The protection of original achievements including patents and copyrights is a significant and critical issue in today's knowledge-driven economy. In this article, we propose and develop a blockchain service architecture to enhance information traceability and protection effectiveness. Our proposed service architecture is enabled by the core functionalities of blockchain technology including distributed data storage, peer-to-peer transmission, consensus mechanisms, and encryption algorithms. Through this blockchain-based traceability system, we can record, secure, validate, and track original achievements’ registrations and other related transactions. The results of our simulation experiments further validate the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed traceability system design. Our experimental analysis shows that the proposed blockchain-based design can effectively enhance original achievements traceability with an embedded automatic incentive rewarding mechanism for both the creation and protection of original achievements. Moreover, our performance analysis and comparative analysis show that the proposed method has more advantages over several other methods. While our study provides an effective solution to address the existing challenges in intellectual property rights and achievements patents protection, the breadth of the blockchain concept and its applications require nuanced investigations in many different contexts. Thus, the proposed blockchain-based traceability system highlights the potential for broader applications of this disruptive technology in many other domains.

Purpose: Livestreaming, as a relatively new online marketing model, has generated numerous business opportunities for e-commerce and social commerce. The purpose of this paper is to investigate to what degree livestreaming content impacts online users' cognitive and emotional reactions and whether their cognitive and emotional responses affect their purchase intention.Design/methodology/approach: Through the lens of regulatory focus theory (RFT) and stimulus–organism–response (S–O–R) theory, the authors empirically examine the influencing mechanisms of livestreaming on online consumers' purchase intentions. Structural equation models are used to analyze the relationships in the proposed research model.Findings: The results of this study show that information-task fit positively affects consumers' perceived usefulness of livestreaming. Both visual effects and sociability positively affect consumers' perceived value and social presence. Furthermore, perceived usefulness and perceived joy positively affect consumers' purchase intentions in a livestreaming environment. This study’s results also demonstrate that the regulatory focus of consumers has a moderating effect on the influence of their perceived joy on shopping intentions.Originality/value: This study contributes to the relevant literature by simultaneously examining the role of e-commerce platform characteristics and online consumer psychology in influencing behavioral intention. With a better understanding of their role, platform operators and sellers can refine their livestreaming marketing tools and strategies. Highlighting the interplays among external stimuli, user reactions and user motivational styles, this study contributes to mobile e-commerce literature and the broader literature on digital marketing and human–computer interaction.

Ride-hailing services provide not only alternative transportation for passengers but also job opportunities for potential drivers, resulting in both negative and positive effects on new car purchases. Our study assesses the impact of ride-hailing platforms’ market entry on new car purchases in the presence of platform competition. Our data is a monthly panel data on new car registration plates from 2013 to 2015, during which two leading ride-hailing platforms (Didi Chuxing and Uber) rolled out their services across select cities in China. We find that, while the entry of a single ride-hailing platform led to a decline in new car purchases, platform competition mitigated the negative impacts of platform entries. Our explanation is that the two competing platforms may have provided subsidies to drivers such that more people purchased new cars in order to sign up as drivers. By leveraging brand heterogeneity, our analysis finds supporting evidence that platform competition has resulted in increased sales of those car brands that are commonly adopted by ride-hailing drivers. Our study contributes to the literature on pricing strategies and subsidy allocation for two-sided markets by providing empirical evidence from the ride-hailing market. It suggests that companies’ competitive strategies need to account for consumer expectations and learning in the presence of strong network effects.