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As mobile devices have become a necessity in our daily lives, mobile advertising is also prevalent. Accordingly, it is critical for practitioners to understand how consumers visually attend to mobile advertisements. One popular way of doing so is via eye-tracking methodology. However, scant eye-tracking research exists in mobile settings due to technical challenges, e.g., cumbersome data annotation. To tackle these challenges, the authors propose an object-detection machine learning (ML) algorithm—You Only Look Once (YOLO) v3—to analyze eye-tracking videos automatically. Moreover, we extend the original YOLO v3 model by developing a novel algorithm to optimize the analysis of eye-tracking data collected from mobile devices. Through a lab experiment, we investigate how two types of ad elements (i.e., textual vs. pictorial) and shopping devices (i.e., mobile vs. PC) affect consumers' visual attention. Our findings suggest that (1) textual ad elements receive more attention than pictorial ones, and such differences are more pronounced in ads on mobile devices than those on PCs; and (2) mobile ads receive less attention than PC ads. Our findings provide managerial insights into developing effective digital advertising strategies to improve consumers' visual attention in online and mobile advertisements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores how disinformation can dampen general users' expressions of opinion online. In the context of a proven disinformation case in South Korea, this study analyzes externally validated click-logs of 1389 fake accounts and more than a million logs of 45,769 general users in a highly popular web portal. Findings show that the inflated visibility of anti-governmental opinions in the manipulated comment space was incongruent with the overall political tone that general users had spontaneously encountered from the broader media ecosystem beyond the manipulated space. Subsequently, this opinion "climate" incongruence decreased the likelihood of commenting in the manipulated space. The study concludes that false amplification (of the opinions that the manipulators promote) and false diminution (of general users' political expressions) work in tandem to create a distorted opinion environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhodotypos scandens (Thunb.) Makino is known to have a seed dispersal that is thick and stony (endocarp + seeds) and has potential as a landscaping tree seed. In several Rosaceae species, seeds are covered with a hard endocarp, making the internal seeds water-impermeable and germination difficult. Here, we analyzed the morphoanatomical traits and germination properties of R. scandens seeds. To identify ideal seed propagation conditions, we immersed R. scandens seeds in sulfuric acid for varying durations and subjected them to phytohormone (gibberellic acid A3 and fluridone) and a cold stratification (CS) (5 °C) treatment after endocarp removal (ER). The R. scandens stony seeds did not increase in mass by ≥25.0%. Following ER, the seed mass increased by ≥50.0% with water absorption when compared to the initial dry mass. Seed surfaces showed damage and cracks through scarification after 1 h of immersion in sulfuric acid, failing to germinate. A combination of ER, phytohormone treatment, and CS improved seed germination compared to ER alone (26.0 ± 5.3%). Overall, R. scandens seeds showed a dispersal with a hard endocarp from the parent plant, and a pre-treatment with ER, phytohormones, and CS was required for effective seed propagation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Skippable ads are known to provide better advertising experiences by giving viewers a sense of control with the ability to skip an ad after watching it for a few seconds. Despite the growing interest, few studies have investigated factors that influence skipping or viewership of pre-roll skippable ads. This study examines the determinants of pre-roll ad acceptance by using clickstream data of 2,078,090 users' ad and content viewing behaviors on a popular online video content platform in South Korea. We found that skippable ad acceptance is impacted by personal, situational, and contextual factors that influence the level of goal impediment in online video consumption contexts. We conclude with theoretical and practical implications of the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As platform owners interact with end users and complementors, their demand-side characteristics and performance affect the overall value creation of ecosystems. This research investigated how the emergence of popular complements on a mobile communication platform impacts the usage of other complements by the platform's end users and how platform owners can benefit from such demand spillovers. Using individual user-level app usage data, we empirically demonstrated how the presence of a popular app alters the demand structure of a platform through changes in the usage of other apps operating within it. The findings reveal that popular app adoption by users increases the app usage, excluding the usage of popular apps, only within the platform offering a popular app, supporting the existence of positive spillovers from popular complement adoption on a platform. Such positive within-platform spillovers occur through the increased usage of both existing and new apps, with stronger positive spillovers for new apps. These findings imply that platform owners can reap benefits by coordinating the launch of new complements and the promotion of less-known counterparts to end users with the emergence of a popular app. All these results shed light on how platform owners can manage their complements and create value from popular complements. As platform owners interact with end users and complementors, their demand-side characteristics and performance affect the overall value creation of ecosystems. This research investigated how the emergence of popular complements on a mobile communication platform impacts the usage of other complementary products by the platform's end users and how platform owners can benefit from such demand spillovers. We identified two different forms of demand spillovers (i.e., backward and forward) and conceptualized how each subsequently affects platform expansion. On the basis of individual user-level app usage data, we empirically demonstrated how the presence of a popular app alters the demand structure of a platform through changes in the usage of other apps operating within it. The findings reveal that popular app adoption by users increases the number of apps used and the duration of app usage, excluding the usage of popular apps, only within the platform offering a popular app. These results support the existence of positive spillovers from popular complement adoption on a platform. Such positive within-platform spillovers are derived from both backward spillovers onto existing apps adopted before popular app adoption and forward spillovers onto new apps to be adopted after the uptake of favored apps. These patterns suggest that positive spillovers of popular app adoption occur through both the increased retrieval of existing apps and reduced uncertainty about newly released apps. Furthermore, forward spillover is considerably stronger than backward spillover, implying that platform owners can reap benefits by coordinating the launch of new complements and the promotion of less-known counterparts to end users with the emergence of a popular app. These results shed light on how platform owners can manage their complements and create value beyond direct contributions from popular complements. History: Yulin Fang, Senior Editor; Yan Huang, Associate Editor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]