Freemium open-world games have become one of the most profitable game genres through the sale of in-game items. However, despite the apparent commercial success of the freemium approach to open-world games, the antecedents of players’ in-game purchase intention have been understudied. In this study, we built a theoretical framework based on cognitive absorption (CA) theory to understand the mechanism underlying players’ in-game purchase intention in open-world games. Several hypotheses were proposed regarding how CA was formed and how CA’s influence on in-game purchase intention might be moderated by motivational affordances (i.e., autonomy, competence, and relatedness). These hypotheses were tested by partial least-squares structural equation modeling, using a sample of 490 valid responses among open-world game players. The results suggest that CA significantly increased players’ in-game purchase intention, which is strengthened by two motivational affordances (i.e., autonomy and competence). In addition, personal innovativeness, playfulness, and perceived affective quality are verified as important determinants of CA in open-world games. We discuss the related theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

Abstract Value co‐creation as a research topic has been a critical proposition of interest to a wide range of disciplines. In recent years, the field of cultural heritage has also developed a range of information practices to promote different forms of value co‐creation. While the body of literature has begun to accumulate, we still lack a comprehensive understanding of conceptual foundations and how value co‐creation is implemented in cultural heritage information practices. This paper conducted a hermeneutic literature review to understand and conceptualize the core aspects of value co‐creation in various cultural heritage information works. In particular, this paper provides a research mapping of the genres of co‐creation in cultural heritage information practices, the actors, and the roles played by the stakeholders. Further, this review provides an overview of the dominant value co‐creation models in the cultural heritage field. It distills the drivers of value co‐creation and the core value consequences that arise from a process perspective. Finally, this paper puts forward a thematic, theoretical, and methodological agenda for future work based on these findings. The review contributes to the literature by proposing an integrated conceptual framework that summarizes the core elements of value co‐creation in cultural heritage information practices. The framework also serves as a call for action, providing a general understanding of the conceptual foundation for future research.

Scientific collaboration is essential and almost imperative in modern science. However, collaboration may be difficult to achieve because of 2 major barriers: geographic distance and social divides. It is predicted that the advancement of information communication technologies (ICTs) will bring a puzzled conclusion for collaboration in the scientific community: the “Global Village” trend with significantly increased physical distance among collaborated scientists and the “Virtual Balkans” trend with significantly increased social stratification among collaborated scientists. The results of this study reveal that the scientific community evolves towards the Global Village generally on both the geographic and social dimension, but with variations in term of collaboration patterns. The influence of such collaboration patterns on research performance (that is, productivity and impact), however, is asymmetric to each side of collaborators. When researchers from top‐tier and general‐tier institutions collaborate, researchers from top‐tier institutions face a decrease in research productivity and impact, whereas researchers from general‐tier institutions increase in research productivity and impact. Furthermore, the development of ICTs plays an important role in shaping the evolving trends and moderating effects of collaboration patterns. Our findings provide a comprehensive understanding of scientific collaboration in the geographic, social, and technological aspect.