Search Results (26)

As ad-supported subscription models proliferate across over-the-top (OTT) media platforms, understanding the psychological mechanisms and perceptual factors that underlie consumers’ transition decisions becomes increasingly consequential. This study integrates the Uses and Gratifications framework with a contemporary motivation-based perspective to examine how users’ media consumption motivations and advertising attitudes predict intentions to adopt ad-supported OTT plans. Data were collected via a nationally representative online survey in South Korea (N = 813). The sample included both premium subscribers (n = 708) and non-subscribers (n = 105). The findings reveal distinct segmentation in decision-making patterns. Among premium subscribers, switching intentions were predominantly driven by intrinsic motivations—particularly identity alignment with content—and by the perceived informational value of advertisements. These individuals are more likely to consider ad-supported plans when ad content is personally relevant and cognitively enriching. Conversely, non-subscribers exhibited greater sensitivity to extrinsic cues such as the entertainment value of ads and the presence of tangible incentives (e.g., discounts), suggesting a hedonic-reward orientation. By advancing a dual-pathway explanatory model, this study contributes to the theoretical discourse on digital subscription behavior and offers actionable insights for OTT service providers. The results underscore the necessity of segment-specific advertising strategies: premium subscribers may be engaged through informative and identity-consistent advertising, while non-subscribers respond more favorably to enjoyable and benefit-laden ad experiences. These insights inform platform monetization efforts amid the evolving dynamics of consumer attention and subscription fatigue. Full article

On 14 March 2020, the Spanish Government declared a state of alarm to manage the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This led to the implementation of measures to confine the population and contain economic activities, with significant socio-labour consequences. Faced with this emergency scenario, the labour intervention actions carried out by the Spanish Administration were striking and unique, with the aim of maintaining employment and preventing its massive destruction. At the same time, a new stage of transition began in the Spanish labour market, where the acceleration in the application of new information technologies and the processes of economic globalisation meant changes in the organisation of work in order to face the new economic challenges. The success of the model of labour market intervention and employment protection organised by the Spanish Administration in that unavoidable health crisis is examined here as an effective example for future emergencies, which the WHO is advertising can happen again. Full article

The limited endowment of initial traffic creates fierce competition among merchants for securing scarce resources in e-commerce platforms. Optimal pricing mechanisms are imperative to maximize transaction volumes and attract sustained traffic support from platforms. This study investigates merchant pricing mechanisms under two advertising strategies—broadband advertising and targeted advertising—by constructing differentiated pricing models that account for consumer preference heterogeneity. The findings reveal that, in most cases where merchants prioritize profit maximization, targeted advertising-driven pricing mechanisms outperform broadband advertising strategies. However, when merchants prioritize early-stage sales volume, broadband advertising proves to be more advantageous. Furthermore, the study shows that merchant pricing strategies evolve over their lifecycle, transitioning from offering lower prices to high-type consumers toward progressively higher prices, thus validating the underlying mechanism of “big data price discrimination” (the phenomenon of “killing loyal customers”). Additionally, this research emphasizes the importance of accurately understanding consumer preferences, as the sensitivity differential between price and advertising responses plays a crucial moderating role. When the sensitivity gap becomes excessively large, the price differential in differentiated pricing mechanisms should be proportionally reduced to maintain effectiveness. In conclusion, by integrating consumer utility, merchant profit, and platform incentives, pricing mechanisms based on targeted advertising exhibit superior capabilities in screening consumer information. When combined with advertising effectiveness and consumer preference heterogeneity, these mechanisms represent a relatively optimal strategy. However, this conclusion holds only when the proportion of high-type consumers in the market is moderate, not excessively low. This study contributes to the literature by providing a comprehensive framework for merchants to select appropriate pricing strategies under varying advertising environments and consumer structures. Full article

Objectives: This longitudinal study measured changes in adherence to sustainable healthy diets in 698 Chilean children (aged 3–6 years at baseline) over the period that Chile’s Food Labelling and Advertising Law was implemented. Methods: Dietary data were collected annually from 2016 to 2019 applying single multiple-pass 24 h dietary recalls to children’s primary caretakers. The Planetary Health Diet Index for Children and Adolescents (PHDI-C) was used to quantify adherence to sustainable healthy diets where higher scores indicate better adherence. Linear mixed models were fitted to estimate the change in PHDI-C total and individual component scores from 2016 to 2019. Results: Mean total PHDI-C score decreased from 50.1 points in 2016 to 46.3 and 46.1 in 2018 and 2019, respectively (p-value < 0.001), suggesting that children’s overall adherence to sustainable healthy diets was low and decreased over time. Intake of legumes, fruits, dark green vegetables, red and orange vegetables, and vegetable oils decreased, while intake of palm oil, red meats, and animal fats increased, resulting in small but significant declines in eight PHDI-C component scores. Whole cereal intake increased, while the consumption of dairy products and added sugars decreased, resulting in improvements in three PHDI-C component scores. Conclusions: Aside from the decrease in added sugar intake, all dietary changes observed in this study were consistent with trends described among children transitioning from pre-school age to school age. The Law might have contributed to reducing children’s added sugar intake, but further research is required to establish causality. Full article

This study aims to enhance the visual design of ABC.com, a leading Indonesian online news portal, by using usability and eye-tracking methods. As news media transitions from print to digital, maintaining an optimal user experience is crucial. This study addresses design deficiencies on ABC.com, particularly related to news accessibility, search functionality, and the impact of advertisements. This research employs questionnaires and eye-tracking technology to identify user behavior and validate the findings. Key usability aspects, such as content accessibility, error prevention, and visual appeal, are analyzed to improve the website’s layout. The eye-tracking results reveal that users focus mainly on the center of the screen, often missing critical elements like the latest news and the search engine. This study proposes enhancements in typography, contrast, and page layout, based on the identified needs. The final design of ABC.com improved by enhancing efficiency, clarity, aesthetics, readability, and user comfort. The redesign showed mean improvements of 0.16, 0.41, 0.65, 0.32, and 0.54 in these criteria, respectively, indicating a notable enhancement in usability. This study’s findings offer a practical guideline that can be directly applied to enhance similar online news platforms in Indonesia. Full article

Private supplementary tutoring (PST) is a flourishing market for edupreneurs whose services relate closely to mainstream education. While international research elaborates on geographical variations in PST and edupreneurs’ marketing strategies, the PST market in Switzerland has been largely understudied. This paper contributes to fill this research gap by presenting a thematic analysis of the websites of edupreneurs offering preparation programmes for the highly selective central entrance examination (CEE) to the academically focused public school track of Gymnasium in Zurich. Conceptually, we draw on “problematization” and “commodificiation” as key terms elaborated by “geographies of marketization”. With this performative conceptualisation of the education market, we examine the marketing strategies of the edupreneurs offering CEE preparation courses. We offer two contributions to the existing research. First, the analysis elaborates that private CEE preparation courses are advertised as a market solution that compensates for an omission caused by public education. Second, we show how edupreneurs use rational and emotional arguments to convince families of the need of booking CEE preparation courses for their children. In the discussion, we engage with the findings of our local case study and argue that selective educational transitions have much wider relevance for policy and society elsewhere. Full article

Caffeine is an alkaloid belonging to the methylated xanthine family. It is found in various foods of plant origin, including tea leaves, guarana berries, and coffee beans. Due to its stimulating effect on the central nervous system and the associated increase in alertness and reduction in tiredness, caffeine is specifically added to some foods, such as food supplements. Claims about the positive physiological effects of caffeine are health claims within the definition of the European Union (EU) Health Claims Regulation and must be authorised before use. Despite a positive opinion from the European Food Safety Authority, regulation of the authorisation of caffeine claims was rejected due to a veto by the European Parliament. As a result, health claims are currently not regulated for caffeine in all EU member states, and the transitional on-hold status also no longer applies for most claims. Therefore, products with health claims regarding caffeine are still observed within the context of governmental food-control activities. To investigate how these are currently used on the market, internet research (n = 188) was carried out. The sample included foods that naturally contain caffeine or to which it is frequently added, namely coffee, tea, non-alcoholic soft drinks and mixed drinks, as well as food supplements, including sports nutrition products. Furthermore, the labelling of official samples that were conspicuous in relation to caffeine in the years 2019–2023 (n = 136) was included in the evaluation. The products most frequently advertised with unregulated health claims for caffeine were food supplements (31% of 135 products). On the other hand, health claims were least frequently used for coffee (4% of 77 products) and tea (18% of 33 products). For all product groups, health claims were mainly made regarding improved concentration and performance/energy. The individual effects the health claims referred to differed between the product groups. In the case of coffee and tea, the advertised effects are mainly limited to increased energy and performance in the form of a “kick” or “boost”. A wider range of different health claims are used for food supplements and alcohol-free beverages, including claims relating to stamina and alertness. In general, the tendency was observed for health claims to be advertised more frequently on the internet than on the product labelling itself. This study exposes a critical issue: while scientific evidence supports some health claims for caffeine, they still remain unregulated, complicating enforcement and creating public confusion. Prompt regulatory revision is needed to align these claims with scientific validations, ensuring both accuracy and regulatory compliance. Full article

The aim of this paper is to shape the identity of digital video advertising in the new digital media landscape, focusing on whether and to what extent popular digital ads on social media are differentiated from traditional television ads in the context of the convergence of traditional and new electronic media. Content analysis was preferred for the study of popular advertising content in social media. In this respect, the differentiation of digital video advertising from its television counterpart is examined in terms of the properties and effects of the transmission medium itself on the advertising content and of the features of the digital advertising content itself. Out of the findings emerged that digital video advertising is still in a phase of adaptation/transition, consisting of only a potential breakthrough in the contemporary media environment, since it has not yet exhausted the possibilities offered by the internet and Web 2.0. Currently, digital advertising only partially incorporates and exploits the advantages of enriched, multimedia, interactive, and personalized content, characteristics that would potentially differentiate it to a greater extent from advertising shown in traditional media, especially television. Full article

In the transition from television to mobile devices, short videos have emerged as the primary content format, possessing tremendous potential in various fields such as marketing, promotion, education, advertising, and so on. However, from the available literature, there is a lack of studies investigating the elements necessary for the success of short videos, specifically regarding what factors need to be considered during production to increase viewership. Therefore, this study proposed the NLP-QFD model, integrating Natural Language Processing (NLP), Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), and Quality Function Deployment (QFD) methods. Real short videos from mainstream Western media (CNN) and regional media (Middle East Eye) will be employed as case studies. In addition to analyzing the content of short videos and audiences’ reviews, we will utilize the NLP-QFD model to identify the key success factors (KSFs) of short videos, providing guidance for future short video creators, especially for small-scale businesses, to produce successful short videos and expand their influence through social media. The results indicate that the success factors for short videos include the movie title, promotion, reviews, and social media. For large enterprises, endorsements by famous individuals are crucial, while music and shooting are key elements for the success of short videos for small businesses. Full article

With rapid technology advancements in renewable energy systems, rooftop photovoltaic (PV) products and systems can be considered a crucial element in the transition toward energy sustainability in residential buildings. Still, residents’ initiatives are required to expand the adoption of clean energy-efficient technology to replace conventional energy systems and thereby achieve a sustainable environment. The aim of this study was, therefore, to develop system dynamics models to relate adopters’ satisfaction with PV systems through word-of-mouth (WoM), advertising, and competition and then evaluate their impacts on the number of PV installations, generated electric power, and the reduction in CO₂ emissions for rooftop buildings in Jordan for the years from 2020 to 2040. Results revealed that the predicted cumulative PV installations will increase to 262 and 558 MW in 2030 and 2040, respectively. Due to this, the cumulative generated power (kWh) (=42.5 GWh) will reach 452 and 964 GWh in 2030 and 2040, respectively. Moreover, the cumulative CO₂ emission reductions may reach 262 and 558 million kg CO₂ in 2030 and 2040, respectively. In conclusion, continual assessment of the adopters’ feedback on installed PV systems, adopting effective advertising, and advancement of PV designs and technology can significantly support achieving energy sustainability in residential buildings and reduce the dependency on traditional, scarce energy resources. Full article

The fashion industry generates packaging waste through the entire supply chain. Although brands are making efforts to improve packaging sustainability as demands for low-impact packaging are rising, there is a lack of empirical evidence of innovative packaging solutions among fashion retailers. This study represents the first global report on sustainable packaging innovation in the fashion sector. A data-mining approach was utilized to gather a sample of 400 international fashion brands that advertise sustainable packaging solutions across five continents. The sustainability of the packaging solution was evaluated for each brand based on three factors: sustainability mission, the availability of packaging data, and the actual sustainability of the package. The results showed that 57% of brands have made evident progress in the sustainable packaging area; 34% of brands have initiated the transition from conventional to improved packaging; the remaining brands have committed to rethink (1%) or to improve (8%) their packaging in the future. By providing comprehensive state-of-the-art evidence about practical achievements in the sustainable packaging field, this global report intends to help academics and practitioners to evaluate the environmental, social, and economic impacts of existing packaging products and to design circular packaging that minimizes these impacts. Full article

Introduction: Currently Europe regards itself as a leader in the global race towards smart automated transport. According to ERTRAC, European Road Transport Research Advisory Council, automated driving innovation is motivated by technological advancements as well as “social goals of equality”. This article analyzes to what extent such dimensions of gender and diversity have become visible in smart car advertisements and how they correspond with the notion of Gender-Smart Mobility, which signifies equal and accessible transport solutions. Methods: Guided by theoretical notions of gender scripts and discourse analysis, this article addresses how perspectives of smart technology, gender, and class are carved out and handled in YouTube videos applied as marketing tools. Using visual analysis as a method, videos from well-known car producers such as BMW and Volvo are scrutinized. The visual analysis includes a presentation of the car company, descriptions of the most relevant YouTube videos, and discussion of the findings. Results: The visual analysis of the Volvo and BMW YouTube videos points to the lack of inclusiveness. There continues to be a prevalent reproduction of gendered stereotypes in the videos, not least in the notion of ‘hyper masculinity’ storytelling by BMW and how leaders (be they women or men) look, i.e., middle-class people. Volvo, on the other hand, has maintained its focus on female professionals in parallel with the introduction of new and energy-saving cars. Yet, a rather one-sided presentation of a professional business-woman is depicted as a replication of the businessman. Conclusion: In the final section, it is assessed how the visual branding complies with the notion of Gender-Smart Mobility, a concept that was developed in the EU Horizon 2020 project TInnGO. The two brands meet the Gender-Smart Mobility indicator, but only to some degree. None of the companies are fully inclusive, and it is difficult to label them as gender-smart and sustainable despite their ambitions of feeding into the green transition. Full article

The widespread access to the Internet has undoubtedly changed the way businesses handle their processes and interact with their customers. With the surge of new devices, business models, technologies, and platforms, alongside social media growth and innovative advertising, it became easier to transition from employment to entrepreneurship. The paper aims to assess the public perception of digital entrepreneurship, with a focus on its barriers, drivers, and expectations for the future. The results show that there is a slight agreement with a digital business being easier to establish compared with a traditional one. The driving forces behind starting a digital business are recognized, and the digital environment is considered essential for business growth in the following years. With some exceptions, there are no significant differences between age groups, genders, relationship statuses, levels of education, and/or occupations when rating the barriers, drivers, and expectations for the future of digital entrepreneurship. Full article

The paper studies the problem of updating educational programs and content, taking into account changing requirements of standards and employers for qualifications and competencies of specialists. First, we show that the updating process in transition to digital economy is associated with the transition to the convergence model of education providing its sustainability perspective. Furthermore, we propose the technique and develop basic models and methods for updating based on the convergence approach, for assessing the degree of convergence of competency models and educational content. The problems of collecting, consolidating, and extracting information on the required competencies from vacancy advertisements in open sources on the Internet are also considered. The convergence approach to updating educational programs is being introduced and tested in the information and learning environment of Penza State University (Penza, Russia). Full article

In global networks, Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is widely used in exchanging routing information. While the original design of BGP did not focus on security protection against deliberate or accidental errors regarding to routing disruption, one of fundamental vulnerabilities in BGP is a lack of insurance in validating authority for announcing network layer reachability. Therefore, a distributed repository system known as Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI) has been utilized to mitigate this issue. However, such a validation requires further deployment steps for Autonomous System (AS), and it might cause performance and compatibility problems in legacy network infrastructure. Nevertheless, with recent advancements in network innovation, some traditional networks are planning to be restructured with Software-Defined Networking (SDN) technology for gaining more benefits. By using SDN, Internet eXchange Point (IXP) is able to enhance its capability of management by applying softwarized control methods, acting as a Software-Defined eXchange (SDX) center to handle numerous advertisement adaptively. To use the SDN method to strengthen routing security of IXP, this paper proposed an alternative SDX development, SD-BROV, an SDX-based BGP Route Origin Validation mechanism that establishes a flexible route exchange scenario with RPKI validation. The validating application built in the SDN controller is capable of investigating received routing information. It aims to support hybrid SDN environments and help non-SDN BGP neighbors to get trusted routes and drop suspicious ones in transition. To verify proposed idea with emulated environment, the proof-of-concept development is deployed on an SDN testbed running over Research and Education Networks (RENs). During BGP hijacking experiment, the results show that developed SD-BROV is able to detect and stop legitimate traffic to be redirected by attacker, making approach to secure traffic forwarding on BGP routers. Full article