Purpose This paper aims to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the performance of travel cryptocurrency and stock markets over a long period during the pandemic. Design/methodology/approach A generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity model was developed for 6 travel cryptocurrencies and the top 10 hotel, 7 airline and 26 restaurant stocks listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange. An event-study approach was applied to the emergence of the novel coronavirus and its variant, Omicron. Additionally, abnormal returns of the respective assets in response to such events were estimated. Findings Results indicated that the travel cryptocurrency market did not respond to the early stage of the pandemic, but NASDAQ hotel, restaurant and airline stocks revealed abnormal negative returns when the pandemic manifested in the USA. Upon the official US declaration of a pandemic, both cryptocurrencies and tourism stocks showed abnormal negative returns, but these were considerably greater among stocks than cryptocurrencies. Conversely, in response to the Omicron variant, only hotel, restaurant and airline stocks showed abnormal negative returns. Practical implications These results imply that travel cryptocurrencies are a financial instrument independent of hotel, restaurant or airline stocks. Thus, adopting travel cryptocurrencies may help investors and businesses diversify risk during long-duration crises such as COVID-19. Originality/value To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper is the first empirical study to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the recently emerging travel cryptocurrency market using an event-study approach to investigate how it differs from tourism stock performances.
COVID-19 Pandemic Impacts
Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
This paper is about the simulation analysis of the dynamics of an agribusiness enterprise under the assessment and improvement of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). In recent years, the company has been under pressure from the industry to provide more data on the traceability of its entire supply chain system and raw materials. However, the existing food traceability system is often faced with many challenging problems and difficulties under technical limitations, such as different regulations and restrictive policies, lack of standardized data management system; and complicated product tracing is often accompanied by human error, classification difficulty, tracing speed, and low efficiency. By analyzing the successful application paths of DLT in two well-known agricultural enterprises, this paper qualitatively and quantitatively evaluates the utilization of DLT. Using the logistic regression equation, it is proposed that the company check the factor variables in the real environment through the hypothetical pilot project to popularize DLT application. The study verifies that DLT can help agribusiness improve the traceability performance of raw materials and the entire supply chain and provides empirical evidence for the transparency and traceability of supply chain information in the industry. At the end of the paper, to further explore the reverso context of cases on DLT.
Cryptocurrency is gaining worldwide recognition. This research examines the psychological determining factors of consumers’ cryptocurrency adoption behavior based on the theory of planned behavior. 452 samples are collected from U.S consumers and the data are analyzed by PLS-SEM. The findings reveal that consumer innovativeness has positive influences on the attitude and perceived behavioral control for cryptocurrency and in turn affects the intention to use cryptocurrency. Subjective norm is a significant predictor of cryptocurrency intention and the LOHAS lifestyle moderates the influence of attitude on the intention. This research offers theoretical and practical implications for the cryptocurrency market.
Lukas Mastilak, Robert Suchy, Kristián Košťál, Ivan Kotuliak
This paper addresses the issue of sustainability in retail sales, where the composition of the products themselves, their production and packaging process, and their transport to the point of sale play an important role. We propose a solution to apply a unified system of environmental product rating in different retail chains where trust is ensured through a distributed ledger. The system allows fair and transparent rewards for customers who purchase eco-friendly products while also maintaining their privacy. The prototype of the decentralized application for the uniform loyalty system based on the Algorand blockchain has shown promising results in terms of throughput and cost efficiency. We believe that the prototype has the potential to revolutionize loyalty systems and promote sustainable practices. This study provides key insights into how to interconnect retailers and customers into a uniform reward program, how to motivate customers to purchase sustainable and eco-friendly goods, and how retailers can manage the amount of reward for the given Eco-score categories.
Nowadays, the discovery of new technologies is more intense than ever before. Terms such as Blockchain technology or Smart Contracts are becoming more and more familiar. Thanks to the decentralized system and the distribution of immutable records of transactions among all network participants, Blockchain finds application in almost any field, whether industry or society. Supply chain is one such area. In this paper, a theoretical model of supply chain based on Blockchain is presented. The participants of the presented model are the manufacturer with suppliers, the carrier, the retailer, and the final consumer. The model describes the process from the production of components to the sale of the final product to the final consumer. By implementing RFID and IoT, the participants can track the goods in real time. The end consumer enters the chain by scanning the QR code of the product. Contractual relationships are stored in the Blockchain in the form of Smart Contracts, which automatically execute the action based on the agreed terms. In addition, the paper describes selected Blockchain platforms that are used in the real world. Finally, we also present tools for simulating and testing Blockchain in a local network.
Purpose – In previous works we discussed the contribution of digital tourism not only to the improvement of the reputation of a Country (i.e. Sentiment Analysis) but also of the possibility to create opportunities for a new kind of online tourism. In recent times, with the development of the so-called Metaverse, also influenced by the pandemic emergency, Countries’ digital efforts in creating tourism opportunities gave new perspectives related to the possibility to capitalize on digital content, transforming them – jointly with physical tourism experiences – into possible further incomes and means to increase a Countries’ reputation. Specifically, in this context, we considered the enabling technology represented by Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), an innovative application of blockchains creating a unique opportunity in several sectors, including tourism. This work aims to explore possible applications of NFTs in tourism, analyzing the experiences currently in place. Methodology – Due to the innovative topic and the very few experiences in NFTs applications in tourism, this paper represents a preliminary review of current projects implementing the use of NFTs, so that the applied methodology consists mainly in qualitative analysis and discussion about the possible development of this technology in tourism. To this purpose, we introduced some applications currently in place, such as those of travel agencies like Travala, of some airlines (Air Europa, Emirates), Cruises companies (Norwegian Cruise Line), of the Economic Development Ministry of Slovenia (project “I Feel Nft”, presented at Expo Dubai 2020, representing the first of this kind in the world). The paper explores possible implications and further development of these initiatives, designing possible metrics to measure their success, paving the way for future quantitative analysis once data about the introduced case-studies is available. Findings – Through the discussion of the cases found, it appears that the main benefits of digitisation through NFTs consist in promoting and presenting major tourist destinations, exhibitions, works of art and companies’ products in the form of tokens, digital content and souvenirs for visitors. However, some of the analysed cases also suggest possible applications for actual commerce in the tourism sector, including ticketing services and hotel bookings. Other possible applications can be hypothesised with regard to the certified training of staff working in the hospitality sector. Originality of the research – The paper is highly innovative and currently unique in that the adoption of NFTs in tourism is recent and still open to proposals for implementation. The contribution is therefore very important, both in terms of operational proposals (applications, guidelines and good practices) and in terms of defining metrics for measuring the effectiveness of NFTs in the tourism economy.
Abstract Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) have witnessed unprecedented dynamism over the recent years with only few luxury brands experimenting with the technology albeit the very personal characteristics of NFT ownership. Little is known about how luxury brands use NFTs to develop their brand image and what opportunities luxury brands anticipate from NFTs as a new technology, digital product category or customer relationship channel. The present research note offers an applied research design to tackle these questions and systematically understand the potential of NFTs for personal luxury brands at large.
Open access
Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
Paul Griffiths, Carlos J. Costa, Nuno Fernandes Crespo
Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) represent a multibillion-dollar global market. While considerable speculation exists about the future utility of NFTs, there has been limited research into the consumer behaviors of market participants. This research paper examines the motivations of NFT buyers through the lens of self-determination theory. Using a sample of 482 participants, the authors tested a conceptual framework to better understand both NFT buyers’ intrinsic and extrinsic motivations. This study expands the literature on NFTs in three different ways: i) it is the first study, as far as we know, to focus exclusively on NFT buyers and their motivations in purchasing NFTs; ii) it explores a variety of potential motivations theorized in the literature; and iii) it tests the expected future value of NFTs as both a motivation and as a moderator for NFT buyers. The authors determined that intrinsic motivation had the most substantial effect on purchase intention, and the expectations of NFTs’ future value positively moderated the effect of amotivation on purchase intention. In contrast, high expectations of future value moderated the effect of external regulation on purchase intention. The results suggest that NFT buyers are not as impacted by potential social or monetary gain as often characterized in the academic literature but behave more like traditional buyers of luxury goods.
Open access
2 source records
Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification
Abstract Over the last half-century, consumer research has often depicted scarcity as a dominant factor increasing price. But should we assume that scarcity’s upward pressure on price remains intact, in a world where novel forms of digital products proliferate? In this article, we propose that blockchain-encrypted digital goods, in particular, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), offer good reason to revisit this assumption. In this context, we argue and find that social value can outweigh intrinsic value as a determinant of willingness-to-pay. As a result, when scarcity threatens access to high levels of social value, its effect on price can be negative rather than positive—an inversion of a pattern typically observed for offline collectibles. Secondary data taken from the NFT platform Opensea and a set of experimental studies support this social value-based lens. Given these findings, we propose a research agenda to ground future work in this area. We also suggest that NFTs offer a laboratory in which past theories related to social value, scarcity, and price can be reconsidered and future theories developed, hopefully allowing consumer researchers to lead knowledge development in these domains over the next 50 years.
Blockchain technology has gained increasing popularity among the business community due to its numerous advantages for business such as decentralization, immutability, and transparency. Specifically, with a reliable transaction system, blockchain technology has developed information sharing and supply chain management in the textile industry. Although there is a growing number of research publications in the field of blockchain technology applications, there is a lack of systematic knowledge of the current literature regarding how blockchain technology is effectively applied to the textile industry, increasing the possibility of getting irrelevant, biased, or unclear information. Thus, the purpose of this study is to analyze, identify, and classify the existing literature to provide a comprehensive overview of the state of the art on using blockchain technology in the main activities of textile industry enterprises such as production and marketing. The researchers looked for publications and expert opinions articulating different applications of blockchain technology in marketing and production activities of the textile industry based on the analysis of academic databases selected and stakeholder interviews. The results highlighted that the most common categories of using blockchain technology in the textile industry are information sharing and supply chain traceability to integrate with the production and marketing activities of textile companies. The scientific contributions of this systematic mapping study are expected to be the classified portfolio of key publications and content taxonomy that demonstrates the state of the art in the whole research field. Finally, we concluded the paper with practical and theoretical implications and developed a future research agenda on closing the potential gap between blockchain-enhanced production and marketing activities of textile companies.
The rapid growth in the number of cryptocurrency investors is a phenomenon that occurs during a pandemic.Investing in the capital market and cryptocurrency sectors has become a new lifestyle among young people in Indonesia.The majority are beginner investors or just joining the investment for the first time.They are chasing high profits from this newborn trading trend.A vast increase in the number of investors emerged in Indonesia.The high gain achieved from trading cryptocurrencies appeals to novice investors.Many young people are starting to invest in cryptocurrencies.The phenomenon is using funds for investment, even from borrowed money or debt.This study tries to develop a model regarding what factors influence behavioral intention to invest in cryptocurrencies.Factors that affect awareness, belief and attitude toward cryptocurrencies are assumed to influence.The study then examines whether attitudes toward cryptocurrencies mediate behavioral intentions to invest.The population in this study is students who know about cryptocurrencies.The sample in this study was 100 students in Yogyakarta.The method used is Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) analysis based on variance, i.e., Partial Least Square (PLS).The attitude variable partially mediates the behavioral intention to invest in cryptocurrencies based on the study results.
Digitalization began to find a place in every industry faster than expected with COVID-19. Although terms such as Blockchain, NFT, Web 3.0, and Metaverse, which entered our lives with digitalization, are still very new, they will create a paradigm shift from standard business models. Blockchain technologies, especially NFTs, are creating a new opportunity for brands and creative industries as the frontrunner of digitalization with the innovative approach that is driven by scarcity, a new medium to connect with fans, and decentralized distribution power. This paper aims examine the effects of perceived value -with its predecessors scarcity, ownership & uniqueness- and trust in blockchain on the purchase intention of NFTs, considering the technology adoption. In this regard, data was collected via questionnaire from NFT owners with different nations in Discord channels using convenience sampling technique. SEM was performed as statistical analysis, and the results indicated technology adoption is a significant variable on trust in blockchain, which has a direct effect on purchase intention. On the hand, even though scarcity and ownership were positively associated with perceived value, this construct had no statistically significant effect on purchase intention.
Purpose This study explores the influence of the following factors on consumer adoption of blockchain food traceability (BFT): innovation-adoption characteristics, segmentation, expertise in food traceability, expertise in blockchain technology, food categorical preferences and perceived important features of BFT. Design/methodology/approach The data was collected via an online questionnaire with 1,401 participants in New Zealand. Exploratory factor analysis, structural equation modelling and segmentation analysis were undertaken. Findings Consumer adoption of blockchain food traceability was significantly influenced by two innovation-adoption characteristics – perceived incentives and perceived complexity, as well as their expertise in food traceability. Two consumer segments were identified: Conservatives (48%) and Pioneers (52%). Significant differences were found between these two segments in terms of gender, age, education, occupation, residential area and ethnicity. Consumers are more willing to use BFT for purchasing fresh, imported, staple and normal foods than for processed, domestic and upscale foods. Their perceived important specific features of BFT are product origin, food safety information, quality control, food safety information, hygienic condition and scarcity management. Originality/value This study contributes knowledge to address the current knowledge gap regarding consumer adoption of blockchain food traceability by using a large sample set. It is also the first study to recognise consumer segments for BFT; to provide information about consumers' important socio-demographic characteristics, food categorical preferences and perceived important features towards BFT; and to explore the influences of consumers' innovation-adoption characteristics, expertise in food traceability and expertise in blockchain technology on their adoption of blockchain food traceability.
Anna Prisco, Yasser Omar Abdallah, Swapnil Morandé, Mohamed Hani Gheith
Although Blockchain technology has shown its usefulness, there exist limited studies and industrial applications. Presented research investigates factors influencing blockchain adoption. It reflects on how the perceived benefit of blockchain may influence the adoption and how organisational size may affect this process. This study integrates the framework of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) with the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and extends it with the perceived benefits of blockchain adoption while including firm size as moderator. Data collected were analysed with a PLS-SEM. Our results showed that a significant predictor of intention to use blockchain is perceived behavioural control. Moreover, it was found that perceived benefit significantly influenced perceived usefulness. Finally, the study demonstrated that SMEs are more efficient in adopting blockchain compared to Large firms.
Muhammad Nazam, Muhammad Hashim, Florian Marcel Nuţă, Liming Yao · 8 authors
The adoption of blockchain technology (BCT) in a supply chain holds great potential for textile industries by executing transactions among stakeholders in a most reliable and verifiable way. Textile industries in emerging economies, like Pakistan, confront severe economic pressures and uncertain environment and strive to achieve sustainable supply chain excellence through blockchain implementation. This study is an initiative to analyze the key barriers in adopting BCT-related practices within the textile industry. This study conducts an extensive review of the literature using fuzzy Delphi approach for finalizing the barriers and applied fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (AHP) for prioritizing the barriers under uncertain environment. Based on the extensive review of the literature and panel discussions with experts, a total of five main barriers and 21 sub-barriers were categorized and ranked. The results and findings prioritize technological and system-related barriers (TSB) first, and human resources and R&D (HRB) barriers second among the other barrier dimensions. This paper highlights the need for an inclusive understanding of the various technological, environmental, and socio-economic perspectives to create blockchain applications that work for the textile sector. This study’s key findings and policy guidelines can assist concerned stakeholders in making strategic decisions for adopting BCT within the textile supply chain. The managerial implications are provided for the industrial decision-makers and policymakers aiming to integrate BCT into the supply chain processes. Presently, there exists no research in the context of Pakistan that highlights the challenges faced during the adoption of BCT in the supply chain. For this purpose, an approach in the form of an integrated model based on fuzzy set theory is developed. Finally, the robustness of the proposed model is checked through sensitivity analysis.
Purpose Blockchain technology is predicted by many to be the most disruptive technology which might bring accessibility, efficiency and transparency in the financial industry. This study aims to understand the challenges likely to be faced by the Indian banking industry while adopting the technology. Design/methodology/approach The study adopted a qualitative approach to explore the challenges faced by the banking industry in India. Semi-structured in-depth interviews with senior executives and academicians in the finance and the information technology industries helped gain explorative insights about the challenges. Findings Thematic analysis suggested a framework comprising five challenges while adopting blockchain technology. These challenges relate to technology, organisation, operation, regulator and environmental context. Originality/value The paper contributes to the limited literature on the nascent blockchain technology adoption in banking industry in an emerging country context.
Juan Carlos López-Pimentel, Miguel Alcaraz-Rivera, Rafael Granillo Macías, Elìas Olivares-Benítez
Currently, the Mexican avocado supply chain has some social limitations that make the traceability process a difficult task and severely limits the regions that can add their harvest to the international market. We hypothesize that modernizing the traceability process and improving the trust of the final user could help in opening the market to other regions. This paper describes the Mexican avocado supply chain characteristics, identifies the actors involved in the supply chain, and emphasizes the problems that the current actors have when exporting them to the US market. On this basis, we propose a technological solution system to automate the traceability process. The system was designed to comply with the authority and consumer requirements. It proposes a combination of the benefits of traditional data traceability using Microservices architecture with a new layer of Blockchain auditing that will add value to current and new actors in every step of the supply chain. We contribute by proposing a model that adds value to the avocado supply chain with the following characteristics: Integrity, auditing service, dual traceability, transparency, and a front-end application with trust user-oriented. Our proofs demonstrate that the blockchain layer does not represent a considered high extra transaction cost; it could be regarded as despicable for the economy of the consumer considering costs and benefits.