Journal articles on the topic 'Contextual personalization'

Web personalization, e.g., recommendation or relevance search, tailoring a service/product to accommodate specific online users, is becoming increasingly important. Inductive personalization aims to infer the relations between existing entities and unseen new ones, e.g., searching relevant authors for new papers or recommending new items to users. This problem, however, is challenging since most of recent studies focus on transductive problem for existing entities. In addition, despite some inductive learning approaches have been introduced recently, their performance is sub-optimal due to relatively simple and inflexible architectures for aggregating entity’s content. To this end, we propose the inductive contextual personalization (ICP) framework through contextual relation learning. Specifically, we first formulate the pairwise relations between entities with a ranking optimization scheme that employs neural aggregator to fuse entity’s heterogeneous contents. Next, we introduce a node embedding term to capture entity’s contextual relations, as a smoothness constraint over the prior ranking objective. Finally, the gradient descent procedure with adaptive negative sampling is employed to learn the model parameters. The learned model is capable of inferring the relations between existing entities and inductive ones. Thorough experiments demonstrate that ICP outperforms numerous baseline methods for two different applications, i.e., relevant author search and new item recommendation.

Personalization, or the tailoring of content to meet users’ unique needs, is considered a desirable feature of digital media, particularly websites, because it results in content that is highly relevant to the user. However, it is not always possible to provide personally relevant content. Under such circumstances, the best that a system can do is provide contextually relevant peripheral content (e.g., ads) based on the topic of the main content (e.g., search-engine output). This raises an important question: Does context relevance have the same positive effects on user perceptions of websites as personal relevance? If context relevance can indeed make up for the lack of personalization, then boosting it via ad content on the site should serve to enhance appeal even when the main content is not personalized. Using a 2 × 2 factorial experiment (N = 60), we investigated whether perceptions of a website and the ads themselves varied as a function of the presence of personalized site content and ad relevance to website context. Results indicate that personal relevance and context relevance are fungible in contributing to user attitudes toward the site. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

AbstractThe concept of personalization in its many forms has gained traction driven by the demands of computer-mediated interactions generally implemented in large-scale distributed systems and ad hoc wireless networks. Personalization requires the identification and selection of entities based on a defined profile (a context); an entity has been defined as a person, place, or physical or computational object. Context employs contextual information that combines to describe an entities current state. Historically, the range of contextual information utilized (in context-aware systems) has been limited to identity, location, and proximate data; there has, however, been advances in the range of data and information addressed. As such, context can be highly dynamic with inherent complexity. In addition, context-aware systems must accommodate constraint satisfaction and preference compliance.This article addresses personalization and context with consideration of the domains and systems to which context has been applied and the nature of the contextual data. The developments in computing and service provision are addressed with consideration of the relationship between the evolving computing landscape and context. There is a discussion around rule strategies and conditional relationships in decision support. Logic systems are addressed with an overview of the open world assumption versus the closed world assumption and the relationship with the Semantic Web. The event-driven rule-based approach, which forms the basis upon which intelligent context processing can be realized, is presented with an evaluation and proof-of-concept. The issues and challenges identified in the research are considered with potential solutions and research directions; alternative approaches to context processing are discussed. The article closes with conclusions and open research questions.

The article represents a research of the scientific and theoretical backgrounds of the “network communication” phenomenon, and identifies the contextual relations of network communication in various fields of science. This study examines how information and communication technologies – mobile phones, social networking websites, blogging, instant messaging, and etc. – impacted on formation of theoretical concepts of network communication. We believe that a limited set of technologies promoted a variety of traditional parameters of communication researches. Internet activity and social networks encouraged the personalization of mass communication. We substantiate that the emphasis on the new media in the process of network personalization constitutes the basic context of genesis of network communication. The networks with persistent and pervasive nature of new technologies are more diversified than they have ever been before.

Mobile technology melds the mobile learner's authentic real and virtual worlds, enabling increasingly untethered personalized, learner-determined language learning opportunities. This article introduces an evidence-based framework founded upon cumulative findings from a number of the authors' recent and ongoing research projects. This framework provides guidance for designing mobile language learning activities within the learner's evolving personal, authentic situational learning context. The framework consists of three learner dimensions and four external contextual affordances that synergistically define the dynamics of this learning context. The merger of these dimensions and external contextual elements yields three interdependent learning concepts—personalization, adaptation, and relevancy—which enhance the mobile learner's motivation and self-determination. Application of these concepts enables instructors and learners to design mobile language activities that consider the interplay of numerous factors impacting language learning in context.

AbstractContext modeling has long been acknowledged as a key aspect in a wide variety of problem domains. In this paper we focus on the combination of contextualization and personalization methods to improve the performance of personalized information retrieval. The key aspects in our proposed approach are (1) the explicit distinction between historic user context and live user context, (2) the use of ontology-driven representations of the domain of discourse, as a common, enriched representational ground for content meaning, user interests, and contextual conditions, enabling the definition of effective means to relate the three of them, and (3) the introduction of fuzzy representations as an instrument to properly handle the uncertainty and imprecision involved in the automatic interpretation of meanings, user attention, and user wishes. Based on a formal grounding at the representational level, we propose methods for the automatic extraction of persistent semantic user preferences, and live, ad-hoc user interests, which are combined in order to improve the accuracy and reliability of personalization for retrieval.

The study was conducted to find out effectiveness of contextual an, structural method of teaching vocabulary in English at secondary level. It was an experimental study in which the pretest posttest design was used. The population of the study was the students of secondary classes studying in Government secondary schools of Rawalpindi District. Purposive and random sampling was applied to select the school and subjects. The significance of difference between the scores of groups at 0.05 level was tested applying t test. The study revealed that the contextual method is more useful for high achievers (HA) whereas structural method is more useful for average and low achievers. The HA performed better with the contextual method due to study of words in different contexts and taking help from contextual clues that has prompted spoken and written fluency. Better performance of the average and low achievers with the structural method was due to the morphological analyses of a word, role of the students as the partner in the learning process, generation and active processing of vocabulary, provision of multiple exposure of different intensity for practice and personalization of word learning.

The aim of personalized maps is to help individual users to read maps and focus on the most task-relevant information. Several approaches have been suggested to develop personalized maps for cities, but few consider the spatial knowledge of its users. We propose the design of “cognitively-aware” personalized maps, which take into account the previous experience of users in the city and how the urban space is configured in their minds. Our aim is to facilitate users’ mental links between maps and city places, stimulating users to recall features of the urban space and to assimilate new spatial knowledge. To achieve this goal, we propose the personalization of maps through a map design process based on user modeling and on inferring personalization guidelines from hand-drawn sketches of urban spaces. We applied this process in an experiment with tourists in Madrid, Spain. We categorized the participants into three types of tourists—“Guided”, “Explorer”, and “Conditioned”—according to individual and contextual factors that can influence their spatial knowledge of the city. We also extracted design guidelines from tourists’ sketches and developed map prototypes. The empirical results seem to be promising for developing personalized city maps that could be produced on-the-fly in the future.

Providing recommendations in cold start situations is one of the most challenging problems for collaborative filtering based recommender systems (RSs). Although user social context information has largely contributed to the cold start problem, most of the RSs still suffer from the lack of initial social links for newcomers. For this study, we are going to address this issue using a proposed user similarity detection engine (USDE). Utilizing users’ personal smart devices enables the proposed USDE to automatically extract real-world social interactions between users. Moreover, the proposed USDE uses user clustering algorithm that includes contextual information for identifying similar users based on their profiles. The dynamically updated contextual information for the user profiles helps with user similarity clustering and provides more personalized recommendations. The proposed RS is evaluated using movie recommendations as a case study. The results show that the proposed RS can improve the accuracy and personalization level of recommendations as compared to two other widely applied collaborative filtering RSs. In addition, the performance of the USDE is evaluated in different scenarios. The conducted experimental results on USDE show that the proposed USDE outperforms widely applied similarity measures in cold start and data sparsity situations.

Abstract The paper explores and analyses processes of electoral reforms in selected Central European countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia) in post-transitional period. The qualitative analysis focuses “only” on the enacted changes in electoral systems and its purpose is not to evaluate the impact and political consequences of individual changes but rather to concentrate, through a theoretically-informed detailed contextual analysis, on the electoral reform process itself. It is therefore concerned with contextual factors affecting, underlying, initiating and/or controlling these changes. The paper identifies political elites as the main actors of electoral reform processes in selected countries, and it tries to explain both motivations of political elites for changing status quo electoral systems and other circumstances of electoral reform processes in Central Europe as well. The analysis also suggests that processes of electoral reform in post-transitional period in Central Europe are characterized by a tendency to less proportional electoral system designs, with the only exception of the Slovak electoral reform of 1999 (due to specific political constellation), while it did not discover any clear tendency regarding personalization of electoral systems.

Purpose This paper aims to discuss the rationale, theoretical foundation, application, and future of artificial intelligence (AI)-based training. Design/methodology/approach A review of relevant research papers, articles and case studies is done to highlight developments in research and practice. Findings AI-based training systems are smart, intelligent and expert in handling queries. These systems can curate content, grade, evaluate, and provide feedback to trainee, thus making learning adaptive and contextual. Practical implications Application of AI is vital in the field of training, as it helps personalization and customization of training programs to increase the effectiveness of training. Originality/value Executives and researchers can save time by reading relevant information on the linkage, and its contribution to AI is discussed and summarized in an easy to read format.

AbstractObjectiveWe aim to deliver a framework with 2 main objectives: 1) facilitating the design of theory-driven, adaptive, digital interventions addressing chronic illnesses or health problems and 2) producing personalized intervention delivery strategies to support self-management by optimizing various intervention components tailored to people’s individual needs, momentary contexts, and psychosocial variables.Materials and MethodsWe propose a template-based digital intervention design mechanism enabling the configuration of evidence-based, just-in-time, adaptive intervention components. The design mechanism incorporates a rule definition language enabling experts to specify triggering conditions for interventions based on momentary and historical contextual/personal data. The framework continuously monitors and processes personal data space and evaluates intervention-triggering conditions. We benefit from reinforcement learning methods to develop personalized intervention delivery strategies with respect to timing, frequency, and type (content) of interventions. To validate the personalization algorithm, we lay out a simulation testbed with 2 personas, differing in their various simulated real-life conditions.ResultsWe evaluate the design mechanism by presenting example intervention definitions based on behavior change taxonomies and clinical guidelines. Furthermore, we provide intervention definitions for a real-world care program targeting diabetes patients. Finally, we validate the personalized delivery mechanism through a set of hypotheses, asserting certain ways of adaptation in the delivery strategy, according to the differences in simulation related to personal preferences, traits, and lifestyle patterns.ConclusionWhile the design mechanism is sufficiently expandable to meet the theoretical and clinical intervention design requirements, the personalization algorithm is capable of adapting intervention delivery strategies for simulated real-life conditions.

At the annual conference of the Japan Society for Artificial Intelligence (JSAI), a special survival session called "Challenge for Realizing Early Profits (CREP)" is organized to support and promote excellent ideas in new AI technologies expected to be realized and contributed to society within five years. Every year at the session, researchers propose their ideas and compete in being evaluated by conference participants. The Everyday Language Computing (ELC) project, started in 2000 at the Brain Science Institute, RIKEN, and ended in 2005, participated in the CREP program in 2001 to have their project evaluated by third parties and held an organized session every year in which those interested in language-based intelligence and personalization participate. They competed with other candidates, survived the session, and achieved the session's final goal to survive for five years. Papers in this special issue selected for presentation at the session include the following: The first article, "Everyday-Language Computing Project Overview," by Ichiro Kobayashi et al., gives an overview and the basic technologies of the ELC Project. The second to sixth papers are related to the ELC Project. The second article, "Computational Models of Language Within Context and Context-Sensitive Language Understanding," by Noriko Ito et al., proposes a new database, called the "semiotic base," that compiles linguistic resources with contextual information and an algorithm for achieving natural language understanding with the semiotic base. The third article, "Systemic-Functional Context-Sensitive Text Generation in the Framework of Everyday Language Computing," by Yusuke Takahashi et al., proposes an algorithm to generate texts with the semiotic base. The fourth article, "Natural Language-Mediated Software Agentification," by Michiaki Iwazume et al., proposes a method for agentifying and verbalizing existing software applications, together with a scheme for operating/running them. The fifth article, "Smart Help for Novice Users Based on Application Software Manuals," by Shino Iwashita et al., proposes a new framework for reusing electronic software manuals equipped with application software to provide tailor-made operation instructions to users. The sixth article, "Programming in Everyday Language: A Case for Email Management," by Toru Sugimoto et al., making a computer program written in natural language. Rhetorical structure analysis is used to translate the natural language command structure into the program structure. The seventh article, "Application of Paraphrasing to Programming with Linguistic Expressions," by Nozomu Kaneko et al., proposes a method for translating natural language commands into a computer program through a natural language paraphrasing mechanism. The eighth article, "A Human Interface Based on Linguistic Metaphor and Intention Reasoning," by Koichi Yamada et al., proposes a new human interface paradigm called Push Like Talking (PLT), which enables people to operate machines as they talk. The ninth article, "Automatic Metadata Annotation Based on User Preference Evaluation Patterns," by Mari Saito proposes effective automatic metadata annotation for content recommendations matched to user preference. The tenth article, "Dynamic Sense Representation Using Conceptual Fuzzy Sets," by Hiroshi Sekiya et al., proposes a method to represent word senses, which vary dynamically depending on context, using conceptual fuzzy sets. The eleventh article, "Common Sense from the Web? Naturalness of Everyday Knowledge Retrieved from WWW," by Rafal Rzepka et al., is a challenging work to acquire common-sense knowledge from information on the Web. The twelfth article, "Semantic Representation for Understanding Meaning Based on Correspondence Between Meanings," by Akira Takagi et al., proposes a new semantic representation to deal with Japanese language in natural language processing. I thank the reviewers and contributors for their time and effort in making this special issue possible, and I wish to thank the JACIII editorial board, especially Professors Kaoru Hirota and Toshio Fukuda, the Editors-in-Chief, for inviting me to serve as Guest Editor of this Journal. Thanks also go to Kazuki Ohmori and Kenta Uchino of Fuji Technology Press for their sincere support.

In technology-enhanced learning, the use of mobile applications is increasing, which improves students’ learning experiences, allowing them to carry out daily activities anytime, anywhere. However, the majority of the available learning contents have been designed for desktop computers; thus, accessing that information is limited by the technical capabilities of mobile devices. As a result, students might lose interest and motivation to learn using their mobile devices if content adaptation and learning personalization processes are not appropriately designed. In this paper, the authors present a context-aware adaptation architecture for mobile learning. In the architecture, two mechanisms based on conditional statements from the IMS Learning Design specification and a transcoding mechanism are presented. Moreover, which learner’s contextual information can be represented to design the learning process and retrieved to adapt activities and resources is explained by the description of a context-aware mobile-assisted second language learning scenario.

In this exploratory study, university faculty (instructor) perceptions of the extent to which eight unique features of Web technology are useful for various instructional tasks are identified. Task-technology fit propositions are developed and tested using data collected from a survey of instructors in business, pharmacy, and arts/humanities. It is proposed that the Web technology features can be classified into three groups. Ubiquity and universal standards are primary features that are useful for supporting all of the teaching tasks. Richness, interactivity, information density, and personalization are contextual features which are each useful for specific tasks. Global reach is of secondary importance for supporting traditional classroom instructional tasks. Support is found for each proposition except universal standards and social technology is not perceived to be as important as anticipated. Implications and conclusions are discussed for learning management system designers, instructors, and educational technology researchers.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the purchase intention in the case of smartphone advertising, which is unlike any other advertising media. Design/methodology/approach This study examines the characteristics of recent mobile advertisements such as brand attitude and context awareness value, which have not been considered in studies on non-mobile advertisements, to address purchase intention through smartphone advertisements using structural equation modeling. Findings The results are as follows. Together with entertainment, information, irritation, and personalization in non-mobile advertisements, timing and location in mobile advertisements are the main factors for establishing consumers’ purchase intention. Further, although mobile advertisements’ context awareness value strongly impacts consumers’ advertising attitude and brand attitude, purchase intention receives greater impact from brand attitude than from advertising attitude because the products/services lack feel and touch. Originality/value These results imply that contextual advertising and new technology enabling feel and touch for products/services can maximize the effect of mobile advertisements.

Standalone electronic personal health record can be a useful tool that enables individuals to store, arrange and share their health information easily and they can build a history of their health timeline which is crucial for raising healthcare quality and better self-management, the adoption rate of these applications has been identified in several countries to be low and slowly progressing.Although there are some applications of standalone ePHR available in the market for usage free of charge but it’s almost not adopted at all, this study will investigate some of the factors that might affect the adoption of ePHR technology by adults in Egypt and provide business professionals a better picture for what can motivate or hinder the adoption process to achieve better adoption rates and eliminate the barriers.In order to ensure a comprehensive contextual analysis, researchers analyzed the research in hand with the perspective of the proposed contextual framework, the Nine Elements Framework/Model (Elsafty, 2018) that analyzes social studies research in general, and business/management reseaerches as well.Using the nine elements framework, the authors used it to discover the underlying factors that are causing the problems faced by the research in hand, and resulted in the coming contextual analysis defining the research scope and focus, which in the case of this paper is on Perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use were adapted from TAM that was initially developed by Fred Davis (1989) and they proved to have a high predictive power of behavioral intention in CHI context, The extensions of TAM including UTAUT & UTAUT2 seems to be irrelevant to this research context since UTAUT is more oriented towards the organizational context (Venkatesh et al., 2012) and UTAUT2 added factors, Price value seems to be irrelevant in this research context as we are already studying platforms that are provided free of charge, Hedonic motivation maybe irrelevant to this context as healthcare related service is mostly associated with seriousness and urgency, also testing unimplemented platforms that are not yet adopted makes from the habit unrealistic experience that may be inaccurate to measure.Since other several researches recommended extending these factors with other additional factors to make it more relevant to the healthcare consumer context (Kim & Park, 2012), these factors may include health-related factors, technology-related factors and personal-related factors. Findings in this research revealed that adoption rate in Egypt is still very low and high demand for this service which makes this research is significant as it’s trying to find out the reasons behind this gap, perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, (privacy and security), eHealth literacy, personalization and awareness had a significant impact on behavioral intention to use standalone ePHR applications. Personalization was found to have the strongest effect on behavioral intention followed by perceived usefulness. Health status was found to have an insignificant effect on behavioral intention which indicates the interest of people with different health statuses in standalone ePHR.

The article has been devoted to theoretical issues of the digital advertising sphere, its tasks and features. The online advertising market development level has been estimated, based on analytical data. Digital advertising is a complex of analytical, technological and supporting tools, which are interconnected directly. It includes a system of methods and tools, which use digital channels to promote a product or brand, attract and retain customers. The main areas of digital advertising are display advertising, banner advertising, video advertising and contextual advertising. Digital advertising is not limited by the Internet, but it uses other communication resources such as television, radio, telephone, direct sales and direct contact. A key feature of digital advertising is its interactivity and formed on its basis analytical resources (consumers, their preferences, products, channels, etc.), that provide personalization. At its core, personalization is the process of understanding the true intentions, desires and needs of a person, as well as the transfer of relevant, targeted and significant experience for that person. In practical terms, this means building and using a customer model and managing customer experience. The article examines the properties of digital advertising and its implementation as a project. The interdisciplinary properties of digital advertising predetermine the cross-subject nature of the training of specialists in digital advertising: marketing and information technology specialists. To illustrate the given theoretical material a real project of digital advertising company for popular among young people food product has been presented. The project goals and concept, its plan and organization of execution, the tools of digital advertising used have been considered: chat bots, mobile version of the site, landing page, gamification, promo codes, CRM system, bloggers, SMM. It has been shown, how the assessment of digital advertising impact activities of the company and the costs of the project were carried out.

Background Existing evaluations of the effects of mobile apps to encourage physical activity have been criticized owing to their common lack of external validity, their short duration, and their inability to explain the drivers of the observed effects. This protocol describes the setup of Health Telescope, a longitudinal panel study in which the long-term effects of mobile electronic health (eHealth) apps are investigated. By setting up Health Telescope, we aim to (1) understand more about the long-term use of eHealth apps in an externally valid setting, (2) understand the relationships between short-term and long-term outcomes of the usage of eHealth apps, and (3) test different ways in which eHealth app allocation can be personalized. Objective The objectives of this paper are to (1) demonstrate and motivate the validity of the many choices that we made in setting up an intensive longitudinal study, (2) provide a resource for researchers interested in using data generated by our study, and (3) act as a guideline for researchers interested in setting up their own longitudinal data collection using wearable devices. For the third objective, we explicitly discuss the General Data Protection Regulation and ethical requirements that need to be addressed. Methods In this 4-month study, a group of approximately 450 participants will have their daily step count measured and will be asked daily about their mood using experience sampling. Once per month, participants will receive an intervention containing a recommendation to download an app that focuses on increasing physical activity. The mechanism for assigning recommendations to participants will be personalized over time, using contextual data obtained from previous interventions. Results The data collection software has been developed, and all the legal and ethical checks are in place. Recruitment will start in Q4 of 2020. The initial results will be published in 2021. Conclusions The aim of Health Telescope is to investigate how different individuals respond to different ways of being encouraged to increase their physical activity. In this paper, we detail the setup, methods, and analysis plan that will enable us to reach this aim. International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) PRR1-10.2196/16471

The evolution of mobile communication systems to 3G and beyond introduces requirements for flexible, customized, and ubiquitous multimedia service provision to mobile users. One must be able to know at any given time the network status, the user location, the profiles of the various entities (users, terminals, network equipment, services) involved and the policies that are employed within the system. Namely, the system must be able to cope with a large amount of context information. The present paper focuses on location and context awareness in service provisioning and proposes a flexible and innovative model for user profiling. The innovation is based on the enrichment of common user profiling architectures to include location and other contextual attributes, so that enhanced adaptability and personalization can be achieved. For each location and context instance an associated User Profile instance is created and hence, service provisioning is adapted to the User Profile instance that better apply to the current context. The generic model, the structure and the content of this location- and context-sensitive User Profile, along with some related implementation issues, are discussed.

The proliferation of smart things and the subsequent emergence of the Internet of Things has motivated the deployment of intelligent spaces that provide automated services to users. Context-awareness refers to the ability of the system to be aware of the virtual and physical environment, allowing more efficient personalization. Context modeling and reasoning are two important aspects of context-aware computing, since they enable the representation of contextual data and inference of high-level, meaningful information. Context-awareness middleware systems integrate context modeling and reasoning, providing abstraction and supporting heterogeneous context streams. In this work, such a context-awareness middleware system is presented, which integrates a proposed context model based on the adaptation and combination of the most prominent context categorization schemata. A hybrid reasoning procedure, which combines multiple techniques, is also proposed and integrated. The proposed system was evaluated in a real-case-scenario cultural space, which supports preventive conservation. The evaluation showed that the proposed system efficiently addressed both conceptual aspects, through means of representation and reasoning, and implementation aspects, through means of performance.

This study looks at a variety of “informal” uses of new media and ICTs. The term informal describes popular uses of digital technologies that often exist outside the norms, laws, and codes that dictate how digital technologies and networks are to be used. Such activities include what is commonly described as “piracy,” but also embrace different peer-to-peer practices. Informal activities develop due to the affordances of digital technologies, which allow space for creativity and personalization of use, but are also due to broader sociocultural variables and contextual issues. In general terms, informal activities are those that concern the amateur activities of people using digital programs, tools, and networks. Media scholars see great potential in new media/ICT affordances, as related to the proliferation of grassroots participation, communication, and creativity. Nevertheless, a growing critical literature forces us to examine the actualization of such potential. This paper discusses the aforementioned issues by looking at new media/ICT uses in Sweden; it departs from critical perspectives that take into consideration the political economy of new media, and the cultural-political critiques of late-modern consumer societies.

Collaborative Filtering Recommender Systems predict user preferences for online information, products or services by learning from past user-item relationships. A predominant approach to Collaborative Filtering is Neighborhood-based, where a user-item preference rating is computed from ratings of similar items and/or users. This approach encounters data sparsity and scalability limitations as the volume of accessible information and the active users continue to grow leading to performance degradation, poor quality recommendations and inaccurate predictions. Despite these drawbacks, the problem of information overload has led to great interests in personalization techniques. The incorporation of context information and Matrix and Tensor Factorization techniques have proved to be a promising solution to some of these challenges. We conducted a focused review of literature in the areas of Context-aware Recommender Systems utilizing Matrix Factorization approaches. This survey paper presents a detailed literature review of Context-aware Recommender Systems and approaches to improving performance for large scale datasets and the impact of incorporating contextual information on the quality and accuracy of the recommendation. The results of this survey can be used as a basic reference for improving and optimizing existing Context-aware Collaborative Filtering based Recommender Systems. The main contribution of this paper is a survey of Matrix Factorization techniques for Context-aware Collaborative Filtering Recommender Systems.

Gamification has been used in a variety of settings, including business, healthcare, and education. Although there are successful gamification examples, many gamification projects fail due to poor design. Despite the importance of thoughtful design of gamification, previous research on gamification in education has not paid sufficient attention to the design aspect, focusing on whether adding one or more game elements makes any difference. Based on comprehensive literature review and synthesis of gamification design guidance from various experts in the area, the author identified eight design considerations for creating effective gamified learning experiences, including (1) meaning, (2) user-centered design, (3) challenges, personalization, and feedback, (4) choices and autonomy, (5) perils and advantages of extrinsic rewards, (6) social interaction and relatedness, (7) competition vs. cooperation, and (8) failure as an opportunity to learn. Thoughtful design is required to create effective gamified learning experiences. The novelty of using game elements in learning environments may draw students’ attention, but poorly designed gamification can have negative effects on student learning and motivation. It is critical to understand that a game element that works in one condition may not work in another condition. Future research should pay more careful attention to design aspects, consider contextual factors, and contribute to developing research-based guidelines for designing effective gamified learning experiences that include both methods and situations.

Background Digital mental health interventions (DMHIs), which deliver mental health support via technologies such as mobile apps, can increase access to mental health support, and many studies have demonstrated their effectiveness in improving symptoms. However, user engagement varies, with regard to a user’s uptake and sustained interactions with these interventions. Objective This systematic review aims to identify common barriers and facilitators that influence user engagement with DMHIs. Methods A systematic search was conducted in the SCOPUS, PubMed, PsycINFO, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library databases. Empirical studies that report qualitative and/or quantitative data were included. Results A total of 208 articles met the inclusion criteria. The included articles used a variety of methodologies, including interviews, surveys, focus groups, workshops, field studies, and analysis of user reviews. Factors extracted for coding were related to the end user, the program or content offered by the intervention, and the technology and implementation environment. Common barriers included severe mental health issues that hampered engagement, technical issues, and a lack of personalization. Common facilitators were social connectedness facilitated by the intervention, increased insight into health, and a feeling of being in control of one’s own health. Conclusions Although previous research suggests that DMHIs can be useful in supporting mental health, contextual factors are important determinants of whether users actually engage with these interventions. The factors identified in this review can provide guidance when evaluating DMHIs to help explain and understand user engagement and can inform the design and development of new digital interventions.

<span>Persuasive design principles (PDP) of persuasive system features framework have shown impressive results from the context of user engagement and acceptance as well as continuous usage towards the persuasive systems involved. Yet, available literatures do not thoroughly address the implementation of these design principles specifically in mobile applications and there is insufficient discussion on the impact of the principles in relation to the overall achievement of mobile applications. Hence, this research was conducted with the aim to qualitatively explore the way PDP were implemented across three different levels of mobile applications’ attainment. For this study, seven semi-structured interviews were conducted with the involvement of fifteen (15) Android mobile applications in the area of utilities category. These mobile applications were then categorized into three categories which is successful, partially successful and less successful based on their numbers of mobile applications downloaded for three consecutive years. The results from the content analysis revealed that each of the PDP were implemented in many ways yet the most common applied principles are reduction, tailoring and personalization. However, the analysis also shows low numbers of implementation from the system credibility and social support category. <span>In addition, most of the mobile applications of the successful category have implemented a lot more PDP as compared to the other two mobile application categories. The results from this study has provide significance towards developers, practitioners as well as the scholars from the contextual perspective of persuasive system framework also the practical values of the principles specifically the implementation in mobile application development.</span></span>

Background Brief counseling can motivate patients to initiate health behavior change. However, increasing the provision of brief counseling by nurses is difficult due to contextual and practitioner-level factors impeding nurses’ motivation and intentions to provide brief counseling (eg, unfavorable attitude toward brief counseling, lack of perceived control linked to barriers). Theory-based implementation interventions could address these practitioner-level factors and support evidence-based practice in the context of brief counseling. Web-based, adaptive e-learning (electronic learning) programs are a novel type of implementation intervention that could address the limitations of current brief counseling training programs, such as accessibility and personalization. Objective This paper presents a study protocol for evaluating the effectiveness of the E_MOTIVA implementation intervention—a theory- and web-based adaptive e-learning program—to increase nurses’ and nursing students’ intentions to provide brief counseling for smoking, an unbalanced diet, and medication nonadherence. Methods A two-group, single-blind, randomized controlled trial will be conducted with nurses and nursing students enrolled in a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program in Quebec, Canada. Participants in the experimental group will be allocated to the E_MOTIVA intervention—a theory- and web-based adaptive e-learning program—while participants in the active control group will be allocated to the E_MOTIVB intervention, a knowledge- and web-based standardized e-learning program. The E_MOTIVA intervention was designed to influence the constructs of the Theory of Planned Behavior (eg, attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control) in the context of brief counseling. The Cognitive Load Index and User Engagement Scale will be used to assess participants’ cognitive load and engagement related to e-learning. Participants will complete the Brief Counseling Nursing Practices Questionnaire–Abridged Version at baseline and follow-up. All study measures will be completed online. Results The study is ongoing. The results of the study will provide answers to the primary hypothesis (H1) that experimental group participants will demonstrate a greater change in the score of intentions to provide brief counseling between baseline (–T1) and follow-up (T4). Secondary hypotheses include greater improvements in scores of attitude (H2), subjective norms (H3), perceived control (H4), behavioral beliefs (H5), normative beliefs (H6), and control beliefs (H7) regarding brief counseling in the experimental group between baseline and follow-up. We also anticipate lower intrinsic and extrinsic cognitive loads (H8, H9), higher germane cognitive load (H10), and higher engagement (H11, H12) in the experimental group. Conclusions This study will be among the first in evaluating a novel type of implementation intervention, a theory- and web-based adaptive e-learning program, in nurses and nursing students. This type of intervention has the potential to support evidence-based practice through accessible, personalized training in wide-ranging domains in nursing. Trial Registration ISRCTN Registry ISRCTN32603572; http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN32603572 International Registered Report Identifier (IRRID) PRR1-10.2196/18894

Recent advances in the development of mobile devices equipped with multiple sensors, together with the availability of millions of applications, have made these devices more pervasive in our lives than ever. The availability of the diverse set of sensors, as well as high computational power, enable information retrieval (IR) systems to sense a user's context, and personalize their results accordingly. Relevant studies show that people use their mobile devices to access information in a wide range of topics in various contextual situations, highlighting the fact that modeling user information need on mobile devices involves studying several means of information access. In this thesis, we study three significant aspects of information access on mobile devices. First, we focus on proactive approaches to modeling users for venue suggestion. We investigate three methods of user modeling, namely, content-based, collaborative, and hybrid, focusing on personalization and context-awareness. Our content-based model is based on multiple relevance scores derived from multi-modal information that we collected from multiple sources of information [1]. We further propose a two-phase collaborative ranking algorithm for leveraging users' implicit feedback while incorporating temporal and geographical information into the model [3]. We then extend our collaborative model to include multiple cross-venue similarity scores and combine it with our content-based approach to produce a hybrid recommendation [2]. Second, we introduce and investigate a new task on mobile search, that is, unified mobile search. We take the first step in defining, studying, and modeling this task by collecting two datasets [5, 4]. Our analyses show that a limited number of popular apps attract most of the search queries. We further observe notable differences between queries submitted to different apps. We show that query length and content differ among apps. We also show that 39% of search queries were done in Google Search, and it was the top choice of users in 35% of the tasks. Given that more than 71% of the defined tasks could be done with the current features of Google Search, this indicates that users prefer to search using a more specific app. Also, we conduct experiments on one of the main components of unified mobile search frameworks, which is target apps selection. To this end, we propose two neural approaches that learn high-dimensional app representations based on their respective queries. Finally, we address the conversational aspect of mobile search , where we propose an offline evaluation protocol and build a dataset for asking clarifying questions for conversational search [6]. Also, we propose a retrieval framework consisting of three main components: question retrieval, question selection, and document retrieval. The experiments and analyses indicate that asking clarifying questions should be an essential part of a conversational system, resulting in a high performance gain. In particular, experiments on the oracle model demonstrated that asking only one good clarifying question leads to over 150% relative improvement in terms of P@1 and nDCG@1. Moreover, we observed that asking clarifying questions improves the model's performance for a substantial percentage of the facets, even though a more effective retrieval model than the one we used could potentially improve the performance.

In the global context, the epidemic of breast cancer (BC) is evident for the early 21st century. Evidence shows that national mammography screening programs have sufficiently reduced BC related mortality. Therefore, the great utility of the mammography-based screening is not an issue. However, both false positive and false negative BC diagnosis, excessive biopsies, and irradiation linked to mammography application, as well as sub-optimal mammography-based screening, such as in the case of high-dense breast tissue in young females, altogether increase awareness among the experts regarding the limitations of mammography-based screening. Severe concerns regarding the mammography as the “golden standard” approach demanding complementary tools to cover the evident deficits led the authors to present innovative strategies, which would sufficiently improve the quality of the BC management and services to the patient. Contextually, this article provides insights into mammography deficits and current clinical data demonstrating the great potential of non-invasive diagnostic tools utilizing circulating miRNA profiles as an adjunct to conventional mammography for the population screening and personalization of BC management.

Background Mobile health apps are promising vehicles for delivering scalable health behavior change interventions to populations that are otherwise difficult to reach and engage, such as young adults with psychiatric conditions. To improve uptake and sustain consumer engagement, mobile health interventions need to be responsive to individuals’ needs and preferences, which may change over time. We previously created an ecological daily needs assessment to capture microprocesses influencing user needs and preferences for mobile health treatment adaptation. Objective The objective of our study was to test the utility of a needs assessment anchored within a mobile app to capture individualized, contextually relevant user needs and preferences within the framework of a weight management mobile health app. Methods Participants with an iOS device could download the study app via the study website or links from social media. In this fully remote study, we screened, obtained informed consent from, and enrolled participants through the mobile app. The mobile health framework included daily health goal setting and self-monitoring, with up to 6 daily prompts to determine in-the-moment needs and preferences for mobile health–assisted health behavior change. Results A total of 24 participants downloaded the app and provided e-consent (22 female; 2 male), with 23 participants responding to at least one prompt over 2 weeks. The mean length of engagement was 5.6 (SD 4.7) days, with a mean of 2.8 (1.1) responses per day. We observed individually dynamic needs and preferences, illustrating daily variability within and between individuals. Qualitative feedback indicated preferences for self-adapting features, simplified self-monitoring, and the ability to personalize app-generated message timing and content. Conclusions The technique provided an individually dynamic and contextually relevant alternative and complement to traditional needs assessment for assessing individually dynamic user needs and preferences during treatment development or adaptation. The results of this utility study suggest the importance of personalization and learning algorithms for sustaining app engagement in young adults with psychiatric conditions. Further study in broader user populations is needed.

Purpose This study aims to test a proposed model based on a combination of the relationship marketing and service quality dimensions as predictors of corporate image and customer loyalty via corporate reputation in the Takaful context. More importantly, this study compares the Takaful operators’ services with the perceived service quality and the relationship marketing from the Malaysian and Saudi Arabian customers’ viewpoint. Design/methodology/approach A survey-based study was conducted through a questionnaire, and the data was collected from Takaful customers (362 Saudi Arabian and 350 Malaysian customers) through an online survey. Structural equation modelling is used to test the proposed model. Besides, the perception of Takaful customers between Saudi Arabia and Malaysia is compared through a multi-group analysis. Findings The results from the Malaysian context reveal that positive perceptions of service quality PAKSERV dimensions (personalization, reliability and tangibility) and positive perceptions of relationship marketing dimensions (Islamic ethical behaviour and structural bonds) have a significant influence on the corporate image. Alternatively, in the Saudi Arabian context, results have shown that the positive perceptions of service quality PAKSERV dimensions (assurance and reliability) of service quality and the positive perceptions of the relationship marketing dimensions (Islamic ethical behaviour, structural bonds and financial bonds) have a significant influence on the corporate image. The differences in both countries’ results can also enhance the corporate image on corporate reputation, merely in Malaysia. By contrast, corporate reputation is deemed a significant predictor of customer loyalty, represented as valid for both contexts. Research limitations/implications The proposed research model tested in Takaful Malaysian and Saudi Arabian can be replicated in other contexts – in terms of country and industry. Moreover, the current study reveals the crucial role of corporate image in forming corporate reputation. Future research could be focussed on the importance of other emotional or affective variables that may be involved in determining corporate reputation. Finally, future studies can be carried with another cultural perspective to have more diversified socio-economic implications. Practical implications It is suggested that Takaful operators from both Malaysia and Saudi Arabia need to put maximum effort towards customer loyalty by bringing both the dimensions of service quality and the relationship marketing in compliance with the principles of Islamic business transaction. The findings of the specific dimensions of service quality and relationship marketing will contribute to customers’ perceptions of corporate image and reputation in the Takaful industry. Originality/value The present study tested a blended facet of customer’s overall experience through service quality (PAKSERV) and customer service provider connectivity (relationship marketing) to predict the corporate image of the highly growing financial marketplace (Takaful). Contextually, this study contributes to delineating the factors (corporate reputation) affecting customer loyalty rather than a customer satisfaction tradition. Significantly, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia were chosen for this study, as they are currently the two fast-growing markets for Islamic financial services, especially with regards to the Takaful products and offerings.

Purpose Collecting information from and interacting with customers through mobile platforms for personalization purposes have become a trend. While mobile-based value co-creation has attracted wide research attention, a noticeable gap exists regarding what might potentially affect the firm–customer interaction process through which value is co-created. This paper aims to explore how customers exchange information and communicate with firms through mobile applications for value co-creation purposes in a travel context. Design/methodology/approach Based on a constructivist research paradigm, this study adopted a qualitative research design. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and were analyzed following narrative analysis approach. Findings The findings highlight the contextual factors (individual characteristics, trip characteristics and computer-mediated communication characteristics) that facilitate and inhibit the firm–customer interaction process. Practitioners are suggested to put more efforts on creating stimuli for interactions and managing customer expectation. Research limitations/implications This study goes beyond technology adoption and focuses on customers’ post-adoption stage. The findings shed light on the important role of the service provider in facilitating effective interactions for value co-creation with customers. Originality/value This study focuses on the interaction process, rather than the antecedents and outcomes of mobile-based value co-creation. It contributes empirical evidence on how customers co-create value and why some situations present better opportunities for successful value co-creation.

The design and implementation of applications for behavior change should be preceded by careful analysis of the behavior change process and the target population. We, therefore, present on the basis of a blended research approach a rationale, opportunities and basic requirements for an application that offers a program for reducing intake of sugar sweetened beverages (SSB) by adolescents. This paper discusses the role of e-coaching and gamification as two high-touch design patterns in the behavior change process. Both design patterns aim at supporting the individual in a transformational journey from a current state toward a desired state where the detrimental behavior should be replaced by healthy alternative behavior. First, an elementary behavior scheme is introduced that frames three empirical studies. In the first study (plenary focus groups; n = 13), participants advised to include system recommendations for alternative healthy behavior, stressed the need for personalization of the e-coach and showed strong appreciation for the inclusion of gamification elements. The second study (online survey; n = 249) showed that SSB-intake is highly contextual and that reasons for (limiting) consumption SSB varies greatly between individuals, which the e-coach application should take into account. In a final small-scale pilot study (n = 27), we observed the potential of the inclusion of gamification elements, such as challenges and rewards, to increase compliance to the self-monitoring process of SSB consumption. Building upon these insights and prior studies, we argue that an e-coach mimics the collaborative practice of the program; its main task is to enrich the interaction with cooperative conversational experiences, in particular with respect to the alignment between user and system, motivational encouragement, personalized advice, and feedback about the activities. In addition, we outline that gamification not only has the potential to increase self-monitoring of the target behavior, user engagement, and commitment with the intervention program, but also enables a designer to shift long-term negative outcome of excessive intake in real life to short-term consequences in a virtual environment. In future larger follow-up studies, we advise to integrate the two design patterns within a social network of virtual and human agents that play a variety of competitive, normative and supportive roles.

Resumen En este artículo comparamos visual y contextualmente las noticias ofrecidas por los diarios deportivos españoles As, Marca, Mundo Deportivo y Sport sobre el triunfo de la Selección española en las Eurocopas (2008/2012) y el Mundial (2010). En nuestros resultados resaltamos un predominio del recurso de la fotografía, la adopción de una retórica enfática y entusiasta de los recursos textuales, la personalización de la celebración y la elevada cantidad de páginas dedicadas a cubrir este evento. AbstractIn this article we compare visually and contextually the news offered by the Spanish sport newspapers As, Marca, Mundo Deportivo and Sport on the triumph of the Spanish national team in the European Championships (2008/2012) and the World Cup (2010). Results highlight the use of the resource of photography, the emphatic and enthusiastic rhetoric of textual resources, the personalization of the celebration and the high number of pages dedicated to cover this event.Palabras claveComunicación deportiva; prensa deportiva; Selección española; As; Marca; Mundo Deportivo; Sport.KeywordsSports communication; sports media; Spanish national team; As; Marca; Mundo Deportivo; Sport.

First-order linkage analyses (Schulz, 2008) employ individual survey data weighted by aggregated content data and are generally used to investigate media effects on public opinion. In contrast to experiments, their outcomes are highly generalizable since they allow to grasp what kind of content people encounter in a naturalistic setting (Barabas & Jerit, 2009), with which frequency and intensity, and how it triggers a particular reaction, attitude change, knowledge gain or behavior. First-order linkage analyses often employ manual and automated content analysis, descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. When using panel data, they are furthermore able to identify within-individual changes in attitudes and behaviors (e.g. Takens et al., 2015). Field of application/theoretical foundation: Linkage analyses have extensively been used in the fields of political communication and public opinion, EU studies and media and political psychology. Studies that employed first-order linkage analyses are concerned with theories of agenda setting (Erbring et al., 1980), visibility, priming and media attention on public opinion dynamics (e.g. Bos et al., 2011); news media tone (Hopmann et al., 2010), or the impact of exposure to counter-attitudinal views through the media (Matthes, 2012) on voting decisiveness and behavior. Framing studies or studies focusing on journalistic styles have also made extant use of linkage analysis (e.g. Jebril et al., 2013; Schuck et al., 2014) (see chapter Content Analysis in Mixed Method approaches for a detailed account of uses, applications and advantages of using linkage analyses). References Barabas, J., & Jerit, J. (2009). Estimating the Causal Effects of Media Coverage on Policy-Specific Knowledge. American Journal of Political Science, 53(1), 73–89. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2008.00358.x Boomgaarden, H. G., Van Spanje, J., Vliegenthart, R., & De Vreese, C. H. (2011). Covering the crisis: Media coverage of the economic crisis and citizens’ economic expectations. Acta Politica, 46(4), 353–379. Bos, L., Van der Brug, W., & De Vreese, C. (2011). How the media shape perceptions of right-wing populist leaders. Political Communication, 28(2), 182–206. Castro Herrero, L., & Hopmann, D. N. (2017). The Virtue of Moderation: A Cross-National Analysis of Exposure to Cross-Cutting Information and Turnout. International Journal of Public Opinion Research. Castro, L., Nir, L., & Skovsgaard, M. (2018). Bridging Gaps in Cross-Cutting Media Exposure: The Role of Public Service Broadcasting. Political Communication, 1–24. De Vreese, C. H., Boukes, M., Schuck, A., Vliegenthart, R., Bos, L., & Lelkes, Y. (2017). Linking survey and media content data: Opportunities, considerations, and pitfalls. Communication Methods and Measures, 11(4), 221–244. Erbring, L., Goldenberg, E. N., & Miller, A. H. (1980). Front-page news and real-world cues: A new look at agenda-setting by the media. American Journal of Political Science, 16–49. Hopmann, D. N., Vliegenthart, R., De Vreese, C., & Alb\a ek, E. (2010). Effects of election news coverage: How visibility and tone influence party choice. Political Communication, 27(4), 389–405. Jebril, N., Albaek, E., & De Vreese, C. H. (2013). Infotainment, cynicism and democracy: The effects of privatization vs personalization in the news. European Journal of Communication, 28(2), 105–121. Matthes, J. (2012). Exposure to counterattitudinal news coverage and the timing of voting decisions. Communication Research, 39(2), 147–169. Schuck, A. R., Vliegenthart, R., & De Vreese, C. H. (2014). Who’s Afraid of Conflict? The Mobilizing Effect of Conflict Framing in Campaign News. British Journal of Political Science, 1–18. Schulz, W. (2008). Content analyses and public opinion research. The SAGE Handbook of Public Opinion Research, 348–357. Takens, J., Kleinnijenhuis, J., Van Hoof, A., & Van Atteveldt, W. (2015). Party leaders in the media and voting behavior: Priming rather than learning or projection. Political Communication, 32(2), 249–267. Vreese, C. H. D., & Semetko, H. A. (2004). News matters: Influences on the vote in the Danish 2000 euro referendum campaign. European Journal of Political Research, 43(5), 699–722. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0304-4130.2004.00171.x Table 1. Data matching in first-order linkage analyses Author(s) Relationship of theoretical interest Sample Time frame Content-analytical constructs Linkage strategy Boomgaarden et al., 2011 How exposure to media coverage of the 2008-2009 economic crisis affected expectations regarding the future development of the national economic situation (a) Predictions or expectations about the economic situations provided by articles of nine newspapers and items from 2 news bulletins in the Netherlands in the period between wave 1 and wave 2 of the survey below-mentioned. For w2 to w3, only the front pages of newspapers were coded. (b) 976 respondents of a three-wave panel survey conducted in the Netherlands between November 2008 to February 2009 Nov 2008- Feb 2009 “Expectation, assumption or prediction of the personal economic situation of the Dutch people/the Dutch economy” and whether these are negative, neutral or positive (Boomgaarden et al., 2011, p. 361) (1) Calculation of number of positive and negative economic expectations/assumptions/predictions per outlet (negative (-2), rather negative (-1), balanced (0), rather positive (1), positive (2)) for either the Dutch economy or the Dutch people. Negative evaluations are weighted twice since people tend to select negative information in greater numbers. (2) Each survey respondent’s frequency of use of each outlet is weighted (multiplied) by each outlet’s aggregated score for each relevant content characteristic outlined above, and regressed on people’s actual economic expectations for the country and for themselves. De Vreese et al. 2017 How exposure to economic news (visibility and tone) predicts respondents’ expectations about the state of the national economy in the coming 12 months (a) 1,211 hand-coded articles evaluating the state of the Dutch economy in Dutch national newspapers (b) Three-wave panel data from a surveyed representative sample of the Dutch population Feb-June 2015 (Negative, neutral or positive) tone towards the Dutch economy (1) The authors construct a variable in a content-analysed dataset measuring a tone scale per news article, ranging from -2 (completely negative) to 2 (completely positive) (2) Publication recency for each article (how close in time the article was published to when respondents were surveyed) and prominence of each article (operationalized as how long the article was compared to average article length) were used to create weighted measures, in order to test whether more recent and more lengthy evaluative articles had stronger effects on economic perceptions, as compared to an unweighted variable. (3) Observations at the article level were then aggregated at the wave-outlet level in a new dataset containing information on total number of articles with evaluations of the economy, tone, and the two weighted measures above-mentioned per outlet in each wave. (4) The linkage was done using the survey dataset. For each individual i in wave w a score of the amount of evaluative news (visibility), the positive, neutral or negative connotation of such news (tone) and the weighed variables (weighted tone by recency and prominence) was calculated for each newspaper they read on a weekly basis. The final computation can be illustrated as follows: For each individual i and wave w, (…) Where k stands for outlet, =1 if individual i reads outlet k and 0 otherwise, and j denotes article and Nkw is the set of articles with evaluative news published by outlet k in wave w. Yj can denote one of three possibilities: (…) Above, tj captures tone of an article, rj captures recency and lj is a measure of article length. (5) A series of OLS regression analyses were finally performed, with respondents’ expectations on the economy as dependent variable, exposure to media evaluations of the economy (tone), the weighted tone variables and lagged dependent variables as predictors. Castro, Nir & Skovsgaard (2018) How political interest and public service broadcasting strength impact cross-cutting, or counter-attitudinal media exposure; and whether public service media moderates the effect of political interest on cross-cutting exposure (a) 48,983 news stories from three newspapers and two TV news bulletins across 27 EU countries, collected by the European Election Media Study during the June 2009 European election campaign (May 14 to June 4 for some countries, up to May 17 to June 7 for others). Among such stories, 3,390 news evaluations on the national government’s record were identified and used to build the media content component of a cross-cutting media exposure measure. (b)Self-reported news media exposure and political interest from 27,079 individuals in 27 EU countries surveyed by the European Election Study consortium during the three weeks following the June 2009 European Parliament elections. May-June 2009 Tone toward the national government (positive (1), balanced/mixed (0), negative (–1) (1) A variable that accounts for the extent to which an individual approves (1) or disapproves (– 1) of the government’ s performance to date is built. (2) The mean of each national government’ s positive (1), balanced/mixed (0), or negative (– 1) evaluations found in each media outlet’ s news stories is computed. (3) Cross-cutting exposure is calculated by accounting for the absolute difference between each individual’ s approval of their government and the average degree for each media outlet this individual uses at least once a week, averaged by the number of news media outlets they follow. (4) Random-intercept regression models, using individual exposure to cross-cutting information as the dependent variable, and political interest, public service broadcasting strength (audience share) and an interaction between both as main independent variables, are run. This allows to account for the hierarchical structure of the data by decomposing individual and country-level variances, and also to explain the relationship between cross-cutting news media exposure and political interest, considering contextual interactions (i.e., with public service broadcasting strength). See Appendix B of the paper for the exact formula and a more detailed account of how scores are calculated for each individual and media outlet

Populist communication, in this entry, refers to the occurrence of a) specific messages that are seen as the expression of populist ideology and b) characteristic style elements that are often associated with these messages expressing populist ideology in political actors’ (or other actors such as journalists’ or citizens’) communication (Ernst et al., 2019; De Vreese et al., 2018). Field of application/theoretical foundation: Populism has been defined in various terms; e.g., as Ideology (Canovan, 1999; Mudde, 2004), set of ideas (Hawkins et al., 2018, Taggart, 2000), discourse (Laclau, 2005; Mouffe, 2018), political style (Moffit, 2016), communication style (Jagers & Walgrave, 2007), or political strategy (Weyland, 2017). Thus, there have been numerous operationalizations of populism or populist communication in content analyses that cannot all be accounted for here. This entry specifically follows a communication-centered perspective (Stanyer et al., 2016; De Vreese et al., 2018). Jagers & Walgrave (2007), in a pioneer study on populist communication, define populism as a political communication style “essentially displaying proximity of the people, while at the same time taking an anti-establishment stance and stressing the (ideal) homogeneity of the people by excluding specific population segments.” In a more recent study, Ernst et al. (2019) differentiate between populist communication content and populist communication style. Populist communication content refers to the communicative representation of the populist ideology (what is being said) that can be expressed in the form of populist key messages. Depending on the parsimony of the definition, populist ideology comprises three or four dimensions: people-centrism, anti-elitism, restoring sovereignty, and exclusion (e.g., De Vreese et al., 2018; Mudde, 2004; Jagers & Walgrave, 2007; Wirth et al., 2016). In distinction to the content, Ernst et al. (2019) define populist communication style as the use of populism-related style elements (how something is said) (see also De Vreese et al., 2018; Bracciale & Martella, 2018). Communication-centered content analyses of populist communication are often carried out in three steps. First, specific characteristics of populist communication (e.g., populist key messages or stylistic elements) are identified. Second, the occurrence of these individual elements is then coded either on the statement level (e.g. Ernst et al., 2019; Wirth et al., 2016), excerpts level (Jagers & Walgrave, 2007), or on the text/article level (e.g. Blassnig et al, 2019). Third, the level of populism is determined using different indices for populist communication as a whole (e.g. maximum indices; Blassnig et al., 2019; Ernst et al., 2019) or for the individual dimensions separately (e.g., Jagers & Walgrave, 2007). Populism indices can be calculated at the statement level, text level, or actor level. References/combination with other methods of data collection: Whereas this entry focuses on quantitative and deductive approaches, populist communication has also been investigated using qualitative or inductive approaches (e.g., Wodak, 2015), especially in studies following a more actor-centered approach (Stanyer et al., 2016). Most studies on populist communication have used manual content analysis. Yet, some analyses have also applied automated approaches to investigate the occurrence of populist communication in texts (e.g., Hawkins & Castanho Silva, 2018). Example studies: Blassnig et al., (2019); Bracialle & Martella (2017); Ernst et al., (2019); Jagers & Walgrave, (2007) Table 2: Summary of a selection of studies on populist communication Author(s) Sample Unit of Analysis Values Reliability Jagers & Walgrave, 2007 Content type: political party broadcasts (PPB) Country: Belgium (Flemish part) Political actors: six Belgian-Flemish parties Outlets: 20 PPBs per party Sampling period: 1999 - 2001 Sample size: 1,200 PPB excerpts Unit of analysis: excerpts including ‘thin’ populism (references to the people) Level of analysis: excerpt level and actor level People-index: multiplication of the proportion and intensity of references to the people for each party Anti-state-index: number of anti-state excerpts * average intension anti-state excerpts (1-5) per party Anti-politics-index: number of anti-politics excerpts * average intension anti-politics excerpts (1-5) per party Anti-media-index: number of anti-media excerpts * average intension anti-media excerpts (1-5) per party Anti-establishment-index: anti-state + anti-politics + anti-media per party Exclusivity-index: J-scores; (positive – negative evaluations) / (positive + neutral + negative evaluations of specific population categories) References to the people: terms referring to the population (as a whole or population categories), that cover the people “in political terms”, meaning the “political entity” Anti-state: failure of the state with regard to (1) single failure, (2) systematic failure, (3) public service should be abolished, (4) all public services are criticized at once, (5) the system Anti-politics: criticism directed towards (1) policy measure or present situation, (2) policy, (3) politician, (4) party, (5) group of parties, (6) all parties. (7) the system Anti-media: media targets of criticism; (1) newspaper/ magazine/ tv channel, (2) group of media, (3) all (the) media Evaluation of specific population categories: positive, neutral, negative (for further restrictions for the individual variables and more detailed instructions see the methodological appendix by Jagers & Walgrave, 2007) Reliability is not reported Ernst, Blassnig, Engesser, Büchel, & Esser (2019) (See also Ernst et al., 2018; Ernst, Esser et al., 2019; Wirth et al., 2016) Content type: statements by politicians expressing either a political position, an elaboration on a political issue, or an evaluation/ attribution of a target actor Countries: CH, DE, IT, FR, UK, US Political actors: 98 politicians from 31 parties Outlets: political talk shows (2 per country), politicians’ Facebook and Twitter accounts Sampling period: April through May 2015 Sample size: n = 2’067 (n = 969 talk show statements, n = 734 Facebook posts, and n = 364 Tweets Unit of analysis: a single statement by a politician on a target actor or an issue Level of analysis: statement level and actor level Populism index: Maximum index based on the nine populist key messages and seven stylistic elements (0/1) Populist key messages: Anti-elitism: discrediting the elite, blaming the elite, detaching the elite from the people People-centrism: stressing the people’s virtues, praising the people’s achievements, stating a monolithic people, demonstrating closeness to the people Restoring sovereignty: demanding popular sovereignty, denying elite sovereignty Populist style elements: Negativity: negativism, crisis rhetoric Emotionality: emotional tone, absolutism, patriotism) Sociability: colloquialism, intimization (all items were coded as dummy variables based on more detailed sub-categories) Brennan & Prediger’s kappa average = 0.91 (³0.65) Blassnig, Ernst, Büchel, Engesser, & Esser (2019) Content type: election news coverage about immigration and adjacent reader comments Countries: CH, FR, UK Actors/Speakers: politicians, journalists, and citizens Outlets: 6 online news outlets per country Sampling period: six weeks before the respective election days. CH: September to October 2015; FR: April to May 2017; UK: April to May 2015 Sample size: n = 493 news articles and n = 2904 reader comments Unit of analysis: news article / reader comment Level of analysis: article level Populism index: Maximum index based on the twelve populist key messages (0/1) Populist key messages: Anti-elitism: discrediting the elite, blaming the elite, detaching the elite from the people People-centrism: praising the people’s virtues, praising the people’s achievements, describing the people as homogenous, demonstrating closeness to the people Restoring sovereignty: demanding popular sovereignty, denying elite sovereignty Exclusion: discrediting specific social groups, blaming specific social groups, excluding specific social groups from the people (all items were coded as dummy variables) Brennan & Prediger’s kappa average = 0.75 Bracciale & Martella (2017) Content type: politicians’ tweets Country: Italy Political actors: 5 party leaders Outlets: leaders’ Twiter timelines Sampling period: 1 January 2015 to 1 July 2016 Sample size: n = 7,772 Unit of analysis: tweets Level of analysis: tweets, actors Indices: Populist ideology: three additive synthetic dichotomous indices adding together the indicators for each of the three dimensions of populism (sovereignty of the people, attacking the elite, ostracizing others) The variables for political communication style were summarized using multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) into two dimensions: communicative mode (positive vs. negative) and communicative focus (personalization vs. political/ campaign) Political communication style: Stagecraft: emotionalisation; informality, instrumental actualization, intimisation, negative affect, simplification, storytelling, taboo breaker, vulgarism Register (communicative tone): referential/ neutral, aggressive/ provocative, humorous/ ironic, conversational/ participatory Topic: political issues, policy issues, campaign issues, personal issues, current affairs Function: campaign updating, self-promotion, setting the agenda, position-taking, call to action, opposition/ violence, endorsement, irony, request for interaction, pointless babble Populist ideology: Emphasizing sovereignty of the people: refers to the people, refers to ‘ad hoc’ people, direct representation Attacking the elite: generic anti-establishment, political anti-establishment, economic anti-establishment, EU anti-establishment, institutional anti-establishment, anti-elitism media, anti-elitism intellectuals Ostracizing others: dangerous others, authoritarianism (all individual indicators were coded as dummy variables) Krippendorff's Alpha > .83 References Blassnig, S., Ernst, N., Büchel, F., Engesser, S., & Esser, F. 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