Structural Equation Modeling of Consumer Purchase Intention Toward Synthetic Functional Foods

Functional foods are gaining greater popularity around the world. They are not just a new category of food products marketed for their health benefits, but their competitive market has made consumers become more favorable toward firms that are involved in this industry. The public is increasingly concerned about health and food-related risks. They tend to make decisions on food consumption, food storage, and food preparation on a more ideal perspective based on health and safety. Therefore, the objective of this study is to determine the factors and intention of Malaysian consumers to purchase synthetic functional foods. Structural equation modeling is used to accomplish the objectives of this study with the feedback received from the 2,004 households who were interviewed through a structural questionnaire. The results show that the most influential factors influencing consumer purchasing intention toward synthetic functional foods are perceived benefits followed by attitude and subjective norms.     

Consolidation in the European banking industry: how effective is it?

The European banking industry is becoming increasingly consolidated as banks engage in domestic and cross-border merger and acquisition (M&A) activities. Due to cultural differences in cross-border consolidations, the benefits of domestic and cross-border consolidations are likely to differ. This paper examines the effectiveness of merger processes, with a detailed analysis of both domestic and cross-border consolidations in Europe from 1998 to 2004. Effectiveness is measured via several criteria: improvement in costs, return on assets (ROA), and return on equity (ROE). To analyze potential cost efficiency improvement, we use a stochastic cost frontier approach. The same methodology is used for ROA and ROE to estimate efficiency in profitability. Finally, considering cross-border mergers as a form of entry, we carry out an analysis of the entry effect in response to the performance and profitability of the incumbent market participants. Results show that mergers in the European banking industry have been effective. Although domestic M&As are more common than cross-border M&As, banks involved in cross-border M&As are more efficient. Moreover, cross-border merged banks seem to outperform incumbent banks.     

On leanness, agility and leagile supply chains

In 1999 a paper by Naylor, Naim and Berry on ‘leagility’ was published in international journal of production economics. The paper has attracted over 100 independent citations from over 60 journals of international standing. This paper explores the testing, exploitation and extension of the original work. Via a systematic literature review the notable findings are that the 1999 paper has been exploited in terms of its classification of supply chains into lean, agile and ‘leagile’; those terms have been tested via survey and case based empirical research; has been extended beyond the original stock decoupling point exploitation of lean and agile to encompass other forms of ‘leagility’. This paper concludes that further robust testing of ‘leagility’ and the definitions of leanness and agility are still required to encompass different market sectors and ensure triangulation of research methods.     

Accounting and stock market effects of international accounting standards adoption in an emerging economy

This study examines the impact of the mandatory adoption of the 1997 and 2006 Egyptian accounting standards on earnings quality and firm valuation. Extant research finds that IAS-based standards have positive effects on financial statement attributes (e.g., earnings management) and capital market-related variables (e.g., firm valuation) in some countries, and negative or neutral effects in others. Research conducted in this area on emerging markets is scant, and none in Egypt, which has adopted in 1997 an IAS-based standards (later revised twice in 2002 and 2006). Using a sample of Egyptian listed firms around the time of introducing the 1997 and 2006 EAS versions, I find insignificant empirical evidence that earnings management decreases post adoption of each of the EAS versions under investigation. Additionally, I find that firm valuation (Tobin’s q) was significantly negatively affected by both EAS versions under investigation in this study. I attribute these results to the lack of compliance by financial statement preparers, improper regulatory enforcement mechanisms, the poor accounting infrastructure, and the inadequate practitioner training, claimed by prior literature.     

Decision aid reliance: Modeling the effects of decision aid reliability and pressures to perform on reliance behavior

We investigate the effects of decision aid reliability and pressure to perform on decision aid reliance. A total of 403 students took part in a four (pressures to perform: one through four) by five (decision aid reliability: 50%, 60%, 70%, 80% and 90%) between-participants experiment. We test two competing models of decision aid reliance behavior: pressure-induced rationality and pressure arousal theory. Additionally, we introduce a general model of reliance on a decision aid. We find that pressure arousal theory predominantly explains decision aid reliance behavior at all but the highest level of decision aid reliability tested in this study (90%). Our results indicate that there are reliance peaks across the reliability levels as more pressure to perform is applied, and that continually increasing pressures can eventually lead to decreased, rather than increased, reliance.     

Egyptians’ Hotel Booking Behavior on the Internet

The expansion of booking hotel rooms online has changed the booking process in the hotel market environment. This investigation evaluates Egyptians’ attitude as an overall inclination towards booking hotel rooms online. It consists of two phases: a focus group phase and a survey phase. Initially, focus groups were formed for the purpose of identifying general perceptions of Egyptians with respect to the use of hotel booking websites. Information generated from the focus group study contributed toward questionnaire (survey) development. Results suggest that Egyptians generally show positive attitudes towards booking hotel rooms online. The implication for hotel brands is that they should focus on making the experience of online booking safer in order to convert non-bookers to bookers. This is important because the safety features of online booking (secure transactions, privacy of information, and online fraud) appear to be more important than the usability features (convenience, usefulness, ease of use, and efficiency) for nonbookers.     

A proof of asymptotic normality for some VARX models

Here we present a proof of the asymptotic normality of least squares estimates for stable multivariate autoregressive models excited by a deterministic second order input signal.     

An engineering approach to LSE modelling of experience curves in the electricity supply industry

This review is a supplement to the paper by Sharp and Price (1990) and should be regarded as an alternative engineering approach to the modelling and forecasting of experience, or learning, curves. It highlights the problems associated with accurately defining a model to time series that show a combination of a continuous trend and a cyclical component, as detected by the authors in the Sharp and Price data. The authors give a number of alternative perspectives of the same time series, in this case average thermal efficiency data from the U.K. electricity supply industry, with the corresponding conclusions associated with each approach. Particular attention is drawn to the use of the “time constant learning curve” quoted by Sharp and Price which the authors show is a reasonable predictor of the average thermal efficiency. However, a tremendous improvement results from selecting the “ripple” model as a thermal efficiency predictor.     

The acceptability of different types of soymilks available in Cape Town in consumers from high and low socio‐economic areas

The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge and acceptability of soymilk (defined as consumption pattern/usage and taste) by adult consumers, residing in different socio‐economic areas (low vs. high) in Cape Town. The study population of 214 participants were selected using convenience sampling. A questionnaire was developed in order to obtain demographic data (four items); basic general knowledge of soymilk (four items); and acceptability of the tested products (consumption patterns and taste) (eight items). There was a significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.000) regarding basic knowledge of soymilk, with significantly more in the high socio‐economic area (HSEA) having a score of at least 75%. Gender (P = 0.082) and age (P = 0.122) did not have a significant impact on the consumption patterns of soymilk. There was no significant difference between the two groups with respect to current usage (P = 0.228) and frequency of use (P = 0.213) of soymilk. However, a significantly smaller group (P = 0.000) of participants in the low socio‐economic area had previously tasted soymilk compared with those in the HSEA (16.7% vs. 41.5%; P = 0.000). In conclusion, socio‐economic status appeared to be associated with knowledge of soymilk. No significant differences with regard to gender, age or current usage in the two groups studied were noted.     

American youth consumption of licit and illicit substances

Using a representative sample of the 2001 National School‐based Youth Risk Behavior Survey, this study investigated the contemporaneous and intertemporal relationship between the use of licit and illicit substances by American youth between the ages 12 and 18. The results indicated a strong contemporaneous relationship between smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, smoking marijuana, and using cocaine. The results supported the gateway hypothesis indicating that prior smoking of cigarettes is significantly associated with the probability of current marijuana and cocaine use, as prior drinking of alcohol is significantly associated with the probability of current marijuana and cocaine use. The results also showed that males had a higher probability of using cocaine than females, whereas black students had a higher probability of smoking marijuana and using cocaine than white students. Age and race were associated with marijuana and cocaine use, but cocaine use was further linked with the factors of gender, region, and metropolitan area. These findings could have implications for public policies regarding prevention.