How do entrepreneurs' cross-cultural experiences contribute to entrepreneurial ecosystem performance?

While research on the cross-cultural experience of entrepreneurs has demonstrated that exposure to diverse cultures is beneficial for new venture growth, it has neglected the performance implications of entrepreneurs’ cross-cultural experience at the ecosystem level. This study endeavors to explore the micro-macro link between cross-cultural entrepreneurs and the performance of entrepreneurial ecosystems in which they are embedded. Building on the dynamic capability perspective, we argue that entrepreneurial ecosystem orchestrators can leverage entrepreneurs’ cross-cultural experiences to develop ecosystem dynamic capabilities and consequently improve entrepreneurial ecosystem performance. Based on multi-wave survey data of 2,981 business incubators in China, our findings show that cross-cultural entrepreneurs are positively associated with entrepreneurial ecosystem performance via increased ecosystem innovation. Moreover, the integrative capability of ecosystem orchestrators moderates the relationship between cross-cultural entrepreneurs and ecosystem innovation. Our findings contribute to the literature on cross-cultural experience by extending it to the ecosystem level and inject fresh insights into the dynamic capability literature by uncovering the formation process of ecosystem dynamic capabilities.     

‘How do you feel about a disease?’ The effect of psychological distance towards a disease on health communication

Based on construal level theory, this research addresses the moderating role of an individual's psychological distance towards a disease in the effectiveness of advertising messages framed by two distinctive construal level terms (high-level and low-level). In Experiment 1, two different disease types (bronchitis/distant disease vs. influenza/proximal disease) were featured, with the result that an advertisement with high-level construal terms was more persuasive for a psychologically distant disease (bronchitis) than for a psychologically proximal disease (flu). The reverse was true for an ad framed with low-level construal terms. To replicate Experiment 1 and further test the hypothesis, in Experiment 2, the perceived distance individuals have towards one disease (cancer) was measured and used as independent variable. Consistent with the results from Experiment 1, the low-level construal messages were more effective under the psychologically close condition than the psychologically distant condition. Reverse was true for the high-level construal messages.     

Jobs. How do you rate?

Only 47% of respondents to R&I's 23rd annual Job$ Survey reported satisfaction with their last raise--that's down 10% from last year. Leading reasons for the drop: According to survey verbatims, belt-tightening companies froze salaries and delayed promotions, but increased responsibilities. To get at the prevailing attitudes of foodservice professionals about their jobs, our special report employs demographic profiles and personal interviews.     

How do exporters respond to antidumping investigations?

Using monthly transaction data covering all Chinese exporters over the 2000–2006 period, we investigate how Chinese exporters respond to U.S. antidumping investigations. We find that antidumping investigations cause a substantial decrease in the total export volume at the HS-6 digit product level, and that this trade-dampening effect is due to a significant decrease in the number of exporters, yet a modest decrease in the export volume per surviving exporter. We also find that the bulk of the decrease in the number of exporters is exerted by less productive exporters, by direct exporters as opposed to trade intermediaries, and by single-product direct exporters as opposed to their multi-product counterparts. Combined with the existing studies on the effects that antidumping investigations have on protected firms, our study helps piece together a complete picture of the effects of antidumping investigations.     

Ideally human-ish: How anthropomorphized do you have to be in shopper-facing retail technology?

As shopper-facing retail technology (SFRT) increasingly replaces human interactions in retail environments, many businesses are considering how to make their retail technology more human-like. This paper identifies two methods of anthropomorphizing technology—visual and cognitive—and seeks to determine whether using these two types of anthropomorphism with a product/service is a better approach to interacting with consumers or whether a combination of visual and cognitive anthropomorphic features is less effective than one. This paper proposes that including one form of anthropomorphism in an SFRT may increase purchase intentions, while the addition of a second form of anthropomorphism will not lend an additional advantage. Specifically, the theory of social response is used to examine the process through which consumers view anthropomorphized SFRT. Three studies assess the proposed model in a mobile shopping application context and include the use of a functional app and 360° video experiments. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.     

What can Johnson & Johnson do to remain a giant in the health care industry?

As a major Fortune 500 corporation and manufacturer of significant drug products for the pharmaceutical industry, Johnson & Johnson has also had its share of marketing crisis, including the classic case example of The Tylenol Scare in Fall, 1982, so they can appreciate the need for effective marketing performance and customer responsiveness. This article will examine how Johnson & Johnson has adapted to a highly volatile business environment and how they can be benchmarked for highly competitive marketing strategies and practices.     

How do consumers co-create their experiences? An exploration in the heritage sector

Abstract

Whilst the body of work around co-creation has grown, co-creation continues to be considered from a value perspective with key questions, such as what is actually being co-created, remaining unanswered. This article moves beyond value to experiences and explores co-creation of the consumption experience. The research examines the manifestations and antecedents of co-creation of the consumption experience from a consumer angle and presents a co-creation framework. Customer critic analysis with consumers from two exemplar heritage organisations is used to investigate co-creation. The findings illuminate three facets of co-creation: co-production, engagement, and personalisation. This paper addresses a gap in Service-Dominant Logic theory, arts/heritage, and broader marketing literature by distinguishing between co-creation of value and co-creation of the consumption experience and proposing a definitive conceptualisation of the latter. The proposed model progresses the co-creation discussion to an empirical level and provides a foundation for future research.     

How close do we feel to virtual product to make a purchase decision? Impact of perceived proximity to virtual product and temporal purchase intention

This study, utilizing construal level theory, aims to understand the underlying effect of perceived proximity to a virtual product on perceived purchase intention in the near future through perceived measurement feedback and perceived generality. This research examines a lab experiment to test six hypotheses. Results indicate that perceived proximity to virtual products enhances perceived measurement feedback and, thereby, perceived generality. In addition, perceived generality fully mediates the effect of perceived measurement feedback on perceived purchase intention in the near future when consumers interact with non-augmented reality applications. In contrast, perceived measurement feedback directly influences perceived purchase intention in the near future in AR applications. Furthermore, the absence of product in consumers’ consideration set dilutes the effect of perceived generality on perceived purchase intention in the near future when consumers interact with non-augmented reality application. This study suggests several managerial implications for AR developers and online retail managers.     

How do Chinese employees react to psychological contract violation?

Psychological contract violation (PCV) is employee negative emotions aroused by employers not delivering their promises. Past studies have used Social Exchange Theory to explain the effects of PCV on employee responses specified in the EVLN (i.e., Exit, Voice, Loyalty and Neglect) model. The present study argues that Activation Theory may also be applied to explain employee responses to PCV for Chinese employees due to the specific role of emotions in Chinese culture. Both theories receive some supports in a Chinese employee sample (n = 439). Results and implications are discussed.     

How do customers change their purchasing behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic?

This study focuses on examining how customers' shopping behaviors have changed during the pandemic and contributing variables. Three primary shopping modes include online purchases, curbside pickup, and in-store shopping. The dependent variables are the changes in customers' spending in those three modes during the pandemic. The theory of fear appeal was used as the theoretical foundation for selecting independent variables. Based on this theory, two groups of independent variables were identified, fears for health and fears for financial conditions due to COVID-19. Additionally, demographic variables were also included in the analysis. The data from Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey Phase 3.1 collected from June 23 to July 5, 2021, was used with 24,998 useable cases. Logistic regression was used to analyze the data to test the effects of independent variables on customers' shopping behavior changes in the three modes. The results show that both fears for health and fears for financial conditions have effects on the shopping behavioral changes. Due to those fears, residents change their shopping behaviors by considering the shopping modes that allow them to deal with or avoid the risks. Additionally, demographic variables, including age, gender, race, income, and marriage status, also have significant impacts on their shopping decisions.     

How do you feel when you see a list of prices? the interplay among price dispersion,perceived risk and initial trust in Chinese C2C market

The issues of trust fraud, product genuineness and price dispersion jointly make Chinese C2C buyers difficult to identify trustworthy sellers with a low price. Little is known about the generation of initial trust when buyers search products and receive lists of widely ranged prices. This study proposes a theoretical model to explain how price dispersion interacts with other factors in C2C purchase, such as initial trust, perceived risk, perceived value and purchase intention. Product type is considered as a moderator. 261 students were invited in a survey-based experiment. The results from PLS analysis show that price dispersion negatively affects perceived value, whilst, positively affects perceived risk, which further influences perceived value negatively. Price dispersion also negatively influences initial trust through perceived risk. Moreover, the negative effects of price dispersion are stronger when buyers purchase high-touch products.     

How do electronic word of mouth practices contribute to mobile banking adoption?

Mobile banking (m-banking) is the fastest growing and most cost-effective channel for delivering banking services. Electronic word of mouth (eWOM) plays a crucial role in the success of e-commerce. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to investigate a comprehensive moderated mediated mechanism for enhancing m-banking adoption behavior through positive eWOM triggers using the elaboration likelihood model (ELM). Argument Quality, valence, consistency and volume were considered eWOM triggers, and the conceptual model also included initial trust in m-banking as a mediator and consumer involvement in m-banking as a moderator. A total of 1153 useable surveys completed by the Indian users of social networking websites were used for analysis. The findings showed that of the triggers, argument quality, valence, and consistency enhance intention to adopt m-banking. These effects were mediated by initial trust in m-banking. The mediation effects of initial trust between valence – Intention varied between high and low consumer involvement in m-banking. These findings make several contributions to the literature on marketing communication, particularly to eWOM research and ELM theory. Practically, this study provides several recommendations to banks about how to use positive eWOM for motivating consumers to adopt m-banking.     

You follow fitness influencers on YouTube. But do you actually exercise? How parasocial relationships,and watching fitness influencers,relate to intentions to exercise

Digital celebrities found on social media platforms are found to be successful in endorsing brands and products, and influencing purchase intentions of their followers. However, influencers also promote values and lifestyles on their channels, such as healthy behavior and fitness. In this article, we investigate the motivations of users who follow fitness influencers on YouTube and how parasocial interaction and intentions to watch fitness are related to intentions to exercise. Watching fitness videos and social interaction seems only to motivate followers that are already physically active. Non-exercising users are attracted to YouTube by entertainment and a parasocial relationship with an influencer that has no impact on their intentions to exercise.     

How do strategic groups handle cognitive complexity to sustain competitive advantage? A commentary essay

Cheng and Chang [Cheng SL, Chang HC. Performance Implications of Cognitive Complexity: An Empirical Study of Cognitive Strategic Groups in Semiconductor Industry. Journal Business Research 2009‐this issue] empirically investigate how a strategic group's cognitive complexity affects firm performance in the context of Taiwan's semiconductor industry. This commentary essay explores the authors' contribution to the multidisciplinary strategic group literature. The commentary also considers how Cheng and Chang's results can be integrated with important work in the competitive dynamic studies.     

How well do anatomical-based injury severity scores predict health service use in the 12 months after injury?

There is an acknowledged need for valid and reliable injury scores, suitable for use at the population level, which can accurately predict the long-term outcome of injury. The objective was to quantify the extent to which the abbreviated injury severity score (AIS) and the functional capacity index score (FCI) predict use of health services in the 12 months following an injury event. A cohort of injured people (ICD-9-CM 800-995) aged 18 - 64 years was identified from Manitoba hospital discharge abstracts from January 1988 to December 1991. For each member of the cohort whose injuries could be mapped to an abbreviated injury scale unique identifier, a maximum AIS (maxAIS) and a maximum FCI (maxFCI) were obtained. The cohort was linked with hospital discharge abstracts, physicians' claims and deaths from the population registry for the 12 months following injury. Negative binomial regression was used to model the relationships between the severity scores and the three outcome measures, while controlling for potential confounding variables. In total, 20 677 (97%) eligible cases were identified, of which 16 834 (81%) could be assigned a maxAIS and 15 823 (77%) a maxFCI. MaxAIS and maxFCI were significantly associated with total days in hospital following injury, but explained little of the variation in any of the health service use outcome variables (maxAIS, partial pseudo r2 ranging from < 0.001 to 0.041; and maxFCI, partial pseudo r2 ranging from < 0.001 to 0.018). It was concluded that anatomical damage is only partly responsible for long-term injury outcome. Additional variables would need to be included in predictive models of health outcomes of injury before these models could be reliable.     

How do economic,cultural, and global-connectedness distances moderate the effect of customers’ experiences on their intention to revisit non-indigenous restaurants? Evidence from Korean restaurants

In this study, we evaluate how the effect of customers' experiences on revisit intention for non-indigenous restaurants can be moderated by economic distance (ED), cultural distance (CD) and global-connectedness distance (GD) between the country of origin for a given non-indigenous restaurant and the customer’s resident country. Surveys were conducted in seven countries across three continents, and the levels of ED, CD and GD between Korea and the seven countries were used as moderators. The findings suggest that the types of food and staff are two elements that should be emphasized in countries that are relatively close to Korea. Conversely, elements like the atmosphere of the restaurant and word of mouth should be emphasized in countries that have greater distances from Korea. Of the three distances considered in the study, GD had the strongest moderating effect on the relationship between customers’ experiences and their intentions to return to the restaurant. As a whole, the results imply that ED, CD and GD are important points of reference when considering prior experience while selecting a target country based on the strength of the restaurant’s experience management.     

How do destination social responsibility strategies affect tourists’ intention to visit? An attribution theory perspective

Destination social responsibility (DSR) initiatives have recently received increasing attention as an effective way for destinations to maintain sustainable tourism development and competitive advantages. Through the lens of attribution theory, this study divided DSR strategies into proactive and reactive approaches and explored their influences on tourists' attribution and intention to visit a destination. This study also investigated the moderating role of information sources on the relationship between DSR strategies and tourists' attribution. The results of two experiments indicated that tourists' altruism attribution and visit intention tended to be higher when a destination applied the proactive (vs. reactive) DSR strategy. Tourists who got a reactive DSR message from an internal (vs. external) information source tended to generate stronger visit intention. The findings provide important implications for destinations to adopt appropriate DSR strategies and information channels for inducing tourists’ visit intention.