Consumer debt attitudes: The role of gender,debt knowledge and skills

The link between financial attitudes and consumer financial market behaviour is well documented. However, little is known about the role of financial knowledge and skills—the main components of the financial literacy construct—in shaping debt attitudes. This link is especially absent from the gender perspective. This study focuses on consumer debt literacy and debt attitudes. A representative sample of adult Poles (N = 1,004) was participated in a computer‐assisted telephone interview. Latent class analysis was employed to reveal their debt attitudes, and subsequently, links between debt literacy and debt attitudes were studied with multinomial regression models. The results show that respondents in Poland can be grouped into five classes exhibiting different attitude profiles. The structure of debt attitudes is complex and differs from a simple unidimensional pro‐debt/ anti‐debt construct. Although this study did not find significant gender differences either in the conceptualization of debt attitudes or in their drivers, the results showed that in all but one class, consumer attitudes are strongly linked to either debt knowledge or debt skills or to both. Debt skills were revealed to be a particularly strong predictor of consumer debt attitudes.     

Individual attitudes to learning and sharing individual and organisational knowledge in the hospitality industry

The purpose of this study was to test hypotheses about the role of demographic variables in differentiating attitudes towards learning and knowledge sharing and to explore individually preferred media for knowledge sharing and obstacles to knowledge sharing. The study of the 499 respondents working in international tourist hotels in Taiwan shows that the most popular approach that was used to share knowledge was a conversation medium, but that insufficient time was allowed for this to occur. The study concludes that a majority of the respondents, including top managers in the researched hotels, shared operational knowledge. The results here suggest that it could be helpful for top management staff to put more effort into sharing strategic knowledge for the creation of future competitive advantage, rather than engaging in daily routines, i.e. a more strategic focus for the whole hotel would improve long-term success.     

Service worker appearance and the retail service encounter: the influence of gender and age

This study explores how the age and gender of service workers influence customers' perceptions of the retail service encounter in a health and beauty retailer. An analysis of qualitative interviews with 40 customers and 20 service workers suggests that customers seek reassurance in the service encounter by ‘matching’ and ‘mirroring’ the age and gender of customer-facing staff with their expectations of who should deliver appropriate service during the retail service encounter. These non-verbal cues, as a way of assessing the credibility of the service provider, are particularly important when customers are involved in high-involvement purchase occasions.     

知识经济下中国服务业发展的对策

知识经济是建立在知识和信息的生产、分配和使用基础之上的经济形态。在知识、技术和全球化力量的推动下 ,全球服务业的发展出现了新的特征和趋势。随着知识经济的发展 ,服务业对于国家未来繁荣具有战略性地位。中国要迎接知识经济的挑战 ,必须迅速改变服务业落后的局面 ,提高服务业的国际竞争力。     

Energy efficient household appliances in emerging markets: the influence of consumers' values and knowledge on their attitudes and purchase behaviour

This research integrates both motivational and cognitive approaches to better understand consumers' purchase behaviour of energy efficient household appliances in emerging markets. A unique values, knowledge, attitudes and behaviour model was developed, and then validated by obtaining data from Vietnamese consumers which yielded 682 usable responses. The findings confirm that consumers with stronger adherence to egoistic values are more likely to develop negative attitudes towards environmental protection, and they tend to formulate positive attitudes towards individual inconvenience associated with the purchase of energy efficient appliances. In contrast, biospheric and altruistic values facilitate consumers' purchase behaviour by enhancing their attitudes towards environmental protection, and by also reducing their attitudes in relation to individual inconvenience. Interestingly, consumers with high knowledge about energy efficient appliances tend to believe that the purchase of such products is important for environmental protection, and they are likely to negate the perception of inconvenience associated with the purchase. Attitudes were found to be significant determinants of both purchase intention and behaviour. The implications for policymakers, marketers and other stakeholders are discussed and future research directions presented.     

Gender differences in financial knowledge,attitudes, and behaviors: Accounting for socioeconomic disparities and psychological traits

A large body of international research finds a persistent gender gap in the financial literacy of women compared to men, but explanations for this gap remain a topic of active debate. In this observational study, we explore the explanatory value of psychological characteristics, in addition to demographic variables and roles in household financial decision making. We begin by documenting the expected gender differences in financial knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors, using a national survey of adult Canadians (n = 21,789) that provides population-level estimates. Next, we contrast these results against a second Canadian survey data set (n = 3,502) where we are able to control for individual differences in psychological traits. Results of OLS regressions suggest that gender is not a significant predictor on three scales of financial capability. Decomposition analysis finds underlying differences in individual characteristics (endowments) explain the majority of the observed gender gap in financial literacy when psychological traits are included in the model.     

Non-immersive virtual reality technologies in real estate: How customer experience drives attitudes toward properties and the service provider

Although previous research has highlighted that virtual reality (VR) technologies can enhance customer experience, the efficacy of VR technologies in real estate remains unclear. Therefore, this study examines the effects of offering consumers a non-immersive VR experience via a widely available technology, that allows them to view real estate products. Participants accessed the website of a real estate agency that presented apartments through either static photos or interactive 360° visits. The latter condition was associated with better “visiting” experiences and more positive attitudes toward both the products and the agency. This study highlights the advantages of such technologies in enhancing customer experience and attitudes, particularly in the highly competitive real estate industry.     

Parent control mechanisms,knowledge attributes,knowledge acquisition and performance of IJVs in Taiwan service industries

The study explores parent companies' use of control mechanisms in their international joint venture (IJV), IJV knowledge acquisition and IJVs' performance. Traditionally, control mechanisms are criticized for potentially limiting autonomous learning. However, we propose that knowledge-oriented control mechanisms used by the parent company on its subsidiaries could facilitate knowledge acquisition and learning. This study takes samples from 104 Sino-foreign joint ventures in service industries in Taiwan. The results of the study indicate that in IJV, parent companies require a ‘personnel training’ control mechanism as a guide for gaining codified knowledge from foreign partners. MNCs should apply ‘culture’ and ‘performance’ control mechanisms to gain non-codified knowledge. In turn, the tacit knowledge of IJV results in a better economic, competency-based performance, while explicit knowledge more significantly influences the synthetic performance.     

South African consumers' willingness to pay a premium for Karoo Lamb: The influence of subjective and objective knowledge,label information and demographics

In South Africa, Karoo Lamb is a prestigious product associated with free range production. This study examined the influence of subjective and objective Karoo Lamb knowledge, the importance of label information, and demographics on consumers' willingness to pay a premium for Karoo Lamb products. A panel of 355 consumers who had previously purchased lamb/mutton products completed an online questionnaire. The importance of Karoo Lamb label information, subjective Karoo Lamb knowledge and population group had a significant positive impact on willingness to pay a premium for Karoo Lamb. Objective Karoo Lamb knowledge and other demographics did not have a significant impact.     

Re‐examining the effects of aging on household recycling behavior: A study in France

While age is the variable most often used to explain household recycling behavior, research findings reveal only limited or contradictory effects. This study demonstrates the utility of several additional variables related to age in regard to explaining the effect of aging on household recycling behavior. These variables are generativity, available time, and perceived skills. By drawing on the theory of planned behavior, this paper offers a model that clarifies how age indirectly influences household recycling behavior. The model is tested on a stratified sample, and the results are analyzed through mediation tests and structural equation modeling. While aging is associated with lower levels of enthusiasm for recycling, more skills and available time allow recycling to be accomplished with increased ease. Finally, the results enable an explanation of the previous contradictory results about age effects and lead to managerial and societal recommendations on how household recycling can be effectively promoted.     

Service value and switching barriers: a personal values perspective

This research aims to investigate how customers, the key actors in a service relationship, perceive service value and switching barriers. The study is framed along the means-end-chain theory of personal values and theory of customer resources in the service-dominant logic. Hypotheses about the impact of personal values on customer value, switching barriers and customer loyalty were tested using structural equation modeling of survey data obtained from the health care and retail banking sectors in Vietnam. The results show that in both sectors, personal values have a significant impact on perceived process and outcome value as well as on perceived economic and relational switching barriers. Economic barriers were found to affect loyalty in the banking sector, in the same way that relational barriers affect loyalty in the health-care sector only. Loyalty in both sectors is influenced by process but not by outcome value. The implications of these findings are discussed.     

Children and advergames: the role of product involvement,prior brand attitude,persuasion knowledge and game attitude in purchase intentions and changing attitudes

The central aim of this study is to build upon previous research by investigating the role of product involvement, prior brand attitude, persuasion knowledge and game attitude in the brand attitude changes and purchase intentions of children after playing an advergame. In all, 279 respondents between the ages of 10 and 12 years participated in the study. First, they were asked to complete a pre-test survey addressing product involvement and prior brand attitude towards several products and brands. Two weeks later, the respondents were asked to play an advergame and complete a survey addressing brand attitude, purchase intention, persuasion knowledge and attitude towards the game. Our analysis reveals that a positive attitude change is more likely when the game player has already evaluated the brand positively. Furthermore, game attitude is positively related to attitude changes towards the advertised brands, consistent with affect transfer theory. Counterintuitively, a higher level of persuasion knowledge is associated with a higher intention to buy the advertised product. Finally, children who had a more positive attitude towards the game were more likely to report higher purchase intentions, indicating that games which provide good experiences positively influence behavioural intentions. We conclude the paper by discussing the study's limitations and suggestions for future research.     

Service provider responses to anxious and angry customers: different challenges, different payoffs

Anxiety and anger, two frequently experienced emotions during service consumption, arise from different appraisals of the eliciting event, i.e., attribution to uncontrollable circumstances and low coping potential for anxiety versus attribution to providers and high coping potential for anger. These appraisal differences were hypothesized to impact the occurrence of supportive provider responses (higher for anxiety than for anger), and the value given to supportive responses by anxious versus angry customers (higher evaluation for anxiety than for anger). It was also hypothesized that, although evaluation of provider response would mediate the relationship between the intensity of both anger and anxiety and satisfaction with the service encounter as a whole, the power of this mediating effect would be stronger for anxiety than for anger. Hypotheses were confirmed in a survey of air travel passengers reporting episodes of anxiety and anger. Implications of these results for challenges and payoffs involved in the development of adaptive response strategies to anxious and angry customers are discussed.     

Financing knowledge,risk attitude and P2P borrowing in China

The advance of Internet technology has provided a convenient market platform for matching lending and borrowing parties, but many consumers still hesitate to use online borrowing. To better understand consumer behaviour in online borrowing, we use nationally representative survey data in China to explore factors affecting consumer use of one type of online borrowing, person to person (P2P) borrowing. Through empirical analyses, we find that financing knowledge and risk attitude are two key factors associated with P2P borrowing. Results show that financing knowledge is directly associated with P2P borrowing, while risk attitude through an instrument variable is associated with P2P borrowing also. Given these results, an effective way to expand the consumer Internet borrowing market in China is to enhance consumer financial literacy education.     

Distributed product knowledge service: model and system framework

Conventional business models focus on providing end products and services regardless of product- or service-related knowledge. Such models are unable to meet customer requirements in a knowledge economy. Therefore, to effectively capture, accumulate, store, and apply knowledge to provide product knowledge service to customers is central to enterprise success. This study has the following three objectives: (i) to propose a novel product knowledge service model based on the product lifecycle and its supply chain, (ii) to design a system framework for product knowledge service, and (iii) to implement the proposed system. The product knowledge service model can be seen as a product knowledge supplier chain based on the integration of the product lifecycle and its supply chain. Based on the knowledge management cycle, software agent technology, and service-oriented architecture, the agent-based knowledge service-oriented system framework is designed to reflect the distributed, flexible, and hierarchical characteristics of the product knowledge service model. Finally, the proposed agent-based knowledge service-oriented system framework is developed and implemented using Unified Modelling Language and Java programming language with the Java Agent Development Framework.     

A new model of how celebrity endorsements work: attitude toward the endorsement as a mediator of celebrity source and endorsement effects

This research introduces attitude towards the endorsement as a mediating variable in the relationships between celebrity source and endorsement factors and brand attitude. It also includes perceived celebrity motive, a variable rarely studied in the previous literature, as an endorsement factor. In a survey study, respondents evaluated four celebrity endorsement campaigns. Mediation analyses show that attitude towards the endorsement mediates the effects of three variables on brand attitude; these variables are celebrity expertise, celebrity–brand fit, and perceived celebrity motive. Moreover, results show that if consumers perceive that the celebrity was motivated to do the endorsement not only by money but also by product quality, this has a significant positive effect on attitude towards the brand.     

The impact of hotel attributes,well-being perception,and attitudes on brand loyalty: Examining the moderating role of COVID-19 pandemic

This research sought to investigate the relationships between hotel attributes, well-being perceptions, attitudes, and brand loyalty in the hotel context considering the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the study's data analyses revealed how tangible and intangible hotel attributes improved individuals' well-being perceptions before and during the COVID-19, as well as how these perceptions in turn influenced cognitive attitudes, affective attitudes, and brand loyalty during these periods. Furthermore, the moderating role of COVID-19 was identified in the link between well-being perceptions and cognitive attitudes and in the association between cognitive attitudes and affective attitudes. In light of these findings, a discussion and insightful implications for both theory and practice were provided. Finally, the limitations of the study and future research directions were addressed.     

The short- and long-term impact of brand placement in an advertiser-funded TV program on viewers' attitudes toward the sponsor brand and its main competitor

The present research investigates how viewers' liking of an advertiser-funded television program (AFP) influences viewers' attitude toward the brand that sponsors the program and its main competitor through a field study at two points in time (N_wave1 = 529 and N_wave2 = 256). An AFP is a television program which is fully sponsored by and built around a sponsoring brand. We test how the perceived program-sponsor brand fit moderates the effect of program liking one week and one month after the program finale. Program liking positively impacts brand attitude for the sponsor, and this effect becomes weaker over time. Program-sponsor brand fit reinforces the positive effect of program liking on brand attitude, especially in the longer term. In the longer term, program liking of an AFP also positively impacts viewers' attitude toward the main competitor of the sponsor.     

中日韩电信产业价值链模式对比分析

目前移动数据业务成为运营商利润的增长点,而发展数据业务关键在于处理与产业价值链各环节之间关系,在这方面日韩两个国家发展比较成熟。分析日韩电信产业价值链模式的特点,并与国内的几种价值链模式进行对比,从客户目标、SP/CP管理、与终端关系、利益分成与环境适应性等几个方面总结出我国电信产业价值链和谐发展的对策建议。