Institutions of higher learning are experiencing increased difficulty managing the quantity and quality of their graduate student populations (Kallio, 1995). Currently the most important informational resource for potential students engaged in the graduate school search process is the Web (Huddleston & Drexel, 2006). Previous research has focused on things such as website design and technological advances but has failed to address the core content needed by applicants (Huddleston & Drexel, 2006). Research has focused on website design from the perspective of administrators and web designers with little consideration of the individuals who are in the process of applying to or identifying a graduate program to attend. This investigation sought to further define the content areas that influence applicants in the graduate program selection process. The sample (N=55) included applicants to the Department of Counseling Psychology and Special Education (CPSE) at Brigham Young University (BYU), a large, private religious university in the western United States. Applicants responded to surveys about the types of content they utilized in their program selection process both in application to BYU's CPSE programs as well as more generally in the graduate program selection process. The results are presented with descriptive statistics that allow comparison in content preference between different groups of applicants (e.g., program type, applicant status). It seems that, overall, the respondents were able to find the content areas that they were looking for on the Website. Responses indicated that the content related to faculty research, program descriptions, and course information was most commonly sought after. While some differences in content preference was noted between program types, little differentiation was noted among the different application groups. Limitations to the present study are discussed, and suggestions for future research are also provided.

Corporate websites provide outsiders with a glimpse into organizations. 200 companies from among Glassdoor's "Best Companies to Work For" lists for 2013 and 2014, along with a list of Fortune 100 companies were analyzed through a textual analysis for how a company communicates diversity on their corporate websites. Findings revealed six suggestions for organizations on how best to communicate diversity on their corporate websites. The suggestions include: Be transparent, dedicate a single webpage, use testimonials, title the web page "Diversity and Inclusion," have diversity reach beyond the corporate website, and provide realistic pictures. Using Geertz and Pacanowsky's Cultural Approach to Organizations, this study developed a new approach to studying corporate culture through websites called, the Website Approach to Corporate Culture. This new approach explains that corporate culture transcends the workplace into the Internet sphere and is studied through corporate websites.

Den globala pandemin covid-19 har lett till att organisationer genomför distansarbete, vilket ökar behovet av digital kommunikation. Högskolor i Sverige är en del av organisationerna som har arbetat på distans det senaste året. Ett kommunikationsverktyg som högskoleanställda har är medarbetarwebbplatsen. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka hur informationsarkitekturen på medarbetarwebbplatsen påverkar anställdas distansarbete. För att göra detta undersöker denna studie Högskolan i Borås medarbetarwebbplats och hur den har påverkat anställdas distansarbete med hjälp av ett teoretiskt ramverk skapad för informationsarkitektur på webbplatser. Studien bygger på data som samlats in från en webbplatsanalys av högskolans webbplats, intervjuer och tänk-högt användartest. Totalt genomfördes tio intervjuer och användartest tillsammans med anställda med olika yrkesroller på Högskolan i Borås. Resultatet visar att högskolans medarbetarwebbplats har de element som efterfrågas i en bra informationsarkitektur, men den uppfyller ändå inte användarnas förväntningar. Det beror på att dessa element inte fungerar som förväntat av användarna. Resultatet visar också att distansarbete har ökat behovet av en funktionell medarbetarwebbplats eftersom fysisk interaktion inte längre är möjlig. Det visar också att eftersom webbplatsens informationsarkitektur gör det svårt att hitta information påverkar webbplatsen anställda på distans som spenderar mer tid än önskat på att söka på webbplatsen. / The global pandemic of covid-19 has led organizations to conduct teleworking, increasing the need of digital communication. Universities in Sweden are part of these organizations that has been teleworking for the past year. One communication tools university employee have is the employee website. This study aims to explore how the information architecture of employee website affects employees’ telework. To do so, this study investigates the employees’ website of Borås university and how it has been affecting employees telework using a theoretical framework created for information architecture on websites. The study draws upon data collected from a website analysis of the university’s website, interviews, and think-aloud user tests. A total of ten interviews and user tests were conducted with employees with different professional roles at Borås university. The results show that the university’s employees’ website does have the elements required in information architecture however, it does not live up to the users’ expectations. That is because these elements, while implemented, do not work as expected by the users. The results also show that teleworking has increased the need of a functional employee website as physical interaction are no longer possible. They also show that, because the information architecture of the website makes it difficult to find information, the website affects teleworkers that spend more time than desired searching on the website.

The amount of active websites on the internet is claimed to have increased by almost half a billion in the last decade. With that, the amount of tools available to help develop them has increased as well. One type of these tools is called website builders. In the past few years, the market has seen a big increase in software often referred to as no-code tools. By visualizing most, if not all, of the otherwise manual coding process, they aim to give users an increased amount of flexibility without having to possess a lot of previous web development knowledge. However, despite their current popularity, no-code tools do not seem to be the target of much research. This study aims to measure the performance of Webflow, a browser based software that fits both the category of a website builder as well as a no-code tool. This is done by comparing its performance to Wordpress, arguably the most established website builder on the market. The performance analysis is conducted through automated performance audits using Google Lighthouse and its 6 performance metrics. By developing an identical website using both builders, two versions of the website have been analyzed; one static snapshot deployed on the same hosting environment and one dynamic version deployed using Webflows’ internal cloud hosting environment, and Wordpress deployed on an AWS EC2 instance. The results showed that while Wordpress outperformed Webflow in a majority of individual performance metrics in both experiments, Webflow performed better overall on the desktop breakpoint on both the static and dynamic version of the websites.

The dissertation explored the relationships among Website interactivity, brand knowledge, consumer-based brand equity and behavioral intentions in the context of hotel Websites. Based on an in-depth literature review, a theory-driven model was proposed and ten hypotheses were developed. The dissertation employed an empirical study based on a survey design, and collected data via a marketing company. Respondents who booked a hotel room online using hotel branded Websites in the last 12 months were approached to complete the online questionnaire. Four hundred ninety six (496) respondents completed the online questionnaire by answering to questions related to their last hotel booking experience. Analysis was conducted in two phases: (1) Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and (2) Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). The overall fit of the CFA model and the final SEM model were acceptable, indicating an adequate fit to the data. The results suggested that the two dimensions of Website interactivity, namely system interactivity and social interactivity, positively impacted the components of brand knowledge, and that system interactivity had a stronger impact as compared to social interactivity. Although, social interactivity was not found to have a significant direct effect on brand awareness, the results showed that social interactivity had a significant impact on brand image. Furthermore, the relationship between brand equity and behavioral intentions was positive and significant. The empirical study offered theoretical for utilizing Website interactivity as a branding tool in the hotel context. Additionally, the results provide practical insights into branding strategies, Website development, and behavioral intentions enhancement. Very few studies have empirically examined and incorporated Website interactivity dimensions and brand knowledge with consumer-based brand equity and behavioral intentions. This gap in the literature has been compounded by an absence of empirical studies on Website interactivity as a tool to develop brands and behavioral intentions in the context of hotel Websites. The present dissertation closes this gap in the literature by reporting on a questionnaire of US adult travelers that offered data on those theoretical associations. Conceptually, the results support the influential impact of Website interactivity on brand elements and behavioral intentions.

This dissertation aims to examine the concept of ―online customer experience‖, ―flow‖, and its role in influencing online customers‘ loyalty to a hotel booking website. To achieve this aim, a model was developed, which proposed that online flow is generated by both hedonic and utilitarian website features. A model was developed based on literature review to measure the relationships between the constructs. To initiate this research, a survey approach was taken. After conducting a pilot study, a marketing company was contacted to distribute the link for the online questionnaire. Five hundred and eleven (511) questionnaires were completed by guests who booked a hotel room online. Participants completed the self-administered online questionnaire by answering questions related to their last hotel booking experience. Study results found that hedonic and utilitarian website features affect the flow experience positively. Results highlight that hedonic website features has a stronger effect on the flow experience compared to utilitarian ones. In addition, the results revealed that hedonic features positively impact brand equity and utilitarian features impact trust towards the hotel booking website. Further, both trust and brand equity have significant and positive relationship with e-loyalty. However, according to study results, flow experience does not have a direct significant effect on e-loyalty. The study findings suggest that consumers who are able to achieve a state of flow while shopping online will perceive higher brand equity and trust. Therefore, their perceptions of the brand are improved. With enhanced levels of trust and brand equity, consumers are more likely to build bonds and stay loyal to the hotel booking website. It is important to note that iv enhancing the brand equity and trust via hedonic and utilitarian website features is important to increase loyalty because flow experience does not directly influence loyalty. This study contributes to existing research on flow experience in several ways. Firstly, it developed and tested a model with precursors of flow experience in ecommerce by establishing a link between website features and flow experience. Antecedents and consequences of flow experience can help researchers understand when this experience occurs and what to expect from this optimal experience in online environments. Thus, this study makes a contribution to the existing literature by examining the effects of features of the website on flow experience. It is worth noting that in the model, hedonic website features had the largest impact on flow experience. This is particularly an important contribution, considering that precious related research examined variables such as attractiveness, novelty, playfulness, personal innovativeness, content of the website, interactivity, teleperesence and perceived ease of use as the precursors of flow experience, but they have not examined the website characteristics that derives from shopping orientations. Study results can give hotel booking website designers and marketers a better understanding of the online consumer experiences and loyalty

Despite having access to volumes of information, women newly diagnosed with breast cancer report a moderate level of distress related to their diagnosis, treatment, life expectancy, threat to current roles, and life-changing surgery and treatment choices. Web sites designed to teach people strategies to reduce distress are readily available online. The online format may be useful and practical for women who can access the site at their convenience, learn the components of the interventions at their own pace, and practice the strategies in the comfort of their home. The purpose of this study was to evaluate an online Mind-Body web site (http://www.www.preparingforyoursurgery.com) designed to reduce distress related to surgery for its usability, practicality, and appropriateness for women newly diagnosed with breast cancer. Results of this study will be used to either adopt use of the web site into standard of care at our cancer center or explore development of a similar web site to meet the needs of women newly diagnosed with breast cancer. Women recently diagnosed with breast cancer, who had breast cancer surgery in the past 60 days, were asked to evaluate an online Mind-Body web site and then respond to an online questionnaire measuring the web site usability, practicality, and appropriateness. Thirty-one women evaluated the web site and completed the online survey. The majority of women agreed the web site is useful, practical, appropriate, and would recommend to others. There was no significant relationship between age, income, level of education, frequency of Internet use, or experience with Mind-Body techniques and women who agreed the web site is useful, appropriate, or practical compared to women who were neutral or disagreed the web site iii is useful, appropriate, or practical. The results of this study suggest the web site could be introduced to women newly diagnosed with breast cancer at our cancer center regardless of age, income, education, frequency of Internet use, or experience with Mind-Body techniques.

The present study has two aims. Firstly, it investigates whether religious organizations in the Stockholm area have adapted and designed activities for different target groups. Secondly, it explores the means by which such activities are marketed. The data used to carry out the study consists of information obtained from the organizations’ own websites, i.e., their descriptions of their activities and of their organization. The study draws upon Hjarvard’s mediatization theory and Campbell’s theory of online and offline religion. Both theories deal with religion and media. Hjarvard’s theory focuses on society at large and how religious actors have had to adapt themselves and their content to fit the times. Campbell’s theory serves as a valuable addition to Hjarvard’s approach by arguing that religion online functions as a complement to religion offline, i.e, outside the context of the Internet and other media. The method used to gather and analyze the data is content analysis, i.e., the systematic coding of themes identified in the sources. The coding scheme developed here includes such categories as target groups, language usage, marketing, and the site where activities take place. The results indicate that there are distinct differences in the way organizations design activities for specific target groups. For instance, some organizations devote a significant amount of online information to activities for children, while others do not mention such activities at all on their websites. Some organizations stress helping people in need as a core purpose, while others emphasize their engagement in providing activities for young people. Two out of five organizations had some form of activity that take place via the Internet. Marketing strategies deployed to “sell” their activities also vary, for instance by their ways of using language or by citing statistics in their argumentation. The answers to the questions asked at the outset of this study show that the empirical cases investigated support Hjarvard’s and Campbell’s theories, since there is a correlation between on the one hand the way in which organizations use the Internet to communicate and how they adapt, and on the other how religion online and offline interact.

No description available.

Phishing techniques have not only grown in number, but also in sophistication. Phishers might have a lot of approaches and tactics to conduct a well-designed phishing attack. The targets of the phishing attacks, which are mainly on-line banking consumers and payment service providers, are facing substantial financial loss and lack of trust in Internet-based services. In order to overcome these, there is an urgent need to find solutions to combat phishing attacks. Detecting phishing website is a complex task which requires significant expert knowledge and experience. So far, various solutions have been proposed and developed to address these problems. Most of these approaches are not able to make a decision dynamically on whether the site is in fact phished, giving rise to a large number of false positives. This is mainly due to limitation of the previously proposed approaches, for example depending only on fixed black and white listing database, missing of human intelligence and experts, poor scalability and their timeliness. In this research we investigated and developed the application of an intelligent fuzzy-based classification system for e-banking phishing website detection. The main aim of the proposed system is to provide protection to users from phishers deception tricks, giving them the ability to detect the legitimacy of the websites. The proposed intelligent phishing detection system employed Fuzzy Logic (FL) model with association classification mining algorithms. The approach combined the capabilities of fuzzy reasoning in measuring imprecise and dynamic phishing features, with the capability to classify the phishing fuzzy rules. Different phishing experiments which cover all phishing attacks, motivations and deception behaviour techniques have been conducted to cover all phishing concerns. A layered fuzzy structure has been constructed for all gathered and extracted phishing website features and patterns. These have been divided into 6 criteria and distributed to 3 layers, based on their attack type. To reduce human knowledge intervention, Different classification and association algorithms have been implemented to generate fuzzy phishing rules automatically, to be integrated inside the fuzzy inference engine for the final phishing detection. Experimental results demonstrated that the ability of the learning approach to identify all relevant fuzzy rules from the training data set. A comparative study and analysis showed that the proposed learning approach has a higher degree of predictive and detective capability than existing models. Experiments also showed significance of some important phishing criteria like URL & Domain Identity, Security & Encryption to the final phishing detection rate. Finally, our proposed intelligent phishing website detection system was developed, tested and validated by incorporating the scheme as a web based plug-ins phishing toolbar. The results obtained are promising and showed that our intelligent fuzzy based classification detection system can provide an effective help for real-time phishing website detection. The toolbar successfully recognized and detected approximately 92% of the phishing websites selected from our test data set, avoiding many miss-classified websites and false phishing alarms.