While recommender systems (RS) used in e-commerce have improved significantly providing customers with a personalised shopping experience, scholars have constantly raised concerns over the risks associated with e-commerce RS. However, a lack of methodological synthesis of risk-generating events associated with e-commerce recommender systems has curtailed systematic investigation of the risks of e-commerce RS. This paper presents a scoping review aimed at addressing this gap by synthesising different risk-generating events involved with the use of e-commerce RS as reported in the literature that could affect the welfare of customers who use those systems. Accordingly, peer-reviewed research studies published from 2003-2023 were extracted from the SCOPUS database and EBSCOhost platform for review. Sixty-two publications with evidence on risk-generating events of e-commerce RS were considered for the review. Twenty risk-generating events were identified through the review. These events were mapped with the corresponding risks based on existing frameworks on risks of e-commerce. We were able to identify several risk-generating events that had not previously been considered in conceptualising the risks of e-commerce RS. Further, we identified the plurality of the outcomes of risk-generating events which could provide guidance for the evaluation of e-commerce recommender systems from a multistakeholder perspective.

Measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic have caused many employees to work from home; a novel situation in which individuals used information systems (IS) more intensively to stay in touch with coworkers. This novel IS use situation affected individuals differently and resulted in both positive and negative outcomes. Recent calls for research advocate for clarification regarding the conceptualisation of appraisal, which explains different individual responses to objectively equal environments. In particular, challenge-hindrance-research does not differentiate between primary and secondary appraisal. Therefore, it remains unclear how individual capability beliefs, such as self-efficacy, affect challenge and hindrance IS use appraisal. We conduct an empirical study with 1,553 German employees to investigate these relationships and the positive and negative outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that challenge and hindrance IS use appraisal, and remote working self-efficacy are interconnected, yet different constructs. We find that self-efficacy is related to challenge IS use appraisal, rather than hindrance IS use appraisal. Further, challenge IS use appraisal is a driver for performance in a remote working environment. We conclude that there are stressful aspects of IS use that are not influenced by an individual’s belief in their abilities. Our study emphasises the importance of remote working self-efficacy and IS use appraisal to mitigate techno-distress and increase performance during remote work.

Modern-day economic growth is focused on productivity and innovation, which puts information and technology integral to economic policy issues. In this context, ICT has a significant position as it increases efficiency, promotes information dissemination, and enhances innovation, resulting in a global shift in social and human development processes. The purpose of this research is to examine the significance of ICT diffusion in fostering human development in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries from 2005 to 2019. ICT diffusion is measured using a principal component analysis (PCA)- based composite index that combines telephone, mobile, broadband, and internet usage. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) created Human Development Index (HDI) serves as a proxy for human development. To adjust for any confounding bias, macroeconomic indicators, such as gross domestic product (GDP), inflation, and trade are also included. Utilizing econometric methods robust to cross-sectional dependence (CSD) such as the dynamic common correlated effect (DCCE) estimator, Driscoll-Kraay (DK) regression, and the Dumitrescu-Hurlin (DH) causality test, the study highlights the strong positive relationship between ICT and HDI. In addition, GDP boosts HDI owing to productivity gains. Similarly, trade expansion, in addition to its direct effects, also influences HDI by boosting economic growth. Inflation, on the other hand, has a negative impact on the HDI. Consequently, the study recommends a cohesive setting that unifies ICT with human development in this modern framework.

Healthcare initiatives backed by electronic-governance (e-governance) principles have contributed well to the extant literature and practice. Governments and healthcare systems across the world were taken aback by the swamping impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, they reacted quickly by developing contact-tracing mobile applications (apps) for creating awareness, providing information about various healthcare initiatives, and helping citizens to use the required information in case of emergency. The major challenge was to develop such e-governance interventions in a short time and ensure their quick adoption among the masses. Hence, it is worthwhile to investigate the factors leading to the adoption of such e-governance initiatives, especially in the context of a widespread pandemic situation. The present study is an attempt to analyze the factors driving the intention to use contact tracing mobile apps launched by governments globally during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have conducted the study in the context of India, where the government launched a community-driven contact tracing mobile app for its citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020. The study adopted an empirical approach to test how epistemic value, convenience value, conditional value, functional value, and privacy concerns influenced the intention to use this approach. The study found that intention to use such an app was positively influenced by functional value, which in turn was positively influenced by convenience and conditional values. It suggests that the convenience of using the app, perceived seriousness of the pandemic (i.e., conditional value), and utilitarian benefits (i.e., functional value) of the contact-tracing mobile app enhanced its acceptance. However, its novelty (i.e., epistemic value) and privacy concerns are not significant predictors of intention to use. The study recommends that the government should place more emphasis on improving the functional value which is driven by convenience and context-specific features to push the use of an e-governance initiative during the crisis.

The number of niche technologies is growing, and they are getting noticed. However, the usage dynamics of such systems have not been explored. This study introduces the “niche” information systems (IS) construct to differentiate between mainstream and niche technologies and to illustrate how such differences potentially influence a person’s IS usage behavior. We posit that niche-ness is perceptual, and a measurement to gauge an individual’s niche perception in the domain of systems usage is desired. Resting on Optimal Distinctiveness theory, the study develops a novel conceptualization and operationalization of niche technology perceptions, focusing on social networking systems. Our main contribution includes the examination of the typology of the perceived niche, which results in the development and validation of an eight-item instrument for perceived technology niche through three studies. In addition, by placing the construct in a nomological network in a fourth study, we demonstrate that the perceived technology niche construct is related to IS continuance intention.

This study investigates health seekers’ acceptance and adoption determinants of telemedicine services in a rural public hospital setting in an emerging economy using an adapted, extended Technology Acceptance Model. The present study pursued synthesising a plethora of existing literature and contextualised the significance of seven broad categories of potential determinants that significantly affect patients’ acceptance and adoption intentions: perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, self-efficacy, service quality, privacy and data security, social influence, and facilitating conditions. The partial least square structural equation modeling technique was employed to test the conceptual model and research hypotheses. A cross-sectional survey was administered among 500 telemedicine users in randomly selected rural and remote areas of Bangladesh. Excluding self-efficacy and ease of use, five determinants expressively contributed to patients’ acceptance of telemedicine adoption, explaining 65% of the variance (R2) in behavioural Intention. The empirical findings have the quality of rigour obtained from rich data sets in health informatics and can contribute to build telemedicine into an institutionalised health infrastructure in Bangladesh and similar settings. Pertinent implications, limitations and future research directions were recommended to secure the long-term sustainability of telemedicine healthcare projects.

The use of game design elements (often called gamification) by firms to engage the customers has attracted attention in recent times. These game elements contribute to shaping up customer’s motivation and loyalty. Gamification is explored from the lens of both empirical as well as an experimental methodological standpoint. There still lacks substantial evidence that explains how and which types of rewards help to understand the customer's motivation. The study addresses this gap by designing an experimental study of 2x2 to address how gamified mobile apps used for making payments can help capture customer’s loyalty by offering them rewards. Data is collected from 385 customers who have been using mobile apps to make payments in the past. The data were tested to check if gamification positively helps the user hedonic and utilitarian motivation, which then positively impacts their loyalty. The study is also moderated by type of rewards (direct cash rewards v/s indirect third party partnered rewards) on the relationship of gamification and customer loyalty mediated through motivation. The results confirm that mobile payment apps' cash rewards are more useful, especially when the degree of uncertainty in the game element is high (scratch card). Additionally, they contribute to a higher degree of utilitarian benefits to the customers. The results contribute to the extension of the self-determination theory and stimulus organism response framework as well.

Information technology (IT) is increasingly important to organizations and has become essential to the development of sustainable business growth. It is therefore necessary to adopt IT governance (ITG) mechanisms to ensure better solutions, sustainable growth, and better decision-making. As employee behavior is a competitive differential, this work focuses on the behavioral expression of ITG. It aims at analyzing ITG institutionalization's effect on the main dimensions of Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB) in Portugal. OCB describes individuals' voluntary commitment to an organization, including attitudes outside of their contractual functions. A descriptive-confirmative ex post facto research was conducted through survey research to 112 employees of IT-related departments and divisions from companies of all sizes in Portugal. The partial least square-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method was used to test the overall model. The general hypothesis was confirmed, showing that ITG institutionalization positively affects individuals' OCBs in Portuguese organizations. In practical terms, it is possible to show organizations that by implementing their ITG Mechanisms, they are increasing employees' OCBs and, consequently, organizational effectiveness.

Social media has been used widely for communicating information, awareness, and promote public policies by government agencies. However, limited attention has been paid to the use of social media in improving the design of public policies. This paper explores to what extent citizens' responses/opinions expressed on social media platforms contribute to policy design. The paper analyzes discussion about the 'Ayushman Bharat' scheme on Twitter through social media analytics techniques (e.g., content analytics) and then traces the change in policy design over two years. To validate findings from Twitter data, and assess the evolution in policy design, we conducted in-depth interviews with experts and extensive document analysis. The paper reveals that consistently similar issues were raised by the experts in the past as well as by the citizens in the current scheme. However, over the period, the policy design has not changed significantly. Therefore, despite a strong social media presence, its optimum use to improve policy effectiveness is yet to be achieved. The paper contributes by exploring the role social media can play in the public policy process and policy design in developing countries' contexts and identifies gaps in existing social media strategies of public agencies.