Blockchain has become one of the core technologies in Industry 4.0. To help decision-makers establish action plans based on blockchain, it is an urgent task to analyze trends in blockchain technology. However, most of existing studies on blockchain trend analysis are based on effort demanding full-text investigation or traditional bibliometric methods whose study scope is limited to a frequency-based statistical analysis. Therefore, in this paper, we propose a new topic modeling method called Word2vec-based Latent Semantic Analysis (W2V-LSA), which is based on Word2vec and Spherical k-means clustering to better capture and represent the context of a corpus. We then used W2V-LSA to perform an annual trend analysis of blockchain research by country and time for 231 abstracts of blockchain-related papers published over the past five years. The performance of the proposed algorithm was compared to Probabilistic LSA, one of the common topic modeling techniques. The experimental results confirmed the usefulness of W2V-LSA in terms of the accuracy and diversity of topics by quantitative and qualitative evaluation. The proposed method can be a competitive alternative for better topic modeling to provide direction for future research in technology trend analysis and it is applicable to various expert systems related to text mining.
David Dann, Christian Peukert, Carl Martin, Christof Weinhardt · 6 authors
Blockchain technology is an innovation of the 21st century that is supposed to act as a trust-building factor and may provide the foundation for trust-free systems as well as market exchanges. We investigate how the trustrelated properties of blockchain technology influence trust relationships of participants in the platform economy. Building on the pilot study of Hawlitschek [1], we conduct a scenario-based online survey with participants taking the role of a customer on a blockchain-based peer-to-peer rental platform. Our results confirm that while trust in peers and shared products have no overall significant effect on rental intentions, trust in blockchain technology and the community of blockchain users drive rental intentions mediated by trust in the blockchain-based platform. Our study sheds light on how established trust relationships shift from a peer and product focus towards trust in platforms and their underlying technology.
Globalization and high technological applications that shape modern life, it creates unique needs in the financial world and payment methods and leads to changes in the ways in which money is used. While the change has spread the use of virtual and crypto money, it offers signs that it will gain more place in life in the future. This makes the knowledge of young people, who grow up in the technology-dominated world and will be one of the main determinants of the use and management of money in the future, important for predicting the future use of money. The main purpose of the research is to determine the knowledge of tourism education individuals about Bitcoin money type and their use of this money. In addition, the research aims to determine the views of the participants about how the Crypto currency use will be shaped in the future. In this context, data collected 214 participants from Anadolu University Faculty of Tourism and were evaluated with descriptive analysis and difference analysis. The results show that although the participants know Bitcoin, they do not have a deep knowledge of the money and its usage areas and that they provide the opinion that the crypto money will be used in the most purchase and trade transactions in the future. In this context, suggestions were given to the researchers who will deal with crypto money in the context of tourism sector in the future and to entrepreneurs who tend to use the crypto money in their enterprises
Abderahman Rejeb, John G. Keogh, Horst Treiblmaier
The proliferation of sophisticated e-commerce platforms coupled with mobile applications has ignited growth in business-to-consumer (B2C) commerce, reshaped organizational structures and revamped value creation processes. Simultaneously‚ new technologies have altered the dynamics of brand marketing‚ enabling a broader reach and more personalized targeting aimed at increasing brand trust and enhancing customer loyalty. Today‚ the Internet allows marketers to penetrate existing markets, create new online marketplaces and to generate new demand. This dynamic market engagement uses new technologies to target consumers more effectively. In this conceptual paper, we discuss how blockchain technology can potentially impact a firm’s marketing activities. More specifically, we illustrate how blockchain technology can empower the consumer-centric paradigm and foster disintermediation‚ combat click fraud, reinforce trust and transparency, enable privacy protection, empower security and enable creative loyalty programs. We present six propositions that will guide future blockchain-related research in the area of marketing.
Aleksandar Erceg, Jovanka Damoska Sekuloska, Ivan Kelić
As one of the most interactive economic activities, tourism has improved significantly since the Internet allowed customers (travelers) to look for and create their trips without the need to go to a travel agency. Through the development of Internet marketing, tourists are able to receive information in real-time and view them on the screens of their devices (computers, laptops, mobile phones or tablets), and consequently they can create their own content and share it with others. Due to this development, we are witnessing a new phenomenon, so-called app capitalism, in which companies like Uber and Airbnb make money on services and goods they do not own and finding new business models in the tourism sector which enable customer-to-customer models. To be able to respond to these changes, the tourism industry needs to bring together knowledge, money, and technology for the purpose of creating new business models. The development of technology in all social spheres, including tourism, has provided a strong tool for consumers in terms of both acquiring and disclosing information to others. One of the rapidly growing technologies which is also one of the cutting-edge technologies entering tourism is blockchain. Blockchain technology captured worldwide attention in 2017 and its implementation has been revolutionizing various industries (e.g., retail, healthcare, tourism). The aim of this paper is to analyze the potential of the tourism industry in terms of blockchain implementation. Blockchain technology provides significant benefits to the tourism industry since its implementation can help increase competitive advantage, improve customer satisfaction and enhance performance. In this paper, the authors present the current situation in the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Macedonia regarding the use of blockchain technology in the tourism industry. The main findings of this paper comprise the detection of key areas regarding why blockchain technology is not implemented in the tourist industry, and what processes should be handled. By presenting a case study of the implementation of blockchain technology in tourism, the authors analyze the potential of using blockchain technology in the tourism industry and discuss topics for further research.
Federico Caviggioli, Lucio Lamberti, Paolo Landoni, Paolo Meola
Purpose Evidence from previous literature indicates that adopting a new innovative technology has a positive impact on a company’s business performance. Much less work has been carried out into examining whether a technology adoption has impact on corporate reputation. This paper aims to examine the latter topic in a context where social media is the channel used to share news about the introduction of a new technology. The empirical setting of the study consists of five retail companies located in the USA that decided to include Bitcoin as a payment platform. Design/methodology/approach Twitter data were used to measure how sharing news about the adoption of new technology could affect the reputation of the companies selected, keeping a clear distinction between the volume of data relating to social media responses and the sentiment expressed in the tweets. A panel vector autoregression model was used to incorporate series of data relating to news items, volume and sentiment. Findings The results show that the news about the adoption of a new technology has a positive impact on both the volume of tech-related tweets and the sentiment expressed in the tweets themselves, although the patterns of these two effects are different. The resulting impact decreases after a few days, both in volume and in sentiment. Research limitations/implications The analysis has limitations that future research could address by extending and diversifying the examined companies and the social media used as data sources. The research suggests that managers in medium-sized companies can leverage on the introduction of new technologies that have a direct impact on their customers and gain reputational benefits in terms of immediate visibility. Originality/value The research introduces an additional dimension of analysis to the current stream of corporate reputation. Although the literature has already covered the dynamics of response to events on Twitter, by focusing on the adoption of the new Bitcoin technology, the paper provides novel insights.
Open access
Digital Marketing and Social Media
Corporate Identity and Reputation
Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
This paper investigates the factors influencing the intention to adopt cryptocurrency payments among small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in tourism and hospitality through the lens of the technology acceptance model (TAM). This paper uses an original sample of 101 SMEs employing a total of 15,831 people in Taiwan. Structural equation modeling is used to examine the joint effect of both internal and external factors influencing the intention to use cryptocurrency payments. Results show that (1) strategic orientation, owner/managers personal characteristics (self-efficacy and innovativeness) and social influence have a strong effect on the intention to adopt new technology; (2) perceived usefulness mediates the effects of strategic orientation and social influence; and (3) perceived ease of use mediates the effect of self-efficacy on the intention to adopt cryptocurrency payments. The present study is one of few empirical inquiries about cryptocurrency payment adoption among SMEs. This study extends the theoretical foundations of the TAM into the specific characteristics of SMEs. Limitations of the study are sample size and a single survey design. However, findings of this research on the cryptocurrency payment adoption offer practical implications for tourism stakeholders towards supporting SMEs competitiveness. The originality of this study is based on the fact that cryptocurrency payment is a new technology, and on the potential of cryptocurrency payments to disrupt the traditional way of operating tourism and hospitality SMEs. Hence the importance to consider major factors influencing SMEs’ intentions to adopt this technology.
A rating assessment of supporting elements in tourism destinations used to provide information for tourists before making a tour. Along with the development of communication technology, each traveler shares data about the ranking of travel destinations through their mobile devices. The commonly used data sharing architecture is the centralized model. However, this architecture still has some weaknesses, so it needs to be improved, for example, through decentralized architecture as developed in this research in a Tourism Destination Rating System (TDRS). This system is a combination of 6AsTD as a framework for assessing the success level of tourism destinations and blockchain as the data-sharing architecture between tourists. The 6AsTD frameworks use six variables as a reference for assessing tourism destinations. The rating results distributed to each traveler's mobile device connected to the blockchain network. Furthermore, the system built-in this study was tested on several tourists in Batu Tourism City. The TDRS can generate assessments that can be quickly submitted to other users using applications connected to the Blockchain network.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss the disrupting usage and impacts of blockchains and cryptocurrencies and advocate their role as enablers of sustainable tourism development goals. Design/methodology/approach Literature on blockchains and cryptocurrencies is critically synthesized, debated and expanded to identify and discuss their implications toward sustainable tourism futures. Findings As a distributive digital ledger, blockchains have the potential to create a more inclusive tourism future to address debates around tourism as a vehicle for sustainable development that alludes to value accruing to only certain providers and consumers. Blockchains and their cryptocurrencies (as a financial transaction capability) elevate trust and relational capabilities in an expedited and holistic manner, democratize participation in economic systems and re-distribute power and economic relations amongst actors by influencing the way data (the currency of the digital economy and the lifeblood of tourism) is collected, stored, exchange, owned and traded for co-creating value. Research limitations/implications The paper is conceptual and speculative by identifying ways in which blockchain and cryptocurrencies can support sustainable tourism development goals. Directions for future research are provided for further elaborating and collecting primary evidence on whether the premise and applications of these technologies can deliver the acclaimed sustainable impacts. Originality/value The paper contributes to the emerging but controversial literature about the trajectories between technology and sustainability by critically debating on how blockchains, through cryptocurrency economies, can be positioned to facilitate sustainable tourism futures.
An online review system is an important part of almost every e-commerce platform, especially a tourism e-commerce. However, various problems exist in the current online review systems. The review content is stored in a centralized database of each individual platform. Each platform differs in review management methods. In some cases, the review score of the same product disagrees across different platforms. Moreover, a centralized system has low transparency because it is difficult to trace individual actions within the system. As a result, some users are skeptical of the reliability of online reviews in centralized systems. This work proposes a global travel review framework based-on the blockchain technology. The incorporation of blockchain helps improve an online review system. The best practices for online review management from popular platforms, and the guidelines from trusted sources are used to develop the new system. The use of blockchain improves an online review system through its unique features of high transparency, security, and reliability. Additionally, the proposed framework relies on a community-driven environment. The accessibility level of users is controlled by using the smart contract. There is no single authoritative owner of the system. All participants in the system can exert controls on the system equally. This work illustrates the details of a blockchain-based global travel review framework. The advantages and disadvantages of such a system are discussed. The proposed framework can be easily integrated with any existing platforms since it can be accessed publicly.
The popularity and emergence of digital currency can be attributed to social media as it has a large user base for online discussion. The crypto market is highly dependent on socially constructed opinions as investors rely on online sources to acquire related information. A headline is considered as a summary of an article in a single sentence as it is the first that can gain a reader’s attention. The objective of this paper is to analyze the trend of cryptocurrency headlines in terms of positive and negative sentiment. The dataset is obtained from the Kaggle webpage containing news headlines from five online platforms. The paper will be using a lexicon-based sentiment approach to identify the binary sentiment. Support Vector Machine algorithm will be used to evaluate and optimize the sentiment results. This paper contributes to the gap in the literature by providing an empirical analysis of overview changes of the cryptocurrencies with multiple news platforms and longer periods. The findings of the paper resulting in negative sentiment for the trend of headlines, but it showed a different view in terms of positive polarity. Furthermore, the TD-IDF model outperformed the sentiment model in SVM modeling. Keywords: Cryptocurrency, Sentiment analysis, Lexicon sentiment, Natural Language Processing (NLP), Support Vector Machine (SVM).
This research aims to create a better understanding of cryptocurrency adoption. The research framework is adapted from the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) with additional constructs: social commerce, hedonic motivations, and utilitarian motivation. A quantitative research method was chosen for this study. A total of 54 respondents are collected using a snowball non-probability sampling method. The results show that Hedonic motivation and utilitarian motivation that represent subscription-based online services prove to have an impact on perceived usefulness. However, perceived usefulness fails to impact behavioral intention to use. Social commerce representing social interaction in the model has proven that it impacts behavioral intention to use with the mediation of perceived trust.
Mohammad Badruddoza Talukder, Musfiqur Rahoman Khan, Sanjeev Kumar, Kuldeep Singh
Blockchain is a revolutionary tool that improves the clarity of the participation of the commune and the sustainable development of the tourism industry. It lessens various mediators, making it easier for small and regional businesses, artisans, and service providers to access tourists and get a better share of the cake equitably. This decentralized model brings forth a culture of trust owing to the transparency of smart contracts to ensure safe and genuine sales and encourage the responsible behavior of tourists using tokens. This means that tourism management can be decentralized, and local communities get a say in how tourism is managed to reflect their interests. Furthermore, blockchain can potentially preserve cultural assets by creating an open indigenous art and tourism market. Based on previous literature, we found that blockchain plays a versatile function in enhancing the tourism environment by engendering inclusion, efficiency, and sustainability for tourists and stakeholders, which aligns with long-term sustainability goals.
Blockchain technology has evolved as a promising means to transform data\nmanagement models in many domains including healthcare, agricultural research,\ntourism domains etc. In the research community, a usable blockchain-based\nsystem can allow users to create a proof of ownership and provenance of the\nresearch work, share research data without losing control and ownership of it,\nprovide incentives for sharing and give users full transparency and control\nover who access their data, when and for what purpose. The initial adoption of\nsuch blockchain-based systems is necessary for continued use of the services,\nbut their user acceptance behavioral model has not been well investigated in\nthe literature. In this paper, we take the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) as\na foundation and extend the external constructs to uncover how the perceived\nease of use, perceived usability, quality of the system and perceived enjoyment\ninfluence the intention to use the blockchain-based system. We based our study\non user evaluation of a prototype of a blockchain-based research data sharing\nframework using a TAM validated questionnaire. Our results show that, overall,\nall the individual constructs of the behavior model significantly influence the\nintention to use the system while their collective effect is found to be\ninsignificant. The quality of the system and the perceived enjoyment have\nstronger influence on the perceived usefulness. However, the effect of\nperceived ease of use on the perceived usefulness is not supported. Finally, we\ndiscuss the implications of our findings.\n
Purpose Financial technology innovation within the developed world is driving financial markets, yet its adoption is lagging among consumers in emerging markets. At the same time, most African economies continue to be at the tail end of global financial innovations adoption. Given lagging consumer adoption of cryptocurrency in South Africa, the purpose of this paper is to apply the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to predict behavioural intention to adopt cryptocurrency. Design/methodology/approach A survey instrument based on the TPB was used to collect quantitative data for predicting adoption from adult distance students at the Mancosa, Cape Town campus. For data analysis, the two-step structural equation modelling approach was used. Findings The findings indicate that attitude and perceived behavioural control positively impact the intention to adopt cryptocurrency. Subjective norm showed a negative non-significant influence. Overall, the results of the study show that the model has a good model fit and can be used to explain the theory. Research limitations/implications The results of this study may not be generalisable to the wider population as it is only based on a cross-sectional study of a sample of adult students at a single institute in South Africa. Originality/value The contribution of this paper is threefold: it is one of a few studies on the behavioural intention to adopt cryptocurrency in South Africa using the TPB model, it contributes towards the use of predictive behavioural economics models in understanding consumer behaviour critical to accelerating the adoption of financial innovations, and the results of the study also inform behaviour change strategies that can be applied by practitioners or policymakers to improve adoption. Studies of this nature may lead to the development of financial innovation in emerging markets through a nuanced understanding of consumer behaviour.