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This study probes how mobile health monitoring contributes to health behavior change, with a particular focus on the roles of self-quantification and health consciousness. The findings indicate that mobile health monitoring effectively facilitates positive changes in health behaviors. Moreover, there is a significant interplay between self-quantification, mobile health monitoring, and behavior change—individuals are more likely to adopt healthier lifestyles when they can independently monitor and interpret their health data. Health consciousness further reinforces this relationship, as individuals with higher health awareness are more likely to transform data-driven insights into actionable and sustained health behaviors.

Against the backdrop of rapid advancements in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), ChatGPT has emerged as a representative application, drawing significant research interest in user behavior patterns. This study applies the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) Model to investigate the key factors influencing the adoption of ChatGPT among users in Taiwan. Using a cross-sectional survey approach, we recruited a sample of 454 Taiwanese ChatGPT users through social media and online forums. The study analyzed the impact of four key constructs—performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, and facilitating conditions—on behavioral intention and actual usage behavior. The results indicated that performance expectancy and effort expectancy play pivotal roles in shaping behavioral intention, while facilitating conditions significantly affect actual usage behavior. Furthermore, cultural background exerts a critical moderating effect on the influence of social factors. These findings highlight the unique characteristics of user behavior in Taiwan, provide practical insights for optimizing the design and promotion of GenAI tools, and offer valuable implications for technology adoption policies.

This study examines the relationship between technical readiness (TR) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) within the framework of Over-the-Top (OTT) media services, particularly Netflix. The study employs the UTAUT model and integrates the TR model's external factors of "optimism," "innovativeness," "inadaptability," and "insecurity" to examine their moderating influences on customer utilisation of Netflix. In 2024, 475 questionnaires were disseminated in this study, of which 453 were considered valid. The study revealed that customer trust in relationships significantly influences user involvement in 'Performance Expectancy' (PE), 'Effort Expectancy' (EE), 'Social Influence' (SI), and 'Facilitating Conditions' (FC). Furthermore, consumers' intention to interact with Netflix's 'Performance Expectancy' (PE), 'Effort Expectancy' (EE), and 'Social Influence' (SI) considerably and positively affects their behaviour. The research employed hierarchical regression analysis to assess the impact of customer willingness to "Intention to Use" on the UTAUT regarding Netflix consumption. The findings indicate that the Trustworthiness Rating of consumers substantially affects the UTAUT dimensions of Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence, and Facilitating Conditions. Moreover, consumers' inclination to use Netflix is positively influenced by the constructs of Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, and Social Influence. The results demonstrate that consumers' Trustworthiness Rating substantially influences the UTAUT aspects of Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social Influence, and Facilitating Conditions. Moreover, the constructs of performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence positively affect customers' inclination to utilise Netflix. The results of this study may inform strategic approaches to improve user engagement and satisfaction in the competitive OTT market.

Hand-shaken beverages represent a unique business model in Taiwan. This study explores the impact of four dimensions of brand equity on consumers' word-of-mouth and purchase intention regarding hand-shaken beverages. A survey was conducted among hand-shaken beverage consumers. A total of 352 valid questionnaires were recovered, and the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. The results showed that consumers' perceptions of brand awareness, quality, and brand association affected word-of-mouth. These dimensions had an indirect impact on purchase intention through word-of-mouth, suggesting that when consumers develop an attachment to a brand, they engage in positive behaviors concerning the brand. However, due to the high homogeneity and lack of distinctiveness of Taiwanese hand-shaken beverage products, they fail to attract consumer loyalty.

Impulse purchases play a vital role in the sales revenue of shopping malls. This study utilized the Stimulus-Organism-Response framework to explore how shopping mall atmosphere stimulates consumer emotions, thereby impacting impulse purchase behavior. Structural equation modeling was employed for data analysis. The findings revealed that both positive and negative emotions can act as mediators in the process of forming impulse purchase behavior, albeit with distinct and sometimes antagonistic effects. This phenomenon is attributed to the differential impact of the service atmosphere on stimulating consumer emotions. Additionally, the study identified that only positive emotions can serve as mediators between spatial atmosphere and impulse purchases. In essence, stimuli in the shopping environment can influence consumer emotional responses, thereby prompting impulse purchase behavior.

This article investigates the impact of social influence on online food delivery (OFD) purchase behavior in Vietnam, specifically examining the moderating role of trust and physical obstacles during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 378 respondents participated in the research, and the findings highlight the significance of social networks and interpersonal relationships in the OFD market. Regarding the role of trust as a moderator, the findings highlighting the importance of building trustworthiness and credibility in the OFD industry. The findings suggest that physical obstacles, such as the closure of non-essential stores and social distancing measures, weaken the influence of social factors on consumers' behavior. These changes in individuals' lifestyles have introduced physical barriers to traditional dining experiences, consequently increasing reliance on online food delivery (OFD) services. Overall, this study contributes to the existing literature on consumer behavior and provides insights for industry practitioners and policymakers to develop effective marketing and communication strategies and support mechanisms to facilitate the growth and sustainability of the online food delivery industry in Vietnam.

This paper examines the protection against systemic risks of the financial and stock performance of firms in receipt of ‘corporate social responsibility’ (CSR) awards. The data we obtained from the Taiwan Economic Journal (TEJ) in 2016-2018, comprised of CSR-award-recipient firms (CSR firms) voted for by the Common Wealth and Global Views magazines, for a sample period running from the third quarter of 2017 to the third quarter of 2018. Our empirical results reveal that in terms of their financial performance, as compared to non-CSR-award-recipient (non-CSR) firms, CSR firms failed to demonstrate any better protection against systemic risks (such as the US-China trade war). However, the stock performance of CSR firms clearly provided better protection than that of non-CSR firms; the reason for this observation is assumed to be the higher operational costs faced by CSR firms seeking to continue to pursue their CSR goals when encountering systemic risks. Nevertheless, participation in CSR is found to have an insurance-like effect on firm value, which clearly helps to increase the confidence of investors and reduce stock volatility

In this study, we developed a tribal learning model based on indigenous knowledge to expand Taiwan's indigenous higher education system. The model adopts a culturally responsive teaching strategy that conforms to the cultural background and satisfies the learning needs of indigenous learners. The instructional design of the model is based on the outcomes of a literature review and comprises five stages: preparation, communication, execution, reflection, and feedback. The proposed model allows educators to develop culturally appropriate teaching plans that include indigenous knowledge. Applying the model allows educators to hone their self-study skills while improving the learning effectiveness of their learners.

The study examines how surface acting and deep acting affect emotional exhaustion and job performance in the hotel industry and whether emotional intelligence has a moderating effect on the relationship. The study was conducted using a questionnaire survey, and the data were analyzed using a structural equation model. The main findings of the study demonstrate that surface acting has no effect on emotional exhaustion while deep acting has a negative effect on emotional exhaustion. This indicates that deep acting not only produces better service performance but also reduces emotional exhaustion. Moreover, surface acting and deep acting both have a positive effect on job performance, showing that both acting skills are all about demonstrating a better job performance at work. Furthermore, emotional intelligence has a moderating effect on the relationships between surface acting and job performance and deep acting and job performance, this indicates that employees with higher emotional intelligence are more likely to perform a more effective outcome of acting on job performance, regardless of whether it is surface acting or deep acting. But this phenomenon only occurs when employees are not experiencing emotional exhaustion. If employees are already experiencing emotional exhaustion, emotional intelligence does not have any moderation effect on job performance.

As part of the low-carbon policy and development in Taiwan, the Bureau of Energy introduced the “Green Energy Roofs Project” in 2017, which encouraged homeowners to install green energy roofs. However, the incentives of homeowners and solar photovoltaic operators to participate in this Project were low. The aim of this study is to propose and evaluate alternative models for investing green energy roofs. The contributions of this study are that, first, we consider factors such as risk management schemes and crowdfunding that have not been considered in evaluating green energy roofs project. In addition, this study provides a solution to Taiwan government’s current dilemma about how to encourage homeowners to install green energy roofs. This study adopts five common investment appraisal methods (including payback period, discounted payback period, net present value, internal rate of return and profitability index) to evaluate four different models for investing green energy roofs. The results show that when homeowners are fully responsible for installation costs of green energy roofs with partial funds borrowed from banks and with consideration of risk management, the homeowners have better investment returns. Therefore, the Taiwan government could consider the alternative strategy proposed in this study for promoting green energy roofs so that the country can x`move a bigger step forward towards the goal of being nuclear-free.

This rapid propagation of the Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) has caused the global healthcare system to break down. The infectious disease originated from East Asia and spread to the world. This unprecedented pandemic further damages the global economy. It seems highly probable that the COVID-19 recession changes stock market volatility. Therefore, this study resorts to the Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroscedastic (GARCH) model with a smooth transition method to capture the influences of the COVID-19 pandemic on the dynamic structure of the stock market index volatilities for some Asian countries (the Four Asian Tigers and Japan). The empirical results show that the shocks of the COVID-19 change the dynamic volatility structure for all stock market indices. Moreover, we acquire the transition function for all stock market index volatilities and find out that most of their regime adjustment processes start following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Four Asian Tigers except South Korea and Japan. Additionally, the estimated transition functions show that the stock market index volatilities contain U-shaped patterns of structural changes. This article also computes the corresponding calendar dates of structure change about dynamic volatility patterns. In the light of estimation of location parameters, we demonstrate that the structure changing the date of stock market index volatility for South Korea and Japan has occurred in late 2019.

As a result of exponential growth in the popularity of blogging, travel blogs have demonstrated their enormous marketing potential, and have become an increasingly important mechanism for exchanging information among tourists. The present study modeled online social support and perceived value as antecedents of the impacts of influential travel bloggers on their blog members’ travel-related behavioral intentions, and examined the mediating role of sense of virtual community (SOVC) among these relationships. The analysis results herein demonstrate that online social support, perceived value, and SOVC relate significantly to blog members’ behavior intention. Furthermore, the influence of perceived value and SOVC on behavior intention are both respectively significant. With SOVC as a mediating variable, the CI indirect effect of the perceived value on travel intention did not include 0, indicating an indirect relationship between these two variables. Referring to perceived values, the findings indicates that blog members perceive the influential travel blogs as offering epistemic value more than others. These findings have theoretical implications for social media and online interaction related literature, and have critical business implications for customer to customer (C2C) marketers to distinguish themselves within the expanding number of influential travel blogs.

Diabetic Mellitus (DM) is a widespread chronic disease around the world, among which type 2 DM (T2DM) shared the majority. It caused multiple severe complications and consequently a high mortality rate. DM complications overwhelm jeopardize the patient’s quality of life. In response to the threats of such complications, some nutraceuticals were developed, including the highly praised bitter melon peptide (BMP). This study aims to apply the structural equation model in HBM. A theoretical model had been developed on the health belief model (HBM), and to test with the structural equation model (SEM) technique to examine the fitness of the theory and the data gathered in this research. A structural questionnaire was developed and used to collect 292 valid responses from DM patients. The SEM results indicated the fitness of the theory and the data were acceptable. Perceived susceptibility of DM complications and perceived benefits of nutraceutical were major predictors of intake behavior, and the association of perceived benefits and behavior was mediated by the patient’s self-efficacy on nutraceutical intake behavior.

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) will discuss whether or not accounting rules for M&A change, and it plans to draw a conclusion in 2021. In view of this fact, it is considered that a series of large M&A have significant effects on corporate earnings worldwide. This paper examines whether the amortization and/or non-amortization of goodwill affect companies’ earnings and future cash flow, an analysis for which there are two reasons. First, IFRS initiates the debate on the premise of goodwill amortization. If goodwill is amortized, it will have a profound impact on corporate profits and cash flow. Second, M&A has recently increased in Japan due to the increase in retained earnings and because IFRS has not requested goodwill amortization. The conclusion is as follows: First, it has become clear that legally retained earnings accelerate M&A because they affect the future goodwill along with both accounting standards. Next, the results revealed that the amortization of goodwill corresponds with the future ROA in conformity with Japanese accounting standards. On the other hand, this study did not determine that goodwill affects ROA in IFRS companies. Particularly, IFRS firms invested greater amounts of money than did Japanese accounting firms. Therefore, IFRS firms' goodwill might not be effective applied to M&A within four years.

The present phenomena of globalization and market liberalization have attracted considerable attention from foreign investors. Several member states of the Caricom Single Market and Economy are becoming heavily dependent on foreign investments. Consequently, this study intends to investigate the effect of economic freedom on foreign portfolio investments in the case of the Caricom Single Market and Economy. For this purpose, this study has used data from 2012 to 2016. The results of the stationarity test showed that data of all variables considered in the study are stationary at level. Moreover, the fixed-effect model better modeled the data as suggested by the results of the Hausman test. Based on the results of the fixed effect models, economic freedom has a significant and positive effect on the total foreign portfolio investments. Therefore, an increase in economic freedom among the Caricom Single Market and Economy member countries will attract more investors to invest in their country stocks and debt instruments. Furthermore, for the robustness of the results, the study has also estimated a separate regression model for foreign debt portfolio investments and foreign equity portfolio investments which also support the baseline regression results and showed a significant and positive effect of economic freedom on both foreign debt and foreign equity portfolio investments. This study suggests that the member countries of the Caricom Single Market and Economy improve their economic freedom which will attract foreign investors to invest in their countries. 

Investors in Taiwan prefer to invest in offshore funds, and they are good customers in the eyes of the world's major fund companies. Funds are competing these investors through these 3,400 bank branches. Literature has indicated comprehensive selection criteria when investors choosing a fund, yet no study revealed the gap between what investors’ expected and experienced. The current study conducted a survey among these investors with importance-performance analysis (IPA) to fill this gap. There were two parts in the questionnaire, first part was drawn from literature to measure funds, and the second part was summarized from several depth interviews based on SERVQUAL with senior investors. 240 valid responses from current fund investors. The factors investor’s preference in evaluating a fund may be different in terms of residence areas and age. Perceived importance of fund selection criteria is not significantly different in terms of gender, education, marriage, and income levels. Test results indicated that “investment performance record”, “management fees” and “additional features” of fund, and the “sympathy” dimension of bank should be first improved by either fund or bank company respectively.

Green innovation adoption is usually believed to be able to confer strategic and competitive benefits to the adopting firms. This paper aims to develop a model that analyzes factors influencing mindful adoption of green innovation. Organizational mindfulness is an organizational attitude that allows firms to be a preoccupation with failure, reluctance to simplify interpretations, sensitivity to operations, commitment to resilience, and deference to expertise. Firms require mindfulness thinking in green innovation adoption. Although studies on green innovation adoption can be found in the literature, less is known about organizational mindfulness in green innovation adoption. A conceptual model regarding determinants affecting mindfulness thinking in green innovation adoption is proposed in this paper. The determinant factors are grouped into technological, organizational and environmental dimensions, and the corresponding influence of each factor on mindful adoption of green innovation is discussed. This study can broaden the scope of research on environmental management and organizational mindfulness theory, and contribute to an insight into mindful adoption of green innovation.

Based on the sayings of “Finance is the mother of civil affairs” and “Tax revenue is the context of national economy”, a healthy tax system based on the alternating utilization of central and local tax systems is essential for achieving the administration by law and tax balance. In light of this, the Ministry of Finance has proposed the improvement project of “Income Tax on the Consolidated Income from House and Land Transactions”. The third reading of “Amendment of Tax Act of Consolidated House and Land Taxation System” was passed by the Legislative Yuan on June 5th, 2015, and it was promulgated on January 1st, 2016. The purpose of this study is to investigate the content of “Income Tax on the Consolidated Income from House and Land Transactions”, including: 1. Is separate taxation a proper move? 2. Is the sunrise term appropriate? 3. Is it necessary to have the “anti-misuse” term? 4. The tax exemption of NT$ 4 million? 5. The effectiveness of tax revenue after suspension of luxury tax (also known as special sales tax) and the adoption of income tax on consolidate income from house and land? 6. Is it feasible for allocate tax revenue for expenditures of residential policy and long-term care? 7. Is the income tax on consolidated income from house and land in compliance with the principle of proportionality? This study is based on in-depth interview method along with literature review method for data collection and analysis. The results of this study indicate that: a separate taxation system is not appropriate in terms of income redistribution; the opposing party believes that sunrise terms are not appropriate; in theory the anti-misuse term - non-voluntary factors tax rate is not necessary; all interviewees agreed on the tax exemption of NT$ 4 million ; and the income tax on consolidated income from house and land is not in compliance with the principle of proportionality from the perspective of tax revenue.