This article looks at the negative images on cash trades of in-game assets in Taiwan, through interview of participants in this activity, we believe the blurring of boundaries between work and play, adulthood and adolescence, real and virtual is what distinguishes this market from previous markets of virtual goods, resulting in its social stigma. We then discuss how the participants confront th...

the sources of output growth of iranian agriculture over the years 1986-2001 has been examined, using a decomposition method within the input-output (io) framework. the three comparable io tables of 1986, 1991, and 2001 have been employed as the main data sources. output changes from a demand side perspective, and decomposition of the growth of output into components attributable to consumption...

This paper studies the implications of a monetary policy shock on the skill premium and unemployment across skills. A dataset on the skill premium and the unemployment ratios of the high and low educated is compiled using the Outgoing Rotation Group of the Current Population Survey. A vector autoregressive analysis demonstrates that a contractionary policy induces a decline in the skill premium...

Let % be a preference relation on a convex set F . Necessary and sufficient conditions are given that guarantee the existence of a set {ul} of affine utility functions on F such that % is represented by U ( f ) = ul ( f ) if f ∈ Fl; where each Fl is a convex subset of F . The interpretation is simple: facing a “non-homogeneous” set F of alternatives, a decision maker splits it into “homogeneous...

This paper describes the findings of a textual and structural analysis of the free-to-play social networking game FarmVille 2 (FV2) with a focus on the values (social, economic, etc.) available to players for digital objects within the game. FV2 is purportedly a social game, which might suggest that findings regarding the social values of objects from the study of material culture could play ou...

A multiattribute utility function can be represented by a function of single-attribute utility functions if the decision maker’s preference satisfies additive independence or mutually utility independence. Additive independence is a preference condition stronger than mutually utility independence, and the multiattribute utility function is in the additive form if the former condition is satisfi...

The effect of brand on consumer attitudes towards real and virtual goods is largely documented in consumer psychology and marketing. There is an obvious link between the design of a website and its brand. Yet, this effect has attracted little attention from the HCI community. This paper presents empirical evidence showing that brand attitude influences the evaluation of websites. The effect was...

This research is designed to study consumers’ purchasing attitudes to counterfeit luxury goods on electronic marketplaces (e-marketplaces). And two research hypotheses are proposed in this research. Based on data analysis of 243 samples, this study explores the dimensions of consumer attitudes (morality and law, accessibility, burden-bearing, function effectiveness, economical efficiency) and m...

Through the integrated framework of participation theory and political economy, this article analyzes participatory opportunities in the virtual world Habbo Hotel, and how participation is constrained and framed by the producer’s commercial strategies, which are based on advertising and sales of virtual goods. The study also looks into the ways in which the producer Sulake Corporation discursiv...

Virtual consumption, or consumption of virtual goods and property, has become a major economic activity in social virtual worlds such as Second Life. Given that virtual consumption has become an important part of everyday virtual life in social virtual worlds, understanding virtual consumption can be an essential aspect to understanding user behavior in those worlds. Despite its significance, l...