Hashtags are popular navigability tools in a social media-driven environment. However, social media users have purposely employed a hashtag stuffing strategy, where many unrelated hashtags are added to a post to increase the visibility of the post and drive viewership. The results of the current study suggest a potential negative impact of hashtags on source trustworthiness assessment made by Instagram users through heuristic processing. This research conducted two experimental studies with samples from the overall Instagram population. Study 1 (N = 174) was a 2 × 2 between-subjects factorial experiment designed to demonstrate the positive effects of hashtags' navigability cues on Instagram users' perceived source trustworthiness. Study 2 (N = 185) was a 2 × 2 × 2 experiment that aimed to examine the interactive effect between the visual stimuli of a post and the heuristic cues of hashtags. The current research challenges some of the widely accepted hashtag strategies and provides several practical hashtag usage implications for social media influencers and companies.

The demand for information technology outsourcing (ITO) providing large-scale professional services has developed into a mature and essential industry for many organizations. Against this backdrop, managing the internal workplace relationship and organizational commitment levels between the vendor firm providing critical ITO services and the vendor’s employees performing the work for the external client is a significant emerging challenge for all involved parties. Contracts in various formats and structures (transactional or psychological) are often applied as a universal tool to govern the complex ITO relationship. However, the formal or transactional contract may not be enough to ensure employee commitment to position the ITO relationship for success. This paper investigates the impact that the psychological contract has on organizational commitment across different matching patterns between the outsourcing vendor and the vendor's employees. Building upon empirical findings and theoretical perspectives of a systematic grounded theory-based literature review, business observations, and best practices, we develop a theoretical framework that categorizes the matching patterns of the vendor-employee psychological contract into four types: Vendor Dominant, Employee Dominant, Mutual Relational, and Mutual Transactional. Our findings from an analysis of 562 survey participants demonstrate that the employee's relational psychological contract has a higher positive influence on organizational commitment than the employee's transactional psychological contract in both matching and mismatching situations. The implications and future research avenues of study are discussed.

The growing popularity of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has created a new digital collectibles asset class and market. NFTs are unique digital tokens built on blockchain technology that can represent anything from art, property rights, certificates of authentication to sports collectibles. The use of blockchain provides the framework for digital ownership and brings the notion of scarcity to the digital NFT asset class. With the emerging NFT market and growing consumer base little work has investigated the factors behind NFT interest and participation. Using a dataset of 26,444 tweets on NBA Top Shot, one of the largest and most popular NFT platforms for digital sport collectibles, we use exploratory data and content analysis to generate insights from NFT Twitter messages. Our results suggest that both hedonic and utilitarian factors are driving NFT tweets and should be considered by NFT platforms to encourage participation. Our results show that consumer messages on NFTs are based on the ability to demonstrate ownership, compete against other collectors, provide personal enjoyment and for the opportunity to receive financial returns. This research is one of the first to examine the factors exploring NFT Twitter messages and our results provide early insights for practitioners and academics interested in exploring NFT digital collectibles.

Financial technology (FinTech) has emerged as a significant innovative and transformative force where the primary drivers are disruptive information systems technologies. As a result of the amplified role of FinTech, this article presents a review of FinTech research published in the top Information Systems (IS) journals over the 2010-2020 time period to assess the FinTech contributions made during the 10-year period by IS researchers. There is a unique opportunity for FinTech researchers to learn from and extend the work that has already been published in the highly correlated IS field. Our analysis reviewed 74 articles on a variety of FinTech topics published in the "Association for Information Systems Senior Scholars' Basket of the top eight ranked IS academic journals. Across the selected IS publications, our findings compared research methodologies, topic areas investigated, and research trends. Our findings demonstrate that several methodologies are understudied or absent and a variety of FinTech topic areas require further exploration.

The growing popularity of daily fantasy sports (DFS) services such as DraftKings and FanDuel has created a new medium for sports gambling. With the emergent DFS industry, a growing number of consumers could be classified as being addicted to DFS. Thus, this paper examines the factors leading to DFS addiction. We propose that several factors influence consumer perceived hedonic benefits and utilitarian benefits of DFS that affect their addictive behavior. These features include competition, emotion, escapism, ease of use, cost, financial impact, and social interaction. Based on our proposed research framework, a series of hypotheses are presented. This research is one of the first to examine the factors leading to DFS addiction and could provide early insights for practitioners and academics interested in exploring DFS.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems play a critical role in supporting a firm's operations. Due to this reliance, a firm interacts with both the ERP solution provider and the ERP vendor as both support and maintain this complex system. This study investigates the impact of relationship interactions and a firm's information systems (IS) technical competence on a firm's satisfaction with the ERP vendor. To this end, this paper develops and verifies a model in which a firm's past interactions and internal IS technical abilities serve as the antecedents of the firm's satisfaction with its ERP system and ERP vendor. Empirical data collected from a sample of 168 firms were analyzed. The results suggest a firm's perception of vendor conflict handling, and trust in the ERP vendor do positively influence the firm's satisfaction with the ERP vendor. IS technical competence and strategic role of IS have a positive impact on a firm's successful experience with the ERP system which ultimately leads to satisfaction perceptions.

Tax filing is a mandatory part a company’s tax compliance every year. This research looks at how the competence of the tax preparing professional and the tax forms are perceived by two different Small and Medium sized firm (SME) groups: one from a developed country (US) and one from a developing country (China). The competence of the tax preparing professional and the tax forms perception by the firms impacts a firm’s future intention to use the tax service provider again. Drawing upon skill assessment literature and expectation-confirmation theory, this study presents an attitude change model of a firm’s tax preparation organization in two countries: SMEs in the US and SMEs in China. In particular, this study focuses on how perceptions of competence in the tax professional influences satisfaction and attitude change related to the tax services received by a firm.

How does uncertainty and anticipatory anxiety impact technology use? Earlier research has consistently suggested that uncertainty and anticipatory anxiety adversely impels one?s logical judgments, decisions, and behaviors. In this paper, we examine the under-examined combined influence of uncertainty and anticipatory anxiety on technology use. This paper aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the role uncertainty and anticipatory anxiety play in explaining technology use. Analyses of data from 449 technology users revealed that a person?s uncertainty and anticipatory anxiety due to unforeseen/unpredicted circumstances and outcomes could lend to a better understanding of a user?s behavioral intention and use. We discuss the implications of our research and also point to future research directions.

Risk abounds as individuals engage in activities involving the sharing of sensitive information through a third-party cloud storage tool. In this research, we investigate the storage and sharing of very sensitive information (an individual's tax filing information) through a specific third-party technology provider, Google Drive. Within the specifics of such a potentially risky act we argue that information assurance mechanisms implemented by the cloud storage service provider reduce risk perceptions of individuals even when very sensitive information is being shared. Previous positive experience with a cloud service is likely to mitigate concerns on information sharing on the cloud. To elaborate this proposed relationship a research model of information assurance is proposed and tested in the context of tax filing sharing intention.

This article addresses how the evaluation of information systems offshore projects can result in situations where success and failure may coexist. Based on multiple dyadic case studies across eight information systems offshore projects and taking into account both client and vendor stakeholder perspectives, we argue that both relational and outcome criteria should be considered in the evaluation of information systems offshore projects. We suggest that information systems offshore projects can be evaluated as a successful failure (relational success + outcome failure), or as a failed success (relational failure + outcome success), in addition to pure successes and failures. We discuss implications and also point to future research directions.

Trust is a necessary condition for many industries. However, trust may not be the most important factor driving participation in online fantasy sports gambling. In this research we examine how different classifications of gamblers (i.e., passive gamblers, problem gamblers, and pathological gamblers) perceive their participation in fantasy sports. We argue that trust is not commonly a primary consideration and that trust does not need to be present in these types of online transactions. To prove this relationship, a trust model is proposed to be tested in the context of online fantasy sports with a focus on the market leader in the industry: fanduel.com.

How does uncertainty and anticipatory anxiety affect technology use? Earlier research has consistently suggested that uncertainty and anticipatory anxiety adversely impels one’s logical judgments, decisions, and behaviors in many situations. In this paper, we examine the combined influence of uncertainty and anticipatory anxiety on technology use. While the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) has been widely adopted and used, it has shown limited explanatory and predictive power (Chuttur, 2009). The low explanatory power begs for an explanation to what is missing? We believe that uncertainty and anticipatory anxiety could provide a substantial addition to explaining technology use. We suggest that investigating a person’s uncertainty and anticipatory anxiety due to unforeseen/unpredictable circumstances and outcomes could lend to a better understanding of a user’s behavioral intention and use. Thus, the contribution of this study will shed light on the role of uncertainty and anticipatory anxiety on the fundamental issue of technology use.

Given the importance of the health-care industry and the promise of health information systems, researchers are encouraged to build on the shoulders of giants as the saying goes. The health information systems field has a unique opportunity to learn from and extend the work that has already been done by the highly correlated information systems field. As a result, this research article presents a past, present and future meta-analysis of health information systems research in information systems journals over the 2000–2015 time period. Our analysis reviewed 126 articles on a variety of topics related to health information systems research published in the “Senior Scholars” list of the top eight ranked information systems academic journals. Across the selected information systems academic journals, our findings compare research methodologies applied, health information systems topic areas investigated and research trends. Interesting results emerge in the range and evolution of health information systems research and opportunities for health information systems researchers and practitioners to consider moving forward.

Achieving success in global information technology (IT) sourcing or offshoring projects is a significant, emerging challenge for many organizations. In following the Global Sourcing Life cycle, the ongoing management cycle of the global sourcing relationship is a critical stage for managing the project and successfully achieving the contracted results. Success in this stage requires a significant amount of detailed management, cooperation, and coordination among the client and vendor organizations. This chapter synthesizes key findings from eight dyadic case studies consisting of 56 interviews in total from both client and vendor firms detailing their IT offshoring ongoing management experiences. The case investigations lead to the discovery of 12 disparate and innovative lessons learned emerging from the experiences and challenges involved with global IT offshoring on the part of client and vendor firms. These lessons learned cover a wide assortment of personal (individual), and organizational issues encountered while offshoring. Accordingly, the lessons learned are organized into three main categories: (1) economic, (2) strategic, and (3) relational. The presented lessons learned play a key role in the ongoing management stage of the Global Sourcing Life cycle. The list of lessons learned can suitably guide client and vendor firms in their plans to engage in successful IT offshoring projects in the future.

Social networks are having a profound impact on how professionals communicate and connect with each other. Online professional social networks have become a significant resource for building and maintaining invaluable business connections. Recent university graduates are a particular population often in search of building social networks to further professional development. Participation in online social networks provides a valuable tool for recent university graduates to create and sustain their professional connections and business relationships. This paper seeks to gain a better understanding of the effect university (nationally ranked, large urban, and regional), gender and degree type (undergraduate and graduate) has on online professional social network participation. The authors' business school college graduate findings suggest that university, degree type, and gender were associated with the likelihood of joining the online professional social network LinkedIn. An analysis of the results and future research directions are presented.

Many organizations in recent years have adopted an offshore model to deliver most or part of their information technology needs. While offshoring can be associated with significant cost savings and implementation benefits, it can also be a challenge to effectively manage the international client-vendor relationship. Thus, it is argued that the effective management, coordination and structuring of the international client-vendor relationship is critical to project management success. In this paper an agency perspective is applied to examine the management of international client-vendor relationships in offshore information technology (IT) projects. This paper synthesizes key relational findings from eight offshore IT projects consisting of 29 client interviews. The authors' findings suggest that the relational tenets of agency theory (shirking, privately held information, task programmability and monitoring) play key roles in successfully managing international project relationships. Based on the findings, propositions are presented to guide future offshore IT project research and organizations to successfully manage and structure their client-vendor relationships.

Online professional social networks have become a noteworthy tool to help professionals create, strengthen, and maintain valuable business connections. However, the question remains as to who is actually using online professional social networks and how the diffusion of the social network has occurred. Looking at diffusion and usage through innovation diffusion theory, critical mass and a network effects lens, this paper seeks to examine the diffusion of an online professional social network LinkedIn for a specific population of university business schools. Using longitudinal analysis 2008 compared to 2011 our findings advocate network dynamics of homogeneous populations display consistent patterns of participation and non-participation. The authors' findings suggest LinkedIn diffusion is not consistent across all business schools examined. A greater critical mass and network effect appears to have been achieved across larger research universities when compared to smaller university populations. An analysis of the results and future research directions are presented.