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The spike in e-commerce caused by COVID-19 mandates a re-evaluation of the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) vis-à-vis digital marketing communications. The experiment presented here focuses on product involvement on attitude formation and strength. A sample of 185 students was exposed to mock websites of fictitious high- and low- involvement products (a laptop and a soft drink) chosen through a free-association exercise with the involvement level measured using two independent samples of 20 and 30 students respectively. Exposure to the high involvement product website elicited a greater number of product- and website-related thoughts (central route processing) than exposure to the low involvement one (peripheral route processing). Involvement was found to influence attitude formation, but it did not affect attitude strength (measured at a later time after a single exposure). The efficacy of the measurement scales and the applicability of the ELM to the digital domain are confirmed but e-commerce marketers are advised to encourage the constantly connected 21st century consumers to regularly revisit their website to strengthen the attitudes their Marcoms have formed. Further research is required to further elucidate the changes to consumers’ cognitive processes that were brought about by the COVID-19 lockdown-imposed switch to e-commerce and assess their stability.

Η παρούσα έρευνα σκοπό έχει την αξιολόγηση του αντίκτυπου της πανδημίας στην ξενοδοχειακής βιομηχανίας και πιο συγκεκριμένα στην ελκυστικότητα της ως χώρος εργασίας. Τα τελευταία τρία χρόνια με την εμφάνιση της πανδημίας παρατηρήθηκε αβεβαιότητα σε ολόκληρο τον πλανήτη. Η ξενοδοχειακή βιομηχανία είδαμε ότι πλήγηκε σε πολλούς και αστάθμητους παράγοντες λόγω του COVID-19, και ένας από αυτούς ήταν η ελκυστικότητα του κλάδο ως χώρος εργασία και ως εργοδότης. Η πανδημία έχει φέρει νέες καταστάσεις, νέες προτεραιότητες και αυτό είχε ως αποτέλεσμα οι ξενοδόχοι να δίνουν έμφαση σε αυτά αψηφώντας τις ανάγκες του εργατικού δυναμικού τους. Συνδυαστικά με τις νέες συγκυρίες που επέφερε η πανδημία επηρέασε ψυχολογικά, επαγγελματικά, αλλά και προσωπικά τους περισσότερους υπαλλήλους που εργάζονται στην συγκεκριμένη βιομηχανία. Έτσι, η παρούσα μελέτη αποσκοπεί στην ανάδειξη τρόπων με τον οποίο ο κάθε ξενοδοχειακός οργανισμός μπορεί να συντείνει στην μεγιστοποίηση της ελκυστικότητας σε κάθε δυσμενή περίοδο. Για την εξαγωγή των αποτελεσμάτων χρησιμοποιήθηκε ως μελέτη περίπτωσης το νησί μας, η Κύπρος, καθώς επίσης η μέθοδος της τριγωνοποίησης η οποία συμπεριλαμβάνει ποσοτική αλλά και ποιοτική έρευνα. Αναλυτικότερα, διεξάχθηκαν 11 ημι-δομημένες συνεντεύξεις σε ξενοδοχοϋπαλλήλους σε όλη το νησί καθώς επίσης διανεμήθηκαν εκατοντάδες ερωτηματολόγια σε άτομα που εργάζομαι στο ξενοδοχειακό κλάδο σκιαγραφώντας έτσι τις δικές τους απόψεις στο θέμα αυτό. Η έρευνα έδειξε ότι με το κατάλληλο και ένα ορθολογικά δομημένο σχεδίου αντιμετώπισης, ανάπτυξης αλλά και ανέλιξης του προσωπικού θα μπορέσει η βιομηχανία να ορθοποδήσει και ταυτόχρονα να αυξήσει την ελκυστικότητα βιομηχανία ως εργοδότης αλλά και την αποτελεσματικότητά της. Completed

Background Modern protocols for light sedation in combination with the increased number of COVID-19 infected patients hospitalized in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) have increased the number of patients who are mechanically ventilated and awake. Nurses require specific skills to care for this vulnerable group of patients. At the same time, nurses report feeling inadequate and frustrated when they attempt to establish communication with mechanically ventilated, conscious patients. Study objectives The purpose of this study was to explore the strategies nurses use when taking care of conscious, intubated patients in the intensive care unit and the barriers they encounter in their effort to communicate. Methods For this study, a qualitative design was employed. Data were collected using in-depth semi-structured interviews with 14 intensive care nurses working at ICUs in four different hospitals of Cyprus. The data were analyzed by applying thematic analysis. Results We identified several strategies of unaided (movements—lips, hands, legs—facial expressions, gestures, touching) and aided forms of communication (pen and paper, boards, tablets, mobiles) used by nurses to communicate with patients. However, barriers to communication were reported by the participating nurses mainly pertaining to patients and nurses’ characteristics as well as the ICU environment. The health protocols imposed by the pandemic added more obstacles to the communication between nurses and patients mostly related to the use of protective health equipment. Conclusions The results of this study point to the difficulties nurses in Cyprus face when trying to communicate with conscious patients during mechanical ventilation. It appears that the lack of nurses’ training and of appropriate equipment to facilitate augmentative and alternative communication leave the complex communication needs of critically ill patients unaddressed. However, further research including patients’ opinions, after they recover, would bring more clarity on this topic. Our study adds evidence to the communication crisis created by the protective health protocols imposed by the pandemic. As such, it highlights the need to educate nurses in augmentative and alternative ways of communication to address communication with mechanically ventilated, conscious patients during their ICU stay.

COVID-19 related games have recently been developed to combat misinformation and raise awareness of COVID-19 protocols. COVID-19 related games or gamified apps were designed using top-down approaches (from company to players). The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted challenges in their uptake and usage. Strategies such as co-design may be leveraged to address these challenges, particularly for developing new technologies. This in-progress, exploratory mixed-methods study aimed to engage university students in designing gamified applications to address their needs amidst and post-pandemic. Its first step was to empower students to think of design ideas. The study's research questions were: What are students’ goals for designing pandemic-related gamified apps? To what extent do students make use of gamification techniques in their design? A convenience sample of 20 third/fourth-year undergraduates expressed their ideas individually, in an online class, at a time of university closures (May 2021). A second sample of 37 first-year undergraduates engaged in the same activity in a face-to-face class (December 2021). The data were analyzed using a qualitative data analysis software. Thematic analysis was used, data were coded, and themes and sub-themes emerged. Qualitative analysis of all 57 students’ responses revealed two main themes expressed by students as a goal for their app: a) increasing pandemic awareness and following hygiene protocols (24/57, 42.1%) and b) building resilience through different ways to cope with the pandemic, including physical exercise, social interaction, entertainment and education (31/57, 54.4%). Students maintained similar design goals for proposed apps despite increasingly less strict public-health measures from May to December 2021. The majority of students (52.6%, 30/57) used one to three gamification techniques, while 38.6% of them (22/57) did not use any. Third/fourth-year students used significantly more (t55=4.65, p=0.000) gamification techniques (M=2.35, SD=1.31) compared to first-year students (M=0.81, SD=1.13). The first stage of this study showed value in involving students in the design of interventions that targeted themselves and revealed the need for training students who lack a design background in identifying relevant gamification techniques. Future research will aim to materialize students’ suggested design ideas into design prototypes by involving them in the process through interdisciplinary collaborations.

Supporting students in building psychological resilience is crucial considering the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on the population’s mental health. Psychological resilience refers to finding ways to cope with stress and achieve goals despite obstacles. It is an important life skill that has become highly relevant in the post-pandemic era. Mobile devices and applications are becoming integral to users’ self-monitoring of health data for their access, convenience, and cost advantages. Most resilience apps target specific professional groups, are not gamified, and lack solid theoretical foundations. Phone-based sensor data collected using Internet of Things (IoT) technology allow for new ways to measure psychological health and provide personalized recommendations. However, none of the existing gamified apps on resilience used IoT. None of the existing resilience apps refers to behavioral change techniques. The proposed resilience app addresses these gaps in the literature. This paper describes the design of a prototype for a gamified, theory-based mobile app that utilizes IoT to provide personalized data and support undergraduates’ resilience in the “new normal” of the pandemic. The poster also provides preliminary data on undergraduates' feasibility and usability evaluation of the prototype, focusing on first-year students. Users set one of three goals daily (focusing on studying, engaging in physical exercise, and socializing), monitor their progress towards achieving them, and receive points and badges when reaching their goals. Goal setting, progress monitoring, and self-reflection at the end of each day are connected to a) self-reported data (e.g., through the use of a short, validated mental health survey that automatically calculates users’ level of anxiety) and b) objectively measured data through the use of IoT (accelerometer and noise sensors) in the app. Users can share their badges on their social media networks. Thirty first-year undergraduates (M=18.41 years old, SD=0.57) tested the prototype resilience app and completed an evaluation questionnaire examining feasibility and usability. Neutral to positive responses (M=3.32 out of 5) were received for all functions indicating feasibility. Design usability was evaluated as satisfactory (System Usability Score=70.3). Future research will evaluate the app in a quasi-experimental setting. Implications for the design of gamified mobile apps for health are drawn.

Abstract Background The current COVID-19 pandemic is a unique stressor with potentially challenging and negative consequences on the experiences of pregnant and postpartum women. International literature highlights the pandemic’s negative impact on women’s perinatal experiences. This is the first study in the scientific literature reporting on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, on the perinatal experiences of a large sample of women living in Cyprus. Aim To examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the experiences, concerns and needs of pregnant and postpartum women in Cyprus. Method The cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2020 to January 2021. A total of 695 women, 355 pregnant and 340 postpartum women (with infants up to 6 months of age), residing in Cyprus were surveyed. Results The great majority of the participants (80.9%) perceived the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their life as negative. The greatest sources of stress were identified and quantified for their impact on the participants. Our findings indicate that 74.1% of the pregnant women were concerned about changes due to COVID-19 measures impacting the presence of their family at the time of delivery, 57.2% about their newborn’s health, and 43.1% about changes related to perinatal care. Postpartum women’s concerns were mainly related to the welfare and health of their child (70.3%), whilst half of them (49.1%) expressed concerns about how they were going to care for their baby because of pandemic-related changes. Qualitative data revealed emerging themes as the basis of the pregnant and postpartum women’s concerns and needs. Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated imposed measures and restrictions had adverse effects on pregnant and postpartum women’s perinatal experiences in Cyprus. The women’s concerns emphasized the need for the development of specialized, evidenced-based support systems which are essential particularly in pandemic-like situations, when pregnant and postpartum women are more vulnerable to isolation.

PurposeAnchored on the broaden-and-build theory and the circumplex model, the authors develop and test a conceptual model in which satisfaction, influenced by an effective handling of communication, cooperation, conflict, and opportunism, is set as the predictor of inter-partner creativity in the relationship between hotels and their foreign travel agents under the Covid-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachThe conceptual model was tested with data collected from 190 randomly selected hotel units located in Greece, using both online and drop-in questionnaire methods. Data were analyzed using SEM analysis.FindingsSatisfaction with the working relationship was found to be enhanced by improving communication and cooperation, as well as by keeping conflict and opportunism at low levels. This was a strong predictor of inter-partner creativity, although less pronounced under high levels of relational distance and rigidity.Research limitations/implicationsThe study should be extended to other country settings, replicated at different levels of crisis severity, and use dyadic data. Additional environmental factors could be used as boundary conditions, while our model could be expanded to include additional drivers and consequences of inter-partner creativity.Practical implicationsTo generate inter-partner creativity, there is a need to maintain high levels of satisfaction through proper communication, enhanced cooperation, conflict minimization, and avoidance of opportunistic actions. Also, to better translate satisfaction into inter-partner creativity, interacting parties should keep distance at low levels, while at the same time demonstrate greater flexibility.Originality/valueThe study unveils the role of effectively managing behavioral factors in inter-firm relationships to develop creative solutions to the Covid-19 crisis challenges, an issue neglected by prior research. The study also sheds light on the contingent effects of distance and rigidity, two important factors moderating relationships under crisis. The study applies for the first time two psychological-based theories, the broaden-and-build theory and the circumplex model, to an international marketing crisis situation.

AbstractThere are knowledge gaps regarding healthy lifestyle (HLS) interventions in fire academy settings and also concerning the impacts of the pandemic on training. We enrolled fire recruits from two fire academies (A and B) in New England in early 2019 as the historical control group, and recruits from academies in New England (B) and Florida (C), respectively, during the pandemic as the intervention group. The three academies have similar training environments and curricula. The exposures of interest were a combination of (1) an HLS intervention and (2) impacts of the pandemic on training curricula and environs (i.e. social distancing, masking, reduced class size, etc.). We examined the health/fitness changes throughout training. The follow-up rate was 78%, leaving 92 recruits in the historical control group and 55 in the intervention group. The results show an HLS intervention improved the effects of fire academy training on recruits healthy behaviors (MEDI-lifestyle score, 0.5 ± 1.4 vs. − 0.3 ± 1.7), systolic blood pressure (− 7.2 ± 10.0 vs. 2.9 ± 12.9 mmHg), and mental health (Beck Depression score, − 0.45 ± 1.14 vs. − 0.01 ± 1.05) (all P < 0.05). The associations remained significant after multivariable adjustments. Moreover, a 1-point MEDI-lifestyle increment during academy training is associated with about 2% decrement in blood pressures over time, after multivariable adjustments (P < 0.05). Nonetheless, the impacts of pandemic restrictions on academy procedures compromised physical fitness training, namely in percent body fat, push-ups, and pull-ups.

Resilience, a person's mental ability to deal with challenging situations adaptively, is an important life skill. Supporting students in building psychological resilience and coping during crises (with the COVID-19 pandemic being a prime example) is crucial. Very few mobile applications (apps) for mental health explicitly report behavioral change techniques. Moreover, only a handful of the apps that support resilience are gamified, or use smartphone sensors readily available in modern smartphones for health self-management, or were designed for use by a nonclinical population. This study describes the design of a prototype for a gamified, theory-based mobile app that utilizes the Internet of Things to provide personalized data and enhance undergraduate students’ resilience. A total of 74 participants evaluated the prototype and completed an online questionnaire during the COVID-19 lockdowns. The questionnaire included questions examining the design's feasibility for supporting resilience and questions on the System Usability Scale evaluating its usability. Regarding the evaluation of the prototype on improving psychological resilience, positive responses ( M = 3.76 out of 5, SD = 0.82) were received for all functions (goal setting for studying, socializing and physical exercise, progress monitoring using sensors or self-reporting, reflection, motivational badges). The System Usability Scale returned an evaluation score of 72.9, indicating a satisfactory degree of usability. The resilience app is a promising proof of concept. Combining Internet of Things capabilities with active user interaction while incorporating behavior change techniques in a gamified environment was well accepted by students. Implications for the design of gamified environments for well-being are drawn. Future research will empirically validate its design using quasi-experimental methods.

We examine the influence of COVID-19 on liquidity of the tourism industry in the UK, Europe and Spain. In the short run, the pandemic causes significant negative stock market reaction in the tourism industry. In the long run, the tourism industry recovers from the fall in returns due to the pandemic. Liquidity significantly decreases due to COVID-19, for the UK, European and Spanish tourism markets, even when we encapsulate the influence of stock prices, trading volume and volatility. Our findings suggest that European equity markets have declined in efficiency due to the pandemic in the tourism industry. Our empirical analysis has important implications for policy makers. Tourism recovery strategies from the pandemic are required with immediate effect in order to restore the valuation of the tourism companies, given that the negative stock price reaction and lack of liquidity significantly reduces market value of the tourism firms across Europe. In order for the tourism industry to fully recover from COVID-19, investors need to have the confidence to buy large volumes of tourism company stocks, which will increase the price and liquidity, leading to a substantial increase in market capitalization.