Do People Trust in Robot-Assisted Surgery? Evidence from Europe.

(1) Background: The goal of the paper was to establish the factors that influence how people feel about having a medical operation performed on them by a robot. (2) Methods: Data were obtained from a 2017 Flash Eurobarometer (number 460) of the European Commission with 27,901 citizens aged 15 years and over in the 28 countries of the European Union. Logistic regression (odds ratios, OR) to model the predictors of trust in robot-assisted surgery was calculated through motivational factors, using experience and sociodemographic independent variables. (3) Results: The results obtained indicate that, as the experience of using robots increases, the predictive coefficients related to information, attitude, and perception of robots become more negative. Furthermore, sociodemographic variables played an important predictive role. The effect of experience on trust in robots for surgical interventions was greater among men, people between 40 and 54 years old, and those with higher educational levels. (4) Conclusions: The results show that trust in robots goes beyond rational decision-making, since the final decision about whether it should be a robot that performs a complex procedure like a surgical intervention depends almost exclusively on the patient's wishes.

Female Micro-Entrepreneurs and Social Networks: Diagnostic Analysis of the Influence of Social-Media Marketing Strategies on Brand Financial Performance.

The business world is facing a very complicated situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Small- and medium-sized companies (SMEs)-both in Spain and at the global level-are seeing their survival jeopardized by a fall in revenues. This scenario is aggravated in the case of micro-SMEs headed by female entrepreneurs. Accordingly, micro-SMEs, particularly those led by female entrepreneurs, need to reinvent themselves to overcome the current adversities that could lead to the destruction of their businesses and hence their jobs. One of the ways to do this is to take advantage of digital transformation. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to analyze which variables influence the financial results of female-led Spanish micro-SMEs when they carry out social marketing actions. For that purpose, an online survey was designed and analyzed using the "PROCESS" macro. Results show that social media marketing actions have significant effects on financial performance.

Understanding the Determinants for the Adoption of Mobile Market Research: An Empirical Study in the Spanish Market Research Industry.

The aim of this study is to investigate the determinants for the intention to adopt mobile technology as a data collection methodology in market research projects. A conceptual framework was developed using the technology-organization-environment (TOE) model to identify technological factors (perceived benefits and limitations), organizational factors (open attitude toward change, professional competence, satisfaction with traditional systems, and firm size), and environmental factors (industry pressure, client pressure, and participant pressure) affecting adoption. The empirical study was performed with data from 67 firms in the Spanish market research industry, which were analyzed using partial least squares (PLS). The results suggest that only organizational and environmental factors have a significant influence on adoption. Key factors include professional competence, organizational openness, satisfaction with traditional and online methodologies, and pressure from industry, clients and survey participants. The findings reveal that technological characteristics are no longer a driver, as firms are starting to adopt mobile marketing research based on its greater convenience for participants, and as an element of strategic differentiation.