Stanislav Mamonov

The Role of the Sense of Community in the Sustainability of Social Network Sites

ABSTRACT The evolution of information technologies enables new forms of communication and facilitates the emergence of different types of virtual communities, such as social networks. While some social network services have succeeded, others have failed. Understanding the factors that affect the sustainability of social network sites is important for both research and practice. We draw on the sense of community theory to develop a nomological framework of antecedents and consequences associated with sense of community in social network sites. We evaluate the framework with a survey of 506 Facebook users. We find that sense of community has a strong effect on information consumption and contribution, as well as exit intentions among social network site users, thus highlighting the important role of sense of community in the sustainability of social network sites. We also find that both system-related (sense of place associated with the social networking site) and social (social interaction) factors contribute to the development of sense of community. The nomological framework developed in the current study provides a theoretical foundation that could be adapted to study other factors that influence the development of sense of community across different virtual community contexts.

An empirical investigation of privacy breach perceptions among smartphone application users

We explore factors that affect perceptions of privacy breach among mobile app users.We evaluate how the type of information and legal contracts affect perceptions of a privacy breach.We develop and operationalize a new construct: perceived privacy breach.We find that not all privacy breaches are alike.Legal contracts only partially reduce perceptions of a privacy breach. This study examines four factors affecting perceptions of privacy breach among smartphone application users. The four factors drawn from psychological contract theory are: the type of information perceived to be misappropriated by the application, the presence of a legal agreement giving application developers rights to use the information, the source of information suggesting that a privacy breach may have occurred and the application type (free or paid). An experimental examination of these factors indicates that perceptions of misappropriation of financial information are more distressing than perceived misappropriation of geo-location data. In addition, the existence of legal contracts giving application developers rights to information only partially attenuates perceptions of privacy breach among application users. This study offers a novel theoretical perspective toward understanding perceptions of privacy breaches and it shows that privacy breach perceptions vary according to the characteristics of the breach. At the methodological level, this study offers a new focal construct to measure perceived privacy breach. At a practical level, the empirical results highlight the limitations of legal contracts in preventing perceptions of privacy breach.

The strategic value of data resources in emergent industries

Abstract In this paper we examine the strategic role of data resources in emergent industries. We contrast the resource-based view and the relational view theories to examine how data resources can help organizations create and capture value. We compare two organizations from two different industries to understand how different types of data resources can provide a competitive advantage. We also examine the role of strategic partnerships in capturing value created through the exploitation of data resources. We conclude that while data often serve as a required resource for entry into new markets, strategic partnerships play a critical role in capturing value created through the exploitation of data resources. The emergent partnership structures are remarkably similar across the two organizations. They target rapid market expansion through encapsulation of data resources within highly scalable web services and the use of standardized legal contracts. We also find that temporal decoupling between value creation and value capture can expose firms to the erosion of the competitive advantage gained through investment in data resources.

Exploring factors affecting social e-commerce service adoption

Display Omitted We examine factors that affect the adoption of a social commerce service on Facebook.We elicit salient user beliefs and conduct exploratory factor analysis to identify the key constructs that influence service adoption.We find that perceived social utility, perceived symbolic value, perceived convenience and privacy concerns play the key roles in service adoption.The results emphasize the importance of social factors in the adoption of social commerce services. Although social commerce is an important trend in practice, relatively few research studies have explored the impact of social commerce innovations launched within social networking sites. The deployment of a gift-giving service within a social networking site provides a unique opportunity to study the intersection of technological innovations and social norms and its potential to generate new revenue for ecommerce sites. Using Facebook Gifts as a real-world context for the study, we explore the factor structure of salient user beliefs influencing usage intention, and examine the relationships between beliefs and intention to use the service in a broader nomological network. Instead of adopting constructs from existing models, we started with the elicitation of salient beliefs and proceeded with successive stages of refinement to develop a suitable model. The empirical results show countervailing effects of perceived social utility and perceived convenience of the service on one hand, and low perceived value and privacy concerns on the other. A notable finding is the potential conflict arising between the expectations of effort associated with the procurement of a gift and the common perception of technology as reducing the required effort. The net result is that a technology-mediated gift service in the context of a social networking site runs counter to the social norms associated with traditional gift exchanges. This insight provides evidence of the dual challenge for social commerce initiatives. In order to be successful, new services in this area must leverage the potential of the technology as well as social practices.

Success factors in Title III equity crowdfunding in the United States

Abstract The financial industry is seeing rapid introduction of new technologies and new business models that are challenging established practices. Recent changes in financial regulation in the United States have spurred evolution of equity crowdfunding as a potential alternative to traditional sources of venture capital. To address the relative lack of knowledge about success factors, we focus on Title III equity crowdfunding platforms in the United States that are open to non-accredited investors. We draw on traditional venture finance research and we examine the effects of market, execution and agency risks in equity crowdfunding under Title III. We collect data on 133 ventures that attracted more than

An Exploratory Analysis of Title II Crowdfunding Success

11 million in funding commitments across sixteen Title III equity crowdfunding platforms. We find that all three types of risks can affect the likelihood of successful fundraising under Title III. We discuss the implications of these findings for entrepreneurs, investors, crowdfunding platforms and policy makers.

An exploratory analysis of Title II equity crowdfunding success

The passage of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act) ushered in a new wave of equity crowdfunding in the United States. Title II of the JOBS Act aims to make it easier for new ventures to raise funds from accredited investors. The number of Title II crowdfunded projects is growing rapidly. Based on data for U.S. online 506(c) offerings across 17 leading platforms, more than

Factors Affecting Perceptions of Privacy Breach among Smartphone Application Users

1.27 billion in capital was committed to Title II projects through 2015. Our analysis of Title II offerings from these platforms reveals that real estate ventures are the single largest category with more than

Success Factors in Title III Equity Crowdfunding in the United States

316 million in committed capital, yet only ~34% of the crowdfunded real estate offerings receive the full amount of capital sought. Text mining of the real estate project descriptions reveals the critical facilitation role played by the successful crowdfunding platforms in reducing the information asymmetry between the entrepreneurs and investors by performing due diligence on the potential Title II investment opportunities.

Subjectivity of Diamond Prices in Online Retail: Insights from a Data Mining Study

Abstract The passage of the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (JOBS Act) ushered in a new wave of equity crowdfunding in the United States. Title II of the JOBS Act aims to make it easier for new ventures to raise funds from accredited investors. The number of Title II crowdfunded projects is growing rapidly. Based on data for US online 506(c) offerings across 17 leading platforms, more than