Pedro R. Palos-Sanchez

Cloud Computing (SaaS) Adoption as a Strategic Technology: Results of an Empirical Study

The present study empirically analyzes the factors that determine the adoption of cloud computing (SaaS model) in firms where this strategy is considered strategic for executing their activity. A research model has been developed to evaluate the factors that influence the intention of using cloud computing that combines the variables found in the technology acceptance model (TAM) with other external variables such as top management support, training, communication, organization size, and technological complexity. Data compiled from 150 companies in Andalusia (Spain) are used to test the formulated hypotheses. The results of this study reflect what critical factors should be considered and how they are interrelated. They also show the organizational demands that must be considered by those companies wishing to implement a real management model adopted to the digital economy, especially those related to cloud computing.

Understanding the Digital Marketing Environment with KPIs and Web Analytics

In the practice of Digital Marketing (DM), Web Analytics (WA) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) can and should play an important role in marketing strategy formulation. It is the aim of this article to survey the various DM metrics to determine and address the following question: What are the most relevant metrics and KPIs that companies need to understand and manage in order to increase the effectiveness of their DM strategies? Therefore, to achieve these objectives, a Systematic Literature Review has been carried out based on two main themes (i) Digital Marketing and (ii) Web Analytics. The search terms consulted in the databases have been (i) DM and (ii) WA obtaining a result total of n = 378 investigations. The databases that have been consulted for the extraction of data were Scopus, PubMed, PsyINFO, ScienceDirect and Web of Science. In this study, we define and identify the main KPIs in measuring why, how and for what purpose users interact with web pages and ads. The main contribution of the study is to lay out and clarify quantitative and qualitative KPIs and indicators for DM performance in order to achieve a consensus on the use and measurement of these indicators.

The Influence of Social Networks on the Development of Recruitment Actions that Favor User Interface Design and Conversions in Mobile Applications Powered by Linked Data

This study analyzes the most important influence factors in the literature, which have the greatest influence on the conversions obtained in a mobile application powered by linked data. With the study of user interface design and a small user survey (nu2009=u2009101,053), we studied the influence of social networks, advertising, and promotional and recruitment actions in conversions for mobile applications powered by linked data. The analysis of the users’ behavior and their application in the design of the actions to promote and capture constitutes an important part of the current theories of digital marketing. However, this study shows that its results may be contradictory and depend on other factors and circumstances when mobile applications powered by linked data are considered. The predictive value, reached by the developed model, may be useful for professionals and researchers in the field of digital marketing and the user interface design in mobile applications powered by linked data.

Attitudes Expressed in Online Comments about Environmental Factors in the Tourism Sector: An Exploratory Study

The object of this exploratory study is to identify the positive, neutral and negative environment factors that affect users who visit Spanish hotels in order to help the hotel managers decide how to improve the quality of the services provided. To carry out the research a Sentiment Analysis was initially performed, grouping the sample of tweets (n = 14459) according to the feelings shown and then a textual analysis was used to identify the key environment factors in these feelings using the qualitative analysis software Nvivo (QSR International, Melbourne, Australia). The results of the exploratory study present the key environment factors that affect the users experience when visiting hotels in Spain, such as actions that support local traditions and products, the maintenance of rural areas respecting the local environment and nature, or respecting air quality in the areas where hotels have facilities and offer services. The conclusions of the research can help hotels improve their services and the impact on the environment, as well as improving the visitors experience based on the positive, neutral and negative environment factors which the visitors themselves identified.

Uncertainty Propagation in Fuzzy Grey Cognitive Maps With Hebbian-Like Learning Algorithms

This paper is focused on an innovative fuzzy cognitive maps extension called fuzzy grey cognitive maps (FGCMs). FGCMs are a mixture of fuzzy cognitive maps and grey systems theory. These have become a useful framework for facing problems with high uncertainty, under discrete small and incomplete datasets. This paper deals with the problem of uncertainty propagation in FGCM dynamics with Hebbian learning. In addition, this paper applies differential Hebbian learning (DHL) and balanced DHL to FGCMs for the first time. We analyze the uncertainty propagation in eight different scenarios in a classical chemical control problem. The results give insight into the propagation of the uncertainty or greyness in the iterations of the FGCMs. The results show that the nonlinear Hebbian learning is the choice with less uncertainty in steady final grey states for Hebbian learning algorithms.