When a new transport service is introduced, people have to learn and familiarize themselves with the new service before they decide to adopt it. These processes are developed over time, thus produce dynamics in individuals’ behavioural responses towards the service. This affects the demand of the new service, thus affect revenues. Available studies have examined the factors influencing these responses from microeconomic perspectives. The influence of the theory-based subjective factors has not been examined empirically. Understanding these would assist transport and urban planners to design a better marketing strategy to increase the market share of the new service. A change in seasons affect individuals’ activity-travel decisions, thus produce dynamics in activitytravel patterns in different seasons. Individuals’ constraints, in a form of mandatory activities (working/studying), are influencing individuals’ decisions to participate in day-to-day nonmandatory activities (leisure and routine activities). The interdependency between travel demand, time allocation and mode choice that considers interactions between mandatory and non-mandatory activities, in different seasons is less explored. Understanding these would assist transport planners and operators to manage travel demand strategies across different seasons of the year and provide better transportation systems for all individuals. This thesis includes five papers. Paper I explores individuals’ characteristics of the quick-response and the adopters of the new public transport (PT) service and examines the temporal effects. Paper II investigates the subjective factors influencing a quick-response to the new PT service by proposing a modified attitude-behaviour framework. Paper III and IV analyse the effects of seasonal variations and individuals’ constraints on their day-to-day activity-travel decisions and patterns. Paper V analyses the attrition and fatigue in the two-week travel diary panel survey instrument.

The timing and nature of people’s responses can be expected to vary when a new element enter their environment. For example, when an individual is provided with a new or modified transport service. This time-scale of behavioural responses will affect the patronage of, and short- and long-term demands on the new service over time. Understanding the underlying factors that influence an individual’s response over time to a new or modified transport service would enable us to identify trigger factors that make the new service attractive from an individual’s point of view. Chatterjee (2001) and Douglas (2003) argued that motives other than instrumental factors related to public transport use, such as attitudes, awareness, travel habits and learning processes, can influence individual responses over time to changes in the travel environment. Unfortunately, despite their importance, there have been few studies that examined this argument empirically. To address this research gap, this paper aims to investigate the influences of subjective factors on individuals’ responses to the introduction of a modified public transport (PT) service over time by proposing and testing an alternative model that modifies the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) model framework. This paper also aims to investigate the behavioural change in terms of attitudes and perceptions on individuals’ resources and constraints in using a modified PT service over time after its introduction. The case study involves the new extension of a tram line connecting the suburbs of Alvik and Solna Centrum in Stockholm, Sweden. Four waves of a panel survey were conducted with 96 individuals who lived along the new service, from just before the new service was introduced and until seven months after its introduction. A structural equation modelling technique was used to estimate the relationships between behavioural constructs and panel data, then incorporate them into a discrete choice model. The results show that intention influences individual’s quick-response choice. The panel analysis shows that past behaviour in using the new service influenced current behaviour, and that perceived walking distance in using the service consistently influenced the frequency of using the new service over time.

When we meet a new person, we start by introducing ourselves. We share our names, and other information about our jobs, cities, family status, and so on. This is how socializing and social interactions can start: we first need to identify each other. Identification is a cornerstone in establishing social contacts. We identify ourselves and others by a set of civil (e.g., name, nationality, ID number, gender) and social (e.g., music taste, hobbies, religion) characteristics. This seamlessly carried out identification process in face-to-face interactions is challenged in the virtual realms of socializing, such as in online social network (OSN) platforms. New identities (i.e., online profiles) could be created without being subject to any level of verification, making it easy to create fake information and forge fake identities. This has led to a massive proliferation of accounts that represent fake identities (i.e., not mapping to physically existing entities), and that poison the online socializing environment with fake information and malicious behavior (e.g., child abuse, information stealing). Within this milieu, users in OSNs are left unarmed against the challenging task of identifying the real person behind the screen. OSN providers and research bodies have dedicated considerable effort to the study of the behavior and features of fake OSN identities, trying to find ways to detect them. Some other research initiatives have explored possible techniques to enable identity validation in OSNs. Both kinds of approach rely on extracting knowledge from the OSN, and exploiting it to achieve identification management in their realms. We provide a review of the most prominent works in the literature. We define the problem, provide a taxonomy of related attacks, and discuss the available solutions and approaches for knowledge-based identity management in OSNs. This article is categorized under: Fundamental Concepts of Data and Knowledge > Human Centricity and User Interaction Application Areas> Internet and Web-Based Applications Application Areas> Society and Culture

Being self-directed is one of the most sought-after employee attributes. The present study examines managers’ approaches to and conceptualization of employee self-directedness through semi-structured interviews with 13 managers from five companies in the Stockholm area. Analysis suggests two different emphases in trying to increase self-direction, with differing underlying assumptions: an evaluation emphasis where self-direction is conceptualized as an inherent property of the individual, and a cultivation emphasis suggesting a more interactionist perspective of self-direction as an emergent behavior based on the interaction of individual and situational characteristics. Further, a “seeing work”-skill emerged in all interviews, implicating situational judgment and attention as core to what is ultimately seen as successful self-direction. Managers with a cultivation emphasis mentioned as viable tactics those focused on supporting sensemaking and thus enriching the working situation to enable better discretionary situational judgements.

This paper explores the influence of friendship on the relationship between heuristics and biases on decision-making within entrepreneurial founding teams. The research question builds on the recognition that better decision-making promotes venture success. The entrepreneurial environment is characterized by high levels of complexity, ambiguity, and time constraints. By employing heuristic shortcuts, the mind is able to attend to a vastly larger number of decisions in a given space of time than if it were to consciously and deliberately evaluate each and every alternative in the decision-making process. While extant literature in entrepreneurship has begun to focus on the role that heuristics and biases play in shaping the decisions that entrepreneurial teams make, most research has focused on the individual entrepreneur. However, large portion of ventures are founded and led by teams rather than by individuals. Further, most of the literature available on the nature of the entrepreneurial team focuses on how the team functions once it has been established or how a team within a company possesses degrees of entrepreneurial orientation. This paper is concerned with friendship as it pertains to the practical application of entrepreneurial founding teams whose friendship precedes the venture and did not begin for the purpose of starting the venture. Friendship may have both negative and positive implications for the founding and operation of the entrepreneurial venture, providing for both strengths and weaknesses in the organization. This paper develops a number of researchable propositions, which can be tested and then either accepted, rejected, or extended in empirical work. The methodology connects characteristics of friendship from extant literature to a series of previously identified bias groups which can logically be expected to influence decision-making classified within previously identified stages of entrepreneurial venture development. The product of this work is a series of researchable propositions, as well as managerial implications to consider when entering a venture. References Available Upon Request 

This paper examines the phenomenon of refugees and resettled persons in the process of forcedmigrations in the aftermath of man-made disasters. Although some of the ideas presented here couldhave wider application, the focus is on post-conflict zones within the former Yugoslavia, namely BiH.The paper uses the questions of ethnicity and nationalism within resettlement, dislocation and immigrationas a backdrop, into which the issue of globalization is also briefly reflected. The intention hereis not to cover a wide range of pressing topics, but simply to relate a number of issues arising in contemporarylarge-scale forced migrations to a resurgence of cultural specificity and ethnicized nationalismas counterpoints to globalization. The paper introduces the concept of “limbo diasporas” in the caseof Bosnian refugees in Sweden through reflection and linkage with the aforementioned concepts. Thepaper ends with some recommendations and open questions on social rehabilitation and ethnic healingas well as some general conclusions.

Engineering graduates are increasingly expected to possess a certain level of global competence to work in the diverse and intercultural collaborations of the modern profession. With stringent programme curricula and educators being technical – and not global learning – experts, higher education institutions (HEIs) often look at international student mobility as the solution for preparing students for culturally diverse working environments. Nevertheless, literature and widely shared experience have identified two major shortcomings of international mobility: low degree of participation, and lack of insights into actual learning outcomes of international student mobility. Our work aims to address these issues by exploring students’ perspectives on international mobility experiences. A student survey collecting the voices of 639 students from more than 30 countries provides insights into the motivation for (and against) participation, support received, as well as the challenges encountered by students on their way to international mobility experiences, and also reveals the students’ perceptions of opportunities for global competence development in their host countries. Based on the students’ experiences, we can provide suggestions for how international student mobility could be redesigned in order to better support and enhance global competence development among students.

Group service encounters, when multiple customers are intentionally batched and involved in the delivery and consumption of a service, are common in tourism and hospitality, recreation, and education. In such service settings, customers will accept, expect, and sometimes even desire to share and consume the service experience “with” other customers. Thus, in group service encounters, customer-to-customer interactions are often integral to the service being provided. While previous research has largely examined services that take place between a single customer and a service employee or where customers consume “in the presence of” other customers, the topic of consuming “with” other customers has not been fully explored. This theory development paper focuses on understanding how the characteristics of the group itself impacts how group service encounters should be designed and delivered. This paper introduces the concept of customer cohort climates (CCCs) and explores how CCCs vary and the implications for the design of group service encounters. To understand how CCCs vary, we focus on two fundamental dimensions: why consumers participate in a group service encounter and how they interact with each other. More specifically, we develop a typology that shows how CCCs vary according to whether the service employee or the customer is the protagonist that initiates customer-to-customer interactions and customers’ hedonic or utilitarian motivation. 

The purpose of this article is to deal with the following question: Can the concepts of reliability and objectivity be reconceptualized and reappropriated to enable understanding of scientific excellence in participatory and action research? The article shows that it is fruitful to consider the “subjective” and active role of researchers as vital in enabling scientific objectivity and reliability. As an expansion from a replication logic, reliability can be conceptualized as adaptive, goal-seeking, dynamically regulated processes enabled by effective organization of interactive and participatory learning processes where all participants can contribute to learning and correction in inquiry. Instead of erasing subjectivity, objectivity can be enabled by critical subjectivity, intersubjectivity, practical wisdom, impartial norms of inquiry, and open democratic dialogue. Reliability and objectivity in this understanding can be enabled by participatory and action research through skilful performance of research practices such as reflective conversations between parties, dialogue conferences, experimentation, and experiential learning as part of action-research cycles, etc., which are common in participatory and action research initiatives and projects. By rethinking validity, reliability, and objectivity, recognizing the substantially more active and participatory stances enables scientific excellence, it can expand the repertoire of strategies for promoting research quality, and it helps to mainstream this type of approach in the scientific community. 

This paper examines how Minority Influence Theory, originally from Social Psychology Literature, can be used in marketing strategy to aid brand differentiation. More specifically, it looks at a set of criteria for brands to evaluate prior to aligning themselves with controversial topics for differentiation purposes. It assesses the role of strategic brand management, using Minority Influence Theory, and suggests conditions for aligning a brand with a controversial issue successfully. This paper presents three propositions for practitioners and researchers to explore with respect to Minority Influence Theory. These are: Proposition #1 The consistency and confidence of the cause affects the likelihood of the brand benefiting from aligning with it. (a) The greater the consistency and confidence of the issue, the increased likelihood the brand will benefit from aligning. (b) The lesser the consistency and confidence of the issue, the decreased likelihood the brand will benefit from aligning. Proposition #2 The flexibility of the cause affects the likelihood of the brand benefiting from aligning with it. (a) The greater the flexibility of the issue, the increased likelihood the brand will benefit from aligning. (b) The less flexible the issue, the decreased likelihood the brand will benefit from aligning. Proposition #3 The authenticity of the brand/spokesperson to speak to the particular issue affects the likelihood of the brand benefiting from aligning with it. (a) The greater the authenticity of the brand/spokesperson to speak to a particular issue, the increased likelihood of the brand benefiting from aligning. (b) The lesser the authenticity of the brand/spokesperson to speak to a particular issue, the decreased likelihood of the brand benefitting from aligning. The case studies present examples of positive outcomes of successful alignment as well as a case where the brand was not successful. By carefully considering the framework presented, managers can determine whether aligning with a controversial issue is useful for their brand. 

In order to reach the current climate goals, energy consumption needs to decrease in all sectors, including households, which produce 20% of the European emissions. However, it is difficult to increase residents’ engagement in their household electricity consumption as it is an ‘invisible’ form of energy, the monetary incentives are often too small and environmental incentives are not very effective. Building on the idea that an engagement mechanism should be based on user needs, and recent research showing that social influence can be an effective way to affect consumption behaviour, this thesis examines the potential of a neighbourhood-based digital local social network providing feedback on household electricity consumption as an engagement solution. By helping neighbours to know each other better, such a network could meet the basic human need of belonging to a group, while also taking advantage of the social influence between neighbours to increase the effectiveness of the energy feedback provided.

This thesis sought to: 1) Identify needs of residents that could be served by a local social network and explore whether such a network could provide a beneficial context for energy feedback; 2) identify and evaluate a set of design principles for energy feedback and use them to propose a prototype feedback design suitable for use in a local social network; and 3) design and implement a baseline study for measuring changes in aspects of social and environmental sustainability in a neighbourhood that introduction of a local social network can achieve, such as social cohesion, trust, safety, and energy attitudes and behaviour.

In order to achieve these objectives, the Research Through Design methodology was used. This resulted in mixed methods research using quantitative (household survey) and qualitative (focus group interviews, stakeholder consultation workshop) methods. The research was conducted in two eco-districts in Stockholm, Sweden: Hammarby Sjöstad and Stockholm Royal Seaport.

Regarding the first objective, results from the household survey indicated a need for increased interaction between neighbours in Stockholm Royal Seaport, while the focus group discussions revealed local communication needs that a local social network could meet. However, the possibility to use social influence between neighbours in increasing the intention to save energy was shown to be rather weak, possibly because of the current low level of connection between neighbours. Regarding the second objective, a set of design principles was identified using a literature study. They were used to create a design prototype of energy feedback that was presented to potential end-users in a stakeholder consultation workshop and then refined using suggestions given in the workshop. The workshop indicated support for many of the design principles as they were indirectly mentioned in the discussions. The design principle of fair feedback was further explored, suggesting use of typical household consumption as part of a fair comparison metric and when setting reduction goals.

Regarding the third objective, an evaluation method with baseline survey and follow-up surveys was suggested. The household survey served as a baseline for measuring social and environmental sustainability aspects in a neighbourhood. Further research is needed on the effectiveness of a local social network as an engagement mechanism for energy feedback.

Over 60% of global greenhouse gas emissions derive from household consumption patterns. To reach the 1.5-degree target set in the Paris Agreement, new interventions to influence household behaviours are needed. This thesis examined two areas, household electricity consumption and waste sorting, where behaviour plays a large role. To change behaviour, households need information and feedback regarding their consumption, but in an era of information overload it is difficult to reach individuals. This thesis explored whether households can be better reached by a service that creates value for its users, so that feedback is noticed and acted upon over a sustained period. Specific objectives were to: (1) identify needs of citizens that could be addressed with a local digital service and develop such a service; (2) design and develop elements of the service to promote selected sustainable behaviours affecting household electricity consumption and household waste sorting; and (3) evaluate whether these elements can improve awareness of sustainability matters and promote pro-environmental behaviour among residents.

To fulfil objective (1), a local social network for neighbourhoods was designed and developed. A phone survey in Stockholm Royal Seaport confirmed low neighbour interaction, while focus group interviews in Hammarby Sjöstad identified specific local information and communication needs. To fulfil objective (2), a subset of design principles identified from the literature was used to design feedback for the local social network. The feedback was developed into a prototype through workshop and focus group discussions. To fulfil objective (3), residents were provided with feedback and interventions in two pilot studies in Stockholm, a 15-month study on electricity consumption involving 281 students at KTH and a 12-month study on waste sorting involving 61 households in Stockholm Royal Seaport having an automatic waste collection system. The study on electricity showed a 3.3 %-unit peak-hour reduction for the intervention group and 46 %-unit reduction for saving participants. Average participation in peak load reduction was 3 months, but some stayed for almost the entire period, indicating potential for long-term engagement. Incentives were not necessary, but improved outcomes. The waste study found increased plastic sorting among app users, but also challenges in data collection and analysis. Overall, the value-creating approach can be useful if user needs are met correctly, and reaches a larger user group with feedback than conventional energy apps.

Givers of luxury gifts face recipients with different levels of expertise and have choices of gifts that can range from experiential to enduring in nature. Inspired by a study undertaken by Belk (1982), the current research seeks to develop a framework that allows the classification of different levels of involvement of the gift giver, based on their conjectures about the expertise of the recipients and the lasting or ephemeral nature of the gift. Following a precedent set by Paschen et al. (2016), we modify Berthon et al.’s (2009) aesthetics and ontology framework. The latter classifies luxury brands based on their aesthetic and ontological modes and is defined by the aesthetic end points of novice and expert and the ontological dichotomy of transience vs. enduring. In our modification, we develop four specific recipient categories based on the perceived expertise of the intended recipient representing the aesthetic mode and the endurance or ephemerality of the gift described in the ontological mode. The resultant typology identifies the “classic collector,” “skillful user,” “neophyte consumer,” and “paying magpie,” assigning different levels of product and task involvement to each category. In doing this, we add detail to the perspective taken in Belk’s original study on the separate aspects of involvement, where product involvement represents an enduring construct, whereas task involvement is situationally oriented and thus temporary rather than ongoing. We also present numerous implications to practice, providing insights into modifications to the marketing mix that luxury goods marketers may consider, depending on the different consumer group they are targeting. Marketing for expert gift recipients is well aligned with classic traits of luxury—emphasizing the exclusivity permeating through the price, the purchase experience, and the product itself. Gifts intended for novices, on the other hand, have to be universally known and widely available without diluting the exclusive premise of luxury. Enduring gifts generally increase the task involvement of the gift giver and therefore require marketing efforts that reduce the perceived risk. We conclude with several suggestions for further validation of the framework and related research that may arise out of this work. References Available Upon Request

In their attempts to reduce the uncertainty associated with knee replacement surgeries, patients turn to social media, where they commonly rely on the experiences expressed by other patients. In this study, we first employ IBM Watson to examine how patients talk about their emotions and express sentiment through their comments online. We then use a latent class cluster modelling procedure to segment these patients into distinct groups, according to their emotions (anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise), sentiment and their overall satisfaction with knee replacement surgery. Our findings show how qualitative online data can be transformed into quantitative insights regarding underlying market segments, which could then be targeted through different strategies by both marketers and healthcare practitioners. 

Extant literature indicates that accessing online word of mouth (eWOM) impacts subsequent purchasing and other consumer behaviors (Chatterjee 2001; Chen et al. 2011; Teng et al. 2017). Specifically, in the context of the sharing economy, which is still relatively new to some consumers, the reviews are of increasing importance as there are few traditional indicators of service quality (Ert et al. 2016). Gretzel and Yoo (2008) observe that online reviews may contain information pertaining to the quality of a service or product, which could assist in reducing risk when purchasing experience goods. However, in the case of the travel industry, it has been observed that on average satisfaction ratings for Airbnb listings are higher than satisfaction ratings of hotel listings on TripAdvisor (Zervas et al. 2015). In this paper, we review and reason on a set of key factors which may drive this gap in rating averages. In particular six propositions are developed from the relevant literature and are organized into three groupings: expectations, experiences, and evaluation. With regard to expectations, two propositions are developed relating to price anchoring (Kahneman et al. 1982) from hotel rates during the search phase and the uncertainty surrounding the anticipation of staying in the home of a stranger. This first set of propositions suggests travelers reduce their expectations of an upcoming Airbnb stay due to the comparatively low price. The second set of propositions concern the experience specific to Airbnb that would lead to surprisingly positive experiences of an Airbnb stay itself, such as accessing local wisdom from and socially interacting with Airbnb hosts (Week 2012). The last set of two propositions relate to evaluating the experience of an Airbnb stay. The first proposition is specific to an Airbnb stay in that the previous reviews may increase the chance of the anchoring bias taking effect in the review and rating process. Whereas, the second proposition suggests the lack of anonymity (Lapidot-Lefler and Barak, 2012) as a reviewer influences guests to rate an Airbnb accommodation more positively. These six propositions are presented collectively in the form of a reported satisfaction advantage conceptual model for reference by academics and practitioners. 

The members of online health-communities are growing in number. One type of health-community is the one for people who suffer from overweight, who want to change behavior to lose weight. Learning a new behavior calls for investigating patterns of events, to question the way events are presented, and to create new mental models. This paper presents the results from a study of learning conversations held in an online community on overweight. In the conversations on learning, the most frequently used type of response was the one sympathizing with the ideas and beliefs of the sender, while the least used type of response was the one that rejected the ideas presented by the sender. Furthermore, there were more examples of members who presented counter-ideas in the conversations on obstacles and incentives than in the conversations on personal setbacks.

Online social networks provide a medium for citizens to form opinions on different societal issues, and a forum for public discussion. They also expose users to viral content, such as breaking news articles. In this paper, we study the interplay between these two aspects: opinion formation and information cascades in online social networks. We present a new model that allows us to quantify how users change their opinion as they are exposed to viral content. Our model is a combination of the popular Friedkin-Johnsen model for opinion dynamics and the independent cascade model for information propagation. We present algorithms for simulating our model, and we provide approximation algorithms for optimizing certain network indices, such as the sum of user opinions or the disagreement-controversy index; our approach can be used to obtain insights into how much viral content can increase these indices in online social networks. Finally, we evaluate our model on real-world datasets. We show experimentally that marketing campaigns and polarizing contents have vastly different effects on the network: while the former have only limited effect on the polarization in the network, the latter can increase the polarization up to 59% even when only 0.5% of the users start sharing a polarizing content. We believe that this finding sheds some light into the growing segregation in today's online media.

The paper presents the basis of a project recently funded by FORMAS, Swedish Research Council for Environment, Agricultural Sciences and Spatial Planning. Although there is consensus among planners and politicians that dense and compact cities are better for the environment than sprawling urban landscapes, much of what is currently being built is characterised by low urban density, ‘sprawl’. Generally researchers agree that ‘sprawl’ in industrialised countries is driven by rising average income and decreasing transport costs. Urban households can afford to demand larger dwelling units as well as daily travel long dis-tances. Individual decisions are aggregated into a force that governs the development towards ’sprawl’. The aim of the project is to analyse how urban environments can offer desired qualities, by studying households’ actual use and valuation of opportunities for work, service, leisure ac-tivities, culture and education within areas of different urban density. The contribution of the study will be a deeper understanding of what urban density means in the daily life of house-holds. The study will employ theories and concepts from planning research and environmental psy-chology. Urban density is a key concept. Range and variety of urban functions are then impor-tant additions to measurement of physical densities. Another key concept is ‘affordance‘. ’Affordance’ is here a quality or asset within a specific environment, which can be perceived and used by an individual for carrying out a certain activity. The main study is a survey covering around 2000 households within the Stockholm area. Four areas will be chosen, and around 500 households in each, admitting control for socio-economic subgroups. Study areas will be selected to illustrate different urban densities and structure, from inner city to garden suburb. The survey will cover blocks of questions con-cerning the most important affordances inherent in the actual environment of the household, such as place of work, shops, schools and social networks. The questions will be constructed to grade perceived, potential, shaped and utilised affordances in their environment. The concept of ’affordance’ will be tested as a tool for structured comparisons between urban areas regarding different aspects of density. The availability of affordances in different urban structures will be described and relationships between density, in all its aspects, and life styles can be tested.

There is a consensus among planners and politicians that dense cities are better for the environment than sprawling urban landscapes. The aim of the project is to analyse how urban density affects people’s actions and choices of residential location.

The study employs theories and concepts from planning research and environmental psychology. Urban density is a key concept. Range and variety of urban functions are then important additions to measurement of physical densities. Another key concept is ‘affordance‘. ’Affordance’ is a quality or asset within a specific environment, which can be perceived and used by an individual for carrying out a certain activity.

The main method is a survey covering a stratified randomised sample of 4500 individuals in stratified within the Stockholm area. The stratified study areas were selected on criteria of physical density, mix of functions and accessibility within the region. The survey covers important ‘affordances’ inherent in the physical environment of the household, such as place of work, shops, schools and social networks. The data are analysed with statistical methods.

The paper concentrates on perceived affordances regarding workplaces. Preliminary results show that respondents’ perceived number of alternative workplaces within 1 kilometre from home has a positive correlation to both physical density and mix of urban functions. Any further away from home than 1 km, increasing perceived affordances had a stronger correlation to accessibility.

Preliminary conclusions are that physical density as such seems to increase the amount of perceived affordances only within a very close environment of the home. The range of affordances widens considerably with increasing accessibility. Probably accessibility outweighs physical density as a factor for influencing people’s choices of residential location.

The main idea is to make a short film about mobile technologies and the changing relationships between us and the public space under the age of these technologies. Some people might blame those mobile technologies like smart phones for separating us from each other. In my view, however, we cannot ask those technologies to take all the responsibilities, because new technologies will not be put into the market unless the society needs them. These technologies do change our perceptions on the public space in some ways, but there must be some deeper reasons behind. Based on the analogy of mobile technologies to "interfaces" to the environment like our skins, bodies and clothes, we are able to rethink the role of these technologies and our relationships with them and the public space. In big cities full of stimulations and strangers, we are always looking for different types of "filters" to help us control our experiences in order not to be too overwhelmed by the endless information. Living without these "filters" is like being naked in the wild field, which means we cannot control what we see, what we hear and what we touch. In the film, there are two story lines in parallel: one is about the overwhelming stimulations and anonymous individuals using mobiles technologies in public spaces; the other is about one person walking in the wood, stripping down clothes until being naked. By asking the question in the beginning and the end "what does it mean to be naked", I wish eachaudience could rethink the interrelationships between us, mobile technologies and public spaces.

Objectives: In recent years, the origins and sources of social networks and social capital have been extensively studied. Previous studies have primarily focused on social demographic factors. To enrich our understanding of the determinants of social networks, this article explores the role of mobility in rural China. Methods: Drawing upon a data set from the Chinese General Social Survey, this article first uses clustered effect logit models and then adopts a propensity score matching (PSM) model for a robustness check. Results: The results demonstrate that citizens who have access to more advanced transportation modes and spend less time on traveling are more likely to establish weak ties, especially with nonagricultural citizens in prestigious job positions. The results also indicate that strong family ties are not the consequence of mobility. By disaggregating the full sample, this article further reveals that the young, rich, and female citizens reap more benefit from mobility. Conclusions: Given the great importance of automobiles for strengthening social networks, this article suggests that car sharing/pooling/lifting programs might be a viable solution to social network deficits in rural areas.