Support for the underdog brand biography: Effects on consumer attitude and behavior

Conflict between favorites and underdogs is an everyday phenomenon. Research suggests that people support the underdog as they see a reflection of their own self in the person at a disadvantaged position. Two studies examine the effect of underdog brand biography in two different contexts. Study 1 provides support for the notion that underdog brand biographies for established brands elicit stronger consumer response than underdog brand biography for new brands. In study 2, a 2 × 2 between-subjects experimental design measured respondents’ reaction toward an underdog brand biography over a top dog brand biography under conditions of public versus private consumption. Results demonstrate that consumers exposed to underdog brand biographies in the private consumption condition will be more likely to respond favorably than when they are exposed to the public consumption condition. Based on the results it is suggested that advertisers make use of underdog brand biographies in case of established brands. Furthermore, choice of underdog brand narratives is likely to bring positive results under conditions of private consumption.     

The Media's Role in Influencing Perceptions of Housing Values and the Resulting Impact on the Macroeconomy

The housing market is a major component of the economy and persistent negative media reports can adversely affect perceptions and expectations of homeowners as to the value of their home. As a result, households reduce their expenditures and increase their savings in an effort to rebuild lost wealth. In the short run the economy suffers and the recession is magnified. This paper demonstrates, through an empirical study, how negative media reports regarding the deteriorating conditions of the national housing market affects what households feel their housing is worth.     

Confirming the timing of phase-based costing in oncology studies: a case example in advanced melanoma

Aims: The utilization of healthcare services and costs among patients with cancer is often estimated by the phase of care: initial, interim, or terminal. Although their durations are often set arbitrarily, we sought to establish data-driven phases of care using joinpoint regression in an advanced melanoma population as a case example.

Methods: A retrospective claims database study was conducted to assess the costs of advanced melanoma from distant metastasis diagnosis to death during January 2010–September 2014. Joinpoint regression analysis was applied to identify the best-fitting points, where statistically significant changes in the trend of average monthly costs occurred. To identify the initial phase, average monthly costs were modeled from metastasis diagnosis to death; and were modeled backward from death to metastasis diagnosis for the terminal phase. Points of monthly cost trend inflection denoted ending and starting points. The months between represented the interim phase.

Results: A total of 1,671 patients with advanced melanoma who died met the eligibility criteria. Initial phase was identified as the 5-month period starting with diagnosis of metastasis, after which there was a sharp, significant decline in monthly cost trend (monthly percent change [MPC]?=?–13.0%; 95% CI?=?–16.9% to –8.8%). Terminal phase was defined as the 5-month period before death (MPC?=?–14.0%; 95% CI?=?–17.6% to –10.2%).

Limitations: The claims-based algorithm may under-estimate patients due to misclassifications, and may over-estimate terminal phase costs because hospital and emergency visits were used as a death proxy. Also, recently approved therapies were not included, which may under-estimate advanced melanoma costs.

Conclusions: In this advanced melanoma population, optimal duration of the initial and terminal phases of care was 5 months immediately after diagnosis of metastasis and before death, respectively. Joinpoint regression can be used to provide data-supported phase of cancer care durations, but should be combined with clinical judgement.     

Micro Impacts of a Macro-Level Trading Partnership: Effects of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Pakistan

Trade and investment lead to economic development of regions and nations. Economists focus on the benefits derived from these activities, but there are also costs, many of which go unnoticed in studies that examine the aggregate effects of projects. This article examines the effects on one village in Pakistan of the construction of two coal-fired power plants that are elements in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is the largest component of China’s Belt and Road Initiative to develop Asia. Although the newly produced roads and electric power from CPEC will help solve the macro-level problems of Pakistani development, the local residents who are displaced from their farmland to make construction possible fare badly. Losing their farms has not only meant being forced to take jobs that pay much less than agriculture. It has also fractured the social ties that bind together the local community and provide residents with self-respect. The effects have been particularly harmful to the status of women. Viewed as a microcosm of the costs of trade and investment, the village of Qadirabad is a symbol of how well-meaning projects contribute to the deterioration of small-scale communities and the growth of urban slums around the world.     

Drivers of E-store Patronage Intentions: Choice Overload,Internet Shopping Anxiety,and Impulse Purchase Tendency

The dotcom era has infused a rapid increase in the usage of e-commerce in India, making online shopping the new way of retailing. This study investigates online consumers’ e-store patronage intentions, specifically modeling the ties from broad dispositional traits including choice overload, Internet shopping anxiety, and impulse purchase tendency among online shoppers. Based on the responses of 243 online shoppers, the findings suggest that consumers’ e-store patronage has a positive relationship with choice overload such that availability of larger assortments online results in a higher possibility of consumers’ patronage toward such e-tailers. Choice overload in the online context was also found to positively influence consumers’ impulse purchase tendency and showed a positive effect on Internet shopping anxiety. Furthermore, results indicate that the impulse purchase tendency of online shoppers had a significant positive effect on e-store patronage intentions, while Internet shopping anxiety was found to negatively affect the patronage intentions of shoppers.     

Modeling the Effects of Green Advertising on Brand Image: Investigating the Moderating Effects of Product Involvement Using Structural Equation

ABSTRACT

?This experimental study examined consumers’ response to green advertising for high- and low-involvement products by measuring its effect on consumers’ intention to purchase such brands. The present study enhances our understanding of the moderating role of product involvement and extends the structural equation tests of the four causal models. A dataset of 169 respondents is used to examine the role of brand image and brand attitude in the context of green advertisements. Consistent with earlier findings, the suggested model provides a good fit of the data and results indicate that positive attitude toward green advertisements, brand image, and attitude toward the brand enhances the chances of consumers’ purchase intention of such brands. The study also verifies that product involvement moderates the positive relationship between attitude toward green advertisements and brand image such that at higher levels of product involvement, attitude toward green advertisements has a stronger effect on brand image.     

Board monitoring and capital structure dynamics: evidence from bank-based economies

Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting - We examine the impact of board characteristics on the speed of adjustment and the capital structure dynamics of firms in bank-based economies. Using...