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The Role of Gastronomy as A Driver of Rural Tourism Development: The Case of Mirandela
No full textThis research aimed to analyze the perception of tourism stakeholders regarding the potential of gastronomy to revitalize tourism in the Mirandela region. The sample consisted of 95 stakeholders (e.g., managers, team leaders, directors, entrepreneurs) operating in the tourism sector. The study was operationalized using a qualitative methodology, and the data were analyzed using MAXQDA software. The results demonstrated that food quality, identity gastronomy, and food heritage are considered differentiating factors of the local cuisine. Additionally, it was found that diversification of tourism offerings, variety of traditional dishes, and multiplier effect are considered essential elements to enhance local gastronomy and boost tourism in the region. It was possible to ascertain that the promotion of local gastronomy as a tourist product depends on the organization of gastronomic events, preservation of culture, investment in digital marketing, and immersive experiences. Finally, it was observed that among the main measures to position the region as a gastronomic tourist destination are support from the private sector, synergies among local stakeholders, investment in infrastructure, and integration of local gastronomy with other tourism activities
Exploring the landscape of smart tourism: A systematic bibliometric review of the literature of the Internet of Things
No full textThis study explores the transformative impact of IoT technologies on smart tourism, striving to boost operational efficiency and enrich the traveler experience. Using a systematic literature review with bibliometric analysis, we examined a sample of 83 studies indexed in SCOPUS to identify research activity on this topic until November 2023. The integration of cutting-edge technologies, including big data, smart sensors, cloud computing, machine learning, artificial intelligence, wearables, mobile applications, augmented reality, and virtual reality, establishes the foundation of the IoT-enabled smart tourism ecosystem. These innovations bring distinct capabilities, from facilitating data collection with embedded sensor technologies to using cloud computing for essential services like data storage and analytics. Examining various IoT applications in smart tourism, such as recommender systems, smart cities, payment systems, and electronic ticketing, reveals their positive effects on safety, efficiency, and personalized services. However, challenges like security, privacy, software complexity, scalability, and interoperability necessitate robust measures. This study identifies future research directions, including enhancing security and privacy, exploring blockchain integration, investigating edge computing, and improving interactions between tourists and smart tourism systems. These endeavors aim to address challenges and seize opportunities, fostering innovative solutions for the evolving needs of the tourism industry in a technologically advanced landscape
Annotate Smarter, not Harder: Using active learning to reduce emotional annotation effort
No full textThe success of supervised models for emotion recognition on images heavily depends on the availability of images properly annotated. Although millions of images are presently available, only a few are annotated with reliable emotional information. Current emotion recognition solutions either use large amounts of weakly-labeled web images, which often contain noise that is unrelated to the emotions of the image, or transfer learning, which usually results in performance losses. Thus, it would be desirable to know which images would be useful to be annotated to avoid an extensive annotation effort. In this paper, we propose a novel approach based on active learning to choose which images are more relevant to be annotated. Our approach dynamically combines multiple active learning strategies and learns the best ones (without prior knowledge of the best ones). Experiments using nine benchmark datasets revealed that: (i) active learning allows to reduce the annotation effort, while reaching or surpassing the performance of a supervised baseline with as little as 3% to 18% of the baseline's training set, in classification tasks; (ii) our online combination of multiple strategies converges to the performance of the best individual strategies, while avoiding the experimentation overhead needed to identify them
Exploring ethical consumer behavior: A comprehensive study using the ethically minded consumer behavior-scale (EMCB) among adult consumers
No full textThis research assesses how adult consumers perceive and behave concerning ethical practices, aiming to comprehend the obstacles that hinder ethical and sustainable consumption. Employing a modified version of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) alongside the Ethically Minded Consumer Behavior-Scale (EMCB), a survey was conducted with 372 participants from Germany, young and educated, to reveal and compare the factors influencing ethical consumption, including both determinants and barriers. The results indicate positive correlations between attitudes toward ethical consumption, ethical obligation, self-identity, and the intention to engage in ethical consumption, while this intention is negatively associated with price. Additionally, the study validates the explanatory power of the modified TPB within the EMCB context. Understanding the drivers and hindrances of ethical consumption is crucial for companies and decision-makers, allowing them to prioritize these factors and refine strategies for promoting ethical consumption. This insight aids marketers in tailoring campaigns to reach this specific market effectively. Given the growing significance of ethical and sustainable consumption, this research provides valuable insights into the motivations and constraints shaping consumer behavior in this domain, contributing to both theoretical understanding and managerial decision-making for those targeting this consumer segment
Purchase intentions in a chatbot environment: An examination of the effects of customer experience
No full textResearch background: Chatbots represent valuable technological tools that allow companies
to improve customer experiences, meet their expectations in real time, and provide them with
personalized assistance. They have contributed to the transformation of conventional customer
service models into online solutions, offering accessibility and efficiency through their
integration across various digital platforms. Nevertheless, the existing literature is limited in
terms of exploring the potential of chatbots in business communication and studying their
impact on the customer's response.
Purpose of the article: The main objective of this study is to examine how consumers perceive
chatbots as customer service devices. In particular, the paper aims to analyze the influence of
the dimensions of “Information”, “Entertainment”, “Media Appeal”, “Social Presence” and
“Risk for Privacy” on the “Customer Experience” and the latter on the “Purchase Intention”,
under the consideration of the Uses and Gratifications Theory. Moderations due to Chatbot
Usage Frequency for some of the relationships proposed are also analyzed.
Methods: An empirical study was performed through a questionnaire to Spanish consumers.
The statistical data analysis was conducted with R software through the lavaan package. To
test the hypotheses from the conceptual model a structural equation modelling approach was
adopted.
Findings & value added: The results obtained identify the main characteristics of chatbots
that can support brands to effectively develop their virtual assistants in order to manage their
relational communication strategies and enhance their value proposal through the online
customer journey. Findings demonstrate the contribution that chatbot dimensions make to the
online consumer experience and its impact on the purchase intention, with the consideration
of the moderating effect exercised by the user's level of experience (novice vs. experienced)
with the use of chatbots. Regarding managerial implications, this research offers recommendations
for e-commerce professionals to manage chatbots more effectively. The “Entertainment”
and “Social Presence” dimensions can be operationalized at a visual (e.g., appearance of the
avatar and text box, use of designs aligned with the website) and textual level (e.g., style and
tone of voice, use of expressions typical of the target audience) to generate a feeling of proximity
with the chatbot and facilitate its adoption. “Media Appeal” requires that the chatbot be
easy to use, effective, and accessible, to facilitate its usability. Finally, mitigation of “Privacy
Risk” concerns should be achieved by presenting an appropriate privacy policy and requesting
permission for the use of customers’ private information
Cyber resilience of cyber-physical systems and machine learning, a scoping review
No full textThe scoping review reported by this paper aimed to analyze and synthesize state-of-the-art studies focused on the application of machine learning methods to enhance the cyber resilience of cyber-physical systems. An electronic search was conducted, and 24 studies were included in this review after the selection process. The most representative application domains were computer networks and power systems, while in terms of cyber resilience functions, risk identification, risk mitigation or protection, and detection of anomalous situations were the most implemented functions. Moreover, the results of this scoping review show that the interest in the topic of cyber resilience and machine learning is quite recent, which justifies the heterogeneity of the included studies in terms of machine learning methods and datasets being used for the experimental validations, as well as in terms of outcomes being measured
The Fast Health InteroperabilityRresources (FHIR) and clinical research, a scoping review
No full textThe focus of this scoping review was the application of Fast Health Interoperability Resources (FHIR) to support clinical research. After the search and selection processes 36 studies were identified and included in the review. Analysing these studies, it is possible to conclude that FHIR is being used in the implementation of information systems to support (i) clinical trials data management, (ii) data integration for clinical research, and (iii) secondary use of clinical information. Moreover, the results also show the interest on the development of novel FHIR profiles to answer specific data requirements of clinical research
TESTE 2.0 Inquérito 2024 - BIBLIOTECAS uNIVERSISDADE EUROPEIA
No full textInquérito Anual 2024 - Bibliotecas da Europeia
Mr Fusion or Johnny 5? Visual Rhetoric of AI Design
No full textThis chapter explores what artificial intelligence (AI) intellectual property (IP) owners do in their promotional material to negotiate public distrust of AI. A separation can be observed between the aesthetics and ethics of digital product design where simplified visual design appears to mask the complexity of AI-enabled devices, and systems. These observations can apply to the graphic design and corporate verbal rhetoric surrounding AI-enabled products. In this chapter, AI visual rhetoric is compared to science fiction aesthetics. Examples of masking complexity are described as visual echoes of the ‘Mr Fusion’ design from Back to the Future, while the few AI designs which declare their complexity more openly are described as reflecting ‘Johnny 5‘s’ design from Short Circuit. The authors delve into the nexus between the user experience (UX) of autonomous technology, its communication design, and the visual aesthetics used in its promotion as an emerging force
Environmental multisensory HCI Design strategies: Molecules as storytellers
No full textHuman health and well-being are intertwined with environmental health. Through breathing and ingestion, humans and the natural environment share molecules and atoms. Thereby, emerging environmental health problems impact human health, while human actions impact environmental conditions. These interdependencies are difficult to evidence because it permeates the understanding of complexity, multidimensionality and multi-perspective about environmental health problems. However, these are the challenges that designers embrace, in the context of today's global warming events, to explore possibilities for technology and human-environment communication strategies, to raise environmental health literacy. In a previous study, we ideated and investigated a multisensory HCI design strategy with smell and taste. Targeting non-scientific audiences, we explored how chemical sense perceptions could represent environmental problems within digital forms and how these could be applied to communicate interdependencies of environmental health themes, with mixed reality media. The results of our study validated our design strategy and mission. Building on the previous study, in this paper we describe our exploratory study that aims to verify our conceptual approach with stakeholders. Our goal is to answer the research question about how effective is our HCI design strategy for environmental health communication based on molecules as storytellers, from the stakeholder point of view. We presented videos of virtual reality demos and captured quali-quanti data about efficacy, pertinence and future ideations. Findings validated our design strategy, and provide insights about interdependency themes, interaction modes and application opportunities. We discuss our results in the context of environmental health communication HCI strategies