Mary Frank Fox, Deborah G. Johnson, and Sue V. Rosser, eds. Women, Gender, and Technology

This book adds a series of essays to the burgeoning theoreticaland empirical work on women, gender, and technology. Its intentionis to "encourage, facilitate and bring to an interdisciplinaryaudience such a range of theory, research and applications onwomen, gender and technology" (viii). In her introduction, DeborahG. Johnson maintains that a "co-creation" model frames the bookand that each chapter "explores how gender and technology workand are at work in     

Britt,Steuart Henderson. Psychological Principles of Marketing and Consumer Behavior. Lexington,Mass.: Lexington Books, 1978

Abstract

Conventionally, an advertiser's spending on the creative component of an advertising campaign is small in relation to the media budget and is channeled exclusively to a single advertising agency. Gross challenged those conventions more than 20 years ago, using a mathematical model of advertising effectiveness. His model suggested spending more on the creative component and doing so in a competition among several independent sources. The model assumed a normal distribution of effectiveness of advertisements. Data on response to consumer product ads show that the distribution of effectiveness is not normal, but quite skewed. Using Monté Carlo simulations and Gross's framework, the authors find that the skewness strengthens the case for competition. Shifting a sizable percentage of a campaign budget away from media spending and into competitive generation of creative renderings apparently can be very profitable.     

Kaoru Sugihara, ed. Japan, China, and the Growth of the Asian International Economy, 1850-1949. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005. xv + 295 pp. ISBN 0-19-829271-6, $140.00.

This important cluster of perspectives on the growth of theAsian international economy originates from a 1993 workshopheld in Osaka on the role of China and overseas Chinese networksin the Asian international economy. It is the first volume inthe series of "Japanese Studies in Economic and Social History"edited by Osamu Saito and Kaoru Sugihara. As the title suggests,this book does not deal with issues concerning commodity productionand consumption; it focuses instead on matters     

Madeleine Zelin, Jonathan K. Ocko, and Robert Gardella, eds. Contract and Property in Early Modern China. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 2004. vii + 398 pp. ISBN 0-8047-4639-7, $65.00.

In 1887 the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society—ChinaBranch sponsored a symposium on "Chinese partnerships," in whicha number of eminent China hands such as E. H. Parker and ChalonerAlabaster shared their long experience with the subject. Thediscussants agreed, among other things, that liability for debtsof the firm was enforceable in Chinese courts, that this liabilitywas shared among the partners according to their contractuallydetermined shares in the business, and that a contractuallydesignated "managing partner" normally     

Information Sources in Advertising History. Edited and compiled by Richard W. Pollay,ed. Westport,Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1979, 330 pp

Abstract

This research examined how consumers responded to different print advertisements for a green laundry detergent. Hypotheses based on the salience literature were developed and tested in a laboratory experiment. One group considered a “green” appeal which emphasized the environmental attributes of the product. Another group considered a “non-green” appeal which emphasized the cost-saving attributes of the product. We measured each subject's involvement with the environment. Our results showed that for those highly involved with the environment, there were no significant differences in purchase intent, attitude toward the ad, and support arguments between appeals. However, for those less involved with the environment, the green appeal was significantly more persuasive than the non-green appeal in terms of the same variables.     

Haight,William. Retail Advertising: Management and Technique. Morristown,N. J.: General Learning Press, 1976

Abstract

Corporate sponsorship is growing in importance as an element of the communications mix. The number of companies participating in sponsorship, as well as corporate expenditures for sponsoring events, is on the rise as organizations seek new ways to reach audiences and enhance their image. The importance of corporate sponsorship is now generally acknowledged, but little research has been done to understand its value and effectiveness. An exploratory study was conducted to examine the relationship between sponsorship and corporate image. The results suggest that corporate sponsorship can improve corporate image, but its effects differ among companies. Moreover, sponsorship is only one of the information sources consumers use to form their impressions of an organization. Under certain circumstances, corporate sponsorship can damage, rather than enhance, the image of a company.     

Naubauer,Robert G. Packaging,the Contemporary Media. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1973

Abstract

Additional advertising regulation is being proposed for both tobacco and alcoholic beverage products. The possible outcome of these proposed regulations is examined based on the effect that advertising regulation has had on tobacco consumption in the past.     

Christopher Kobrak and Per H. Hansen, eds. European Business, Dictatorship, and Political Risk, 1920-1945. New York: Berghahn Books, 2004. xiv + 261 pp. ISBN 1-57181-629-1, $60.00.

In recent years pressure from international Jewish organizationshas led many European corporations to open previously closedarchives to historians. In Germany a number of major businessesand financial institutions also have commissioned corporatehistories by leading historians, in order to throw light ontheir activities during the Nazi period. This book is a collectionof papers (in the case of Gerald D. Feldman based on one ofthese corporate histories) presented at a series of workshops     

Marketing strategies,financial structure,and innovation in U.K. retailing

This study examines the pattern by which retailers have adapted to recent changes in consumer markets. Information was obtained on the marketing strategies and financial structures of 88 of the leading U.K. retailers. The first section identifies the key environmental developments of the later 1970's and appraises their impact on retailers. In the second section, the methods by which retailers have sought to adapt to these changes are outlined. Finally, a model is developed which distinguishes successful from unsuccessful retailing strategies and provides a methodology for evaluating alternative approaches to market positioning.     

Ocko,Judy Young,and Rosenblum,M. L. The Specialty Store and its Advertising. New York: National Retail Merchants Association, 1976

Abstract

The authors report the findings of an experiment that investigated the influence of television programs on viewers' perceptions of television commercials. Specifically, program arousal and program pleasantness were examined as potentially important determinants of viewers' emotional responses to advertising. The experiment used a two (levels of program arousal) by two (levels of program pleasantness) design to assess the effects of the independent variables on viewers'perceptions of commercial pleasantness for a pod of four commercials. As hypothesized, an assimilation effect occurred in the high arousal condition and a contrast effect occurred in the low arousal condition. Implications of these results for researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

Divita,S. F. ed. Advertising and the Public Interest. America Marketing Association, 1974

Abstract

Advocacy advertising has become an often-used means for corporations to express their viewpoints on a variety of controversial issues. Recent events make it unclear whether advocacy advertising may be viewed as political (editorial) speech and, therefore, outside the regulatory controls of the Federal Trade Commission. This article discusses the current state of advocacy advertising by reviewing the criteria proposed (and/or used) by the courts, regulatory agencies, and advertising/marketing scholars in determining the regulatory boundaries of this form of advertising. In addition, the article proposes additional criteria that may be helpful in making such a determination.     

Humorous Illustration and Cartooning — A Guide for Editors,Advertisers, and Artists. Nelson,Roy Paul. Englewood Cliffs,NJ: Prentice-Hall,Inc., 1984. 243 Pp. $12.96

Abstract

Previous research on negative political advertising has found both intended and backlash effects, indicating that the impact of these ads is likely to be contingent on other factors. The current study examines some potentially important contingent variables — level of involvement and attention to both newspapers and television for political information. Regression analyses indicate that both enduring and situational involvement and attention to television news increase the impact of negative political ads on voting decisions. Although it initially appears that attention to newspaper is unrelated to the impact of negative ads, analysis of covariance shows that newspaper reading actually reduces the impact of negative ads after controlling for other variables.     

Julie Hessler. A Social History of Soviet Trade: Trade Policy, Retail Practices, and Consumption, 1917-1953. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2004. xvi + 366 pp. ISBN 0-691-11492-7, $39.50.

Julie Hessler’s work is the first comprehensive historyof the first thirty-five years of Soviet trade written afterthe opening of the Soviet Union’s archives following thatnation’s collapse. It will, without doubt, become a standardwork of reference. Hessler gives due credit to the Soviet historianG. A. Dikhtiar’s three-volume work on Russian and Soviettrade published in the 1960s (in Russian). Despite the book’sobvious ideological overtones, it deserves to be read alongsideHessler’s work. Hessler’s     

Lancaster,Kent M. and Thomas C. Martin (1988). ADLAB,Gainesville, FL: University of Florida, 31 Pp. and software for IBM,Macintosh, and compatibles. $12.00

Abstract

Prior research on advertising literature consists primarily of studies of journal article authorship and author productivity, journal content and quality, and citation patterns. Absent from this stream of research is direct evidence of the influence of individual authors and their works in the form of peer evaluation and readership. For this study, a priori lists of influential books and articles were used in a survey of U.S. advertising educators and academic researchers. The results reveal a core of research-based and practice-oriented contributions of widely recognized importance and influence. The findings also provide (1) valuable lists of readings for current and future students and educators; (2) direct evidence of the quality of individual literary contributions; and (3) useful insights into the theoretical, intellectual, and practical foundations of the field.     

Douglas Brinkley. Wheels for the World: Henry Ford, His Company, and a Century of Progress, 1903-2003. New York: Viking, 2003. xxii + 858 pp. ISBN 0-670-03181-X, $34.95. * Max Wallace. The American Axis: Henry Ford, Charles Lindbergh, and the Rise of the Third Reich. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2003. 465 pp. ISBN 0-312-29022-5, $27.95

In recent years the line dividing scholarly histories from popularones has grown blurry. Changes in how books are marketed andretailed over the past two decades have whetted the appetiteof general readers for history, and many academic historians,though trained to write for specialists, now seek to tap into this audience more broadly. The commercial success of suchscholars as Joseph Ellis and James M. McPherson has inspiredacademic historians to try to write more readable books. Atthe same time, journalists and other writers are producing ambitiousnarratives based on primary sources. Still, important differencesremain between the kinds of history that academic and popularwriters produce. These differences surface in interesting waysin two new books on Henry Ford. The author of the first, Douglas Brinkley, is a professor anddirector of the Theodore Roosevelt Center for American Civilizationat     

Outward Foreign Direct Investment,Interindustry Networks,and U.S. Trade Politics

This article investigates how outward foreign direct investment by U.S. multinational corporations influences industry lobbying for trade protection in the United States, focusing on interindustry structure of goods sales networks between upstream and downstream sectors and also on the multinationals’ input procurement patterns. If foreign affiliates of U.S. multinationals switch input sources from U.S. to host-country suppliers, U.S. suppliers should receive a negative demand shock, ceteris paribus. An empirical test finds that those U.S. upstream sectors that are highly dependent upon U.S. multinationals for goods sales tend to lobby more as the multinationals’ overseas production and sales increase.     

Readings in Public and Nonprofit Marketing. Lovelock,Christopher H., and Charles B. Weinberg. Palo Alto,Calif.: The Scientific Press,the Stanford Barn, 1978

Abstract

In a recent paper, Johar and Sirgy have proposed a hypothesis that value-expressive advertising appeals are persuasive when the product is value-expressive, whereas utilitarian appeals are persuasive when the product is utilitarian. Johar and Sirgy suggested that future research be directed at testing these hypotheses. This comment points out that direct support for these hypotheses already exists. The experimental evidence in support of these and related predictions is discussed. Suggestions for future research on the effectiveness of utilitarian versus value-expressive appeals are offered.     

U.S. online shopping: Facts,fiction, hopes and dreams

Much online shopping research has been viewed from the seller׳s side, i.e., volume, timing and the like. This paper looks at online shopping/buying from the buyer׳s view. Based on 285,000+ individual responses from an online U.S. panel, the questionnaires, gathered between 2006 and 2013, form the analytical base. Findings include an increase in online shopping volume among a declining customer base. Consumer reported details such as leading online retailers (Amazon.com), online product preferences, comparisons of online and fixed location research and buying scenarios, buying influences and the like are discussed. Managerial implications and suggestions for future research are included.     

U.S. health care, a different perspective

The provision of health care in the United States has been misunderstood and misrepresented by many. Americans have the best health care in the world available to them on demand. What other country can provide such a privilege to its citizens? Americans are an insured people.     

Koo Yuen Kim, D.P.T.J, J.P

古润金,1959年出生于马来西亚吉隆坡,祖籍中国中山市,系马来西亚杰出华裔企业家,也是马、中两国颇具知名度的慈善家,现任马来西亚中山会馆联合会会长、广肇联合总会副会长、华人剧艺研究会副会长、华人艺人公会荣誉会长、中国香港中山社团联合会荣誉会长、中国中山侨资企业协会会长、中山市总商会副会长等多个华人社团领袖职务。