Reviving brand loyalty: A reconceptualization within the framework of consumer-brand relationships

This paper uses the perspective of interpersonal relationship theory to critically examine, reposition, and extend the notion of brand loyalty. Depth interviews among eight coffee-consuming adults who qualified as brand loyal by traditional criteria provide the data. The result is a deeper appreciation of the character of loyal consumer-brand relations and a sharper awareness of the limitations to understanding that current theoretical frameworks impose. Specifically, the authors suggest that: (1) not all loyal brand relationships are alike, in strength or in character; (2) many brand relationships not identified as ‘loyal’ according to dominant theoretical conceptions are especially meaningful from the cunsumer's point of view; and (3) current approaches to classification accept some brand relationships that, upon close scrutiny, do not possess assumed characteristics of ‘loyalty’ or ‘strength’ at all. Ideas stemming from a reframing of loyalty as one component in a multifaceted construct of relationship strength are put forth, encouraging a move from the metaphor of ‘loyalty’ to the broader notion of ‘relationships’ that encompasses it.     

Shaping Ethical Perceptions: An Empirical Assessment of the Influence of Business Education,Culture, and Demographic Factors

Recent events at Enron, K-Mart, Adelphia, and Tyson would seem to suggest that managers are still experiencing ethical lapses. These lapses are somewhat surprising and disappointing given the heightened focus on ethical considerations within business contexts during the past decade. This study is designed, therefore, to increase our understanding of the forces that shape ethical perceptions by considering the effects of business school education as well as a number of other individual-level factors (such as intra-national culture, area of specialization within business, and gender) that may exert an influence on ethical perceptions. We found significant effects for business education, self-reported intra-national culture, area of specialization within business, and gender for some and/or all areas of ethics examined (i.e., deceit, fraud, self-interest, influence dealing, and coercion). One of our most encouraging findings is that tolerance for unethical behavior appears to decrease with formal business education. Despite the prevalent stereotype that business students are only interested in the bottom line or that business schools transform idealistic freshman into self-serving business graduates, our results suggest otherwise. Given the heightened criticism of the ethicality of contemporary managerial behavior, it is heartening to note that, even as adults, individuals can be positively affected by integration of ethics training.     

Vertical and financial ownership: Competition policy and the evolution of the UK pub market

Abstract

Traditionally the UK brewing industry was vertically integrated with brewers owning and controlling pubs. This came to an abrupt end in the forced divestment of a large proportion of the major brewers' pub estates in the 1989 ‘Beer Orders’. The divested pubs spawned the independent pub companies. This study of regulatory policy and financial services interest in the UK brewing industry poses the question of whether the original industrial structure was preferable to what has emerged subsequently. The contribution of the article is in highlighting the risks and rewards of regulatory intervention in deeply-embedded organisation and the sustainability of alternative business models that emerge.     

Economic evaluation of BST-CarGel as an adjunct to microfracture vs microfracture alone in knee cartilage surgery

Objectives:

Knee cartilage damage is a common cause of referral for orthopedic surgery. Treatment aims to reduce pain and symptoms by repairing cartilage. Microfracture, the current standard of care, yields good short-term clinical outcomes; however, treatment might fail after 2–3 years. A Chitosan-Beta glycerolphosphate-based medical device (BST-CarGel) is used as an adjunct to microfracture and demonstrates improvements in quantity and quality of repaired tissue, potentially reducing the risk of treatment failure. This study aimed to establish the economic value of BST-CarGel vs microfracture alone in knee cartilage repair from the societal perspective, using Germany as the reference market.

Methods:

A decision tree with a 20-year time-horizon was constructed, in which undesirable clinical events were inferred following initial surgery. These events consisted of pain management, surgery, and total knee replacement. Clinical outcomes were taken from the pivotal clinical trial, supplemented by other literature. Data and assumptions were validated by a Delphi panel. All relevant resource use and costs for procedures and events were considered.

Results:

In a group of patients with all lesion sizes, the model inferred that BST-CarGel yields a positive return on investment at year 4 (with 20-year cumulative cost savings of €6448). Reducing the incremental risk of treatment failure gap between the device and microfracture by 25–50% does not alter this conclusion. Cost savings are greatest for patients with large lesions; results for patients with small lesions are more modest.

Limitations:

Clinical evidence for microfracture and other interventions varies in quality. Comparative long-term data are lacking. The comparison is limited to microfracture and looks only at costs without considering quality-of-life.

Conclusion:

BST-CarGel potentially represents a cost-saving alternative for patients with knee cartilage injury by reducing the risk of clinical events through regeneration of chondral tissue with hyaline characteristics. Since the burden of this condition is high, both to the patient and society, an effective and economically viable alternative is of importance.     

Parental background and other-regarding preferences in children

Other-regarding preferences are important for establishing and maintaining cooperative outcomes. In this paper, we study how the formation of other-regarding preferences during childhood is related to parental background. Our subjects, aged 4–12 years, are classified into other-regarding types based on simple binary-choice dictator games. The main finding is that the children of parents with low education are less altruistic, more selfish, and more likely to be weakly spiteful. This link is robust to controlling for a rich set of children’s characteristics and class fixed effects. It also stands out against the overall development of preferences, as we find children to become more altruistic, less selfish, and less likely to be weakly spiteful with increasing age. The results, supported by a complementary analysis of World Values Survey data, suggest an important role of socialization in the formation of other-regarding preferences.     

为什么世界上最富有的女人是中国女人？

在一份世界女富豪的榜单上，看到著名美国脱口秀主持人Oprah Winfrey、哈利波特的作者JK罗琳的名字，你肯定不会惊讶。而你肯定预测不到的全球女富豪来自最多的国家却是——中国。     

A quantitative determination of the food security status of rural farming households in the Northern Province of South Africa

The majority of South Africans living in rural areas are food insecure despite high levels of national food self-sufficiency. The household food security position of two groups of rural farming households in the Venda region was evaluated quantitatively: one group produces vegetables that are sold or consumed locally, the other group produces cash crops – mangoes and other subtropical fruits. Using the collected data, food availability and energy, protein and fat requirements were calculated and balances derived. It was found that more than 80 per cent of the households had a negative balance of energy, protein and fat intake. The average energy, protein and fat coverage consumption was the same for both groups of farmers. A number of agricultural determinants were tested, but only non-agricultural determinants were found to be significant. These include household size, household (food) expenditure and proportion of the budget spent on food.     

The effect of transitional employment on search duration: A selectivity approach

This paper presents an analysis of the impact of transitional employment (employment fully contained within a search spell) on search duration. Log-linear duration equations, which are derived from an accelerated time-life specification, are estimated separately for those who take and do not take a transitional job. Selectivity terms are included as additional regressors in the specification in order to control for the endogeneity of the decision to take a transitional job. The presence of right-censored search spells is controlled for and the standard errors are corrected to account for the inclusion of generated regressors. A searcher who takes a transitional job can expect to be searching for permanent employment almost eight months longer and has a substantially different escape pattern than a searcher who does not take a transitional job.The author has benefitted from discussions with and comments from many colleagues. Special thanks are extended to Insan Tunali for making his error-correction formulas available. Support from the Research Council of the College of Business Administration, Georgia State University, is gratefully acknowledged.