The blockchain ecosystem has undergone three distinct periods of exponential growth — the ICO boom of 2017, the Defi summer of 2020, and most recently the NFT wave of 2021.However, it was not yet seen a “web3-native” approach towards NFTs from any major brand. By that, we mean that no brand has upended its Web 2.0 architecture and replaced it entirely with a web3 stack. Instead, brands have taken a more measured approach, exploring NFT drops, integrations, and community growth developed separately from their core offerings. This phase can be described as Web 2.5. In this article, the author attempts to define what Web 2.5 is concerning informatology, along with identifying the potential future challenges of information management in this area and the new iteration of digital development, namely Web 3.0 or web3.
Advertisers and media owners are becoming more dependent on advertising, when the traditional way is losing its effect, they are eagerly looking for alternative ways to reach consumers, and keeping their brand trust, promise, and image at the top, and to generate more profit. Although there are many ways companies and brands alike can seek to make money off of social media, the traditional platforms are becoming obsolete. Gone are the days of having the logo, a photo, and an attractive slogan sufficient for attracting new customers. It can be said that advertising relies heavily on good aesthetics and application of the brand image, however applying that correctly to the target audience effectively can enhance and produce better outcomes, it's about how a business achieves success, scale worldwide, persuade consumers to buy into it, and reach its goals and profits. To create an effective and impactful advertisement in our modern world, companies must turn to technology; For technology is the enabler of a wider selection of tools that help businesses make better data-driven and informative decisions. This can be done by collecting data through third parties, internal or external surveys, and polls to enhance and improve their product delivery and message. With the use of data, algorithms can be then created to understand the consumer's behavior, therefore, enabling a business to better target its user-base based on their interests, search patterns, and online behavior. Moreover, the collected data from the mentioned tools can be then transformed into resourceful decisions to help the business better understand its user-base, therefore choosing from a plethora of options such as using influencers to advertise their product on live-video streams, or the traditional bloggers, and the many content creators available. Web3 is on the horizon, with the accelerative pace the metaverse took over the internet, brands turned to the newly found virtual space to promote themselves. This is a stepping stone into what is to come next as it taps into our day-to-day lives, economy, and social interactions [16]. The main component of web3 is the ability to build on it and interact with the web like never before and securely allowing users to maintain their privacy. Users are able to buy, maintain and sell virtual assets on the blockchain which unleashes a whole new era of using digital goods paved by the improvement of Virtual and Augmented realities known as VR and AR [1]. This has been proven by the famously known “Metaverse” world where companies such as Nintendo, Sony, and other gaming brands as well as celebrities such as Snoop Dogg rushed to create their own virtual theme parks and sold “plot of lands” in the said universe on the blockchain known as NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). This has created a ripple effect that continued in other virtually made assets, mainly video games, and lastly “The Metaverse” that “Meta” formerly known as “Facebook” is building upon. This research will highlight the United Arab Emirates' advancements in the adoption of the metaverse into its different industries. The United Arab Emirates has taken great measures to integrate the metaverse and its related technology, including cryptocurrencies, into its economy, government sector and ultimately its society. Will Virtual advertisements be developed as a result of Web3.0 and Metaverse's integration of virtual and physical environments and virtual economies?
Aim . The presented study aims to assess the impact of modern development trends on the sharing economy. Tasks. The authors analyze the development of the sharing economy across different periods; formulate and test hypotheses about the impact of technological and social trends on the development of the sharing economy; substantiate the division of the examined period into four stages; describe the revealed patterns using single factor regression models. Methods. The study includes four stages: data selection and processing, trend elimination and division of the analyzed stage into periods, verification of the formulated hypotheses for each of the periods, and quality control of the obtained models. The information basis of the study includes a list of thematic indexes calculated by the Indxx agency (USA). Results. During the identification of periods of development of the sharing economy, the influence of global events on the dynamics of the sharing economy is determined, which is confirmed by the dynamics of the values of the sharing economy index during the pandemic and postpandemic period. Testing of the hypothesis shows that the most significant factor for the development of the sharing economy is the development of fintech and decentralized finance. That said, in the period from October 2018 to December 2019, there is a correlation between the development of the sharing economy and companies whose activity is focused on generation Y. Conclusions. The revealed patterns confirm the leading role of digital technologies in the development of the sharing economy.
Abstract With the spread of crypto assets, Non-Fungible Token (NFT) technology has become more and more discussed on social media platforms. The idea of uniqueness is in the background of the NFT technology used to make digital assets tradable and registerable. This study investigates the effect of consumers’ social media interaction and the need for uniqueness on NFT purchase intention. The research data was collected from 488 consumers who follow NFT purchasing sites. The results highlight the critical role of the need for uniqueness to leverage the NFT purchase intention. Analyzes were made with SPSS and AMOS statistical package programs. The validity and reliability of the scales used were tested and found to have acceptable values. The study tested possible cause-and-effect relationships between all variables using structural equation modeling. According to the findings, social media interaction, creative choice, unpopular choice, and similarity avoidance positively and significantly affected purchasing intention.
The rising issue of corruption in the public sector could be solved by adopting an innovative technology, such as blockchain, which offers data transparency and immutability. We present the opportunities of using blockchain technology in the transactions of the public sector of education and a conceptual approach for the adoption of this technology by the staff of the University of West Attica. Our research has practical value for the information technology managers of the public sector who wish to integrate blockchain into public organizations because we also suggest gaming features for the main public sectors.
Iikka Paajala, Jesse Nyyssölä, Juho Mattila, Pasi Karppinen
The blockchain is an emerging technology that has the potential to revolutionize the gaming industry among a wide range of different business fields. So far, only a few studies have been conducted about blockchain gaming. This study introduces a mobile game utilizing blockchain asset tokens and smart contracts. It was developed for research purposes and used to demonstrate blockchain-based games using semi-structured interviews. This study follows the exploratory research paradigm, which aims to map research of little-known areas. This study focuses on how participants perceived blockchain attributes such as trust, transparency, and user-generated content and how this affected engagement and their willingness to play the game again. Based on our evaluation, generating blockchain assets positively impacted player retention. According to the results, providing genuine asset ownership through the blockchain contributes to environmental engagement and self-engagement, as well as player retention. Another positive blockchain feature discovered from the interview data is user-generated content implementation into games.
The phenomenon of impulsive donation has been encouraged by the rapid growth of internet news and social media. On the one hand, tragic events can be known to the world, necessitating timely donations, whereas on the other hand, it does supplant the committed donations for ones that need long-term support. In this study, a blockchain-based non-fungible token charitable donation platform was developed that allowed people to donate the royalties of transaction of digital assets and therefore, generate continuous support for charitable organizations or suffering individuals.
Christian Nedu Osakwe, Michael D. Dzandu, Hayford Amegbe, Mohammed Hersi Warsame · 5 authors
This study seeks to investigate the psychological antecedents toward cryptocurrency investment decision-making. Using extended planned behavior model, data were collected from 517 sample respondents in Kenya and Ghana to test the proposed model. Specifically, we find that skepticism undermines willingness to invest in cryptocurrency via attitude toward cryptocurrency across the two countries studied. We also find that subjective norm and perceived self-efficacy positively influence attitude toward cryptocurrency that, in turn, positively influences willingness to invest in cryptocurrency. The positive relationship between trust disposition and attitude toward cryptocurrency and in turn willingness to invest in cryptocurrency is statistically valid in Kenya but not in Ghana. Contrary to expectations, no negative statistical effect of risk disposition on attitude toward cryptocurrency was found in the Kenya and Ghana sample. Overall, the presented findings in this study enrich empirical understanding about the psychological factors influencing attitude and individuals’ intentions to invest in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Litecoin.
Mehdi Daryaei, Reza Radfar, Javad Jassbi, Abbass Khamseh
While travelers' desire to visit the world's most remote places has grown, the inefficiency of global payments indicates a significant barrier to tourism growth. As an emerging, decentralized, and borderless digital innovation, Bitcoin technology seems to have the ability to serve as a payment alternative and address such fundamental inefficiencies. On the other hand, bitcoin adoption can only happen when tourists and business owners choose to operate bitcoin simultaneously. The study has developed a novel Bitcoin Collaborative Network and Tourism Collaborative Network model to examine Bitcoin adoption factors. Then a fuzzy DEMATEL method was applied to the factors influencing the adoption domain, as identified based on an extensive literature review, in-depth interviews, and an international Delphi process. The study offered a model for the heterogeneous collaborative network of Bitcoin and Tourism (BCN and TCN), revealing that Perceived Usefulness is the most influencing criterion and the most prominent variable in Bitcoin Adoption. Bitcoin Technological Complexity, Government Regulatory, and Bitcoin Awareness are the factors that give the highest impacts. Also, Bitcoin's Technological Complexity is the most significant factor in bitcoin adoption. The findings might assist businesses in adopting a new market expansion strategy and benefiting from technological spillover, while government officials can explore new supporting legislation.
The rise of Web3 and related regulations have brought data privacy concerns to the forefront for brands and marketers. With the rise in legislation, the deprecation of third-party cookies and an eye towards transparency, Web3 promises a more open, permissionless online environment. This has implications, from ad targeting to the storage and collection of user data. New concepts including zero-party data, micro-experiences and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) represent trends that are emerging with Web3, but the future is still to be defined. Marketers must understand the implications of the changing data privacy landscape and discover new and creative ways of sourcing and collecting data that follow the new guidelines that are being established by legislators, as well as by walled gardens such as Apple, Meta and Google. To do so, they will have to experiment and innovate. Here, we will explore the evolution of the web from its earliest version into the future. We will also review the different ways marketers currently collect and use customer data. Finally, we will explore new ways for brands and marketers to stay relevant in this evolving digital ecosystem with zero-party data, integrated marketing technology, customer-centric governance and NFTs.
Purpose This paper aims to examine the impact of investor attention due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Twitter-based sentiment towards uncertainty and public sentiment on the performance of cryptocurrencies. Design/methodology/approach The authors employ the simple linear regression, quantile regression (QR), the exponential generalised autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (EGARCH) model, and sentiment analysis to examine this phenomenon. The authors utilise the daily closing price of the 20 leading cryptocurrencies, the Google search volume index of the “Coronavirus” keyword, the Twitter-based economic uncertainty index, and textual data collected from the Reddit social media platform. Findings The results show that investor attention and Twitter uncertainty have a negative (positive) effect on cryptocurrency returns (volatility). The QR results indicate a heterogeneous effect of investor attention and Twitter economic uncertainty on cryptocurrency returns with a higher effect in the lower quantiles. The findings indicate that cryptocurrencies fail to act as a safe haven during this pandemic. Originality/value The study is amongst the very few studies that capture the impact of investor attention/sentiment due to COVID-19 on the performance of cryptocurrencies.
Nanang Husin, Albert Budiyanto, Albertus Karjono, MF Christiningrum · 9 authors
The Digital Music Transformation has reshaped the music industry. It has three leading players with significant roles: user consumer, artist creator, and music label. The streaming service is currently the biggest revenue contributor, with 16,9 Billion USD in 2021. Sadly, the other form of digital music fell short in their revenue. But, even with the massive revenue increase from the streaming service, just a few greatly benefit from it. With the ‘pro rata’ business model, the small artist and label will only have a small cut of the subscription money the user paid. If all non-major artist fans only listen to their favorite indie artist music day and night, their subscription fee will mainly still go to the top major label and the service provider. And with the decline of other forms of music revenue made it worse. Presently, there is little to nothing about other proposed forms of digital music service offering research or the new implementation of it. There is preliminary research from Turkey that shows the advantages and disadvantages of using NFTs in the music industry, which concludes that the use of NFTs has the potential to provide significant benefits in the music industry. In this regard, the research tries to study the implementation of the NFT in the digital music service that could become an alternate or complement for digital music streaming service. The research will use the mixed method to capture and determine whether the NFT implementation form in digital music does give benefits. The quantitate used the 469-participant data survey from the KereHore Facebook group, while the qualitative was performed using interviews with the three main players of digital music services. The research result shows that NFT implementation in the Perceived e-collectible has merits and benefits.
Given Malaysia's stance on cryptocurrencies as a digitalisation pioneer, as well as the surge in crime and fraud, regulators and organisations are concerned about retail investors' intentions to invest in cryptocurrency. The research model integrates diffusion of innovation theory factors (compatibility, relative advantage, trialability, ease of use, and observability) with consumer behaviour theory focused on retail investors' perceptions (perceived risk and perceived value). A total of 304 responses were collected through purposive and respondent-driven sampling. The data was examined using SmartPLS Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings show that compatibility, trialability, ease of use, observability, and perceived value have significant influences on the intention to invest in cryptocurrency. Meanwhile, the influence of relative advantage and perceived risk on the intention to invest in cryptocurrency is not supported. This research is vital for analysing the underlying motivations of Malaysian retail investors to invest in cryptocurrencies and further formulating the regulatory framework.
Cryptocurrency has gained in popularity in emerging markets, however the knowledge accumulation pertaining to factors contributing to intention to use cryptocurrency has been limited. To address this gap, we meta-analyzed 42 samples from multiple theoretical approaches. Seven common antecedents to intention to use cryptocurrency were assessed, as well as six moderators via meta-regression. A regression model to explain the intention to use cryptocurrency was calculated, and relative importance analysis determined the weight of each variable in predicting cryptocurrency use intention. The findings highlight factors influencing intention to use cryptocurrency in emerging markets and refine theoretical models for future research.
Sep 11, 2022·15th International Baltic Conference on Digital Business and Intelligent Systems (DB&IS), July 03-06, 2022, University of Latvia, Riga, Latvia
Web 3.0 is considered as future of Internet where decentralization, user personalization and privacy protection would be the main aspects of Internet. Aim of this research work is to elucidate the adoption behavior of Web 3.0through a multi-analytical approach based on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) and Twitter sentiment analysis. A theoretical framework centered on Performance Expectancy (PE), Electronic Word-of-Mouth (eWOM) and Digital Dexterity (DD), was hypothesized towards Behavioral Intention (INT) of the Web 3.0 adoption. Surveyed data were collected through online questionnaires and 167 responses were analyzed through PLS-SEM. While 3,989 tweets of Web3 were analyzed by VADER sentiment analysis tool in RapidMiner. PLS-SEM results showed that DD and eWOM had significant impact while PE had no effect on INT. Moreover, these results were also validated by PLS-Predict method. While sentiment analysis explored that 56% tweets on Web 3.0 were positive in sense and 7% depicted negative sentiment while remaining were neutral. Such inferences are novel in nature and an innovative addition to web informatics and could support the stakeholders towards web technology integration
The blockchain-based traceability in agri-food marketing has brought a disruptive paradigm shift by removing the inherent information asymmetry problem. Likewise, revealing sufficient product quality and attributes information could break agricultural markets' “Lemon Market” dilemma. This study takes the fresh fruit with blockchain traceability QR label as a case and systematically investigates the influence of consumers' food control risk attitude on information-seeking intentions. We utilized online survey data of 1,058 fresh fruit buyers and simultaneously applied ordinary least square (OLS), ordered logit model (Ologit), and propensity score matching (PSM) approaches to overcome the potential self-selection biases and confounding factors. The results show that risk attitude significantly negatively impacts consumers' information seeking fresh fruits. The stronger consumers' risk preference, the lower the probability of information seeking. Furthermore, we used PSM to overcome potential sample selectivity bias; therefore, PSM reinforces the significance of OLS and Ologit results. The sub-sample estimation results show that young individuals with high school and below education have stronger blockchain information-seeking intentions. The study provides new insights into the role of food control risk attitude and agri-food information traceability and offers several measures for policy and practice to realize a border trajectory in agri-food information disclosure.
Cryptocurrencies are highly speculative assets with large price volatility. If one could forecast their behavior, this would make them more attractive to investors. In this work we study the problem of predicting the future performance of cryptocurrencies using social media data. We propose a new model to measure the engagement of users with topics discussed on social media based on interactions with social media posts. This model overcomes the limitations of previous volume and sentiment based approaches. We use this model to estimate engagement coefficients for 48 cryptocurrencies created between 2019 and 2021 using data from Twitter from the first month of the cryptocurrencies' existence. We find that the future returns of the cryptocurrencies are dependent on the engagement coefficients. Cryptocurrencies whose engagement coefficients have extreme values have lower returns. Low engagement coefficients signal a lack of interest, while high engagement coefficients signal artificial activity which is likely from automated accounts known as bots. We measure the amount of bot posts for the cryptocurrencies and find that generally, cryptocurrencies with more bot posts have lower future returns. While future returns are dependent on both the bot activity and engagement coefficient, the dependence is strongest for the engagement coefficient, especially for short-term returns. We show that simple investment strategies which select cryptocurrencies with engagement coefficients exceeding a fixed threshold perform well for holding times of a few months.
While blockchain is considered to have many unprecedented characteristics, and its application is recognized as another new opportunity for the development of e-commerce, there is limited evidence on the factors affecting the adoption of blockchain in the commercial e-commerce sector. This study aims to identify determinants influencing consumers' intention to adopt blockchain technology in e-commerce. /methodology/approachDrawing on the classic technology acceptance model (TAM), a conceptual framework is developed and empirically assessed to present the relationships between the core characteristics of blockchain and consumers' adoption intention. Survey data were collected from 228 users of the blockchain e-commerce system in China. The structural equation modeling (SEM) approach is used to test the hypotheses. The results indicate that cost saving and traceability have a positive effect on perceived usefulness while insignificant associations are found between data privacy security and perceived usefulness, and perceived ease of use and consumers' adoption intention. The research only examined Chinese users, which may affect the generalizability of the findings. Future research is encouraged to conduct comparative studies beyond this region, e.g., emerging markets versus developed economies. It would also be useful to explore mediating and moderating effects of other new technologies that complement the application and adoption of blockchain. The research results also bring managerial implications with the ways of attracting customers via blockchain technology, including improving system ability to reduce cost and enhance traceability. This paper is one of the early empirical endeavors that examines determinant factors affecting individual users towards the adoption of blockchain technology in e-commerce that is absent in the extant research. This study further contributes to the development of the knowledge bank of blockchain via the conceptual framework of its adoption under the e-commerce context, in particular considering its technical features.