Individual Willingness Research Articles

Better the devil you know: The effects of group identity uncertainty on coordination efficiency

There is extensive evidence documenting the economic consequences of discrimination patterns between individuals belonging to the same or different group identities. However, many group identities rely on convictions and beliefs that are non-observable, and therefore, might be uncertain. This paper investigates the effects of group identity uncertainty on individual interaction preferences and willingness to coordinate. Results from a laboratory experiment using a weakest-link game with endogenous group formation show that group identity uncertainty and diversity differently affect individual interaction preferences. Interestingly, the negative discrimination against individuals with a different group identity weakens and vanishes faster than the negative discrimination against individuals whose group identity is not observable. Furthermore, most discrimination patterns vanish when interactions entail high and mutual economic incentives for individuals. The findings offer several managerial implications for deterring discrimination and increasing coordination efficiency in teams.

A two-stage consensus model for large-scale group decision-making considering dynamic social networks

Clustering and the feedback mechanism in a consensus reaching process (CRP) have been regarded as two critical components when solving the large-scale group decision-making (LSGDM) problem. However, the necessity of treating decision makers (DMs) as a dynamic social network (in terms of their trust relationships) in the DM clustering has not been fully investigated. Also, with people's increased democratic awareness, it appears essential to consider the individual's willingness to cooperate when designing the feedback mechanism in the CRP. This study will focus on solving the LSGDM problem considering dynamic social networks and propose a novel two-stage consensus model. First, a hybrid trust network is built to dynamically represent social relationships among DMs (i.e., the hybrid trust network evolves with the CRP). Spectral clustering algorithm is then used to cluster DMs into more trusted sub-groups, thus improving the efficiency of coordinating DMs. Second, a two-stage feedback mechanism is designed to help DMs reach a consensus in a more human-centric manner. To reach a consensus without seriously violating the willingness of DMs, we strike a balance between maximizing the consensus degree and minimizing the adjustment cost and further develop two nonlinear programming models to provide modification suggestions for sub-groups and individuals, respectively. The originality of the proposed consensus model can be summarized as clustering the dynamic hybrid trust network integrated with balancing the decision-making efficiency against the willingness of DMs to cooperate. The feasibility and effectiveness of the developed model are demonstrated through the detailed application study.

Reducing the Negative Environmental Impact of Consumerization of IT: An Individual-Level Approach

The internet plays a pivotal role in Industry 4.0, where it provides the underlying infrastructure to support the substantial growth of digital platforms and systems to deliver a wealth of benefits. However, with the unprecedented growth of internet-based applications in recent history, the internet itself is harming the environment. Focusing on individual green motivation and willingness to pay for the green internet, this study explores one’s willingness to reduce internet usage. The study employs a survey experiment that involves 376 respondents. The results show that the most effective strategy to reduce internet usage is to incorporate extrinsic strategies and allow individuals to pay a premium for green internet services. Our work contributes to the Industry 4.0 literature by exploring how the negative environmental effects of consumerization of IT can be minimized. The findings of the study are important for technology-based businesses, policy-makers and individuals seeking to reduce the environmental damage of the internet.

Node Search Contributions Based Long-Term Follow-Up Specific Individual Searching Model

In this paper, we introduce a long-term follow-up specific individual searching (SIS) model. This model introduces the concept of node search contributions by considering the characteristics of the network structure. A node search contribution indicates the ability of a certain node to correctly guide the search path and successfully complete an SIS. The influencing factors of node search contributions have three components: the individual influence index, attribute similarity, and node search willingness. On the basis of node search contributions and the PeopleRank idea, this paper proposes an SIS model based on node search contribution values and conducts comparison experiments with several mainstream SIS algorithms in three aspects: the search failure rate, the minimum number of search hops, and the search size. The experimental results verify the advanced nature and operability of the model proposed in this paper, which presents theoretical and practical significance to the quantitative study of the SIS process.

Are Classical Assessments Offering Adequate Insight into Post-Pandemic Teaching Methods?

Educators must continuously assess and adjust to maximize the amount of information students retain. One way to evaluate teaching effectiveness is thru pre- and post-semester assessments. Factors such as individual willingness to participate can affect the validity of these assessments. Our hypothesis was that students will more actively participate in a group activity compared with written pre- and post-semester assessments. In this study, we evaluated 3 different types of pre- and post-assessments to assess knowledge retention and participation. Participation decreased as the semester progressed resulting in only 31 of 57 students who completed all 6 of the assessments. There was an interaction (P < 0.001) between the type (individual, team, or activity) and time of assessment. The percentage of correct answers increased (P < 0.001) between pre-semester (average 32.92 ± 1.58) and post-semester assessments (average 47.54 ± 1.58). There was a correlation (P = 0.04) between the final course grade and the post-semester individual written assessment. In conclusion, participation throughout the semester is a major issue in assessing teaching quality and knowledge retention and the utilization of group activities does not appear to impact that participation. However, the best assessment for knowledge learned remains the classical written individual assessment.

Knowledge and perspectives of community members on risk assessment for stroke prevention using mobile health approaches in Nigeria

ObjectivesTo assess the knowledge of community dwelling adults on stroke risk and their willingness to use mobile health (mHealth) technology in assessing their stroke risk. Materials and MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among adults (≥18 years old) using survey questionnaires designed by neurologists and health promotion experts and administered by trained study staff. Logistic regression models were used to assess factors associated with receptivity toward knowing individual stroke risk score and willingness to use a mobile application (App) to assess stroke risk. ResultsThe survey was administered to 486 participants in Nigeria, with a mean age of 47.4 ± 15.5 years, comprising 53.5% females. Up to 84% of participants wanted to know their risk for developing stroke but only 29.6% of respondents had ever previously had their stroke risk assessed. Factors associated with willingness to know stroke risk were age [aOR (95% CI): 0.97 (0.95 – 0.99)], and Hausa tribe [16.68 (2.16 – 128.92)]. Up to 66% of participants wanted to know their immediate risk of stroke, compared with 6.6% and 2.1% who wanted to know their 5-year or 10-year future stroke risks respectively. Regarding locations, participants preferred stroke risk assessment to be performed at a health facility, at home by health professional, on their own using mHealth (stroke risk calculator application), or at communal gatherings (decreasing order). About 70% specifically wished to learn about their stroke risk via an mHealth application. ConclusionsCommunity dwelling Nigerians wanted to know their immediate risk of stroke using digital platforms, such as a mobile phone stroke risk calculator application. Clinical trials are needed to assess the effectiveness of such a strategy for primary prevention of stroke in sub-Saharan African communities.

Data-driven robust cost consensus model with individual adjustment willingness in group decision-making

In the consensus reaching process, the moderator, as the representative of collective interests, needs to consume certain resources to help decision-makers (DMs) reach a consensus. However, in real life, when the adjustment opinions provided by the moderator are too different from the initial opinions of the DMs, they may not accept the adjustment. On the other hand, it is difficult for the moderator to determine the unit consensus cost of every DM. However, existing consensus methods ignore the above two problems. Therefore, a data-driven robust minimum cost consensus model with individual adjustment willingness (DDR-MCCM-IAW) is proposed. First, an IAW function based on the approximation degree between the adjustment opinion and the original opinion is provided to construct the MCCM-IAW. Subsequently, principal component analysis and kernel density estimation are combined to obtain a data-driven uncertainty set of unit consensus cost, to reduce the conservatism of classical robust cost consensus models. Meanwhile, the tractable DDR-MCCM-IAW is obtained by using linear dual theory. Finally, to test the effectiveness and rationality of the proposed method, some experiments and comparative analysis are presented.

Does e-shopping increase walking time willingness to reach in-store locations? Exploring the spatial effects

ABSTRACT The studies analyzing the relationships between e-shopping and transport mostly ignore the effects in active mobility. This paper complements current research by studying how e-shopping affects individual walking time willingness to reach daily and non-daily retail opportunities, taking the city of Zaragoza, Spain as a case study. First, a questionnaire is administered, followed by a generalised ordered logit regression model analysis. Then, a gravity-based model is used to compare present walking accessibility levels to retail with an exploratory 2030 scenario based on the regression results. The results indicate a positive association between the frequency of e-shopping and the individual time willingness to reach daily and non-daily retail on foot. They also show that high-educated people tend to have lower time-willingness to reach both types of retail. For non-daily retail, women shopping online are more likely to spend more time on walking, while having children under 12 years old and having a car are negatively associated with walking time-willingness. The exploratory 2030 scenario shows a relevant increase of walking accessibility to daily and non-daily retail. The paper closes with a discussion on how the obtained findings can provide guidelines to improve policies that promote walking and active lifestyles.

Valuation of Environmental Services City Park 1 BSD Using the Travel Cost Method (TCM) and Willingness To Pay (WTP)

BSD City Park 1 has quite complete functions, including ecological, social, and aesthetics, as well as is also a city landmark and a cheap and healthy tourist attraction for residents, including visitors from outside BSD City. The study aimed to find the factors that influence the number of public visits to City Parks and to determine the value of environmental services from City Park 1 BSD through a revealed preference approach using the Individual Travel Cost Method (ITCM) and Willingness To Pay (WTP). Economic valuation through revealed preference using the Travel Cost Method (TCM) calculation, the individual Consumer Surplus value is IDR 55,664/visit with an average stay of 4.8 personal holidays per year. If it is estimated that there are 104,150 visits/year, the Economic Value of City Park 1 BSD is estimated at IDR 5,797,422,757/year. The Willingness to Pay (stated preference) analysis results for additional facilities include the average individual WTP for other sports facilities of IDR 7,619.00; The average particular WTP for adding the number of trash cans is Rp.7,619.00; The average individual WTP increases the number of toilets by IDR 15,000.00.

Ethnicity, information and cooperation: Evidence from a group-based nutrition intervention

Development programs often rely on locally hired agents for service delivery, especially for interventions promoting agricultural practices, health, and nutrition. These agents are key to reaching underserved communities, especially women, with information and services around recommended practices. However, where societies are socially stratified, differences in ethnic identities between agents and beneficiaries may impact the effectiveness of information and service delivery and the uptake of recommended behaviors. We explore the salience of shared ethnic identity between agents and beneficiaries in promoting collective action using a field experiment with women’s self-help groups (SHGs) in India. We cross-randomize an information treatment and a group-agent shared ethnicity treatment at the SHG level. We measure impacts on individual group member information retention and willingness to contribute to a group-owned kitchen garden that could improve access to a diverse and nutritious diet. We find information retention is better when the group is matched with an agent lower in the ethnic hierarchy, but that agents higher in the hierarchy elicit greater individual contributions to the group-owned kitchen garden. We suggest some hypotheses for these seemingly contradictory results. Other characteristics like education, group cohesion and perceived agent ability also matter in changing knowledge and contribution. Our findings have important implications for effective program design and implementation, suggesting that implementers need to consider factors beyond the information content, target group and pedagogical mode of delivery for their strategies to be transformative.

Is knowledge about COVID-19 associated with willingness to receive vaccine, vaccine uptake, and vaccine booster uptake in rural Malang, Indonesia?

Lack of knowledge regarding the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and COVID-19 vaccines is a key barrier to COVID-19 vaccine uptake in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). To examine factors associated with knowledge about COVID-19 and the association between knowledge of COVID-19, willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, and vaccine uptake in Malang, East Java, Indonesia. A cross-sectional study among individuals aged 15-99 years was conducted in Malang, Java Timur, Indonesia between November 2022 and January 2023. Of 10,050 potential respondents, 10,007 were able to complete the survey. The main independent variable was knowledge about COVID-19, which was assessed using a six-item questionnaire. The dependent variables were COVID-19 vaccine uptake and COVID-19 booster vaccine uptake. The mediating variable was respondent's willingness to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Linear regression was used to examine factors associated with knowledge about COVID-19. Logistic regression was employed to examine the association of knowledge about COVID-19 with vaccine uptake. Generalized structural equation modeling (GSEM) was performed to examine whether willingness to receive a vaccine mediated the association between knowledge about COVID-19 and vaccination uptake. The percentage of respondents who reported having received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine was 94.8%, while the percentage of those who reported having received at least three doses was 88.5%. These numbers are higher than the national average for COVID-19 vaccine and booster vaccine uptake. Most respondents answered about four of six knowledge items correctly (M = 4.60, SD = 1.1). Among respondents who had not received a vaccine, 83.1% expressed willingness to receive a vaccine when it became available to them. Older, more educated, employed respondents, and those with higher economic status, demonstrated more accurate knowledge about COVID-19 than younger, less educated, unemployed respondents and those with lower economic status. Respondents who demonstrated more accurate knowledge about COVID-19 were more likely to have received a vaccine (OR = 1.528, 95% CI = 1.428-1.634) and a booster vaccine (OR = 1.260, 95% CI = 1.196-1.328). Willingness to receive a vaccine mediated the association between knowledge about COVID-19 and vaccine uptake (coef. = 0.426, 95% CI = 0.379-0.473). Interventions and public health programs aiming to improve knowledge about COVID-19 can be implemented to improve individual willingness to receive COVID-19 vaccination and to improve COVID-19 vaccine uptake among the general population.

Pengaruh motivasi terhadap perilaku knowledge sharing pegawai di Badan Pusat Statistik wilayah Sulawesi Tengah

Introduction. The insufficient level of understanding of statistical indicators is indicated by the low level of knowledge sharing culture among BPS employees in the Central Sulawesi region. In this case, BPS needs to encourage the employees to participate in knowledge sharing activities. Individual's willingness to share knowledge can be influenced by several factors, one of them is motivation. The main objective of this paper is to understand the influence of motivation to employee’s knowledge sharing activities in BPS. A conceptual model is designed based on the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA).
 Data Collection Methods. A quantitative-explanatory research method was applied including literature study, data collection, and data analysis.
 Data Analysis. The study used the structural equation modeling-partial least squares (SEM-PLS) analysis method with a sample of 174 samples.
 Results and Discussion. Motivation has a positive-significant effect (p-value <0.05) on attitudes (β = 0.713) and employee intentions (β = 0.218). This has implications for employee knowledge sharing behavior (β = 0.758). Motivation and attitude can predict the intention by 42.7%, meanwhile, the intention can predict behavior by 57.5%.
 Conclusion. To predict the knowledge-sharing behavior of employees, a sufficient motivation is needed to develop positive attitudes and strong intentions in each employee.

Psychological, Communicative, and Relationship Characteristics That Relate to Social Media Users' Willingness to Denounce Fake News.

Fake news is on the rise on many social media platforms. The proliferation of fake news is concerning, yet little is known about the characteristics that may motivate social media users to denounce (or ignore) fake news when they see it posted by strangers, close friends, and family members. Active social media users (N = 218) completed an online survey examining psychological characteristics (i.e., misinformation correction importance, self-esteem) and communicative characteristics (i.e., argumentativeness, conflict style) that may relate to an individual's willingness to denounce fake news posted by either strangers or close friends/family members. Participants examined several manipulated fake news scenarios differing in political alignment and relevant topic content within a Facebook news article format. Results indicated that misinformation correction importance was positively related to willingness to denounce in the context of close friends and family, but not with strangers. Moreover, participants with higher self-esteem were less likely to denounce fake news posted by strangers (but not posted by close friends and family), which suggests that confident individuals prefer to avoid challenging people outside of their close ties. Argumentativeness was positively related to willingness to denounce fake news in all scenarios no matter the user's relationship to the fake news poster. Results for conflict styles were mixed. These findings provide preliminary evidence for how psychological, communicative, and relationship characteristics relate to social media users' decision to denounce (or ignore) fake news posted on a social media platform.

Broadening our understanding of what drives stewardship engagement: Relationships between social capital and willingness to engage in nature stewardship

Diverse solutions are needed to reduce human impacts on nature. Fostering individual stewardship behaviours that protect, restore, and encourage sustainable use of nature will need to be part of this mix of solutions. A key challenge then is how to increase the uptake of such behaviours. Social capital provides a framework to explore the diverse types of social influences on nature stewardship. We surveyed a representative sample of residents of New South Wales, Australia (n = 3220) to explore how facets of social capital influenced individual willingness to adopt diverse types of stewardship behaviours. Analysis confirmed that parts of social capital differentially influence distinct types of stewardship behaviours including lifestyle, social, on-ground, and citizenship behaviours. All behaviours were positively influenced by perceptions of shared values within social network, and past participation in environmental groups. Yet some components of social capital exhibited mixed associations with each type of stewardship behaviour. For example, collective agency was associated with greater willingness to engage in social, on-ground, and citizenship behaviours, whereas institutional trust was negatively associated with willingness to engage in lifestyle, on-ground and citizenship behaviours. These findings show that social context provides an important foundation for building stewardship engagement.

Gender differences in the stability of trust and risk-taking

The individual willingness to trust is compared to the inclination to take lottery risk in six distinct scenarios, controlling the return distributions. Trust responds to changes in the admissible return levels, but exhibits significantly smaller responsiveness to return expectations compared to parallel risk-taking. Paired comparisons suggest that the investors sacrifice 5% of the expected payoff to trust anonymous responders. Trust is more calculated and volatile for males, while appearing relatively stable for females. The results connect with evidence regarding physiological differences between trust and risk-taking, and in addition suggest that trust is more of a distinctive trait for females compared to males. The paper broadly discusses the results and their implications, connecting to diverse streams in the trust literature.

Smart mobile tourism app featuring augmented reality and big data analytics: an empirical analysis using UTAUT2 and PCT models

Purpose Considering the limited understanding of determinants influencing the adoption of smart mobile tourism app (SMTA) featuring augmented reality (AR) and big data analytics (BDA), privacy concern (PC) and the risk of privacy information disclosure (PI) have threatened SMTA adoption. This study aims to propose an expanded consumer acceptance and use of information technology (UTAUT2) model by including new contextual components, integrated with privacy calculus theory (PCT) model to examine the determinants influencing behavioural intention (BI) to use SMTA. Design/methodology/approach Personal innovativeness (IN) and privacy information disclosure (PI) are incorporated in UTAUT2 model to determine its effect on SMTA featuring AR and BDA technologies from smart perspective. Both privacy concern (PC) and privacy risk (PR) derived from PCT model are also included to determine its influences on an individual's willingness to disclose privacy information for better-personalised services. We collected responses from 392 targeted participants, resulting in a strong response rate of 84.66%. These responses were analysed statistically using structural equation modeling in both SPSS 22.0 and SmartPLS 3.0. Findings Findings showed that personal innovativeness (IN), habit (HT) and performance expectancy (PE) significantly affect behavioural intention (BI) while privacy concern (PC) significantly affect privacy information disclosure (PI) to use SMTA. In contrast, effort expectancy (EE), hedonic motivation (HM) and privacy information disclosure (PI) had no significant effects on behavioural intention (BI) while privacy risk (PR) had no significant effects on privacy information disclosure (PI) to use SMTA. Originality/value The study findings help tourism practitioners in better comprehending recent trends of SMTA adoption for establishing targeted marketing strategies on apps to improve service quality. In addition, it enables app development companies acquire app users’ preferences to enhance their app development for leading app usage.

The Factors Affecting Purchase Intention of university students in Fast Food Industry in Quetta. Pakistan

Purchase intention is a crucial factor that affects fast food usage as it reflects the individual's willingness to buy a product or service. In the fast-food industry, purchase intention is particularly important because it can determine the success or failure of a business. If a consumer has a positive purchase intention towards a particular fast-food brand, it is more likely that they will purchase from that brand repeatedly. On the other hand, if a consumer has a negative purchase intention, they may choose to purchase from a competitor or not purchase at all. This article explores the factors that influence the purchase intention of university students in Quetta, Pakistan, in the fast-food industry. The aim of this study is to explore the factors namely, physical environment and health consciousness which affect the purchase intension of universities students. The study uses a quantitative approach, and data was collected from 300 university students through a self-administered questionnaire. Statistics software (SPSS V23) was used to analyze the data. The results indicate that factors such as physical environment and health cautiousness have a significant impact on the purchase intention of university students. Furthermore, the study also suggests that demographic variables such as gender, age, and income have a moderate influence on purchase intention. The findings of this study have important implications for fast-food businesses operating in Quetta, as they can use these factors to develop effective marketing strategies to target the university student market.

A comparison of the perceptions of wearing an ankle foot orthosis by individuals with peripheral artery disease according to their baseline-level of physical activity

IntroductionPeripheral artery disease (PAD) is a prevalent cardiovascular disease that limits an individual's ability to walk. One potential way to improve physical activity for patients with PAD is an ankle foot orthosis (AFO). Previous research has found that various factors may influence an individual's willingness to wear AFOs. However, one factor that has been understudied is an individual's baseline physical activity level prior to wearing AFOs. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the perceptions of wearing AFOs for 3 months among individuals with PAD according to their baseline level of physical activity. MethodsAccelerometer-derived physical activity prior to AFO prescription was used to classify participants into either a higher or lower activity group. Semi-structured interviews were conducted at 1.5 and 3-months after wearing the AFOs to assess participants’ perceptions of using the orthosis. Data were analyzed by a directed content analysis approach, then the percentage of respondents for each theme were calculated and compared between higher and lower activity groups. FindingsSeveral differences were found. Participants in the higher activity group more often reported positive impacts from wearing the AFOs. Additionally, participants who were in the lower activity group more often reported the AFOs caused physical pain while participants in the higher activity group more often reported the device was uncomfortable during daily activities. ConclusionBaseline physical activity levels may help to better understand barriers to wear and needed support to increase adherence to an AFO wear prescription, especially for patients with PAD with limited activity.

Internet Use, Risk Attitude and Willingness for Individual Entrepreneurship

Based on the sample data of CGSS2015 questionnaire, this paper empirically analyzes the impact mechanism of Internet use on individual entrepreneurial willingness using the Oprobit model. The research found that: Internet use is significantly positively correlated with individual entrepreneurial intention; Risk attitude has indirect influence between Internet use and individual entrepreneurial intention; In addition, the age, gender and income of individuals are significantly related to their entrepreneurial intentions, and the relationship between age and their entrepreneurial intentions is an inverted U-shaped relationship.Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the construction of Internet infrastructure, maintain the entrepreneurial information service platform, cultivate the innovative consciousness and adventurous spirit of potential entrepreneurs, further tap the entrepreneurial potential of individuals, and enhance their entrepreneurial willingness.

Out-of-pocket fees for health care in Australia: implications for equity.

Out-of-pocket fees for health care in Australia: implications for equity.