Online knowledge platforms have been undergoing a transformation from providing free knowledge to online paid knowledge (OPK). As customers play a key role in the sustainable development and success of the new business model, we focused on the factors that drive consumers’ online knowledge purchase intention. Drawing on the cognitive–affective–conative framework and customer value theory, we propose that consumers rationally evaluate the customer values of OPK in the cognitive stage, followed by generating trust and identification in the affective stage, then leading to a purchase decision. Six factors were extracted from three dimensions of customer value: Functional, emotional, and social values. The hypotheses were tested using survey data obtained from 504 respondents using structural equation modeling. The findings confirm that customer value and identification with the knowledge contributor significantly influence trust in OPK. Trust in OPK and identification with the knowledge contributor both significantly influence purchase intention, whereas trust in the platform neither influences consumers’ trust in OPK nor purchase intention. The findings of this study will help OPK platforms to increase their sales of knowledge products.

This study presents an empirical investigation of employees’ extra-role behaviour in the information security context based on person – organisation fit theory. The perspective of fit evaluates the differences and similarities between information security policy makers and practitioners to provide employees with an approach to decide whether and how to participate in the implementation of extra security actions. We developed a research model and then conducted a survey and PLS-SEM analysis to test the corresponding hypothesis. The results illustrate that perceived demand – ability fit, perceived need – supply fit, and perceived value fit are effective in motivating security commitment. The empirical evidence shows that security commitment is a partial mediator between complementary fits (demand-ability fit and need-supply fit) and participation intention and is a full mediator between supplementary fit (value fit) and participation intention. In addition, apathy reduces motivation to engage in extra-role behaviour, while value fit and security commitment eliminate such apathy.

Purpose: The rapid development of the Internet in China has profoundly affected the country's charities, which many people support through online donations (e.g. providing financial help) and charity information forwarding (a new behavior of participating in online charities via social media). However, the development of online charities has been accompanied by many problems, such as donation fraud and fake charity information, which adversely affect social kindness. The purpose of this paper is to understand people's online donation and forwarding behaviors and to explore the mechanisms of such behaviors from the perspectives of cognitive-based trust and emotional-based empathic concern.Design/methodology/approach: This study developed a research model based on the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and stimulus–organism–response (SOR) model. The researchers obtained 287 valid samples via a scenario-based experimental survey and conducted partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to test the model.Findings: The results indicated that (1) online donation intention is motivated by rational-based trust and emotional-based empathic concern; (2) online charity information forwarding is triggered only when trust is built, and there is no significant correlation between empathic concern and forwarding intention; and (3) content quality, initiator credibility, and platform reputation are three critical paths to promote trust; in addition, an individual's empathic concern can be motivated by the emotional appeal.Originality/value: This study highlights the different mechanisms of donation and forwarding behaviors and provided theoretical measures for motiving trust and empathic concern in the online context to promote people's participation in online charity.

The blockchain-based traceability system (BTS) can reduce product losses in the perishable goods market, which yields a loss-reduction effect, and offer authentic information, which triggers a premium effect. In a dual-channel perishable goods supply chain (DPGSC), including one supplier and retailer each, the supplier can operate the price of the direct channel, different or non-different from that of the traditional channel. To study the adoption of BTS in the supplier-led DPGSC, we employed a game-theoretical model to capture BTS adoption strategy under the differential and non-differential pricing policies and proposed an improved cost-sharing contract to boost the DPGSC performance. The results indicated that both the supplier and the retailer are willing to improve product quality, broaden the saleable region, and lower the production cost. The adoption of BTS mainly depends on the losses-reduction effect, premium effect, production cost, and tag cost, which is affected more by the premium effect than by the loss-reduction effect. Furthermore, their adoption is not always easier when the production cost is higher. Except for symmetric base demands, they benefit asynchronously from BTS. Synchronised adoptions can be realised only when the improved cost-sharing contract generates more profits and introduces excess momentum. Highlights

Online reputation systems play an important role in reducing consumers’ purchase uncertainty in online shopping. However, some sellers manipulate reviews for their own interests, which reduces the effectiveness of the reputation system. Unlike the previous studies, which focus on features of reviews and reviewers, this study establishes a game model to analyze sellers’ manipulation behavior and identifies what kind of sellers or under what scenario sellers are motivated to manipulate reviews. Our study provides a new perspective for platform to detect fake reviews and helps consumers to make good use of online reviews without getting trapped in some sellers’ fraudulent manipulation.