo‐advisor's adoption during the COVID‐19 crisis. A variance based analysis shows that consumers with higher financial knowledge and having a greater tendency to rely on robo‐advisor tend to adopt financial robo‐advisor in times of crisis. In line with the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model, performance expectancy, social influence, and trust in robo‐advisor, in particular during the pandemic, drive consumer's intention to subscribe online financial robo‐advisor. The findings imply how consumers, robo‐advisory service providers, and regulators could respond to unprecedented crisis such as novel corona virus‐19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investors' perception of past portfolio returns predicts their investment behavior, but does this relationship mediate by overconfidence? Taking into account different aspects of overconfidence, this paper examines whether overconfidence manifested as illusion of control, miscalibration and better-than-average mediates the association between perception of past portfolio returns and investment behavior. In a survey study with individual and institutional investors from Malaysia, the results indicate that perception of higher past portfolio returns increases investors' trading, percentage of risky share investment and the number of financial asset holding, through the mediating channel of better-than-average effect. While individual investors are influenced by this overconfidence mechanism, institutional investors are not sensitive. This finding has theoretical implication for overconfidence model, house money effect and naïve reinforcement learning. Practically, the results imply that individual investors should be careful about underlying overconfidence biases as it can lead to inefficient decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to study gender differences in preferences for firm characteristics across various groups of investors in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach – Self-declared preferences are elicited through a survey of 520 investors comprising retail, financial professionals and institutional investors in the Malaysian stock market. Non-parametric (Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis) tests are computed to achieve the stated objective. Findings – Results reveal that female investors display higher preferences for the liquidity of a firm, dividend payments, trading volume of a firm, stock price and firm’s age than male investors across investor’s groups. Research limitations/implications – Findings imply that the gender gap in investing behaviour can be partly attributed to gender differences in preferences for firm characteristics. Practical/implications – The findings suggest that the gender gap can be mitigated by giving more priority to the choices of female investors with respect to firm characteristics. In turn, this may reduce a part of the gender gap in investing. Moreover, the findings would assist companies to understand and know how their shareholder’s preferences vary with respect to gender and investor’s groups. Originality/value – This paper provides evidence concerning the gender gap in investor’s self-declared preferences for firm characteristics across retail, financial professionals and institutional investors in Malaysia, which complements previous studies that used equity holdings data and only two groups of investors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractDigital Game-Based Learning (DGBL) combines gamification with educational content to create engaging learning experiences tailored to today’s learners. Non-Playable Characters (NPCs), integral to many video games, are computer-generated characters controlled by game algorithms rather than players. Despite their prominence in gaming, research on NPCs’ impact on learners’ perceptions, experiences, and acceptance of DGBL environments remains scarce. This study presents a framework that investigates the impact of non-player characters’ (NPCs) attributes, including social presence, telepresence, social support, and storytelling, on factors related to technology acceptance, such as perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use, as well as on the flow state and the intention to continue using a digital game-based learning (DGBL) environment. An experiment was conducted where learners were administered a survey after interacting with NPCs, simulating peers, professors, or industry experts teaching Fintech topics within a DGBL environment. Analysis of 200 valid responses using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling revealed that NPCs’ attributes significantly enhance perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and flow state in the DGBL environment. Furthermore, the findings indicate that perceived ease of use and the flow state positively affect learners’ intentions to continue using the DGBL environment. Thematic analysis per participant feedback highlighted the value of DGBL as an innovative educational approach that makes learning about Fintech accessible and engaging. These results are interpreted through the Technology Acceptance Model, flow theory, presence theory, and gamified learning model, offering insights into how NPCs can be effectively designed to enrich the DGBL learning experience and foster technology adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]