Platforms, Volume 2, Issue 4 (December 2024) – 5 articles

The mismatch between supply and demand and inefficient supply in China’s agricultural product market is quite severe, making agricultural supply-side structural reform an important topic and task for rural economic work in China. The successful implementation of agricultural supply-side reform requires a comprehensive agricultural social service platform and system to support it. However, the current agricultural social service platform system in China faces issues such as a lack of coordination among service entities and poor information communication, making it difficult to meet the demands of supply-side reform. To address this issue, under the new circumstances of supply-side reform, this paper proposes the idea of reorganizing the agricultural social service platform and system through industrial chain collaboration theory, and applying “internet +” for technological reengineering of the agricultural social service platform system. Based on this, a new agricultural social service platform system architecture is constructed, which includes service entities, service platforms, service content, and operational models. The research findings provide guidance for agricultural product producers, distributors, sellers, and related service entities along the agricultural industry chain on how to use “internet +” for collaborative decision-making. This approach is beneficial for addressing the supply-demand imbalance and low resource allocation efficiency in China’s agricultural product market, thereby advancing the structural reform of China’s agricultural supply side. Full article

The South African beauty and personal care industry has been significantly impacted by digital technologies, with social media influencers (SMIs) playing a pivotal role in shaping consumer behaviour. Despite the significant role of SMIs, there is a notable research gap in optimising their influence to boost customer engagement and drive sales. This study addresses this gap by introducing a comprehensive digital framework integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and digitalisation to enhance influencer marketing (IM) strategies in South Africa’s beauty and personal care industry. The primary objective is to present a novel approach that digitally overlays traditional SMI marketing processes, enhancing engagement and effectiveness. A mixed-method approach was employed, integrating quantitative data from web scraping and sentiment analysis (SA) of Instagram posts with qualitative insights from the existing literature. This approach facilitated data-driven decision-making and optimised IM efficacy through technology-driven feedback analysis. The empirical findings confirmed that incorporating AI into influencer marketing (IM) campaigns significantly improves data collection and sentiment analysis, enhancing consumer engagement and purchase intent. This study underscores the transformative impact of digitalisation on marketing practices and the potential of digital tools to optimise SMI strategies in the beauty and personal care sector. This research also provides a valuable framework for marketers aiming to enhance IM campaigns, emphasising the strategic advantage of an automated response workflow based on feedback analysis. This study contributes to developing more impactful digital marketing strategies, maximising the effect of SMIs, and ensuring market competitiveness. Full article

Background/Objectives: Destination Development, Management, and Marketing Organizations (DDMMOs) have the power to influence perceptions and behaviors regarding both actual and virtual travel in the rapidly changing landscape of digital environments. Within newly emerging Metaverse platforms, their websites can serve as critical touchpoints that enhance destination attractiveness and enable visitors to engage in valuable experiences. In this vein, this research attempts to determine if DDMMO website quality and destination image can influence users’ intention to virtually visit a place by using a Metaverse platform. Methods: Users who navigated a European DDMMO website were asked to fill out a self-administered questionnaire, and 318 responses were collected. Then, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the research hypothesis. Results: The results show that website interactivity and affective destination image had a direct positive impact on a user’s intention to use the Metaverse platform. Furthermore, indirect impacts of website design and usefulness and cognitive destination image were detected. Conclusions: DDMMOs and destination marketing experts can gain valuable insights from the outcomes of this research. Thus, focusing on the aforementioned website features can help them enhance destination image and attract users to their Metaverse platforms. Full article

The traditional concept of real estate, rooted in physical attributes—including land, buildings, and infrastructure—has undergone significant transformation in the digital age. This paper repositions real estate as a foundational platform within the broader digital ecosystem, serving as an integrative node that connects various digital platforms. By examining processes such as informatization, servicization, automatization, e-spatialization, dematerialization, and humanization, this study demonstrates how these elements collectively embed economic, social, and environmental value states into the digital framework of real estate. Leveraging advanced technologies and interdisciplinary methodologies, this paper constructs a comprehensive framework for understanding real estate’s digital evolution. The findings highlight real estate’s pivotal role in providing essential spatial and digital infrastructure that support the integration and operation of other platforms. It contributes to the discourse on platformization by offering a new model for understanding and utilizing real estate in a digitally driven society while proposing strategies crucial for its successful implementation in the ongoing digital transformation. Full article

The study has as purpose to identify, analyze, and validate challenge constructs of Industry 4.0, which can affect the promotion of sustainability within the industry. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify challenges to the promotion of Industry 4.0 sustainability. A set of seventy challenges were grouped into the following eight constructs: finances, technology, organizational, human resources, legislation, geopolitical and economic factors, and both internal and external factors. Subsequently, the same constructs were validated using a survey involving industry professionals. The data were analyzed using the Lawshe method. Five constructs within the eight constructs were considered relevant to industry sustainability according to the experts’ opinion. The validated set of constructs included: finance, technology, organizational, human resources, and internal factors. This study contributes to the literature in the field by addressing a research gap of constructs identification based on expert’s opinions that impact Industry 4.0 in promotion of sustainable development. This study delivers theoretical and practical implications. From a theoretical standpoint, it contributes to expanding knowledge by providing valuable insights into the adoption of Industry 4.0 and its specific challenges concerning the pursuit of more sustainable practices. These implications extend to diverse research areas given the multidisciplinary nature of Industry 4.0. Full article