Antecedents of Green Loyalty in the Cruise Industry: Sustainable Development and Environmental Management

As there is a lack of understanding about cruise travelers' eco‐friendly behaviors and knowledge about eco‐friendly cruises, this study attempted to examine the role of green value, satisfaction, desire, and internal and external normative factors in building passengers' green loyalty for environmentally responsible cruises. A survey methodology and structural equation modeling were utilized to achieve the research purpose. Data quality assessment revealed that all measures for variables included an adequate level of reliability and validity. Results of the structural analysis indicated that our theoretical framework had a sufficient level of anticipation power for loyalty. The proposed associations among study variables were generally supported. The significant indirect influence of green values and social norms on loyalty was identified. Moreover, the magnitude of the total influence of social norms on loyalty was the greatest among the study constructs. Overall, our findings offer valuable and meaningful insights for cruise researchers and practitioners. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

Is the environment‐friendly factor attractive to customers when purchasing electric vehicles? Evidence from South Korea

In a bid to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, several countries worldwide are implementing policies to promote electric vehicles (EVs). However, contrary to expectations, the diffusion speed of EVs has been rather slow in South Korea. This study analyzes consumer preferences for the technological and environmental attributes of EVs and derives policy and environmental implications to promote market diffusion of EVs in South Korea. We conduct a choice‐based conjoint survey of 1,008 consumers in South Korea and estimate the consumer utility function using a mixed logit model considering consumer heterogeneity. Based on the consumer utility function, we analyze consumers' willingness‐to‐pay (WTP) for EV attributes such as driving range, charging method, charging time, autonomous driving function, carbon dioxide (CO₂) reduction rate, and purchase price. The results indicate that the current low acceptance of EVs is due to their relatively high price and lack of a battery charging technology that satisfies consumers' expectations of the charging method and time. One interesting finding is that Korean consumers have a relatively higher WTP for the CO₂ reduction rate of EVs than consumers in other countries; however, they do not consider CO₂ reduction over other technological attributes when choosing EVs. This implies that the rate of CO₂ reduction of EVs is not an important factor for South Korean consumers when buying EVs. We also calculate the effect of CO₂ reduction with the market penetration of EVs and find that CO₂ reduction through the diffusion of EVs depends on the country's electricity generation mix.     

Intertemporal variation in the information content of aggregate earnings and its effect on the aggregate earnings-return relation

Review of Accounting Studies - We develop and test explanations for sources of intertemporal variation in the information content of aggregate earnings and how that variation explains variation in...     

Personalized goal-based investing via multi-stage stochastic goal programming

In this paper, we propose a goal-based investment model that is suitable for personalized wealth management. The model only requires a few intuitive inputs such as size of wealth, investment amount, and consumption goals from individual investors. In particular, a priority level can be assigned to each consumption goal and the model provides a holistic solution based on a sequential approach starting with the highest priority. This allows strict prioritization by maximizing the probability of achieving higher priority goals that are not affected by goals with lower priorities. Furthermore, the proposed model is formulated as a linear program that efficiently finds the optimal financial plan. With its simplicity, flexibility, and computational efficiency, the proposed goal-based investment model provides a new framework for automated investment management services.     

The Resource Curse Hypothesis: Dynamic Heterogeneous Approach

Natural resources influence economic performance through many different mechanisms, both beneficial and harmful. Some of these mechanisms tend to set in fast while others are rather slow. This suggests that pooling the long- and short-run effect as typical in the resource empirical literature may lead to incorrect inferences. This article provides an evaluation of the income contribution of natural resources using a panel cointegration approach that allows for short-run dynamic heterogeneity while imposing the restriction of long-run homogeneity. It finds, in a sample of developing countries over the period 1990–2012, that natural resources are a curse in the long run. The evidence is robust to alternative dynamic specifications, different measures and types of natural resource wealth, and controlling for regional effects.     

Consumer engagement behaviors in the online wildlife trade: Implications for conservationists

This study investigates consumer engagement behaviors in the online wildlife trade, drawing implications for conservationists. The first study undertook a quantitative content analysis of 500 Facebook posts in wildlife trade lateral exchange markets to show how creative strategies, media type and persuasion tactics influence the number of likes and comments that posts receive. The second study then undertook a thematic discourse analysis to develop a rich understanding of the culture, beliefs and motivations that influence how consumers engage in the markets. Findings showed that an overwhelming majority of posts use a functional or informational strategy and that when posts use overt persuasion tactics the number of comments decrease. A conceptual model of how cultural factors may impact the success of marketing strategies is then proposed. These findings have implications for conservationists who seek to build engagement with wildlife trade consumers online.