Identifying the Communication,Behaviors, and Interaction Patterns of Agency-Client Relationships in Development and Decline

Abstract

Leichty and Springston (1993) suggest that “if the relationship management metaphor is to be taken seriously, we need to develop a theory of how relationships between organizations and publics develop, change, and are maintained” (p. 334). The current investigation is a response to that challenge by suggesting a theoretical grounding, drawn from Knapp and Vangelisti's (1996) interaction stages research, for describing how agency-client relationships are initiated, developed, maintained, and deteriorate. The research was conducted with 25 account executives of a medium-sized mid-western public relations agency. The participants provided examples of communication, behaviors, and interaction patterns that are experienced when agencies and clients initiate, develop, maintain, deteriorate, and terminate relationships. A total of five phases of organization-public relationship development and five phases of organization-public relationship decline are reported. The paper concludes with a discussion of the role that relationship management should play in the study and practice of public relations.     

When the Family System Includes Disability: Adaptation in the Marketplace,Roles and Identity

Although families are recognised as a critical component in shaping consumer behaviour, one type of variation that has been overlooked is families in which a child has a disability. This research presents an analysis of themes related to family consumption that emerged from depth interviews with parents of families living with a special needs child. Three types of adaptation in family consumption emerged: i) adaptations to meet marketplace challenges, ii) adaptations in family roles and norms, and iii) adaptation in rituals and family identity. This study illuminates the notion that normalcy extends beyond the child to influence the consumption of the entire family. Because the marketplace seems to be constructed for "normal" families, the families interviewed here adapted the ways in which they engage as they juggle the medical, environmental and contextual needs of all members.     

The Effect of Charitable Motivations on Charitable Behaviors Among the Affluent

No abstract available for this article.     

透视信用卡市场的顾客特征与顾客行为

本文从感知利益与感知风险的角度探究消费者对使用信用卡的态度。研究发现,消费者使用信用卡主要基于以下5种利益:便利利益、支付利益、信息利益、额外利益以及象征利益。消费者不使用或者少使用信用卡主要受到个人的负债观及信用卡可能造成的财务风险的影响。基于消费者对感知利益与感知风险的不同态度,我们将信用卡市场的顾客分为5类:保守消费者、时尚追求者、谨慎理财者、实用主义者和便利导向者;不同顾客群在使用信用卡的频率与比例上呈现明显差异。本文针对不同顾客群的特点提出管理建议。     

Rental-Purchase Agreements: A Preliminary Investigation of Consumer Attitudes and Behaviors

Customers are attracted to rental-purchase agreements by claims of low payments and by the promise of eventual ownership. This study found that customers were frequently confused and generally dissatisfied with the agreements. Participants had poor credit histories and appeared to be using rental-purchase agreements as substitutes for conventional forms of credit. These results are interpreted in the context of possibilities for expanded consumer protection and of the changes taking place in the market for consumer credit.     

Clustering Attitudes and Behaviors of High/ Low Involvement Grocery Shopper

The purpose of this exploratory and quantitative study was to examine the attitudes and behaviors of 14,807 grocery shoppers. These respondents across the US were asked to answer attitudinal, behavioral, and demographic related questions. Shoppers were profiled by analyzing their responses to 16 relevant attitudinal and behavioral questions. A cluster analysis was performed followed by a discriminant analysis to determine attitudinal and behavioral variables explaining cluster membership. A cross-tabulation analysis assessed demographic variables that correlated with cluster membership. Two clusters were identified: high and low involvement grocery shoppers. In an event that has long been perceived as low involvement, a large percentage (53%) can be categorized as high involvement grocery shoppers. These shoppers tend to be younger. They were more likely to enjoy the hunt of finding products/deals, seek the advice of others and perceive that the products they buy reflect upon them. Grocery stores have a significant opportunity to target this high involvement shopper. Grocery stores will need to create an integrative, engaging online and in-store experience to attract high involvement shoppers and ultimately increase store loyalty. The results of this research has significant communication, branding and digital marketing implications.     

Financial Attitudes in Family Firms: The Moderating Role of Family Commitment

This study investigates how family commitment moderates whether and how financial knowledge, positive experience with debt suppliers, and economic goal orientation affect owner–managers' attitudes toward debt financing in family firms. Using a sample of 280 German family firms, we find significant relationships between both financial knowledge and positive experience with debt suppliers and owner–managers' financial attitudes toward debt. Our findings show that family commitment moderates these relationships such that high family commitment increases the impact of prior experience with debt suppliers, though the effect of economic goal orientation is lowered and reversed. Overall, we contribute to research on financial decision making, capital structure, and social capital in family firms.     

偏见与现实:当代大学生性观念与性行为现状透视

青年大学生是现代社会生活实体的重要组成部分.通过对福州市本科院校大学生性观念与性行为的调查,从某个侧面反映了当代大学生性观念与性行为的真实状况.     

家庭经济地位与生育行为:宏观环境的调节效应

使用2005年全国1%人口抽样调查数据研究家庭经济地位对中国妇女违反政策生育行为的影响。考虑到社会情境对个体行为的重要影响作用,本研究构建多层模型分析不同省级社会环境下家庭收入对违反政策生育行为的影响。家庭经济因素对个体生育行为的影响会随着省级社会环境的不同而呈现出巨大差异。在女性在农业部门就业比例高的地区,收入呈负向影响;女性在农业部门就业比例低的地区,收入呈正向影响。这说明社会环境对个体行为的影响机制是复杂的。研究结果对生育政策调整具有一定的启示意义。     

家族、家族文化与家族企业发展

本文从我国家族和家族文化的视角入手,探讨了家族和家族文化在家族企业发展中的积极影响:节约管理隐性成本;面对多变经营环境快速作出反应;劳资关系的和谐稳定;企业原始积累快;管理决策高效;企业人力资源易整合,及企业发展提供所需的企业精神动力。这些积极因素的有效利用,有助于家族企业在发展中赢得其他经济组织所没有的竞争优势。同时家族企业需善用家族资源,防止家族资源的负化。     

子女数量与家庭消费行为:影响效应及作用机制

基于CFPS微观调查数据,重点探讨子女数量变动对家庭消费水平和消费结构的影响,并考察其内在作用机制,发现:(1)从整体上来看,在采取工具变量法处理内生性问题后,子女数量的增加能显著提高家庭人均消费水平和发展享乐型消费支出的占比.(2)当户主年龄小于40岁时,子女数量增加会对家庭人均消费水平以及发展享乐型消费支出占比带来负面影响,而对于户主年龄为其他分组的家庭,子女数量与家庭人均消费水平以及发展享乐型消费支出占比均呈正相关关系.(3)子女数量对家庭消费行为的影响在城乡之间存在异质性,子女数量对农村家庭人均消费水平的正向效应大于城镇家庭,但对城镇家庭发展享乐型消费支出占比的提升作用大于农村家庭.(4)从作用机制来看,子女数量的增加一方面通过减少家庭预防性储蓄直接提高家庭消费水平以及发展享乐型消费支出占比;另一方面也通过家庭房屋资产的增值间接对家庭消费行为产生影响.房屋价值在子女数量对家庭人均消费水平以及发展享乐型消费支出占比的影响路径上均起到了部分中介作用,但这种中介效应存在城乡异质性.     

Examining the Construct of Organizational Justice: A Meta-Analytic Evaluation of Relations with Work Attitudes and Behaviors

The nomological net for the construct of organizational justice was investigated. The estimated true score correlation between procedural and distributive justice (N = 4,696, K = 16) was 0.66. The patterns of correlations of both procedural and distributive justice with job satisfaction, OCB, commitment, and productivity were also meta-analytically estimated. Procedural justice was associated to a greater extent than distributive justice with organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behaviors and productivity. Distributive and procedural justice correlated similarly with job satisfaction. Partial correlations and variance reduction ratios suggested that relationships between distributive justice and work attitudes and behaviors were mostly mediated by procedural justice perceptions. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Mindfulness,Money Attitudes,and Credit

Consumer credit is a central feature of modern living, having been an important topic of research for some time. In contrast, mindfulness has only recently gained research prominence. Our study develops a model that links individuals' mindfulness with their credit intentions/use, and that further proposes money attitudes as a mediator variable. Broad support for the model is provided by a sample of students from a Portuguese University and a second sample composed of adult US residents. The results suggest that mindfulness might play a significant role in shaping consumers' money attitudes and credit intentions/use. Additionally, the study suggests that the relationships of mindfulness and money attitudes with credit are only significant when credit is directed toward the purchase of nonbasic products. These results yield a number of considerations for future research and for institutions promoting financial education, which could lead to improved debt management and greater financial well‐being.     

Demographics,Personality Traits,Roles, Motivations,and Attrition Rates of Hospice Volunteers

ABSTRACT

The authors conducted a review of prior research on hospice volunteering. The results show that, in most cases, the hospice volunteer is a white, married, middle-aged, financially comfortable, unemployed, female who has some college education, strong religious beliefs and has experienced the loss of someone close (see Tables 1 and 2). The results also show that hospice volunteers tend to share certain personality traits reflecting compassion, tolerance, empathy and sensitivity among others. Volunteers tend to fulfill four roles: direct patient support, education, clerical assistance, and professional services (Bunn 1985). Motivations for volunteering and for continuing one's work as a volunteer appear to be for both personal and altruistic reasons. Primary reasons for discontinuing volunteer service include burnout, communication problems, unrealistic expectations, and insufficient use of the volunteer staff. Gaps in this area of research are identified and topics for further research are presented.     

Work Motivations,Work Outcomes,and Health: Passion Versus Addiction

Individuals in managerial and professional jobs now work long hours for a variety of reasons. Building on previous research on workaholism and on types of passion, the results of three exploratory studies of correlates of work-based Passion and Addiction are presented. Data were collected in three samples using anonymously completed questionnaires: Canadian managers and professionals, Australian psychologists, and Norwegian journalists. A common pattern of findings was observed in the three samples. First, respondents scoring higher on Passion and on Addiction were more heavily invested in their work. Second, respondents scoring higher on Passion also indicated less obsessive job behaviors, greater work satisfactions, and higher levels of psychological well-being. Third, respondents scoring higher on Addiction indicated more obsessive job behaviors, lower work satisfaction, and lower levels of psychological well-being.     

Work Motivations, Work Outcomes, and Health: Passion Versus Addiction

Individuals in managerial and professional jobs now work long hours for a variety of reasons. Building on previous research on workaholism and on types of passion, the results of three exploratory studies of correlates of work-based Passion and Addiction are presented. Data were collected in three samples using anonymously completed questionnaires: Canadian managers and professionals, Australian psychologists, and Norwegian journalists. A common pattern of findings was observed in the three samples. First, respondents scoring higher on Passion and on Addiction were more heavily invested in their work. Second, respondents scoring higher on Passion also indicated less obsessive job behaviors, greater work satisfactions, and higher levels of psychological well-being. Third, respondents scoring higher on Addiction indicated more obsessive job behaviors, lower work satisfaction, and lower levels of psychological well-being.     

Habits,Motivations, and Barriers by Users and Non-Users of Quebec Public Markets

Users and non-users of Quebec public markets were asked questions about their habits and motivations for shopping at markets and the barriers that keep them from going. Eight discussion groups (n = 52) were held in Montreal and an online survey completed data collection in two other regions in the province (n = 923). Primary results are presented and then analyzed based on seven aspects: ambiance and social interactions, freshness, variety, price, managing quantity, buying local, and seasonality. Profile types of public market users and non-users are revealed. Concrete courses of action are identified to promote public markets and make them more convenient to use. Further research must be conducted to gain a better understanding of public markets, their potential, and those who use them.     

Marketplace attributions and consumer evaluations of discount claims

Two studies were conducted in which respondents were exposed to test advertisements in which the amount of savings implied by a reference price discount claim was manipulated. Respondents' attributions concerning the advertiser's motives for making the reference price discount claim were measured, along with dependent variables that assessed the respondents' evaluations of the price offer. Results across both studies indicated that the attributions about the advertiser's motives for the price discount offer had a significant effect on consumers' evaluations of the offer. Furthermore, across both studies, a person-stimulus-circumstance taxonomy appeared consistent with the structure of the attributions that respondents made when presented with reference price claims.     

Organising Corporate Responsibility Communication Through Filtration: A Study of Web Communication Patterns in Swedish Retail

Corporate responsibility (CR) communication has risen dramatically in recent years, following increased demands for transparency. One tendency noted in the literature is that CR communication is organised and structured. Corporations tend to professionalise CR communication in the sense that they provide information that corresponds to demands for transparency that are voiced by certain stakeholders. This also means that experts within the firm tend to communicate with professional stakeholders outside the firm. In this article, a particular aspect of the organisation of CR communication is examined, a phenomenon that we refer to as the ‘filtration effect’. By comparing CR communication in parent companies and their subsidiaries, we show empirically that there is considerably less CR communication on the subsidiary level compared to the parent level. We see filtration as a sign of conscious organising of CR communication that implies particular attention to certain stakeholder groups with clearly defined demands and expectations on companies. The strong filtration effect noted in the study suggests that CR communication does not seem to be very much adapted to customers, which may be problematic both from a communicative and ethical perspective. The study covers Sweden’s 206 largest retail firms.