Yes / Electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) plays an important part in consumer purchase decision. The way consumers perceive the persuasiveness of eWOM message can affect their attitude, and purchase intention, and hence sales. Thus, the topic of persuasiveness of eWOM communications has received much attention from scholars. The objective of this paper is to provide a brief review of the existing literature related to the effectiveness of eWOM communications and offer an overview of the determinants of eWOM persuasiveness. This paper contributes to the existing eWOM literature by reviewing the existing studies on eWOM communications, identifying gaps in the current research and providing directions for future research.

Information classification is a prerequisite for carrying out risk management in information security, as the assets worth protecting are identified and the need for protection is determined by the classification categories. The information classification thus has a major impact on the security architecture of systems and organizations. Nevertheless, information classification leads a shadowy existence in the scientific literature, which is reflected in a limited number of scientific publications. This discrepancy between the relevance of information classification in risk management and its low scientific attention was the motivation to take a closer look at the topic. This thesis created an overview of the current state of research in information classification and shed some light on potential problems to stimulate new research questions. The results of the work include a current overview of the status of research on information classification in risk management of information security and its context to other academic disciplines and practical needs, particularly research on bias and systems engineering. This thesis also summarized a total of 109 individual research gaps in information classification research, derived from the evaluation of the scientific literature and on the conclusions of identified open questions. From the gaps identified, some suggestions for future research in the field of information classification could be made.

Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are statements that include recommendations intended to optimize patient care that are informed by a systematic review of evidence and an assessment of the benefits and harms of alternative care options. CPGs’ recommendations have traditionally focused on informing clinicians and patients on the best options, i.e., supporting decisions that occur at the clinical encounter level. Considering all their advantages (a systematic and comprehensive review of the evidence, a multidisciplinary team assessing the evidence and balancing benefits and harms, and the additional considerations such as patients’ preferences, implementability and feasibility of interventions and their costs) CPGs have also become powerful tools to inform decisions and activities outside the clinical encounter. This, because the clinical encounter cannot be completely separated from other decisions that indirectly affect that level, such as those related to quality improvement activities and economic decisions in healthcare. Moreover, activities that are not directly related to the clinical encounter can benefit from CPGs, like education and licensing activities and research prioritization processes, or judicial decisions. The role of CPGs in all these activities has been neglected in the literature. In this study, I performed a critical interpretive synthesis of the literature to summarize the different roles CPGs play outside the clinical encounter and to understand how, and under what conditions CPGs are used in these roles. I also conducted an international survey to describe how frequent these roles exist, from the CPGs developers' perspectives. Lastly, I conducted a multiple case study to understand how and under what conditions CPGs play one of the main roles outside the clinical encounter (drug funding decisions), in two different settings (Colombia and Canada/Ontario). Based on the results, I developed a framework to describe and categorize the roles of CPGs outside the clinical encounter and to determine how and under what conditions CPGs are used in these roles. I highlighted the key areas that require additional methodological research and categorize the roles in main, secondary and unanticipated roles. I also described how international developers reported that CPGs play these roles and how these roles are part of their CPGs final aims in the second study. Lastly, in the case study, I revealed that CPGs were instrumentally used to inform one of the main roles, drug funding decisions, in the Colombian case, and they had a minor conceptual use in the case of Canada/Ontario. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)