During the last three decades, the concept of liminality has been used by consumer researchers to examine consumption‐related phenomena associated with ambiguous transitions and meaningful transformative events. Inspired by the richness of this concept, researchers have continuously applied and extended the theoretical lens it affords to new and emerging contexts. However, the literature on liminality remains fragmented, and it is sometimes confusing because of the complex relationship between liminality and consumption. To dispel this confusion, this study builds on the findings of a systematic literature review to clarify the interplay between liminality and consumption and to develop a comprehensive framework for examining their relationship with each other. This framework offers a theoretical lens for the conceptual investigation of this interplay and, ultimately, for the development of a theory of liminal consumption. Four different conceptual associations between liminality and consumption are identified: liminal products, liminal consumption, consumption‐caused liminality, and liminality‐caused consumption, and their unique manifestations are theorized. Using the notion of lifeworld existentials, this study also examines various types of liminal experiences and shows that they have four overarching modes: time, space, position, and the body. Important avenues for future research are also discussed.
Social network sites (SNS) are venues for information sharing that provide a variety of communication features capable of stirring emotions, attitudes and beliefs. This paper highlights the role of SNS feedback features and the meanings they communicate to their users, as design elements capable of enhancing the SNS experience. Based on the theories of Social Presence and Social Exchange, the study suggests and empirically validates a research model where Feedback, Perceived Social Presence, Attitude, Enjoyment and Perceived Usefulness are hypothesized to explain intentions to continue to use an SNS. The results of an online survey of 262 Facebook users found that feedback features were central SNS components that influenced perceptions of social presence and enjoyment, which in turn, along with attitude and perceived usefulness, influenced intentions to continue using Facebook, explaining 55% of its variance. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.
E-government services refer to services offered by governments using information technology (IT). Many governments around the globe are investing heavily in IT to enhance service delivery to their citizens. However, citizens do not always use these services so that they often forgo their potential benefits because of key interconnected considerations that are perceived to transpire from their use. Over the years several studies examined IT adoption in e-government services contexts, building a rich albeit fragmented body of knowledge in the process. Indeed, the diversity found in these studies and the fast and continuous change that characterizes IT in general, make the identification and the synthesis of the main factors influencing citizens’ adoption of E-government services a relevant and timely endeavor. For this reason, this study builds on the findings of a systematic literature review to provide a high-level framework that conceptually structures the state of knowledge on the topic, and that informs both researchers and practitioners on the main factors influencing e-government services adoption by citizens.
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