PurposeWith the growing shift from static images to dynamic media on online travel agency (OTA) platforms, homepage videos have emerged as a powerful tool for promoting tourism products. Drawing on mental imagery theory, this study examined how OTA homepage interface design, particularly the use of videos (versus static images), influences consumers' travel intentions and their downstream engagement with user reviews on OTA platforms.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, 2 controlled experiments with a total of 210 participants, including an eye-tracking study, simulated realistic OTA browsing experiences to explain the effects on travel intentions and user review engagement.FindingsThe findings revealed that OTA homepage videos significantly increased travel intentions by evoking vivid, immersive mental imagery. Furthermore, video exposure altered review consumption patterns: attention to image-based reviews decreases, while engagement with text-based reviews intensifies.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the OTA interface design literature by demonstrating the persuasive impact of homepage videos and highlights mental imagery as a mediator between dynamic visual content and decision-making. The findings provide actionable insights for OTA platforms and tourism providers to optimize homepage design, enhance user experience, and drive booking conversions.
This paper develops a bilateral symmetric trade model with firms engaging in strategic exporting behaviour. It provides a unified analysis of trade liberalisation allowing for a rich set of cost structures both on the production side and the transportation side that go beyond the standard assumption of constant marginal cost. The theoretical analysis reveals among others that trade liberalisation does not always result in welfare gains. In fact, trade liberalisation coinciding with a reduction in the transport cost can significantly reduce consumer welfare. Depending on the transport cost and the fixed cost of exporting, almost all possible trade patterns can appear. Trade liberalisation may even prevent a country from participating in exports when fixed costs are relatively high. We thus provide a potential theoretical rationale for the many existing empirical studies that report results that diverge from standard theories, by bringing it back to the diverse cost structures that may occur in the real world beyond the ones assumed in the existing theories.
This study examines how the construal level of thought influences the perceived abstraction of social norms. Based on construal level theory, we hypothesized that individuals with higher abstract thinking would evaluate norm-violating behaviors using more abstract (e.g., legal) norms, while those with lower-level thinking would rely on more concrete (e.g., group) norms. Using vignette-based questionnaires and the evaluated scenarios involving norm violations by either significant or unknown others. Results showed that higher construal levels were associated with more abstract normative evaluations, particularly when evaluating unfamiliar actors. These findings suggest that abstraction in thought modulates how individuals cognitively access social norms, with implications for understanding moral reasoning, legal judgment, and the evolution of complex social systems.
The forming process of nano-sized plate is investigated by using the molecular dynamics (MD) method as a microscopic theoretical analysis. Square-shaped plate models composed of single-crystal copper atoms with thicknesses of several nanometers (2-16 times the lattice constant of the face-centered cubic (FCC) lattice) are clamped by other rigid plates, and a rigid plug with cylindrical shape is pushing into the plate at a constant velocity. The forming limit diagram (FLD) obtained from atomic strains is successfully assessed. It is understood that dislocations and their motions play a crucial role in plastic deformation. The types and distribution of dislocations are compared for models with different crystal orientations of the surface, that is, {100}, {110} and {111} planes. The unloading process following the stoppage of the plug just before any breakage in the plate is also conducted. In unloading, extraordinary recovery of deformation close to 100 percent can be expected, particularly in very thin plate. It is concluded that the formability is the largest in {100} plane's case and a thicker plate accompanies lower spring-back. It is also found in fracture behavior that initiation of defects in the plate occurs around icosahedral (ICO) structure, which does not match the FCC crystal nor the slip of dislocations.
An axial-flux motor using sintered iron (Fe) nano-polycrystalline body has been developed at the first time. In this study, its mechanical properties such as rotational speed, torque, and output power properties were compared with those of axial-flux motors using soft iron cores. Experimental results showed that the maximum rotational speed of the axial-flux motor using sintered Fe nano-polycrystalline was 8000 rpm with load, double that of the axial-flux motors using a soft iron core. The torques of both types of motors were around 0.01Nm with a little difference, and the axial-flux motor using sintered Fe nano-polycrystalline had double the output power while keeping torque the same. Sintered Fe nano-polycrystalline has significantly higher magnetic permeability than common iron materials. The material has lower magnetic saturation flux density. Fe nanoparticles were produced from iron oxide particles by using high-repetition laser pulse in liquid. Core inductors with this material were fabricated. Measurements of the core inductor magnetization clarified that the specific permeability of the sintered Fe nano-polycrystalline was 1 million, much higher than the 1000-2000 of soft iron.
